Three, well-known metal bands, playing to a mass of die-hard fans, are rare happenings on this side of the world. But in one massive night, a quadruple onslaught of American Metal unleashed fury upon Australia ! Lamb Of God, Devildriver, Shadows Fall and High on Fire…it’s a new wave heavy metal fan’s wet dream.

Opening the night was High On Fire, a trio out of Oakland California and first time visitors to Australia. The band fit well as the perfect opener for the evening. They didn’t generate much of a reaction from the crowd, but by the end of their set the pit was pretty much full and people were looking warmed up thanks to High On Fire’s tales of fury and aggression.

Shadows Fall have been going for 15 years, with their relentless touring and dedication to their fans have made them one of the most important, not to mention influential, bands in the new wave of heavy metal. Right from the opening riffs of the first song, King of Nothing, I was sucked in to their performance. Then frontman Brian Fair jumped to the edge of the stage and into the crowd. Such an insane dude, he crowd surfed for quite a while before getting back to the stage to finish the song. By the end of the second song, Brian tells people to start moving “this isn’t a show, it’s a party so I want every last one of you motherf*&kers to go crazy”. And it was true, for a gig like this, the audience sure was tame.

The front few rows started to wake up after a riff in Redemption was dedicated to Dimebag (RIP), but they weren’t being as brutal as I was expecting. An emo dissing The Light That Blinds sure the punters roar with their fists and horns flying up in the air. Then as requested by Brian, the middle of the mosh turned into a full on circle pit and everyone wnet crazy. Overall Shadows Fall were brilliant, offering a fine display of tight showmanship. Their blend of melody and brutality in their sheer heaviness was mind-blowing, and Jonathan Donais and Matt Bachand’s shredding was astounding.

After a short interval Devildriver graced the stage and were met with an eruption of noise. Devildriver have been receiving glowing reviews ever since this year’s Soundwave festival at the start of the year – very familiar with Des Fafara’s work in Coal Chamber, I was keen to see what his current band was like. If crowd perception was anything to go by, I’d say these guys are not only highly praised, but worshipped. From the first song, End Of The Line, to the last, everyone was going absolutely mad – bodies were flying up in the air, arms and legs all over the place, serious headbanging and loud screams were constant during Devildriver’s set. The band themselves were loving the reaction they were receiving, so much so, they went overtime and played an extended set. I’ll give them major props for crowd interaction and the music was awesome but for some reason the vocals didn’t do that much for me. An interesting band to say the least, awesome guitar work and drumming, but maybe I need to listen to them a lot more for them to grow on me.

When the time finally came for Lamb Of God to play, Festival Hall was like some kind of hell. The air was thick and hot and you could see the smog thanks to the orange tinge in the house lights. It was very obvious that close to 80% of patrons came to see this powerhouse five-piece. Fresh from their tour with Metallica, Lamb Of God were fully loaded on their ammunition of thrash speed, and progressive metal. Not holding back, they played an intense set full of crowd favourites (both old and new). The guitars were fast and tight, Randy Blythe’s vocals were strong, and the circle in the pit was getting bigger and wider – people went completely nuts.

Lamb Of God leave the stage and after much loud chanting from the punters, Mark Morton and Willie Adler reappeared with a dual solo. Blythe then comes out and screaming “you filthy bunch of bogans makes some noise” and launched into Contractor. After issuing a warning of uncertainty, “but I know shit’s gonna get bad” they go out with Redneck and Black Label with the craziest circle pit I’ve ever seen.

CHECK OUT THE PHOTOS FROM THE SHOW HERE