Segression @ Annandale Hotel,Sydney (6/5/11)

Mon 9th May, 2011 in Gig Reviews

As I arrived early during sound check it was apparent that the band was ready to show off the hard work over the last few years. I was lucky enough to have the chance to run into Segression frontman and bassist Chris Rand. We had a lengthy discussion on where the band has been in the past and how proud he is of their achievements and emphasised the importance of their legion of fans that continue to follow the band. He was really looking forward to playing and touring the country showing off their sound. Chris also teased that he again is keen to get back in the studio and said emphatically that it won’t be 8 years before their next album. He presented like a man who was happy with were he and the band were at.

That said the night kicked off with Our Last Enemy. The good thing was they where not just loud for the sake of it. It was as if a dark ball of energy was on the stage. To me they seemed to have the sound and the look to make it. They where the pick of the undercard. Solid from start to finish.

Next up was Contrive who took a great deal of time to setup the gear and the bass drivers in my opinion where cranked way to high so the sounds was kind of dead. That being said the three performers where good and they gave it their all and closed their set well.

Dreadnaught offered absolute professionalism and a tight as stage show to match the well oiled sounds that they offer . These guys are not considered one of Australia’s hardest working metal bands for nothing. They powered through their set on a stage that may have been to small for them. The lead singer is pocket rocket behind the mike and gave us all he had. By the end of the Dreadnaught set the punters where slowly filing in. For a while there it looked like it would be a below par turn out. It didn’t end up that way.

But now that it was time for the main event the place had nearly filled the lights dimmed and Segression came out and then lead singer Chris Rand. And then BANG straight into the fury that is regression. The mild mannered frontman I met earlier that night just morphed into a raging storm. They kicked of the night with the first song from their new album Blood Lace Black Day and just as it does on the album it hits hard with it’s ferocity.

Small audio issues where the only thing that went wrong in the opener. Once tweaked the freight kept charging through the venue and it didn’t stop. Old fans and new fans alike would have been satisfied with the bands song selection for the night. Segression classics like The Thickening, KRK and Let Me Be Me where all in the set as where a great selection of the bands new sounds including Gaspipe, Wishing Well and Hero Anthem were all crowd pleasers.

The band continued to churn through their set list a highlight for me was the title track from the new album Never Dead. It worked live on so many levels and had the punters and the mosh pit in full swing. They finished up with a absolute classic the 5th of the 5th and that was it. The new band line up of sounded tight and Red behind the kit worked very hard with some very complex chops. So after an hour and a half of non stop destruction it was obvious that the big boys of metal are here to reclaim their crown.

Overall the crowd lapped it up some like me just stood there, some moshed, some sang, but they all rocked out. It was loud, but there was a purity to this. It seemed like it was a band playing for some friends and in the end that’s what it should always be.