To the untrained ear, any music termed ‘death metal’ probably sounds much the same – a wall of chaotic noise. The sets by Decapitated and Nile at Club Capitol on Tuesday night showed just how diverse two bands in the same genre, and even on the same bill, can be.
Polish band Decapitated seem like a bunch of guys who really like what they do. From the moment they arrived on stage until their set was over, their energy and enthusiasm engulfed the venue, leading the headbanging brigade by example, inviting the hardcore up to stage dive, and chatting with the crowd.
Announcing both old and new ‘shit’, guitarist Vogg Kieltyka, bassist Martin Rygiel, drummer Vitek Kieltyka and vocalist Covan Kowanek spurred fans into a non-stop neck-snapping frenzy of furious speed. Kowanek didn’t stop smiling the whole show, as he helped stage divers up, shook hands with the crowd and nodded in approval at the mayhem he had incited. That Rygiel and Vitek managed to play their instruments and avoid serious whiplash injury is a miracle in itself. The Kieltyka brother behind the kit made speed and precision seem effortless. The show put on by Decapitated was a sight to behold, and over too quickly to leave time for the main headliners, Nile.
In contrast to Decapitated, Nile seem to take themselves rather more seriously as a band. With an Egyptian mythological theme running through all five of their albums, technical intricacy and atmospheric digital effects make for an epic listening experience that perhaps small noisy clubs are not ideally suited to.
Nile chose to ignore a few common live conventions – firstly, members came on stage one by one to perform their own sound checks before the start of their set. No doubt one of the reasons for this was the amount of equipment that had to be set up for each member. Where some bands have walls of amps, Nile had walls of boards with wires, knobs, blinking lights and computer screens.
When they did start the set, it was without much ceremony – the lights merely dimmed slightly before the band started playing. Guitarist and main vocalist Dallas Toler-Wade, sporting a bald-topped hairdo known as a ‘skullet’ and inexplicably, a Nescafe Frappe shirt, announced each song by asking the crowd if they wanted to hear it, at one point adding “because we’re going to play it anyway” in response to a negatory from someone in the front row. Guitarist and main songwriter Karl Sandars and the unnamed touring bassist both contributed vocals in addition to playing their respective instruments with astounding virtuosity. Drummer George Kollias could barely be seen behind a veritable barricade of drums, cymbals and wires, but provided the necessary precision behind the constantly changing time signatures.
Stage divers were not welcomed – a bouncer at the rear of the stage pushing any attempts back – and while the crowd responded to the headline act, it was not with the same intensity as they had shown for Decapitated. Kowanek’s smiling “you guys are crazy motherfuckers” somehow seemed much more sincere and believable than Toler-Wade’s solemn announcement that Perth was “one of the great metal audiences”.
Shunning another rock show cliché, when Nile finished playing the show was over – no waiting around for a half-hearted encore invitation. The lights came up and the punters left. Nile fans were no doubt satisfied at seeing their heroes, but those who had merely come to enjoy a death metal show were probably hoping Decapitated would make the trip back to Australia before too long.
