There is something about The Forum and its live sound – it always seems to be good. It doesn’t matter what genre of live music you go to see there, I cannot recall a time when I have seen a bad show. Thursday night was no exception with metal heavyweights Arch Enemy and Suffocation rolling into town for the “Tyrants of Evil” tour.

Marking a return to Melbourne for both bands on the back of recent studio releases, the anticipation was palpable. Merchandise was being purchased at a rapid rate and chanting could be heard before any of the acts started.

Californian metallers Winds of Plague provided solid support to a quickly filling venue. While I wasn’t really familiar with Winds of Plague’s material, their live sound was such that it was hard not to get caught up in the feeling of their set.

Suffocation are simply gods of the death metal genre and have been around for longer than most other bands that exist in the same space. So much so that I was surprised that they were on a support bill for another band.

Their sound was impeccable and the feeling of their set reminded all of the punters there why they are regarded as one of the pioneering forces of technical death metal. This is especially true for drummer Mike Smith who is regarded as one of the original and best exponents of blast beats, and he didn’t disappoint the crowd, with track after track of drumming brutality. While they were touring on the back of their most recent studio album Blood Oath, their live set was focused primarily on the tracks that have made them one of the most recognisable sounds in death metal today. While all of their tracks were memorable, the standouts included Habitual Infamy, Abomination Reborn, Liege of Inveracity, Pierced From Within and Infecting the Crypts. I was truly astonished at how clear their live sound was (which is very hard to achieve with a tech death metal band).

Arch Enemy are a collective powerhouse of the global metal scene. The Amott brothers are truly accomplished guitarists. Combine their prowess with the impeccable drumming of Daniel Erlandsson and guttural vocal stylings of Angela Gossow and this group is a force to be reckoned with in a live setting. As such, The Forum was the perfect venue for them to spruik their new album The Root of All Evil. They have always had good credentials as a melodic metal act and the addition of death metal style vocals sung by Gossow since the early part of this decade has added to their marketability and appeal across many genres.

Gossow is a great front woman and fed very well off the energy provided by the crowd. She clearly likes it in Oz and during the show commented that it was her birthday, the second time that she has celebrated it while touring here.

Continuing on from the previous bands, the live sound was very good, which made listening to the well constructed and melodic yet brutal songs great fun. The standout tracks in their set included Ravenous, The Immortal, Revolution Begins and Bury Me an Angel. Having such a large back catalogue (8 studio albums), it was always going to be hard to cover all bases but they did a great job of blending old with new.

Through the harmonised guitar melodies and Gossow’s impressive vocal range, Arch Enemy put on a show to remember. I just wonder when they will be back next time.

CHECK OUT THE PHOTOS FROM THE GIG HERE