Canberra metal fans relished the opportunity to see Australian metal heavyweights Lord play at the Basement on Friday night. Promoting and celebrating the release of their new album Set in Stone, the guys stopped in Canberra for the fourth show of their current mega tour. Also on the line-up for the night were fellow Sydneysiders and young-guns L.U.S.T as well as locals Tonk and Aeon of Horus.

L.U.S.T took to the stage with an energised set that would have made Tommy Lee and Nickki Sixx unbelievably proud. With a collection of songs about women, tattoos, life and self-destruction, the glam rockers whet the crowd’s appetite for a night of metal mayhem. Currently in the studio recording their debut full length album, L.U.S.T will be joining Lord for a number of shows on their tour.

Next up were local rockers Tonk. Wheeled out for most hard or heavy gigs in Canberra, the boys did their best to mix it up a little and give the crowd their version of old skool rock ‘n’roll. However their massacred attempt at an Iron Maiden song left a sour taste in the mouths of revellers.

A definite stand out for the night was local progressive rockers Aeon of Horus. Playing a collection of epic songs off their recently released The Embodiment of Darkness and Light, they proved to the crowd just why metal fans are touting them as one to watch out for.

Finally Lord graced the stage (at about 1am), promoters really did these guys a disservice allowing support acts to run over time as some of the crowd and even support acts got fed up with waiting and left before they took to the stage. However this did mean that the punters still remaining were dedicated fans clearly enthusiastic to see the metal kings play.

Armed with an arsenal of songs off their latest release Set in Stone, Lord wasted no time in amping up the crowd with a blaze of charging guitars featuring riffs that almost made the paint on the walls melt. Kicking off their set with Through the Fire Lord had the keen and devoted crowd offering up devil horns a-plenty.

It was a headbangers delight as the guys continued through their set featuring mainly songs from their new release but mixing it up a little with songs off their past releases as well such as Footsteps in the Sand and Rain. During the track The Richest Man, the bass player jumped off the stage into the crowd to bring them closer to the music which pleased the crowd to no end.

The final song in their gallant set I Am Death featured a cover mid-song that is quite possibly one of the best however most obscure covers from a metal band to date. Lord fans probably not too familiar with Kylie Minogue’s back catalogue may not at first have recognised Lord’s rendition of On a Night Like This or they were concerned that their metal-ness was being challenged. Whatever it was the crowd quickly got over it and fervently helped Lord finish out their set.

Lord currently still have around 12 dates left of their Set in Stone tour across the East Coast, South Australia, Tasmania and NZ, also securing the support for Paul Dianno in Wollongong in June, so it’s likely they will be in a town near you very soon.