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It was not Obituary’s finest hour but that was not due to any fault of their own. They dragged themselves through a minefield of equipment blowouts at the Amplifier Bar to emerge a little battle worn but not willing to lay down and die.

Grotesque; still on first, still making the waxing crowd wonder why. They seem like they should be going somewhere but always seem to be stuck in the 8:30 slot. Impressive musicianship forms the foundation for this band and they administer this like medicine throughout their set, with an underpinning groove serving nicely as the spoonful of sugar. On bass Simon Muller seems to be the mascot, the defining element of Grotesque, as he cleaves a path through their songs with show stealing bass lines. Guitarist Marc Hawkins sweeps up after him with some fancy finger work of his own and they both find time amongst the shredding to make sure they deliver an easily digestible song. The crowd, still shaking off the Sunday dreads, nods along more and more enthusiastically as each song is presented with a few early risers reaching full headbang before the band is obliged to depart undeservingly early.

Returning triumphantly after taking out Overall Best Band at the recent Australian Metal Awards in Sydney Chaos Divine switch tempos from the opening act. A much more melodious mode of metal emerges from these maestros. Ryan Felton might wear his guitar as high as a 90 year old’s knickerbockers while Michael Kruit’s bass hangs as low as a 90 year old’s nutsack but this would be the only thing out of sync during their set. From thrashy riff, through melody driven choruses, across bridges walled with solos to a platform where some sort of unexplained force compels you to bang your head. Chaos Divine travelled this terrain in such smooth fashion during their live performance they appear to have somehow further tightened the already nunnified orifice that is Avalon, which took out the coveted “album of the year” at the aforementioned awards show.

Opening with List of Dead, track one off their latest album Darkest Day, all seemed to be going well. Halfway through the song, perhaps lulled into a false sense of security by the informal atmosphere created by the stage facilities(they had to part a section of the crowd to make their stage entrance) Obituary stepped on their first land mine. So far the list of dead consisted of one Trevor ‘T-Bone’ Peres’ guitar amp. A ten minute wait as they sorted out reinforcements urged the increasingly agitated audience to request a drum solo from Donald Tardy, who declined. Eventually resuming despite being clearly, and understandably, irritated they played well although the gig had now been given a vibe somewhat reminiscent of your mates trying to do a show in their parents shed with two guitars and one amp. Fortunately this time your mates were well seasoned musicians who battled through the war zone, losing limbs along the way, but still able to stand proud on their lone leg. Guitarist Ralph Santolla’s signal was cutting in and out, bassist Frank Watkins’ blew a tube and Peres’ replacement amp lost it’s signal itself further into the set… And his hair kept getting caught on the light above him.

How was the music? That which reached our ears was good, played enthusiastically, as enthusiastically as you can expect given the circumstances and the tunes were well honed. The old blended with the new, of course the classics such as Final Thoughts were the most well received as is the wont of many a crowd but they were never going to make anyone feel alienated running with their signature sound, which can largely be attributed to Tardy’s unique vocal style which still stands out after nearly 25 years of bands coming and going. The earthy riffs of Peres familiarly accompanied Tardy’s vocals in a manner rivalled only by the way his range of T-Bone’s Famous sauces accompany a barbecue. The encore, which you could be fairly certain was coming when you saw band members standing a few metres from the stage, mingling with fans, revealed Tardy’s reluctance to perform a drum solo during the death of equipment earlier on, he had been saving his drum solo to open the encore. After everyone had pleasurably accepted a thorough beating from Tardy, the rest of the band joined him on stage to perform a two song encore, closing with the finely matured Slowly We Rot, a song probably older than a few of the people watching it being played.

Obituary hearken back to a simpler time in metal, back then death metal really sounded like death metal, before the advent of an unabated tide of genre variations. They delivered a solid showing of classic death metal albeit through a mutilated audio system which no doubt detracted from the desired effect of their show, making it less perfect but more personal.

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