Holding a local metal awards night at a publicly renowned dance/hip hop venue may seem a bit dubious to some, but not for Perth’s own Metal online forum Western Front. Painstakingly organised by the forum’s moderator Darren, the night represents the
who’s who of the Perth metal scene.

Gallows For Grace opened the prestigious night to a handful of dedicated and eager punters. While their placement on the
bill was questionable, the band’s talent is certainly not. The lads displayed their trademark technical playing prowess on the Metropolis stage perfectly. Something needs to be rectified with Gallows’ status, as a band of this talent and history should surely be headlining the night, not opening it.

Next up were progressive metallers Lacrymae. They played a tight set, and displayed some great vocal and instrumental abilities. Lacrymae failed to keep the audience’s full attention during their set though. This could possibly be excused due to the sheer size of the stage and venue. A good effort nonetheless.

After the presentation of a few awards, Claim the Throne appeared. A truly epic stage for these battle-hardened warriors. Smeared with blood, the mighty Baronaxe led his brave warriors, (and beer wench keyboardist) through a good selection of tracks from their forthcoming Ale Tales and recent release Only The Brave Return. Despite
all the tongue in cheek medieval fun, The Throne have some pretty epic songs, with catchy choruses all executed with great poise and style.
A particular highlight was bass wielder Lord Jim, who after sculling many an ale, took a piss at the back of the stage, unbeknownst to any of the in-house security.

Darren took the stage again in between to announce some more metal awards, and throw out some metal paraphernalia to the hungry punters.

Psychonaut were the night’s headliners, showing off their cheeky thrash/glam-esque brand of metal. They were very tight and energetic, collecting a decent group of dedicated fans up the front. Again they were another band that did not capture the full attention of Metro city, but did reasonably well given the enormity of the venue. The band were joined by a few stars from the metal scene; Smitty (ex-Scourge), Cain Cressal (Malignant Monster) and Dan (the Mighty Scrape) for a unforgettable number.

Overall it was a decent night, showing people what great metal talent Perth has to offer, with a good enough turnout to encourage more local metal gigs at the venue. Hats off to Darren who dedicates a lot of his time for such a worthy cause.

The results:

Best Band: Lacrymae

Best Guitarist: Mark from Psychonaut