Words by Jimmy Glinster
Pix by Sarah Gilpin
They’ve all come out in force today, the black shirt crew I mean, and even some of the corpse paint crew. It’s a sight to see when I roll in to the Mansfield Tavern fashionably late as always. In my defence, I was watching the young fella’s baseball match which they won 10-7. Up the Cardi’s!
6ock are blasting away inside on the HEAVY stage in the main room but I don’t quite get to catch them in time. By all accounts, well 1 by my mate Damo Winterbon, they killed it, and you can blame him for holding me up while he tried to hide behind the bushes from me. So, we’ll just have leave it there while I go and get my wristy.
It’s only 1pm, and there are already a fuck ton of people here, including at the Black Flag Brewing stage where 308 are pumping out their second last song. This stage is set up in the public bar where they have black out all the windows with massive Necrosonic posters. It’s got quite the vibe. 308’s last one was called Baptised in Bullets, and it was some mother fucking Heavy Thrash. If you know these guys, you know how they do it!
Next up is Pustilence on the Blackened Records stage back in the main room. This is some fucking Brutal Death Metal with relentless double kicks, guttural screams and absolutely shredding guitars. And speaking of, Snake Mountain are doing much of the same, albeit a little groovier, back on the Black Flag Brewing stage and you know how they do it, they do it brutally. Frontman Nev does some quick little “aye oh” Freddy Mercury thing before he blesses us all with power of Greyskull before they unleash the brutals again. Sound legend Chippy gets a call out for his Mint sound, as always and the band gets a massive moment of crowd participation as the crowd chants hey with their fists and horns in the air.
It’s about now that I realise that if I’m going to review every band on this line-up at most, they are probably all only going to get 1 or 2 songs of my time. I’m also probably going to end up walking about 10km today doing repeated laps between the 3 stages which are no more than 50m apart from each other, including two directly side by side in the main room.
Speaking of the main room, Awful Noise are ripping every a new on the HEAVY stage, and it very quickly becomes apparent that brutal death metal seems to be the vibe for this room. Local sound legend Marko Foxlee is absolutely killing it on the drums as is death metal promoter and all-round nice guy Lyndon Faynes on bass and vocals. Brutal is actually an understatement, this is so unbelievably goddam fucking heavy!
Here I was thinking that Awful Noise were more brutal then brutal, and then Algor Mortis kick off their set on the Blackened Records stage. If these aren’t the heaviest most guttural screams I‘ve ever heard, I don’t know what are. The music isn’t as fast as some of the earlier bands, but goddam it’s heavy and dooming.
As I walk back into the Black Flag Brewing stage, Slowcut are chugging away hard with a slow but heavy groove. These guys sludge hard with thumping drumbeats and guitars that sound like they are being strangled to produce a downtrodden dirty tone. A slow clean guitar section in one of their tracks shows of the band’s gentler side, but for some reason it’s a little unnerving.
There’s no surprise that Zeolite are brutally heavy, now that I’m back in what shall now be known as the Cathedral of Death at the HEAVY stage. I’m pretty sure that their band name is the stuff that goes in spill kits, so I’m expecting some blood or other some kind of other bodily fluids to hit the floor at some point There are a lot of people here already, and it’s only early in the day in the big scheme of things, and I’m not sure the walls are gonna hold out in this place. And someone should have set up some beat counters on these kick drums to see who is the fastest today because this guy is out of control, just like everyone before him.
Back over at the Black Flag Brewing stage, shit just got all out of time and polyrhythmic with Therein onstage doing their thing. I’m a little confused and not sure what’s going on, but the crowd is mesmerised, so fuck what I think. Unfortunately, I can’t stay for too long in their set because I need to fuck off and check into my hotel. I won’t take long, I promise.
And fuck it, I took way too long, thanks to some confusion with key codes and a request for photo ID which as some of you know doesn’t match my name. Anyway, I manage to make it back in time to see Kyzer Soze are ripping the place a new one as I re-enter the Cathedral of Death. Their next one is their last one, so I only have this one song to take it all in. Unsurprisingly, like every other band in this room, they are brutal as fuck.
I rush back to the Black Flag Brewery stage to catch The Black Swamp half-way into Mountain. I did get some sneaky video of the boys that you’ll see on Facey, Insta and Tik Tok which includes some footage of a new track from the forthcoming album. I then kick back to catch some classic Swamp tunes including Purge. Everyone then gets an exclusive performance of another track which they’ve never played live before but you ain’t getting any footage of that because, well, you should have been here. It’s not my fault you are Headless and possibly soulless.
As the Swamp kick into their last track, Bastards of the Universe, I make a bastard of myself and take off to catch Nicolas Cage Fighter on the HEAVY Stage which is a bit of a twist for the Cathedral of Death, with a bit more of a hardcore sound to it. These guys are fucking heavy, and the vocalist gets right in your face with extreme passion. He might need a Snickers though; he seems a bit angry.
I have no idea what I just walked into at the Black Flag Brewing stage, but it’s heavy and grooving and it goes by the name of Isua. There aren’t many vocals going on, just the odd scream of desperation, but it’s got a bit of a doomy sludge vibe to it, which actually seems to be the theme for this room. So, well now call it the Doom Saloon. The doom, and random scream thing seems to be this band thing and fuck they do it well. They make me a little nervous though.
Maybe we’ve seen all of the brutal death metal for the day in the Cathedral of Death because Post Life Disorder are rocking more of a Heavy Bouncing Groove on the Blackened Records stage with some interesting twists and turns. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still heavy and thrashy as fuck, but it ain’t what I’d call death metal.
I head back into Doom Saloon to catch Lumen Ad Mortem on the Black Flag Brewery Stage, but they ain’t quite ready yet. This kind of works out well because Krispy and I need to sit our lazy arses down for a bit, so we do that until they get their shit together. Oh no, a vocalist with an effects pedal. Let’s hope it’s tuned in well and not overused. Ok, so this is kinda weird, Black/Symphonic Metal kinda weird. It’s somewhere in between and they do it well, but as most of you know, this is not my kinda thing, so I shoot back over to the Cathedral of Death.
Unfortunately, while waiting for Lumen AD Mortem to kick off, I’ve missed my first band for the day. I was lucky enough to get send a video of one their songs by our photographer Sarah Gilpin which now as I’m writing this review is failing to load. Sorry about that Descent, I’ll try harder next time.
The opening riff by Mortality on the Blackened Records Stage sounds very familiar with its Heavy Groove. It’s totally my thing, and a I quickly look them up to discover they are Death Groove band. These dudes have some serious jams, my kind of jams, and they just scored a new fan
I head back over to the Doom Saloon to catch Bulletbelt who open with one called Flames of Hell and within seconds there are fists pumping in the air along to a chant of Oi’s! These guys pump out some heavy ass thrash that is just built to wreck ya neck. The crowd quickly builds as everyone is forced to take notice as there is some very nice guitar work going on including some shredding solos. Krispy pipes up out of nowhere and says, “Not bad for a bunch of Kiwis”. And he’s right for once, until they play some Slayer stuff. There’s no need for that, you can take that back across the ditch with ya.
I head back into the Cathedral of Death to check out Mountain Wizard Death Cult on the HEAVY stage, I get a bit confused because this is not the band that I thought it was, but it is. Never mind though, because they are pumping out some heavy thumping tunes, and as they play a few more songs I realise that this is the band I was thinking of, especially when they slowed it down a bit and the bass and drums take over. This is the third band on this lineup that have given me anxiety once they slowed down the pace. There is just something very haunting about heavy music when it shows it vulnerability. Heavy Desert vibes is what I think I remember of them, and that’s what they are giving me now.
Resin Tomb. these guys take the award for the heaviest band for far in the Doom Saloon on the Black Flag Brewing stage. The crowds are now solid in both rooms with little room to spare. If we can get the smokers all inside, it’s gonna get real squishy, real quickly. This band may even be a bit heavy for me with blast beat after blast beat. Just as I type that though, they slow it down a bit for another one of those vulnerable, not so heavy bits. Then the double kicks blast back in at full pace, and its game on again.
I’m not sure what the hell I just walked into in the Cathedral of Death, but there is some kind of satanic death cult ritual happening on the Blackened Records stage, and it goes by the name of Spire. Well, the death cult thing might be a bit of a stretch but going by the black hooded robes on stage I might not be far off the mark. The tunes are very dark, and very evil. The kind that makes ya feel all warm and fuzzy inside if you’re the kind of metal fan that goes out in public in corpse paint. And yeah, there is a fair few of those here. The rest of the crowd stares in astonishment and disbelief at these evil cult master’s I’m not even gonna try and guess any genders in this band cause ain’t nobody got time for that. And honestly, who cares. Apparently, they are from Japan or so somebody’s just told me. Turns out that’s. untrue and they are from Melbourne, so I’m glad I didn’t touch those pronouns.
For a minute there I thought I walked into Judas Priest on the Black Flag Brewing stage in the Doom Saloon, with the vocalist’s big ass spiked gauntlets. These guys in Remains are way too fucking heavy for that though. I guess you’d call this grindcore or something like that with a few songs that barely last a minute. Someone told me earlier that there is something special about this band, but I’m fucked if I can remember what that was now. Kent’s in the crowd enjoying himself though, so that’s gotta mean something, yeah?
The Cathedral of Death is pretty much continually packed now, apart for the circle pit/shadow boxing ring that’s now opened on the floor for Freedom of Fear. They lay shit down real heavy like, and the second female vocalist of the day again showed the boys how it’s done. Relentless double kicks and noodling guitar riffs hold the music together for the intense vocal attack. As the band dials back the pace a little, shit gets even heavier as the drums and bass thump away to the heavy chugging guitars. Ooft!
The next band I get to check out is a blast from the past, and I don’t say that in jest. Misery started before I was even in high school, and it’s about been 27 years since I left high school. Fuck, that’s scary! But here I am at a death Metal gig watching some of the pioneers of the genre in Australia. The only thing that would be more of a trip than that right now would be an appearance by Killengod, but even they were a little later in the big scheme of things. It’s a good trip down memory lane from when death metal was heavy, fast and scary as fuck, but not brutal in the sense of Brutal Death Metal these days. It’s still fucking brutal though, in all the right ways.
Back in the Doom Saloon, shit got real sludgy again with Potion now onstage. I try to get up close to grab a reel, but the stoner crowd are a little hesitant/lazy to move. I think they may have all had a little too much potion tonight, so I pussy out and head to the sound desk to position myself out of everyone’s way. Holy fuck does it sound good here with Chippy doing a fucking stellar job as always. This band has some amazing guitar and bass tones that are just so goddam sludgy!
After the absolute masterpiece of an album this band released a year or so ago, I’m expecting nothing less than a fucking sensational performance by Psycroptic. And ss I enter the Cathedral of Death; the band is absolutely tearing the Heavy stage a new one. This band is just an absolute riff machine, and the drumming is fucking relentless. There are so many people in this room right now, and everyone is screaming their lungs out after every song. They give a shout out to death metal prisoners Misery and Crypt who have both reformed just to play this show. Death metal is alive and well in this place tonight, that’s for sure!
It appears that the Doom Saloon just got all Japanese all of a sudden with Bloody Tyrant. And yeah, now I sound like a racist cause I just googled them, and they are actually from Taiwan but hey, if we are gonna talk about everyone looking the same, have you ever been to a death metal gig? Anyway, I hope that’s not as offensive as calling a Canadian an American or vice versa. All that aside, this band even has a Pipa. If you don’t know what that it is, google it. It’s a kinda funny looking guitar/mandolin type thing, from China, which is where Taiwan is … or something like that. But I digress, the band shares vocal duties with a mix of screams and cleans, and it’s hard to describe their genre because aside from the Taiwanese elements, it’s a strange mix of melodic, death and I guess you could say pop metal/hard rock when the clean vocals and rockier riffs kick in. The band is mostly female, not that that means anything, but it’s worth a mention I guess. Interesting band, and something a little different for the night. I dig it!
Lo! And behold, I enter the Cathedral of Death and once again it’s not death metal. What it is, is a band I recall but don’t recall, and they are called LO! Where to start with these guys? Well, it’s heavy as fuck, but sometimes it isn’t, sometimes it just grooves and other times it gets into those weird mellow bits that have been freaking me out all day and night. These guys don’t really pull back too much though, cause even when it’s not heavy, it’s still fucking heavy. The crowd seems to approve anyway, and that’s all that matters.
Powerhouse Heavy Psych duo Astrodeath get things underway in the Doom Saloon, and although the crowd has thinned a little now because it’s well past everyone’s bedtime, the remaining crew at the Black Flag Brewing stage are having one hell of time. This is such a fun band, and they have such a massive sound for a two piece. 5-piece bands struggle to sound this big, they really do. Unfortunately, I have to leave these guys early to go and catch Crypt in the Cathedral of Death but I’m sure I’ll catch these guys again soon enough because they tour like motherfuckers.
Pretty sure these last guys steal the trophy for the oldest band on the bill from Misery by just one year. 1990, nineteen fucking ninety … I was fucking ten and didn’t even know what death metal, or even metal was back then. I may have even still been listening to Vanilla Ice but out the Ninja Rap. I definitely wasn’t listening to Crypt because that would have given this once young fella nightmares. Like I said earlier though about Misery, this old school death is different to the new stuff. It’s a lot rawer, which almost makes it a little scarier because it just grinds away at you. And although the crowd has also thinned out a little in this room, there is no lack of participation from the remaining crowd. And as I lift my head from my review notes, the vocalist is covered in blood. Not sure what happened there, but who cares, it’s just like the good old days.
And just like the good old days, they can’t hang around for ever, and neither can I. So that’s a wrap, but not before Kent gets a shoutout from the band. A well-deserved one, a very well deserved one. Well done you bloody good Kent! Oh, and apologies for that Tik Tok reel of you having a real moment in the pit. You were enjoying yourself, as was everyone else.
NECROSONIC 2025 … who’s in?
