Machine Head, Hatebreed,Bleeding Through, Emmure @ TheHi-Fi, Brisbane (28/03/2010)

Sun 28th Mar, 2010 in Gig Reviews

Check photos from the mayhem here

For the third year running, Machine Head have returned to Australia behind their career-defining album, The Blackening. With their three support acts dealing with a more hardcore take on metal, tonight promises to be a violent evening – despite the somewhat disappointing venue downsizing from Brisbane Riverstage to the much more intimate surroundings of The Hi-Fi bar.

While probably unknown to a large portion of the crowd, New York’s Emmure get a positive reaction from the quickly filling Hi-Fi bar. Despite having an image that makes them appear to be more like a rap-posse, the New York 5-piece deliver an un-relenting set of deathcore.

Vocalist Franke Palmeri ’s growls and screams are ferocious, while his spoken/rapped passages are weak and fail to cut through the mix. Guitarist Jesse Ketive has problems of his own as he battles string breakages and tuning issues throughout the set. Emmure are a tight act and put on an energetic performance, but their sound comes across as simply a collection of breakdowns, rather than boasting any truly memorable songs.

Drawing from an eclectic mix of genres including melodic death metal, hardcore and black metal, Bleeding Through musically stands above the rest of their relatively one-dimensional peers in the metalcore scene. Monstrous cuts such as opener Love Lost In A Hail Of Gunfire and Orange County Blonde And Blue turns the dance floor inside-out as frontman Brandan Schieppati pushes the heaving mosh to its breaking point.

Playing a mix of songs off their last three studio albums, the band interestingly performs as a five-piece tonight with guitarist Brian Leppke something of an unexplained absence. This doesn’t dent their sound though, with new axeman Dave Nassie more than adequately covering any missing guitar parts. Closing with Kill To Believe, Bleeding Through have well and truly warmed up the crowd for the upcoming acts.

Judging by the sheer number of their shirts on the backs of punters, you could be forgiven for thinking that Hatebreed where tonight’s headliners. While the bands before them where certainly no slouches during their respected sets, Hatebreed manage to turn everything up a notch. Cramming as many songs as possible into their allotted forty-five minutes, Defeatist, I Will Be Heard, To The Threshold and new favourite In Ashes They Shall Reap all rapturously received.

Jamey Jasta ’s impassioned “You are not alone” lyrics and truly appreciative thanks for the crowds rapid reception is one of tonight’s highlights, as is the crowd perfectly executing gang-vocals and chant sections. With the paint peeling off the walls from the sheer heat and intensity conjured up by both the band and audience, Hatebreed close with the fittingly brutal Destroy Everything.

With close to forty (!) months of almost solid touring behind them, Machine Head are one highly oiled metal ensemble. The epic one-two opener of Clenching The Fists Of Dissent and Imperium, show off everything great about the four-piece, with pure adrenaline-fueled aggression backed up with incendiary musicianship and unashamed melodic vocal lines.

With an intense set from Hatebreed to compete with, you’d think Machine Head would have their work cut out for them. To put it plainly, they make it look easy. With Robb Flynn leading from the front, and his lieutenants bassist Adam Duce and guitarist Phil Demmel by his side, the Oakland foursome absolutely obliterate The Hi-Fi.

The smaller venue works strongly in the band’s favour, with the crowd mass headbanging on heavier tunes like Take My Scars, while providing a choir of backing vocals for the truly massive Halo. While leaning heavily on their 2007 masterpiece The Blackening, the setlist also takes in numerous cuts from their first two albums, Burn My Eyes and The More Things Change, much to the delight of the numerous old-school fans in attendance.

With the “Machine Fucking Head” chants echoing through-out the audience long after the band has said their farewells, everyone here tonight knows they’ve witnessed a truly amazing performance from one the best metal bands of the last twenty years.