DevilDriver, Whitechapel, Aversions Crown @ 170 Russell, Melbourne (07/09/2014)
Seeing as I've just been going to hardcore shows as of late, I'll take any excuse to see a straight up metal show. However, having a lineup like this is a good and a bad thing. On the plus side, you're getting a brutal dose of modern metal from all three of the bands. On the downside though, there is no room for anything else - it's just one big, evil sounding storm of metal. But even though variety wasn't quite the spice of life, one couldn't help but deny the excitement surrounding a tour featuring both Whitechapel and DevilDriver.
With more strings than you could poke a stick at, Aussie death metallers, Aversion's Crown, opened up the last show of the tour. The sextet did a decent job starting off the evening with their brutal 25 minute set. An older song by the name of We're Not Safe got more than a few of the moshers out to open up the floor. |
The band also gave us a taste of their upcoming album, Tyrant - set for a release later this year via Nuclear Blast Records - by playing a brand new song called Conqueror. As expected, it was just as brutal and as heavy as anything else they've done before. Expect that album to slay when it comes out.
Ending with the insanely good Hollow Planet - which just went off during the mid-song breakdown - that left the main support of this tour up next.
Whitechapel are a band that I've wanted to see for quite some time now. After missing their set at Soundwave 2010 and after being forced to drop off this years Soundwave due to circumstances back home beyond their control, I thought it'd be much longer until I saw the sextet. Thankfully, that was not the case. The band had a 45 minute long set, and I was worried that they might not live up to my expectations. But by kicking things off with the fast and punishing Our Endless War, the band completely proved me wrong by the time they got to the crushing anthem of Faces - just two songs later.
Oldies, if they can be called as such, made the crowd go nuts. Whether it's the chant-like section at the end of Possession, or the massive pit call in This Is Exile of "This world is ours" - both went down a real treat. Although, a personal favourite of mine by the band is The Darkest Day Of Man, but sadly, they didn't play it. I guess beggars really can't be choosers. After a wall of death didn't quite materialise for This Is Exile, the band commanded that the crowd split in two for the intro of the overly aggressive Mono. Of course, the crowd was more than happy to oblige this time.
Mix-wise, things will always get a little messy when it comes to metal bands such as Whitechapel. But for a band with absolutely no synths and no real instrumental breaks, their sound was super tight. Of course, some of vocalist Phil Bozeman's screams and growls were lost at times, but that was to be expected. For the most part, his vocals were right on the money. Despite not being a relatively energetic band on stage, it's more than made up for by Bozeman's menacing and all commanding stage presence. Also, a good light show can really make things that much better, kudos to the light guy, you did a great job!
As soon as the piano outro of set closer, Possibilities of an Impossible Existence, tung out the curtain was dropped down in the front stage so that the nights headlining act could sound check.
DevilDriver have been grooving for over 12 years now, and they've racked up a big fanbase. Sure, Whitechapel are a big band, but most of the audience was here for the headliners. That much was clear the moment the band hit the stage and the crowd roared something fierce.
The California five-piece wasted no time messing around. End of the Line - from the bands sophomore album, The Fury of Our Makers Hand - made one heavy start before they launched into Head On To Heartache (Rip Them Apart) and Not All Who Wonder are Lost. From then on it was a lot of the singles from all parts of the bands career - Dead To Rights, I Could Care Less, and Nothings Wrong? to name a few.
Mid way through their hour long set, the band busted out a cover of Awolnation's Sail, which slowed things down momentarily, before things went back to being hectic for another fan favourite, Hold Back The Day. They also played some newer songs, like the incredibly heavy Gutted, from their last album, Winter Kills. Hands down, that got one of the best pits of the night.
By far the best part of their set for me was seeing the quintet play Clouds Over California. That was a very big moment for me. It was one of those songs that had really helped me get into metal music when I was a lot younger. So to see it love was just fantastic and they played it near-perfectly too. Seeing guitarist Mike Spreitzer play that solo was just such a surreal moment as well.
Something that really stood out for me was that the band never once had a break. Not once. They just kept up the momentum throughout there whole hour slot on stage. Then again, you don't get to this point in your career by not going hard. And go hard they did, right until their final song, Meet The Wretched. Before the song started, vocalist Dez Fafara even singled out a few people in the crowd and ordered them to get into the pit, and hey, when Dez Fafara asks you to get the in the pit, then you get the fuck in the pit!
After the success of this bill over in the States earlier this year, it's no wonder these two came out here together. Hopefully one, or even both of them, will be back very soon.
Alexander Sievers
Ending with the insanely good Hollow Planet - which just went off during the mid-song breakdown - that left the main support of this tour up next.
Whitechapel are a band that I've wanted to see for quite some time now. After missing their set at Soundwave 2010 and after being forced to drop off this years Soundwave due to circumstances back home beyond their control, I thought it'd be much longer until I saw the sextet. Thankfully, that was not the case. The band had a 45 minute long set, and I was worried that they might not live up to my expectations. But by kicking things off with the fast and punishing Our Endless War, the band completely proved me wrong by the time they got to the crushing anthem of Faces - just two songs later.
Oldies, if they can be called as such, made the crowd go nuts. Whether it's the chant-like section at the end of Possession, or the massive pit call in This Is Exile of "This world is ours" - both went down a real treat. Although, a personal favourite of mine by the band is The Darkest Day Of Man, but sadly, they didn't play it. I guess beggars really can't be choosers. After a wall of death didn't quite materialise for This Is Exile, the band commanded that the crowd split in two for the intro of the overly aggressive Mono. Of course, the crowd was more than happy to oblige this time.
Mix-wise, things will always get a little messy when it comes to metal bands such as Whitechapel. But for a band with absolutely no synths and no real instrumental breaks, their sound was super tight. Of course, some of vocalist Phil Bozeman's screams and growls were lost at times, but that was to be expected. For the most part, his vocals were right on the money. Despite not being a relatively energetic band on stage, it's more than made up for by Bozeman's menacing and all commanding stage presence. Also, a good light show can really make things that much better, kudos to the light guy, you did a great job!
As soon as the piano outro of set closer, Possibilities of an Impossible Existence, tung out the curtain was dropped down in the front stage so that the nights headlining act could sound check.
DevilDriver have been grooving for over 12 years now, and they've racked up a big fanbase. Sure, Whitechapel are a big band, but most of the audience was here for the headliners. That much was clear the moment the band hit the stage and the crowd roared something fierce.
The California five-piece wasted no time messing around. End of the Line - from the bands sophomore album, The Fury of Our Makers Hand - made one heavy start before they launched into Head On To Heartache (Rip Them Apart) and Not All Who Wonder are Lost. From then on it was a lot of the singles from all parts of the bands career - Dead To Rights, I Could Care Less, and Nothings Wrong? to name a few.
Mid way through their hour long set, the band busted out a cover of Awolnation's Sail, which slowed things down momentarily, before things went back to being hectic for another fan favourite, Hold Back The Day. They also played some newer songs, like the incredibly heavy Gutted, from their last album, Winter Kills. Hands down, that got one of the best pits of the night.
By far the best part of their set for me was seeing the quintet play Clouds Over California. That was a very big moment for me. It was one of those songs that had really helped me get into metal music when I was a lot younger. So to see it love was just fantastic and they played it near-perfectly too. Seeing guitarist Mike Spreitzer play that solo was just such a surreal moment as well.
Something that really stood out for me was that the band never once had a break. Not once. They just kept up the momentum throughout there whole hour slot on stage. Then again, you don't get to this point in your career by not going hard. And go hard they did, right until their final song, Meet The Wretched. Before the song started, vocalist Dez Fafara even singled out a few people in the crowd and ordered them to get into the pit, and hey, when Dez Fafara asks you to get the in the pit, then you get the fuck in the pit!
After the success of this bill over in the States earlier this year, it's no wonder these two came out here together. Hopefully one, or even both of them, will be back very soon.
Alexander Sievers