One of those hopelessly hip, op-shop-bespattered venues on Chapel Street, Revolver could be a victim of its own attempt to be bohemian, whilst still managing to charge $10 for a shot of tequila. Somehow the place manages to dodge the stigma with sprawling street-art and chandelier collection intact. Add to this the coolest toilets in the country – oh, and the odd decent band doesn’t go astray, either. Tonight the place will play host to local melodic metallers Sydonia.
We’re hit with the aural bombardment of The Night Terrors upon entry. This band are all wailing high notes filtered through endless synth loops augmented with trippy theremin squeal. Self-indulgent and slightly disturbing – and not in a good way. Despite all this noise, the synth man managed to look thoroughly bored. A strange choice of act for Sydonia.
Five Star Prison Cell is one of those metal bands that give the genre a bad name. They are too messy, too percussive, too jarring – songs stop half-way through for no reason, only starting again when they’ve hit the perfect threshold for maximum aural pain upon re-entry. Even the mindless head-bangers had trouble getting into a rhythm. Hypnotically awful and oddly uncomfortable, to say the least.
The tri-drum attack of Sydonia draws in the shell-shocked masses hovering in the rear lounge. When this band are in full-on percussion mode it’s worth witnessing for the sake of sheer power alone: Adam Murray plays like he’s conducting some kind of grand metal orchestra, while the masterful strokes of cymbal-fiend Sean Bailey are a thing to behold. The more precise style of guitarist Sam Haycroft gives way to his rockin’ axe skills – simply add a little tuneful vocal, a la Dana Roskvist, and we got a show! Showcasing tracks from their most recent album*, Given to Destroyers, alongside many newer tracks, the set sizzled.
The band have quite a thing for dynamics – both within a song and in the well-crafted set-list. Their song choices – from the melancholy Disappears to the angry Go Fuck Yourself – ensured there was no mid-set sag anywhere – certainly no time was left to get bored amongst the genre-hopping fun. These guys clearly have a tight coterie of devoted fans, who made it their mission to croon, jump and head-bang where the mood took them.
The stand-out in terms of crowd excitement and on-stage energy, was undoubtedly the storming, shout-along appeal of Rubber Bullet. The newer tracks, though, were easy to spot – they seemed a little rougher, a little more ill-formed than Sydonia’s recorded work. It’s clear that there’s something here though: these songs, though in need of firing in a producer’s kiln, had potential. Perhaps the crop of upcoming dates will help alchemise these hunks of unpolished tuneage into shining metallic gems? We’ll see. In any case, the boys turned out a tight show. Kudos.
to listen to their music now on 
