...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead have always been a hard band to classify. Their name conjures an image of some kind of dark metal band, perhaps from Norway. Their album art – intricately detailed fantasy art that recalling the school book scribblings of a child genius – suggests their sound might lean more towards 70s prog rock. On record, they somehow manage to occupy a space between indie and prog rock, as if Dungeons and Dragons kids got angry and formed a garage band. Not long after their last visit to our country, Trail of Dead finally made the pilgrimage to Perth, and armed with their extensive back catalogue, it was going to be interesting to see whether the Rosemount stage of the could handle the weight of their influences.

Local support The Silent World managed to tick all the post rock boxes during their set. Guitars layered with delay and chorus, slow and steady builds towards crashing choruses, and even the incredibly risky guitar played with a cello bow – a dangerous move, which can slide very easily from Sigur Ros to Spinal Tap in a moment. Fortunately, the boys had the chops to pull it off. New track Shit-Berg as well as Average Looking Girlfriend from their EP An Eye for an Ear displayed their love of math rock and glitchy drum samples and while their set suffered from some timing issues early on, The Silent World show great ambition and promise and ended on a strong, confident note. Anyone with an interest in Explosions in the Sky or even Battles would do well to check them out.

Trail of Dead are not a band known to do things by halves, in the past having toured as a six piece, featuring two drummers on stage. Now cut back to four key members, and no second drum kit or even keyboard to be seen anyone would be forgiven in thinking the crowd were about to witness Trail-of-Dead-lite. Concerns that this was going to be a small show were not-so-quietly put to rest as the pre-recorded Ode to Isis ended, the band filled the tiny Rosemount stage, and the opening notes of the sixteen minute, five part epic Strange News From Another Planet filled the room. Conrad Keely’s throat tight as he wailed his vocals, backed by a wall of sound provided by Jason Reece on guitar, Autry Fulbright on bass and Jamie Miller on drums, all playing with an energy usually reserved for a closing number.

And from there, the pace was set. Moving into Spiral Jetty and Weight of the Sun from Tao of the Dead, with Reece and Fullbright joining Keely on the chorus, screaming “You will pay!” – the three men sounding more like an army of many. Ebb Away followed, slowing the pace slightly, but never letting up on the volume. And with that, the ‘new album’ portion of the evening was out of the way.

With such a varied back catalogue, and changes in direction that have divided fans and critics over their many years, a band like Trail of Dead were always going to have a hard time pleasing everyone. For every fan of Source Tags and Codes, you’ll find another hoping to hear tracks from their more grandiose later albums. Fortunately this set-list played much like a time machine, driving rapidly towards 88 miles per hour. A blistering rendition of Will You Smile Again? followed by Caterwaul from Worlds Apart had the crowd bouncing. Then after a quick band rotation – Reece taking drum duties and Miller taking over on guitar – it was Source Tags and Codes time. A quick tease of How Near, How Far lead into It Was There that I Saw You, and then back into How Near.

A quick pit-stop into new material territory saw the band do another swap – Keely taking over the drums and Reece stepping up front to try out a new song they’d written during sound check on a previous night. Reece taking leave from the stage, stretching his mic cord as far as it’d go, choosing to deliver his vocals from atop the bar in true rock and roll fashion. On his return to the stage, he announced; “That went exactly according to plan,” before starting what you’d probably consider the band’s biggest hit – Another Morning Stoner – played at a speed much faster than its name suggests. With barely a breath between, Trail of Dead pushed even further back into their repertoire with Perfect Teenhood, before falling victim to the wonders of Perth’s Sunday night curfew and a five minute warning, cutting their set short to one more song.

It’s hard to fault Trail of Dead for wanting to please fans with their older material. Even as they delved through their back catalogue, you could see this was a band that just enjoys playing live, every song was played with the same level of intensity, and sung with the same conviction. While their lyrics and album presentation and even name may come across as pompous and overblown to some naysayers, when boiled down to their core members, ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead are just a damn fine live rock band.