Bastardfest @ The Civic Hotel,Perth (16/10/10)

Wed 20th Oct, 2010 in Gig Reviews

The Civic Hotel in Inglewood was possessed by a many-headed, black-shirted beast on Saturday. Bastardfest brought together a heaving mass of parched, like minded souls for a display of Perth’s many metal wares, with a couple of interstate bands thrown in for good measure.

Braving the unforgiving glare of the early afternoon sun in the hope of some cool, refreshing metal and a free sausage the more determined were in before Archaic took to the stage at 2:30pm.

From that point on the bands fell in a relentless hail, 20 in total. One would begin five minutes before the other ended on opposite stages at either end of the pub.

The windowless environment of The Back Room provided a welcome familiarity as it hosted The Kosmic Stage – where Born Into Suffering made us question how the sausages we ate earlier felt about their part in the event.

The Drum Media stage occupied the Den, with uninvited sunlight filtering in as the silvery Dennis Radacic of Human Extinction Project leapt onto tables in a single bound to scream his misgivings to the world. It was good to see him getting everyone involved, no matter how unwilling they may have been.

All manner of metal was represented. If the brutality from the unabashed death metal of Nails of Imposition was too flippant for you then hopefully you swallowed a good fill of headbang inspiring riffs from the thrashier Enforce.

Or if you were wondering how many notes fit in a minute, swing by Entrails Eradicated with their no-holds barred technical death metal. They gave the impression they were doing something impressive, and were, but little could be heard beneath the compressor like drum triggers whenever they were ticking away – which was often.

Malignant Monster came on like a blast from a spice weasel. Kicking it up a notch with some dapper extreme metal that touches all the major bases – death, black and thrash. And touches them with an expert hand, generous yet measured, thoughtful yet vigorous when necessary. Not stopping until they knew we were satisfied.

But one had to back up quickly, Grotesque where ready to have their way with everyone and were as ruthless and efficient as ever. The cream was rising to the top of the billing now, the polish becoming more evident.

By the time Morghl took to the Drum Media Stage night had fallen, like an angel. And the metal was blacker than night itself. Aggressive and attention grabbing, they were seductively sinister, like a scalding hot pie.

From NSW, Beyond Terror Beyond Grace were the first of the interstate bands to play and they were good at what they do, well paced ripping grind-core, but it had the feel of a local gig for local people, and in a way the interlopers just fueled the desire to hear more Perth product.

Enter The Mighty Scrape, as they are sometimes known, who produced a powerful display of vulgarity that only those with a moral conscious wouldn’t enjoy. Things were starting to get messy.

Speaking directly to the ale guzzling, wench molesting, sucker for a saga that hides inside all of us Claim The Throne were a highlight. As is any serious metal band they were complimented by a mascot, think Iron Maiden’s “Ed”, Megadeth’s “Vic”, then prepare yourself for the pink wonder that is “Bo Pippen”.

Bo Pippen’s rhythmic struggling on stage suggested he truly was a vessel for Claim The Throne’s beer addled anthems. Both drew you in and transported you to another world where you weren’t sure if it was appropriate to laugh or cry or masturbate.

Back to reality, and some old school, rock speckled, thrash metal put Psychonaut on a pedestal, standing out in their subtlety amongst so much brutality as the penultimate band in The Den.

Their partners in penultimancy Dyscord, back at The Kosmic Stage, continued on their quest to make core cool again. The much maligned genre barely fits the outfit these days anyway, who, with the same sound 15 years ago would’ve been known as a “heavy metal band”.

Though some members seemed a little more merry than is generally considered entirely professional (unconfirmed reports link this to said members being sighted funneling beer on stage during Claim The Throne) they still put on a mostly professional show – tight(mostly), structured(mostly) and entertaining(completely).

It was nearing the end of the night and as Dyscord gave way to Gallows for Grace the game of “what other band have I seen that dude in?” was really heating up. And as Gallows For Grace do always they, ahem, swept up nicely.

And all that was left was Ruins, from Tasmania. Drummer of the future, and present, Dave Haley and the freshly cropped Alex Pope showed they know their way around a black metal set.

Heavier than “true” black metal, due largely to the bone-crushing drum work of Haley, Ruins are doomy but not brooding. Almost rocky but nothing but metal. It was like early Satyricon met later Satyricon, and found they had so much in common that they decided to have a mutated Australian love child.

As Ruins the band left the stage and ruins the state of being entered many sodden minds, everyone still had just enough brain cells to know that they hoped this would later be known as the inaugural Bastardfest. Or thoughts to that effect.