Soundwave sideshows are all the talk in Melbourne this week. Tonight’s show at Billboard is sold out and the energy inside is pretty relaxed as metalheads of all types jostle either for the smoking room, or for a good view of the awesomeness that was about to unfold. It is a true international night of metal, headlined by Atlanta’s Mastodon and supported by Frenchmen Gojira, and award-winning Norwegian newcomers Kvelertak. The best spot in the house is always in the pit, so I pushed my way inside via the side bar through the masses of bodies, to as close to front and centre as possible.
I had heard rave reviews from friends who had seen Kvelertak (translated as chokehold in English) at previous shows last week, many labelling them as their favourite band of the entire Soundwave tour. They don’t fail to impress, with the eclectic six piece warming up the crowd nicely. Bare chested vocalist Erlend Hjelvik forms an impressive presence on stage as the group thrash out a fun array of material.
Gojira are also in Australia for the first time and for fans this has been a long time coming. Playing their unique blend of deathmetal and groove laden riffs, they have the well tattooed crowd moving, and the pit quickly grows in numbers. The energy of drummer Mario Duplantier is infectious, and he works the crowd into a frenzy with his well controlled double kick work and spontaneous efforts to get the crowd’s hands clapping. The dual guitar work of Joe Duplantier and Christian Andreu tears through the PA as they run through tracks from their deathmetal beginnings to their latest release,2008s The Way of the Flesh. It was an energy filled set, and the band could easily have been the headline act tonight.
Bringing material from their 5th studio album The Hunter to Australia for the first time, you can sense that (as good as Gojira are) the majority of the crowd are in the room for Mastodon. The crowd has continued to swell and by now you could barely fit another soul in the room. After what felt like a lifetime of vocal microphone checks, the band pumped out ‘Dry Bone Valley’ and ‘Black Tongue’ from their latest releaseThe Hunter. Brent has recently been quoted by Rolling Stone Magazine as saying, “kids are going to get into trouble to this album,” and he isn’t far off the mark. In the pit even the biggest guys are taking refuge with war wounds.
The bands newer songs definitely received the biggest response up front with the crowd only taking a breather during the samples between songs.The pit explodes with arms, dreadlocks and sweating bodies flying from left to right as everyone around me screams along to the catchy chorus lines belted out by bass player Troy Sanders. Red lights zap through his long hair as he grips his bass violently, leans back and eases his screams towards the mic. With their distractingly good AJ Fosikinspired backdrop, stacks of Marshall and Orange amps and guitarist Brent Hinds’ beautifully tattooed digits, Mastodon are an impressive sight.
The combination of Hinds’ and Bill Kelliher’s guitar work is pretty much faultless. They move up and down the fret board with ease and create some stunning guitar harmonies. Brent has quite a cult following, and his Southern influenced solo work is definitely the highlight of the night. By the time the band gets to “Curl of the Burl’ the crowd is singing in unison and the energy is uncontrollable. With a fair chunk of their set coming from their latest release The Hunter they balanced the set nicely, slipping in older more sludge driven tracks such as ‘March of the Fire Ants’ into the 16 thunderous tracks in total. ‘Crack the Skye’, ‘Aqua Dementia’, ‘Iron Tusk’ and ‘Circle of Cysquatch’ are played as heavily as they possibly could be, before the set finishes with ‘Blood and Thunder’. It’s pushing midnight and thoughts of heading home in the rain are the last thing on anyone’s mind. The amped Billboard crowd is by now begging for more. The Mastodon lads don’t disappoint and return with ‘Creature Lives’ as a fitting down tempo encore.
With my ears ringing, I leave the venue slowly but surely. A smile on my face from ear to ear. It was an amazing night of diverse, open minded metal and one I’m glad I didn’t miss.
