Live Review + Photos: POLARIS at Northcote Social Club, Melbourne, 21/10/17
Over the last eighteen months or so, a lot of people (including myself) have been touting Polaris as the next big thing in Australian heavy music—and for good reason! The band have proved themselves time and time again to be one of the most talented and professional acts on the Australian circuit. Hardcore and metalcore […]
HAKEN and Orsome Welles at 170 Russell, Melbourne on 29/9/17
Perhaps it was due to Dream Theater having played their 25th anniversary, Images And Words show just over a week before, but there was a remarkably small turn-out to Haken’s first ever Australian tour—something which has been ten years in the making. The venue was closed off to half-capacity, and even then there was ample […]
SEPTICFLESH ‘Codex Omega’
Septicflesh has been many things over their lengthy career: from death-doom progenitors in their early years, to one-time melodic death metal maestros and symphonic metal overlords in their modern incarnation. What’s more remarkable than the sheer variety offered up by the Greeks over the last two-and-a-half decades is the level of quality they’ve managed to […]
[LIVE REVIEW + PHOTOS] THY ART IS MURDER at Max Watt’s, Melbourne on 29/7/17
Thy Art Is Murder have been through a turbulent couple of years. The deathcore Titan’s distinctive frontman, C.J. McMahon infamously left the band at the tail end of 2015, citing financial difficulties. This essentially left the band in limbo for the next twelve months, before they were spontaneously rejoined by McMahon at this year’s UNIFY festival […]
[ALBUM REVIEW] ARCHSPIRE ‘Relentless Mutation’
Archspire was set up to become the next big thing in tech-death off the back of their last album, 2014’s The Lucid Collective. As such, a lot is riding on Relentless Mutation. Rather than double-down on their already-established template, however—as the record’s title suggests—the Canadians have instead decided to branch out in some experimental directions, […]
[LIVE REVIEW] IN HEARTS WAKE + Guests at The Forum, Melbourne on 13/07/17
In Hearts Wake‘s stop at the Melbourne Forum, as part of their Arc tour, marks the biggest headline set the band has played to date. To celebrate the occasion, the Aussie bruisers brought some of the best homegrown and international acts contemporary heavy music has to offer along with them. It was a shame that […]
[ALBUM REVIEW] ALPHA WOLF ‘Mono’
It seems like the hardcore-leaning end of the Australian heavy music spectrum has become largely homogenised in recent times. Between the decidedly middle-of-the-road approach taken by the likes of “heavy”-hitters such as In Heart’s Wake and Make Them Suffer and the monotony that defines Northlane and Thy Art Is Murder; the once unrivalled Australian hardcore […]
[ALBUM REVIEW] Obey The Brave ‘Mad Season’
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[ALBUM REVIEW] DREAM EVIL ‘Six’
It’s been a while since everybody’s second-favourite entry-level power metal band, Dream Evil, reared their collective heads. The band who started as an excuse for Scandinavian producer extraordinaire Fredrik Nordström to get out from behind the desk, and who brought you Gus G and Snowy Shaw along the way, have been laying dormant since 2010. […]
[ALBUM REVIEW] HOUSE Vs HURRICANE: Filth
When House Vs Hurricane seemingly exited the Australian heavy music scene, back in 2013, they did so at the top of their game. Although 2012’s “Crooked Teeth” never quite achieved “classic” status, the chemistry shown on that record between then-new vocalist Dan Casey and the rest of the band made it one of the most […]
[LIVE REVIEW] DIRECT UNDERGROUND FEST, Corner Hotel, Melbourne, March 18, 2017
Featuring Marduk, Gorguts, Mgła, Ulcerate and Départe. The Direct Underground Fest [sic.], organized via Direct Touring, promised one of the most brutally savage line-ups ever assembled. From the harrowing post-tech death of Gorguts and Ulcerate to the abrasive black metal of Marduk, Mgła and beyond; this was clearly not a spectacle intended for the faint […]
[LIVE REVIEW] THRASH, BLAST AND GRIND FESTIVAL at Max Watts, Melbourne
Featuring: King Parrot, Psycroptic, Revocation, Whoretopsy, Black Rheno and Hollow World. It’s hard to think of a more appropriately named event than the Thrash, Blast and Grind Festival. While none of the bands on tonight’s bill ever quite pulled off all three elements in one, there was plenty of all three to be had across […]
[LIVE REVIEW] PERIPHERY, Circles and Polaris at 170 Russel, Melbourne
The djentlemen in Periphery are largely to thank for the explosion of the tech metal scene that has occurred over the past half-decade or so since their inception. Certainly they played an integral part in its popularisation and—seven years and five-and-a-half records later they’re arguably at the height of their powers. Polaris opened things up […]
[LIVE REVIEW] Psycroptic, Orpheus Omega, Hadal Maw, Hollow World, Blackhelm and Naberus, Melbourne
It’s general policy around these parts not to review Australian acts in terms of being “world class” or “able to compete at a global level”, or other such platitudes. Since it is HEAVY’s stance – as well as being a verifiable truth – that Australian bands ARE world class we will proceed to set the […]
[ALBUM REVIEW] MESHUGGAH: The Violent Sleep Of Reason
Band: Meshuggah Album Title: The Violent Sleep of Reason Record Label: Nuclear Blast Release Date: 7 October 2016 Review by Joshua Bulleid “…it scarcely deviates from the pace and intensity set during these abrasive, initial moments.” Of all of Meshuggah‘s albums, ‘The Violent Sleep of Reason’ is the one that sounds the most like the […]
Kataklysm Interview: Waiting For The End To Come
Canada’s become a bit of a metal hotspot of late. It’s been barely a month since the country’s biggest export – the one and only Mr Devin Townsend – graced these shores, and the airwaves are abuzz with hype for the new albums from Protest The Hero and Gorguts; and of course all this follows […]
