Avenged Sevenfold, Asking Alexandria, Five Finger Death Punch @ Festival Hall, Melbourne (26/02/2014)
Melbourne's Festival Hall in preparation for what was about to be a marvel evening of rock and metal.
With the ever present feeling of Soundwave looming in the forty-eight hour distance for the coming Friday, we had whisked our arses out of our beds on this Wednesday night to go and see a trio of bands that honestly couldn't haven't been better fitted for each other. I'm talking of course about the Avenged Sevenfold, Five Finger Death Punch and Asking Alexandria sidewave!
Opening the night, British metalcore kids turned hard-rock grown ups, Asking Alexandria, came on at almost exactly their time and kicked things right off with Don't Pray for Me and Run Free which not only set the mood for the night, but also set us into warm up mode. The odd mosh pit here and there, jumping and just all out physical movement in general.
Now I'm no big Asking Alexandria fans by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, I actually straight up don't like the band. So when I say they were pretty darn impressive, you can be sure it was nothing but.
As they surged into the melodic Someone Somewhere, it showed that Danny Worsnop, the lead vocalist, was in top form. Having heard many rumours and statements over the years that he sounds atrocious live, I was shocked to see him hitting all the notes and screams as if he was transported back to the recording studio. But there was no doubt that the song that got us into the mood to move was To the Stage. Possibly the most generic song of the entire night, it was also one of the most enjoyable due to the large scale (and I mean, LARGE SCALE) wall of death that occurred. The crowd split down the middle like a piece of paper being torn in two. People beat their chests for energy and the testosterone filled the air; or maybe it was sweat? Either way, when the song kicked in, all hell broke loose.
Arms flew, legs swung, heads banged and people shoved and pushed. "When push comes to shove, just fucking mosh!" seems to be an appropriate saying here.
Ending with Death of Me, Asking Alexandria left me surprised, shocked and impressed. I haven't been converted to the Asking Alexandria army, but I've definitely had my eyes opened.
Next on this killer bill were the heavy metal stars, Five Finger Death Punch! And did their sound pack a punch (pun 100% intended)!
Throwing the set from naught to one-hundred with Under and Over It, the band showed just how to play heavy metal. Fast, precise and aggressive. The set continued along in much the same form; even the slower songs had a plethora of power and animosity.
But the highlights were no doubt the tracks you could simply move to. Burn It Down, Bad Company and Burn MF were absolutely mental. You could feel the percussion and guitar riffs seep into your pores and fill you with adrenaline, aggression and pure enjoyment.
What the band lack in stage movement, they make up for in near note-perfect playing! Ending with 'The Bleeding', of which builds up to a stellar ending, 5FDP proved that no one but them deserved this main support slot.
This was the moment every punter had been waiting for. Avenged Fucking Sevenfold stood before us, slaying away at the glorious Shepherd of Fire as the perfect introduction to what would be an hour of pure metal.
Beast and the Harlot went off like a fire cracker! The crowd was raging, the band were playing their technical and magnificent brand of heavy metal to the enormous stage prop of cemetery gates and high fences that fitted the atmosphere like a glove.
It was as I stood in the main chunk of the crowd and watched A7X play Hail to the King that I realised this song is the perfect self-proclamation and crowing to themselves. For they are the kings. Every member moved about with passion and energy, specially lead signer M Shadows who's vocal chords decided today was the day to kick arse! Naturally the drummer, Arin Ilejay couldn't move but he makes up for it by having more symbols then I have fingers to count them on! And he used each and everyone of them too! Bravo my man! Bravo!
Buried Alive, Nightmare and Burn It Down (of which hadn't been played since 2008 as of last night in Sydney) were three songs that stood in my mind. This trio although not directly consecutive encapsulate what this band is about. The well-done metal-ballad, the heavy-for-the-sake-of-heavy nightmare of a song (once again, pun intended) and the overly fast and relentless beast that serves only to accentuate violence in the crowd.
After a guitar solo from Synyster Graves, of whom tonight looked too much like a young Christopher Walkin that it becomes creepy, A7X ended the set with Afterlife and Almost Easy. Now that would be perfectly fine with me! That duo of sonic energy was no doubt a crowd highlight for everyone in the room! But the band, being rock stars, told the time slot to go fuck its self (don't quote me on that) and played past their eleven o'clock curfew with an encore of Unholy Confessions and A Little Piece of Heaven. And with that, they sent off the night in stellar form! They left the stage and had us begging for more, proof they did their jobs perfectly.
After all this, there is one thing that A7X proved. It wasn't that they were kings. It wasn't they were still relevant. It wasn't that they are still fit and energetic. It wasn't that they are great players. It was that they are purely an awesome band. And if you don't think so, then you are not awesome.
Matt Sievers
With the ever present feeling of Soundwave looming in the forty-eight hour distance for the coming Friday, we had whisked our arses out of our beds on this Wednesday night to go and see a trio of bands that honestly couldn't haven't been better fitted for each other. I'm talking of course about the Avenged Sevenfold, Five Finger Death Punch and Asking Alexandria sidewave!
Opening the night, British metalcore kids turned hard-rock grown ups, Asking Alexandria, came on at almost exactly their time and kicked things right off with Don't Pray for Me and Run Free which not only set the mood for the night, but also set us into warm up mode. The odd mosh pit here and there, jumping and just all out physical movement in general.
Now I'm no big Asking Alexandria fans by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, I actually straight up don't like the band. So when I say they were pretty darn impressive, you can be sure it was nothing but.
As they surged into the melodic Someone Somewhere, it showed that Danny Worsnop, the lead vocalist, was in top form. Having heard many rumours and statements over the years that he sounds atrocious live, I was shocked to see him hitting all the notes and screams as if he was transported back to the recording studio. But there was no doubt that the song that got us into the mood to move was To the Stage. Possibly the most generic song of the entire night, it was also one of the most enjoyable due to the large scale (and I mean, LARGE SCALE) wall of death that occurred. The crowd split down the middle like a piece of paper being torn in two. People beat their chests for energy and the testosterone filled the air; or maybe it was sweat? Either way, when the song kicked in, all hell broke loose.
Arms flew, legs swung, heads banged and people shoved and pushed. "When push comes to shove, just fucking mosh!" seems to be an appropriate saying here.
Ending with Death of Me, Asking Alexandria left me surprised, shocked and impressed. I haven't been converted to the Asking Alexandria army, but I've definitely had my eyes opened.
Next on this killer bill were the heavy metal stars, Five Finger Death Punch! And did their sound pack a punch (pun 100% intended)!
Throwing the set from naught to one-hundred with Under and Over It, the band showed just how to play heavy metal. Fast, precise and aggressive. The set continued along in much the same form; even the slower songs had a plethora of power and animosity.
But the highlights were no doubt the tracks you could simply move to. Burn It Down, Bad Company and Burn MF were absolutely mental. You could feel the percussion and guitar riffs seep into your pores and fill you with adrenaline, aggression and pure enjoyment.
What the band lack in stage movement, they make up for in near note-perfect playing! Ending with 'The Bleeding', of which builds up to a stellar ending, 5FDP proved that no one but them deserved this main support slot.
This was the moment every punter had been waiting for. Avenged Fucking Sevenfold stood before us, slaying away at the glorious Shepherd of Fire as the perfect introduction to what would be an hour of pure metal.
Beast and the Harlot went off like a fire cracker! The crowd was raging, the band were playing their technical and magnificent brand of heavy metal to the enormous stage prop of cemetery gates and high fences that fitted the atmosphere like a glove.
It was as I stood in the main chunk of the crowd and watched A7X play Hail to the King that I realised this song is the perfect self-proclamation and crowing to themselves. For they are the kings. Every member moved about with passion and energy, specially lead signer M Shadows who's vocal chords decided today was the day to kick arse! Naturally the drummer, Arin Ilejay couldn't move but he makes up for it by having more symbols then I have fingers to count them on! And he used each and everyone of them too! Bravo my man! Bravo!
Buried Alive, Nightmare and Burn It Down (of which hadn't been played since 2008 as of last night in Sydney) were three songs that stood in my mind. This trio although not directly consecutive encapsulate what this band is about. The well-done metal-ballad, the heavy-for-the-sake-of-heavy nightmare of a song (once again, pun intended) and the overly fast and relentless beast that serves only to accentuate violence in the crowd.
After a guitar solo from Synyster Graves, of whom tonight looked too much like a young Christopher Walkin that it becomes creepy, A7X ended the set with Afterlife and Almost Easy. Now that would be perfectly fine with me! That duo of sonic energy was no doubt a crowd highlight for everyone in the room! But the band, being rock stars, told the time slot to go fuck its self (don't quote me on that) and played past their eleven o'clock curfew with an encore of Unholy Confessions and A Little Piece of Heaven. And with that, they sent off the night in stellar form! They left the stage and had us begging for more, proof they did their jobs perfectly.
After all this, there is one thing that A7X proved. It wasn't that they were kings. It wasn't they were still relevant. It wasn't that they are still fit and energetic. It wasn't that they are great players. It was that they are purely an awesome band. And if you don't think so, then you are not awesome.
Matt Sievers