Toxic Holocaust @ Fowler'sLive, Adelaide (08/01/12)

Tue 10th Jan, 2012 in Gig Reviews

In the 17 years I have lived here, there’s one major piece of advice I give to my friends in bands – don’t play your first time in Adelaide between Sunday and Thursday. It’s very easy to chuck in an extra date at the end of a tour, but sadly the average punter appears incapable of actually getting off the couch on a anything but a Friday or Saturday night! Case in point: one of the greatest metal bands I’ve heard in recent times, Toxic Holocaust.

Toxic Holocaust are one of the main reasons I love the facewebs. A mate posted a video of Nuke The Cross and I fell in metal love. I haven’t heard riffs like that since Megadeth’s Rust in Peace. Figuring a band that rad would have to sell out Fowlers, I was surprised to find maybe 50 very excited metalheads getting into opener Imminent Pyschosis. Rough around the edges in the best possible way, they sounded like a bunch of mates drinking beer and playing metal. They seemed a little too relaxed until they started playing, then they nearly exploded my eyeballs. They were relentless, a speed-metal machine. The bearded guitarist was freakin’ nuts. Being Fowlers, the sound was a bit muddy, but ironically was alleviated due to the band’s bassist unable to make it to the gig. Good fun.

Next up was locals Space Bong, which sounded exactly as you would expect – awesome. They were droney and heavy as fuck. I think they played maybe three songs all up, my mate insists it was two. I was sure I heard them stop briefly twice. They reminded me of the Melvins on codeine, or 90s Brisbane band Hateman. Although this style of music is not something I’m normally into, these guys had something really engaging, as I was transfixed for about 30 minutes. Definitely want to see them again.

If I thought the last two bands were brutal (and they were), I had no idea that Kromosom were about to not only tear me a new one, but tear out several others while they were there. They pretty much embody everything I love about metal, with the brashness and swagger of my favourite punk bands. Great riffs, a singer who was fricken MENTAL, and a tight-as-hell rhythm section. I’ll not only be seeing these guys again, I’ll be buying albums, t-shirts and possibly shares in the company.

Then the night got weird. Oh, Toxic Holocaust’s set started brilliantly, it even sounded great. They played mostly old stuff, with a smattering of new songs. Although they didn’t appear to have anyone operating the lights, the smoke machine was going ballistic, to the point where you couldn’t see anything. About 5 songs in, I looked up and noticed the fire alarms blaring, and the proprietor running to the mixing desk. Then the PA cut out, guitar amps drowning out the drums until an awkward silence kicked in. We were then ushered out to wait for the fire brigade to rock up. From a smoke machine. It took about 15 minutes before we could go back in. Toxic Holocaust did their best to regain momentum, but sadly only played another 4 songs. I understand, but I would’ve listened for another hour if they kept playing. Do me a favour and buy their album so they might be tempted to come back?