Despised Icon, The Red Shore,Thy Art Is Murder @ The Hi-Fi,Brisbane (14/11/2010)

Mon 22nd Nov, 2010 in Gig Reviews

With the first of two local openers Ashes of December receiving a lukewarm reaction it takes the second act Signal The Firing Squad to truly get tonight’s show underway. With titanic cuts such as Origins and the groove filled Overdose, plus being backed by spellbinding drumming, hammering guitar work and room shattering bass drops, the band are at the peak of their powers. With their debut album Earth Harvest soon to be released, the Sunshine Coast five-piece have a long and successful road ahead of them should the band keep up performances like tonight’s.

Hailing from Western Sydney, Thy Art Is Murder tear on stage to old favourite Infinite Death before launching into the delightfully misogynistic Laceration Penetration. While the pit might not be full of bodies quite yet, it’s lack of numbers is made up for with aggression, with a hapless fight-dancer being knocked out cold during the intro of the aforementioned second song. While vocalist Chris McMahon is a talented frontman and has a voice from hell, its guitarist Gary Markowski and drummer Lee Stanton’s mind blowing chops that leave the audience slack jawed, and as their set climaxes with the suitably epic Coward’s Throne, their brutal half an hour showing is just another notch in the belt of one of Australia’s hardest touring metal acts.

Maybe it’s because of the performance before them or the slightly lethargic crowd, but The Red Shore don’t seem to receive the same adulation of Thy Art Is Murder. As their latest release The Avarice of Man is undoubtedly the most focused and metal thing the band has recorded, it’s obvious that some of the fans are wary of the change of direction. It’s a shame though, as tracks such as the opening Armies of Damnation, Inflict De-creation and the new album’s title track absolutely slay in the live setting. The diehards only truly lose their collective minds over older cuts like The Garden of Impurity, Forefront of Failure and a crushing rendition of Sink or Swim. The frustration is most apparent on the face of vocalist Chase Butler, as he seethes with genuine hate, spitting out every lyric with bile and conviction, but you have to think that it’s only a matter of time before the Melbourne boys win over the doubters and gather a much larger slice of death metal faithful with their new sound.

As their final show on international shores, Canada’s Despised Icon performance tonight obviously has a lot of emotional weight, but rather than having a depressing vibe, the six-piece literally perform like it’s one of their last shows. Older classics like The Sunset Will Never Charm Us and Retina remind the crowd of the band’s more manic past, but it’s the tunes from the Day of Mourning and The Ills of Modern Man records that send the punters bananas. The ‘blast/growl/shriek/breakdown’ template gets abused throughout the sextet’s set, but it’s impossible to deny the sheer addictive songwriting ability of the group, as the likes of Furtive Monologue, Diva of Disgust and In The Arms of Perdition cause more movement than an earthquake.

While the prospect of going to work tomorrow is weighing on the minds of a good number of patrons as they contently stand back and watch, the pit really begins to swing and sway half way through the performance during the monsterous Les Temps Changent. The tightness of the band is a sight behold, thanks in no small part of having the best mix of the night, vocalists Alex Erian and Steve Marois lead from the front with their patented dual vocal assault, while the mesmerising drum work of Alex Pelletier has the support acts drummers vying for a good view side of stage.

As the final breakdown of the closing track MVP hammers home, helped along by a guest vocal spot from the frontman of local act Tomb of Doom, the curtain draws on the international career of one of the finest metal bands from The Great White North. With the last note fading away, Erian and Marois send out their heartfelt thanks to all the fans, bands and crew tonight, and say au revior to Brisbane for the first and last time.