Disturbed, Trivium, As I LayDying @ Acer Arena, Sydney(25/4/11)

Tue 10th May, 2011 in Gig Reviews

It may have been the Easter Long Weekend for most, but Christmas came early for metalheads in the form of Music as a Weapon. Boasting a monstrous line-up of As I Lay Dying, Trivium and Disturbed, expectations were incredibly high amongst the immense sea of black clad fans that had descended upon Acer Arena early in the night, attempting to avoid getting caught out by the dual mosh pit setup of the venue.

Tasked with the usual opening duty for the night, Forgiven Rival took this unusually large crowd and ran with it, firing up the crowd with their melodic take on Amity Affliction-esque post hardcore. In many respects it felt as if the Melbourne quintet had the odds stacked against them, with a mountain of gear and roadies perched on the edge of the stage, eager to get the band off as soon as possible. Yet the only Aussies on the bill certainly did their nation proud on Anzac Day, with merciless breakdowns and harmonious vocal lines resonating throughout the massive arena, setting the standard for the acts to come astonishingly high.

With the relatively unknown rival Forgiven Rival retreating backstage, it became immediately clear that it was time to get down to business, with the crowd surging and screaming at the sight of the As I Lay Dying banner dropping from the ceiling. With just over twelve months since their last appearance in Sydney, the San Diegan quintet burst onto stage, tearing into the vicious 94 Hours, before moving on to showcase newer material from their latest album The Powerless Rise, enthralling a swathe of hardcore fans with their technical yet ferocious setlist. Although this in itself seemed to be of little interest many of the Disturbed fans packing the mosh, causing one to question the choice of three metalcore acts in support for a nu metal band, which whilst sounding arbitrary, is somewhat unusual.

Rounding out the trio of supports for the night were metalcore juggernauts Trivium, whose drastic evolution over the past ten years has above all, led to them becoming one of the most sought out modern metal acts in the world, with the legendary Iron Maiden booking them as supports for their gargantuan shows at London’s O2 arena later this year.

Oddly enough, Music as a Weapon came as the first tour the quartet had undertaken since their lengthy hiatus to record their latest unreleased (and untitled) album. Although one certainly couldn’t tell, with new drummer Nick Augusto charging into the thunderous drum intro to Pull Harder on the Strings of your Martyr, prompting vocalist Matt Heafy to sprint onto stage and launch into a verse of screaming that would rival the most unruly three year old.

In the true Trivium fashion, the frontman unrelentingly led the crowd through a set of incendiary tracks from their breakthrough album Ascendancy, including the thrash inspired Rain and the epic Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation, before lead guitarist Corey Beaulieu flaunted his soloing prowess, with the orientally inspired Down from The Sky. Disappointingly enough, the Floridian headbangers newest material was nowhere to be seen within their criminally brief forty five minute set, yet as the band strode triumphantly off the stage, the mass of diehard fans screaming for an encore gave one the distinct feeling that Trivium had well and truly made an impression upon the audience.

With three tremendously talented metal bands having taken to the stage already, the dense mosh of Disturbed fans suddenly became tense, with a palpable sense of anticipation lingering amongst the smell of stale sweat and cigarette smoke that hung across the venue. Yet this tense atmosphere quickly shifted to that of complete chaos, with the instrumental Remnants flowing straight into the thumping bass of Asylum, accompanied by an energetic David Draiman sprinting onto stage, to the delight of the frenzied audience.

Yet each track was done and gone almost as soon as it had gone, in a performance that felt as if it had been compressed to the point that the Chicagoan quartet’s performance lasted little scarely more than an hour. Although considering the first half of the set revolved around a somewhat underwhelming release, Asylum, perhaps this initial rush wasn’t such a bad thing.

In saying this however, it must also be said that whilst the initial presence of the band was somewhat lacking, with overly rehearsed stage movements and an overall lack of movement from most of the band evident, Disturbed certainly had no problem garnering praise from the fans who seemed to be savouring every minute of the nu metallers time on stage.

With their latest material out of the way, the business end of the night came to fruition, with fan favourites Inside the Fire, Stupify and Ten Thousand Fists renewing the wearying audiences’ sense of vigour. Although that also may of been the result of the extensive pyrotechnic setup that cast a wave of light and heat across the entire audience, which in itself, complemented the impressive visual display projected onto the half dozen screens across the stage.

But it was as the band returned for their encore that Disturbed peaked, with a vicious flame riddled rendition of Indestructible leading into a roaring drum solo from Mike Wengren. Witnessing this instrumental, it was hard to comprehend how it had made its way into the encore, until Wengren busted into the thumping intro the anthemic Disturbed “classic” The Sickness, finishing the night on a pronounced high with a deafening chant that encompassed the entire arena.

Feeling humbled by the sheer amount of devoted fans exiting on mass from Homebush, it was clear that despite the diverse age of audience, three of the worlds most talented metal bands (and a pretty kickass local act) had forged a memory within the minds of 10,000 odd metalheads in attendance on the most patriotic of Australian days.