Testament, Dreadnaught,Lynchmada @ The Hi-Fi(08/08/2010)

Mon 16th Aug, 2010 in Gig Reviews

The thrash metal scene of the mid eighties has seen something of a massive revival of late, with even the lesser known acts receiving a large boost in popularity thanks to the younger generation of headbangers. While not part of the fabled ‘Big Four’ of thrash, devout metal heads know that Testament are truly one of the gods of the Bay Area Thrash movement, with the expectations a killer show for the Brisbane faithful running extremely high.

Playing to an almost desolate Hi-Fi room, Queensland-based Lynchmada carry on as if they’re playing to a full crowd, with frontman Harris’ energetic stage presence and surprisingly versatile vocal range leading the charge. With the quintet heading into the studio next week, their short set focuses on mostly new tracks, with strong grooves and a powerful vocal act punctuating the somewhat repetitive faster passages. Harris’ down to earth stage banter is a refreshing change from the standard faux tough guy act, and despite some accidental mic unplugging, the band are certainly worthy of much more than the polite applause they receive from the near empty hall.

By the time that Dreadnaught take to the stage the room has significantly started to fill out, and the Melbourne five piece receive a very warm response throughout their whole set. What the band also receives is an absolutely rancid sound mix, with the drums completely burying the rhythm guitar lines and bass parts. As the set progresses the sound slowly starts to even out, and lead guitarist Richie Poate ’s highly impressive lead guitar work finally works itself out of the inaudible mire. Regardless of this it’s almost impossible to appreciate tunes such as The Push and 10x the Pain as their set is drowned out by the overpowering drum work.

If the crowd thought that the sound situation was going to vastly improve by the time Testament take to the stage, than they’ve sadly got a big surprise coming. With the opening salvo of More Than Meets The Eye, Dog Faced Gods and The New Order it’s plainly obvious that the sound man left his hearing aids at home and is trying to compensate his inability to hear the band by deafening everyone else in attendance. Sure, this is heavy metal, and it’s an unwritten law that metal should be played LOUD – but when the volume is cranked to the point where any riffs moving at 140bpm or faster become indistinguishable from one another, it’s simply a struggle to enjoy the performance.

Regardless of the sound, the band themselves still put on a hell of show, with man mountain frontman Chuck Billy proving that he has somehow managed to add even more power and aggression to his voice some twenty five years into his singing career. Classic cuts such as Into the Pit and Electric Crown sound as fresh and vital as they did over two decades ago, with the mosh burning up The Hi-Fi’s meagre dance floor.

Frustratingly the sound issues crop up every time axemen Alex Skolnick and Eric Peterson fire off a guitar solo, with a vast majority of frantically picked notes being buried under an absolutely punishing wall of drums. The Preacher gets thrown into the set via an audience member request –something you don’t see at every international metal show that rolls into town – and the curtains finally fall after the dominating title track of their latest record, The Formation of Damnation.

Ultimately the sound issues have undone this show, despite the bands completely commanding stage presence and faultless musicianship – however, do the sea of bodies in the pit care about the huge mixing issues? Probably not, and maybe this reviewer is just getting bogged down by the specifics, but through no fault of Testament themselves this show unfortunately has to go down as a disappointment.