This fine Saturday night was big for Western Australia with punters who were lucky enough to get a squiz of American deathcore show ponies Born Of Osiris and Upon A Burning Body at the end of their Australia tour.
Debut promotion for Vanguard Touring demonstrated some professional and careful organisation with the well-picked support slots of I Am Eternal and Temporal; not to mention a schedule which ran like clockwork.
After making their way through the mazes around freight containers which engulfed The Bakery (a venue rarely seen by metalers in Perth), the metal culture was well and truly sweating. All corners of the outdoor beer garden were set up as merch tables, the long haired show-goers were having chats about the impressive international touring scene at the moment and most impressively, bands were just sitting around having a yarn with fans.
Metalcore/djent fusion outfit Temporal set the pace of the night of desolation and debauchery showcasing some of their ripper tracks off their EP Exitium like ‘Plagues’ and ‘Ethereal’. Vocalist Scott McMullen expressed the band’s immense gratitude to be supporting bands of such a high quality calibre. Temporal employed technical riffs, breakdowns and an energetic stage presence to warm up the beer-drinking metal heads.
Next up were another Perth melodic deathcore set of characters. I Am Eternal never disappoint and provide a show at the speed of 100 times by the bare minimum. The band threw down tracks groovy tracks like ‘Violent Embodiment’ and ‘Awakening’ with vocalist TJ Sinclair banging the mike against his head and bouncing around the stage like it was his last day on earth. The glass-shattering drums and riffs urged a wave of punters up the front getting started with the first circle-pits of the night. Like the frontman vefore him, Sinclair also told the crowd what a pleasure it was to be gracing the stage with the American lads soon to follow and ended the Perth band’s set with a stage-dive while continuing to roar into the mike.
Next up, punters were in for a real treat and something very different to what is delivered at venues of Perth. Reigning from San Antonio, Texas appeared the highly anticipated Upon a Burning Body. The Mexican band members came out in pressed suits ready to blow the crowd a new one, but in style. They opened up with ‘Showtime’, the intro to their 2010 record The World Is Ours which was filled with gut-crushing breakdowns, eardrum crushing bellowing growls and a stage presence which transformed the live performance into a show for the people. The crowd was going wild for them with circle-pits erupting and devil-horns erected high in the sky.
The crowd prepared themselves for the ultimate showcase for the night in the shape of deathcore mastery – Born Of Osiris from Chicago. The devil-horns were up and the atmosphere was electric as the five-piece band graced the stage with ‘Empires Erased’ from their 2007 album The New Reign. The drummer proudly wore a Temporal T-shirt returning the band’s gratitude from earlier in the night. Hair-matted lead vocalist Ronnie Canizaro gave the Perth crowd his best musically and in movement. Vocalist Joe Buras was perfectly playing his electric keyboard, providing the show with the band’s signature synthesised groove.
In a rare case, the crowd was responding most heavily to the newer tracks from the band’s groundbreaking 2011 record The Discovery. Punters were stage-diving, screaming and circle-pitting most to tracks like ‘Ascension’ and ‘Follow the Signs’. Canizaro emphasised his appreciation to finally be playing in Australia and with the bands that played before them. Roaring vocals, tight riffs and pounding drums elicited the continuing atmosphere which was a realm of fantasy for 45 minutes.
Buras jumped up holding the roof scaffolding into the crowd towards the end of the set urging the crowd to go even wilder than they had been. The band closed with ‘Re-create’, which settled Buras back into his spot providing the carefully crafted synth. Born of Osiris returned to play one last track ‘Singularity’ which was the most absolute perfect way to close their show. The track summarises their sound and showcased the band’s capabilities and unique framework one last time.
It was a big night for heavy live music in Perth and if this gig is something to base on, Vanguard Touring surely has some ripper tours set for the near future – well so we can hope.
