A gathering of metal fans filled the small room that is The Workers Club to watch three bands give it their best, all in the name of metal.
First up was the female-fronted Divine Ascension. The band sounded tight and had a great energy about them. The lead guitarist was really impressive, performing great solos on numerous songs, while the keyboard player jumped for joy when he grabbed his keytar and played a solo, as the crowd at the back of the room wondered what instrument he was playing. Divine Ascension put on a good show and had the crowd entertained.
Alarum was the second band on the night and got to business without much fanfare. The thrash metal band had a great stage presence with plenty of head banging. Showcasing strong experimental elements throughout their songs, the band added depth to a familiar genre. A couple of the songs had intros with very relaxing lounge qualities to them, which sounded impressively different. Alarum gave a great performance and set the bar high for the headliners.
After a long wait, Voyager finally hit the stage. The lead singer Daniel Estrin’s Skrillex-inspired hairstyle gave off a warning sign or two about what was to follow. Thankfully, the WA power metal band launched into a couple of crunching tracks before the set took a plunge, with songs that lacked creativity and flair. Voyager was a promising band five years ago with their album UniVers, but their new material is lacklustre.
The band seems to have a ‘good enough is enough’ mentality, which would explain the quality of their newer songs. The most disappointing aspect is the fact that the band is full of talented musicians and in the past they have shown they can make great songs – such as ‘White Shadow’.
However the people in the front three rows were obviously diehard fans, because they were passionately head banging and singing along with the band throughout the set.
Their ordinary set took in a medley of covers, including ‘Ghostbusters’, ‘America (Fuck Yeah)’, ‘Gangnam Style’ (yes,believe it), ‘Blame It On The Boogie’ and ‘Raining Blood’ being the most memorable moment, and that’s not saying much. In fact, at times Voyager looked more like a pub band than a power metal band trying to make their mark on the industry.
To add to this, I have never seen a band utilise the hand clap to get the crowd going more than Voyager did. It only came across as a plea to keep them playing, rather than genuinely getting the crowd involved.
It’s not too often that the supporting band out-performs the headliner, but Alarum were clearly more impressive and experienced than the limp Voyager.
