22nd October 2023
Metal gigs in daylight freak me the fuck out but here I am at Mo’s Desert Clubhouse with the sun shining in the background. The start time has been pushed back though and the sun is starting to disappear behind the hinterland, so I may get some comfort in darkness shortly.
If only Snoops Drop It Like It’s Hot could fuck off from the PA and some metal could start that’d be great. Apparently though, the unknown sound guy was a bit late, so here we are sound checking 40 minutes after the start time. So much for an early school night gig.
The vodka red bulls will hopefully help me push through. The show hasn’t even started, and I’ve already been dragged into a conversation about cocaine in a bathroom. That’s a story from many moons ago though, at a totally different show down in Kirra, that has fuck all to do with this one. Cocaine, football clubs, you know how those two mix, right? Enough of that chatter though, and on to the show in front of me.
Awaken the Hate kick things off with some heavy grooves. The dual guitars, one scooped and the other super crunchy perfectly complement each other to create a crushing guitar assault. A cheer and applause from the small early crowd following the first song shows that they obviously agree with me in one way or another.
I can’t quite pinpoint the exact genre that these guys fit into, but I also don’t really want to. It’s just metal, straight-up metal with a mix of groove and thrash. Maybe I’ll put my finger on it when they get their upcoming album to me for review. That might be a hint, take it or leave it.
Engraved waste no time ripping our fucking heads off with some intense metalcore. For a second there I thought the drummer had a really cool shirt on. Turns out the dude just has some serious fucking tattoos. I’m way too much of a pussy for all that needle pain. Credit where credit is due though.
Unlike a lot of metalcore bands that just stand there and shred, these guys go hard. Their stage performance is energetic and intense. It’s hard to get a good shot because they move around so much. Oh yeah, I’m on photo duties for this one too, so please excuse my piss poor iPhone photography skills.
This line-up is cooking so far and Engraved are certainly bringing the heat! Speaking of, it’s getting warm in here. Can we skip summer and give my sweaty balls a year off?
As I sit waiting for Minds?End to crush me with their infectious and crushing broken grooves my ears are molested with some Wet Ass Pussy. Who the fuck is actually in control of this playlist tonight!
I’m not sure what’s happening here, but we seem to have some dual guitar action happening here with OG axeman David Lang onstage with his replacement Shannon Paul Keith Loch. Yeah, that’s a lot of names, Is Minds?End now a 5 piece with 12 names?
Has Dave now re-joined the band? Do I have the in on an official scoop of this news? The lads certainly don’t fuck around once they finish fucking around with a video intro. If someone could please turn those driving guitars and thumping kicks up a little it’d be great though. Jens The German Jesus wastes no time joining the pit in the first song while the crowd bang their heads and bounce around him.
As the second track kicks in, Shannon disappears off-stage and Dave takes over solo guitar duties. And it now appears that Shannon has taken up shadow kickboxing in the pit. He’s not a big dude, but I’m staying the fuck away from that as to not cop a kick in the chops.
Shannon now appears back onstage, and I literally have no idea what the fuck is going on. I might need some help with this Jen’s if you could take a minute to explain. Not that it matters, Minds?End are back and are in fine fucking form! Whatever form that ends up taking, at whatever point, in whichever song. On that note, he skips another couple of tracks and shows up again back onstage.
Eventually drummer Simon announces to us all that this is a special gig because Shannon is moving on to bigger things. There we have it, the scoop. Shannon’s out and Dave is back in! Now, let’s enjoy the last few tracks shall we, with all current members in place.
It’s now time for Tetrament to take the stage, and they very quickly bounce into some powerful heavy grooves. I’m gonna pretty quickly assume this is Groove metal cause it’s heavy and groovy as fuck. They claim to be heavy as Jupiter, but I have no idea how heavy Jupiter is. If this is anything to go by though, Jupiter must be pretty fucking heavy.
As the set takes shape the band pushes the edges of metalcore, but it never quite gets generic enough to make its way all the way there. There is enough variation in the riffs, rhythms and vocal delivery to avoid being pigeonholed.
I should probably note here that Simon from Minds?End is pulling double duties and smashing the kit for round two. His solid rhythms keep the rest of the band in check and when they all come together for a breakdown it’s heavy as Jupiter, or something like that.
The bands play a cover of a song that I didn’t quite catch the name of. Something about something heavy in the universe or something like that. Who knows, maybe it’s about Jupiter? The band seems to be thoroughly enjoying themselves playing it though as their singer lurches and slithers all over the stage.
The next song is called dead, or debt, or dreads, or djent or something like that which starts with the letter D and rhymes with one of those. Anyway, it’s a bit of a banger. Simon starts the last song with some snare rolls reminiscent of a military drum line. That doesn’t last long though as the rest of the band joins in for another heavy banger.
Meanwhile, Shannon’s mum is having a full-blown conversation with me, but I can’t hear or understand a single word she’s saying because goddamn it’s fucking loud in here!
What a great evening with some killer bands. The local metal scene in South-East Qld is fucking killing it right now so come Meet The Locals sometime at Mo’s Desert Clubhouse.
And now that’s all done I’m off home to watch Winnie the Pooh … Blood and Honey! And maybe some OG Pooh as well.
Edit: that last bit was a bad idea, what z-grade piece of garbage. The Retaliators was way better, go check that one out!
