Deathstars @ Corner Hotel,Melbourne (26/09/09)

Mon 28th Sep, 2009 in Gig Reviews

Sweden’s princes of self-proclaimed “death-glam” first exploded into the industrial kingdom in 2002 with their debut album Synthetic Generation. Since then, not only have the Deathstars won the award for Best Newcomers at Metal Hammer UK’s Golden Gods Awards in 2007, they have also been asked to tour with Cradle of Filth and Korn. And after witnessing their live show on Saturday night, it’s evident the stars of death shall continue to rise.

In Australia for the first time to tour their third release, an album called Night Electric Night – a much gloomier album than their previous release Termination Bliss (2006). The band which has been described as “a mix between Rammstein and a Scandinavian Kiss”, promised to deliver a vicious live show with their tales of debauchery. The reviews of their European shows posted online hyped me up and I could not wait to see these guys in action – especially Cat Casino, right ladies? Wink, wink!

Upon entering the venue, you could feel the mood was already dark and sombre, but the house was not even half full! The crowd was divided between the bar and the stage, which made the Corner look quite big in size, which in actual fact is not quite true. I kept thinking to myself, there’s no way the Goth folk of Melbourne would miss tonight, especially with a band such as Deathstars marking their first visit to our country.

First support Familia sounded pretty plain, and they weren’t doing anything visually appealing for me. I think if they injected a bit more energy and personality into their show they’d be good, because aurally they weren’t that bad – they sounded like a Depeche Mode/Ikon combination.

After a short pause, Sydney siders INK were up next. By now the Corner was well and truly packed. And by the end of Ink’s set, I understand the sudden lack of airspace. Right from the get go these dudes were insanely awesome! Front man Johnathan Devoy’s energy was infectious, and the guy sure knows how to use the stage. He was fully into it and so were the other members and the crowd reacted by starting a small mosh in the front rows. Ink’s showmanship and musical ability blew me away – everything from Johnathan’s vocals to drummer Red’s beating of the skins, guitarists Charles Cilia and Aaron Bilbija’s spine tingling riffs and bassist Leeno Dee’s smashing grooves – all fit perfectly to create the unique INK picture. It’s no wonder they are on the RIOT roster, and I cannot believe I have not seen their show until now!

After almost two hours of waiting (and the horde of fans well oiled from Ink’s performance) the time had finally arrived – it was show time. The curtain was still closed when we heard the whisper of “It’s Night” but all of a sudden flung wide open into the opening riffs of Night Electric Night and Deathstars finally appeared, launching into the first verse. The five members, faces covered in white face paint and heavy makeup, black hair, and military uniforms – lead singer Andreas “Whiplasher Bernadotte” Bergh’s with a face half covered in glitter, were met with loud screams of enthusiasm and an abundance of hands up in the air, desperately trying to grab any one of them.

The Deathstars show doesn’t include any theatrics, it features only the band (in character) and their instruments. From the very first song you realise no visuals are needed because these Swedish ghouls have a mammoth sound and the epic production of their songs transcends when they are played live. With catchy tunes, an up-tempo sound and outgoing band members, it looked like it was going to be an amazing night.

The set list drew on every album and was quite powerful in terms of the energy it generated from the audience. On stage as musicians, you can see Deathstars gel very well as a band. Bergh’s charisma is so big you can’t help but fall in love with his wacky sense of humour and acute cheekiness. After Mark Of The Gun he spoke of how they bring with them Scandinavian destruction and how at one of their shows in Spain he allegedly saw a girl being f%^ked from behind. This was followed by a “So what are YOU gonna do for us Melbourne?” his voice deep and resembling the growl we hear on the albums. He also said they found Melbourne very exotic, but to Melbourne Scandinavian guys are exotic, teasing all the girls grabbing at them (he sure had the girls in the front row eating out of his hand!) before launching into The Last Ammunition and The Fuel Ignites. Just before New Dead Nation he made the crowd erupt in a huge roar of “yeeeah” when he dedicated the song to the people in attendance, reaffirming we are all “citizens of destruction” and this song is for the fans in Melbourne.

Blitzkrieg was one massive sing-along and Blood Stains Blondes got one gig-goer so excited she tried to unzip Whiplasher’s pants – to which he responded in his mischievous heavy accent “You are not aware what you are doing little devil girl”, causing many of us to laugh at his cockiness. Whiplasher’s black humour sure made the night all the more entertaining, but the defining WOW moment came when they played Cyanide, definitely my highlight of the evening – not because I love the song, but because of the atmosphere and the buzz it created! The excitement was undeniable and I don’t think one single person was standing still during the duration of that song! Deathstars then left the stage with a quick “thank-you”, but as avid concert folks we all knew an encore was imminent!

As the curtain closed, a loud chant of “DEATH STARS” and clapping hands gave us a faint “huh?” from side stage. As the chanting continued, more loudly and more aggressively we heard a much louder “huuuh?” followed by an evil and guttural “HUUUH?” and Whiplasher re-emerged from behind the curtain wearing a top hat, asking if the girls in tonight’s audience have left their boyfriends back home because this song was going out to all the ladies – and then Jonas “Skinny Disco” Kangur and Eric “Cat Casino” Bäckman ran onto the stage topless, launching into Death Dies Hard. The crowd went ballistic and the guys were definitely humbled by the applause they were receiving judging by the look on their faces. I love seeing that look on musicians’ faces – it reminds me that even rockstars have hearts.

Whiplasher promised to go out with a bang before asking “Are you ready for revolution?” which of course, got everyone going mental and yelling out all sorts of things from “I love you” to shrieks of “you rock” – Ole “Bone W Machine” Ã-hman and Emil “Nightmare Industries” Nödtveidt saluting the crowd with their metal horns. And it was with the chunky bass lines in The Revolution Exodus that Deathstars ended the show, leaving everyone begging for more. We received a “Thank you, good night, we will be back” and they were gone.

Deathstars may be quite obviously fascinated by the KISS look and the Alice Cooper influence is apparent – their show is extremely dark (the songs) yet quite funny (the comments), but one thing you can’t argue is that these masters of dark rock make music that is distinct and powerful. I couldn’t stop chuckling at how Whiplasher kept flicking his hair from his eyes just like Paul Stanley, all the way home! I hope they do come back, and soon.

CHECK OUT THE PHOTOS FROM THE GIG HERE