Mastodon, Gojira, Baroness @ The Palace Theatre, Melbourne (25/02/2014)
Day two of the excessive week of distorted noise known as Soundwave week, and I've just arrived at the Palace for metal giants Mastodon.
Did you know that the balcony of the Palace has the uncanny effect of making you feel just like a Roman emperor? Looking down at the withering pit below, you could be forgiven for mistaking the venue for a coliseum, and no acts have even arrived to the stage yet. Of course, in a few minutes this issue is solved in full with the existence of Baroness...
It's a good thing to see Baroness so lively and energetic on their first trip to Australia since their life threatening bus accident a year back. The prog metal foursome take their places onstage before a bizarre backdrop of a three headed duck hydra and explode through the cheering crowd into their opener Green Theme. From that point onward it's a bizarre journey through only the newer part of their discography, but they manage to pull it off brilliantly.
Coating the venue in an odd fusion of prog metal and some of the more accessible parts of noise and post rock, the audience has no issue finding a beat to pogo to, shaking the floor as they jump. After a fairly morose ending in Eula, lead guitarist and vocalist John Baizley informs the crowd that this day is bassist Nick Jost’s birthday, and that his most favoured of birthday wishes are beer and shirtless fat men hugs. It's an entertainingly lighthearted opener for tonight's intensely aggressive lineup.
Thundering into the night with a brutality shared only by the creature in which they are named, fan favourite Gojira enter the ring. As the French death metal giants burn their way through the chugging riffs of openers Explosia and The Axe, the crowd below performs exceptionally violent feats in group gymnastics. Never before have so many people managed to look just like a pile of maggots.
After a stupidly short set (well, unless you're in Filter) of 35 mins, the band is forced offstage, and you can feel just how much the crowd is longing for more. With a turnout like this, it's a wonder how a headline tour hasn't happened yet. Gojira gave a masterclass performance, and their return to Australia in headline form needs to happen sooner, rather than later.
Mastodon have a rather fantastical ability attached to them. Simply based on their name alone you can construct a near perfect representation of the band in your head. It's the only way to explain the familiar feeling felt as the gargantuan metal beast comes out on stage. Slowing things down from the tech death that appeared before, the bearded brethren blared their southern tinged metal through the walls of both the Palace and the audiences skulls.
What's strange about the set, however, is the distinct lack of any recognition that the band are playing to a crowd. Stomping around the stage, it comes off more like a garage performance than a stage show, much to the joy of those watching. After all, it takes some effort to make a room as massive as the Palace feel as intimate as a lounge room. Finishing up with a tantalisingly long version of 2004's Blood and Thunder, the band give a wave of farewell and hide back into the walls of noise they've created.
Ben Spencer
Did you know that the balcony of the Palace has the uncanny effect of making you feel just like a Roman emperor? Looking down at the withering pit below, you could be forgiven for mistaking the venue for a coliseum, and no acts have even arrived to the stage yet. Of course, in a few minutes this issue is solved in full with the existence of Baroness...
It's a good thing to see Baroness so lively and energetic on their first trip to Australia since their life threatening bus accident a year back. The prog metal foursome take their places onstage before a bizarre backdrop of a three headed duck hydra and explode through the cheering crowd into their opener Green Theme. From that point onward it's a bizarre journey through only the newer part of their discography, but they manage to pull it off brilliantly.
Coating the venue in an odd fusion of prog metal and some of the more accessible parts of noise and post rock, the audience has no issue finding a beat to pogo to, shaking the floor as they jump. After a fairly morose ending in Eula, lead guitarist and vocalist John Baizley informs the crowd that this day is bassist Nick Jost’s birthday, and that his most favoured of birthday wishes are beer and shirtless fat men hugs. It's an entertainingly lighthearted opener for tonight's intensely aggressive lineup.
Thundering into the night with a brutality shared only by the creature in which they are named, fan favourite Gojira enter the ring. As the French death metal giants burn their way through the chugging riffs of openers Explosia and The Axe, the crowd below performs exceptionally violent feats in group gymnastics. Never before have so many people managed to look just like a pile of maggots.
After a stupidly short set (well, unless you're in Filter) of 35 mins, the band is forced offstage, and you can feel just how much the crowd is longing for more. With a turnout like this, it's a wonder how a headline tour hasn't happened yet. Gojira gave a masterclass performance, and their return to Australia in headline form needs to happen sooner, rather than later.
Mastodon have a rather fantastical ability attached to them. Simply based on their name alone you can construct a near perfect representation of the band in your head. It's the only way to explain the familiar feeling felt as the gargantuan metal beast comes out on stage. Slowing things down from the tech death that appeared before, the bearded brethren blared their southern tinged metal through the walls of both the Palace and the audiences skulls.
What's strange about the set, however, is the distinct lack of any recognition that the band are playing to a crowd. Stomping around the stage, it comes off more like a garage performance than a stage show, much to the joy of those watching. After all, it takes some effort to make a room as massive as the Palace feel as intimate as a lounge room. Finishing up with a tantalisingly long version of 2004's Blood and Thunder, the band give a wave of farewell and hide back into the walls of noise they've created.
Ben Spencer