Words BY Jimmy Glinster
Pix by Samantha Townsend (except the first one)
As usual, I rock up fashionably late – two minutes exactly – but I’m just in time to catch the end of Entrapment’s first track and its heavy ass grooves. The boys from Southport keep the grooves pumping as the hooded front man Toby asks everyone to take a couple steps forward. It’s really not that cold yet so he must be sweating his balls out under that.
Their tunes are a mix of punk, hardcore, thrash and nu-metal. And when I say hardcore, I mean old school hardcore, not that fake ass screamo shit that’s flooded the heavy scene for the last 20 years. It reminds me very much of Biohazard at times especially when they punch out the gang vocals. Oh, and that breakdown … Ooft.
I’ve gotta give them some bonus points for the bass players epic mullet which means business as much as this band does. I’m not sure how I have not seen them before, or maybe I have, I’ve probably even reviewed them. Anyway, the ladies at the front sure are loving their final track Shame Spiral which is an absolute banger. Some old school machine head harmonics push through in between the heavy riffs as a little bit of shadow boxing and kung fu kicks off in the pit.
Way to set the bar high for the night!
Marko and Dave have the early mix on-point and I’ve just realized that I’ve forgotten my ear plugs so that probably won’t matter very shortly when these old man ears start to fail.
Adriatic takes the stage donned in white dress shirts which is a stark contrast to the sea of black now on the floor. Their infectious, heavy, broken grooves take no time to set the tone for what is to come. Holy Fuck it’s loud in here!
The band has some messages on the screen behind them which may or may be the song titles, but apparently something’s gone wrong and the wrong screen is up. It now says Not An Option which front man Stoyan invites the crowd to sing along to at the end. Apparently, we’ll know when. The odd husky melodic vocals pokes through to break up the heavy screams. This band is a fucking powerhouse. Oh, there we go “NOT AN OPTION”
Next up is I’m Broken and no, it’s not a Pantera cover, but it does include a megaphone, you gotta love that. How many heavy grooves can one band punch out? Quite a few as it turns out! Apparently, “The Right Questions Always Wrong” but that’s not the song title, so I was wrong about that. Wait, what?
The white shirts have something to do with this song, or so we are told. Something about A Lighthouse in the Desert on You Tube. Check it out, it’s a fucking banger! If you don’t math well, you’d probably struggle to headbang to the broken time shifting riffs in this track. The trick is to follow the snare, but even that tricks ya from time to time.
We get a little lecture about enjoying ourselves and giving it all we’ve got. And we might as well because Adriatic fucking is and I’m pretty sure they just destroyed me with the heaviest riff known to man. Ooft!
One more to go, and we are told it’s a newy from the upcoming album. It start’s as a grindcore piece that’s heavy as fuck. You just can’t help nod ya head and pull that “this shit is brutal” face while this band is performing. Then shit pulls back a bit and we are told we have one more chance. I feel like shits about to go down! Yep!
Oh, wait, there’s another one to go. What a nice surprise. This one might be called Against All Odds like the screen says, or maybe not, but that’s what is being screamed in the chorus.
All killer, no filler!
Snake Mountain hits the stage and shits gets instantly intense. I’m not sure if you all know the Nev, from (N)Everblack Media, the dead set nicest guy in metal until he takes his glasses off and releases the inner beast. Scary Nev is scary!
Pretty sure I saw this bass player win a band comp last week with The Silencio which will see him opening up for The Smashing Pumpkins in a few weeks which is quite the change of pace for Jared, who is also one of the nicest guys in metal. The Gold Coast is just full of em!
This is one mother fuckin heavy lineup so far and we’ve still got the headline to go. Brutal after brutal ensues and the band has the crowd’s full attention. They are all up the front for the Chugga chugga chugga nah nah nah nah. The riffs are plentiful, the double kicks are relentless, and some noodling guitar leads add a little extra spice over top of the chaos.
I step up to the merch quickly desk to grab a KP flanno and hear some clean vocals soaring over the brutals in the background. How sweet of them. Their final song is all the brutals and more! It’s always a pleasure and (N)ever a disappointment watching these guys perform.
As we await the arrival of King Parrot onstage, a strange Bollywood intro plays and the next thing you know Slatts is onstage dancing to it and shaking a tamborine. Apparently, that’s the first song off their new album. Did we just get a heavy exclusive? Is there a new King Parrot album on the way?
Ok, now that’s done, shit gets instantly crazy. Three minutes in and we’ve already been belted with three tracks, although that is hard to judge because you don’t know where one song ends, and the other begins. It a just a relentless onslaught which makes you want to Disgrace Yourself.
A fan shouts out “Shit on the Liver Again” and Slatts reminds him that they have 12 other songs. A conversation then ensues about Cocks in the back room and something about paddle cops fining your for not having enough wax on your surfboard. Don’t worry, I’m as lost as you are, and I just got in the shit for sitting on my fat ass at the back of the room.
When they finally stop talking shit and get back into it, a fan crowd surfs, fails and drops on his head. I’m sure he’ll be fine though. I mean, after that piss poor attempt at a crowd surf, it’s probably not the first time he’s been dropped on his head.
Youngy takes a moment to tell us how great the weather is, and how good the drugs must be here due to the munted faces in the crowd. The band then punches into 10 Pounds of Shit in a 5 Pound Bag and the crowd loses their shit. By the look of disgust on Ari’s face Slatts might have just lost his too.
Youngy and Slatts both invite us to have a headbang as they rip into Bite Your Head Off and as the night ends, we all end up with some Shit On The Liver … again.
That was King Parrot, and as always, it was a fucking adventure.
