Pix by Sebastian Ionita (Seabass)
Midday is an odd time to open doors at a local show, but here I am at The Boiler Room in Burnside Tavern at Yatala just before 1pm as the opening band RVN//NT collect themselves onstage to get proceedings underway. That band name’s a play on “reverent” in case you were wondering. There is a small but decent early crowd who all gather front of stage for the band to kick into gear.
There are local bands, and then there’s bands from 15 minutes down the road. Usually both of which come with some kind of stigma about being “just a local band”, but fuck me, when these guys kick in, you’d think they were a national if not international tourer. Big heavy riffs with a mix of screams and cleans that blend seamlessly. The temporarily installed portable PA system struggles to do them justice, but holy shit it’s still loud as fuck in here, almost too loud. Some bodies should help level out the room noise as the day goes on.
The band “treats” us with a cover of Animals by Nickleback which is well accepted by the metal crowd. Not surprising following that Netflix documentary which is now telling everyone that liking Nickleback is ok. To be honest, it always was unless you’re a metal gatekeeper or internet troll. Not that Nickleback are metal, but you get the idea. RVN//NT are metal though and they are fucking heavy. Their final song absolutely destroys as the ever so modest mosh pit gets its circle on.
Pyrokinesis are up next and before kicking off the show, the frontman asks those sitting down to stand up, and those standing to take a few steps forward because he is cold in here. The now growing crowd obliges and the band kicks into their own brand of hardcore which has elements of that pesky rap stuff that the nu-metal guys used to do. They blend it really well though as the riffs keep you banging and bouncing while the quick spat lyrics excite you. Two bands in and this is already turning into quite the adventure.
At the start of their second song, we all get told some lyrics to sing after a certain lyric in the song. I was too busy writing this to take much notice though, but the crowd seemed to have got the hang of it. As the song ends the crowd get a well-deserved thank you. Thinking back now, I reckon I might have given these guys one of their first gigs on a Veal show back in the day. They were good back then, but they are fucking great now. Heavy riffs, thumping drums and aggressive vocals. What more could a metal head ask for on a lazy Saturday afternoon in Yatala. Oh, ok, a Linkin Park cover maybe … not for those pesky gatekeepers though.
Between bands, I thought I’d get around the venue and do some reels to try and give you all some visuals off the odd setup here that I mentioned in my previous review. I tried 3 times and failed at all of them. The first run was flawless except I dropped my lapel mic at the start of it, so you could hear everyone in the band area talking while I was walking around the place. The second attempt, once I found the mic again, was also great except I had my mic volume up too loud so all you could hear was the mic clipping and distorting. The third attempt when everything was working, was just shit, but that rests on my pure lack of ability.
Anyhow, moving on, and I’m back in front of Aeon Nexus again, for the 3rd time in as many months, so I’ll keep this short and sweet. The band have just returned from Melbourne and complained that no one moshed down there, to which someone yelled “Fuck Melbourne” and during the next song the crowd pushes the Fuck Melbourne sentiment by opening up a Circle Pit. It’s bit early for that kind of carry on isn’t it? Fuck no, if the bands a rocking, let’s start the moshing. And the band is certainly rocking!
Ocean Shores take the stage next after a quick sound check that turned out to be a full song, so that’s a bonus. A quick intro then plays, and they get straight into what I’d call straight up hardcore, and not the pretty new stuff, more like that straight up heavy Hatebreed style gear. Their first track is pretty much an extended breakdown, and the follow up kicks off as more of a thrasher before settling back to more of a heavy groove breakdown. The song then continues to shift between the two almost effortlessly although somewhat extremely aggressively.
Much to my discontent, there are shadow boxers everywhere during this set which makes it very difficult for me to get some nice closeup footage of the band. So, I kind of just hover around the multiple levels and viewing platforms which are all great places to catch sight of people going ass up all over the place. A circle pit ensues, and the lead guitarist hits the floor to join in on the proceedings. Brutal and energetic is the best way to describe what just happened.
Now it’s time to have some Fun With Explosives, I mean some fun with Fun With Explosives. Their punk rock stylings are a nice change from the heavy core stylings of the earlier bands. The singer spends most of his time offstage on the floor as the 3-piece band delivers fast paced punk beats and rocking riffs.
These guys are actually closer to traditional hardcore than the earlier bands. And when I say that I mean the more punk edged stuff of the late, 70’, 80’s and early 90’s as opposed to the shadow boxing style of it that flooded the market in the early to mid 2000’s.
Last time I caught the next band Brimstone, they were the opening band for Suffocation and Revocation. They were a little out of place on that lineup as they also are on this one, but fortunately they do sit closer to the previous band then they do to the earlier ones, so it’s not too much of a dramatic change. They would have actually been better placed before the headliners Hammers, but that’s just my opinion.
These guys rock hard and deliver riff after riff of good times as well as a good sprinkle of ripping guitar solos. As the set progresses, they get a little heavier and a couple of the tracks push musically into a Metallica black album kind of vibe. The vocals however sit closer to something like Motley Crue or Skid Row albeit a bit heavier and dirtier. To sum it up, it’s dirty, heavy rock! Highlight of the event so far!
I head out to the bistro for a quick dinner with the wife, and unfortunately it took a little longer than expected to get our meals. So, I spent a nice relaxing dinner listening to the infectious heavy grooves of Adriatic. If you’ve never heard Adriatic, you should probably pull ya finger out and check ‘em out. And even better, get to a show and check them out.
Their music doesn’t always make sense in a 4/4 type way like AC/DC does, but the grooves make so much sense that they pull ya right damn in. It was a hard task to not just leave my carnivore parmigiana and head in for a groove, but it was actually a pretty good pub feed, so full props to the chef! And full props to Adriatic who managed to empty the outside smoking areas by dragging everyone in with their heavy groove laden riffs!
As it turns out, this time around I’m actually reviewing Awake In Time, and not Void Matter, although a couple of the Void Matter lads are here which had me a little confused and second guessing myself. Let’s be honest though, I’m never fucking wrong, so we’ll go with Awake in Time this time around.
The band takes the show back to where it started with more of a core sound. They do however have more of a crossover sound with clean gritty vocals as opposed to constant screaming. The riffs are also a little more rocking with melodic elements weaving in and out. It’s all got a fair bit of bounce to it which also pushes it towards and alternative/nu-metal sound.
3 songs in and the bass shits itself. While a search for batteries ensures the band makes awkward small talk and the guitars strum Smoke On The Water. The battery doesn’t work so a call goes out for a 4-string bass, even though I’m pretty sure the bass player had a 5-string bass. A little later a 5-string bass is handed onto stage and the band gets back into it with their latest single, or their upcoming single, or something like that. Either way, I didn’t catch the name of it. It was a bit of a banger though and they throw in a couple more to end the set.
Due to some diskustingly childish behaviour in the toilets earlier on it’s time for an intermission…
But now, it’s time to get hammered, well not in that way cause I’ve gotta drive home. I may or may not have had a heads up from Hammers that the first track is a new one, but that doesn’t really matter. What matters is that it’s a fucking banger that lifts the now tired 9hr old crowd to their feet.
They aren’t the first 5-piece band for the night, and they aren’t the biggest bunch of blokes. Well, apart from their newest member Dario the big cuddly unit, but they struggle to all move around onstage without river dancing on each other’s shit. So, front man Fish, the gentlemen he is, kindly apologised to his bassist Rick for making him sound like shit. Rick doesn’t sound like shit, but a bit of banter is always a good thing.
Some technical issues lead to guitarist Lucas, the good c#$t he is, to tell us all to just have a chat between ourselves while shit gets sorted out. Soon enough it gets sorted out and the band get back into rocking our souls. They drop banger after banger and the crowd keeps rocking along to each track. Hammers are a well-polished act, and bunch of funny blokes to top it off. And they don’t shy away from taking the piss out of themselves or the people in front of them. A good bit if banter is always a good bit of fun, and this sure is a good bit of fun.
Speaking of banter, the question is raised as to what sexual chocolate is? Is it poo Lucas asks before getting schooled by Fish that’s it’s an Eddie Murphy line from Coming to America. And after all that, we still don’t know what sexual chocolate is, but Lucas is still claiming it’s poop.
Another small break in the set happens as drummer Ruckus has some trouble with his snare mic falling off and Lucas asks for Gavin to come and sort it out. Three blokes run to help, none of which are called Gavin. Anyway, nek minnut a call goes out for a Shoey, and there’s a very quick response of “Fuck No” from Fish. Who invented that disgusting shit might as well Hawk Tuah one in there while you’re at it ya bunch of sick pricks. But I digress, and the band asks how many songs they’ve got left to be told they’ve got three, and then telling us they’ll do two. The next track is called Suzie and it’s about empowering women to stand up to piece of shit men. Not that we all are, just some of us, but that’s a human fault and not just a fault with men. Some people just equal shit, no matter which one of the 73 genders they align to. Some people also try to start fights in toilets because of words said on the big bad internet, but that’s a story for another day.
For their last track, Hammers treat us to a new track from their forthcoming album that they’ve only played once before. They also apologise in advance for fucking it up. The intro riff is heavy as fuck, but it does pull back to become more of a melodic bouncer, albeit the semi-rap style vocals through the verses. It returns to the heavy at the end of the track and belts us all like a hammer to the face on its way out.
And on that note, I’m on my way out, back down the highway!
