The brews flowed freely on Friday Night as Municipal Waste came to town to unleash the thrash. It had been seven years since the band had laid waste in Perth so the lads were keen to impress the WA crowd and define their art of partying.
With The Rosemount casually filtering in the masses, South West thrashers, Beer Fridge hit the stage. The fourpiece have been around for a while entertaining the Margaret River region with some mosh magic and tonight was Perth’s turn to enter the Fridge.
Lucky enough to have been handed a 40 minute slot, the band thrashed their way through a killer set, with little breath in between songs. With a sound similar to headliners, Municipal Waste, the room quickly swelled and the heads began nodding in appreciation. The Coopers Ale flowed throughout and it was evident this band were enjoying the moment of supporting a thrash icon. This became abundantly clear later in the night as the band members ruled the mosh pit when Municipal took to the stage.
Perth band, Scalphunter was next on the card. Best described as a punk-rock hardcore fusion in a similar vein to Cancer Bats and The Bronx, the band did their utmost to amp the growing audience. Singer Steve Noth is larger than life and whilst his banter between songs went over the heads of some, he did his best to entertain and pretty much conducted his vocals from the mosh pit for the last 20 minutes of the set. Formed in 2009 and with a few EPs under their belt, Scalphunter amped the crowd to fever pitch for the impending fatal feast.
They may be diminutive in stature but Municipal Waste are big in sound and the wall of crushing speed metal hit the heaving pit as soon as the band entered the stage. “Unleash The Bastards” stirred a frenzy as quick as the song itself and with the stench of spilt beer putrefying the sweaty masses, the band was in their element.
It didn’t take long for singer, Tony Foresta to demand the first of many circle pits as “The Thrashin’ Of Christ” literally bled from the speaker stack.
The party continued throughout the night with a batch of songs based around the premise of boozin’ and partying. The setting could not have been more appropriate. “You’re Cut Off” was dedicated to the bartender, whilst “The Innebriator” had the heads banging and the frothy’s flowing. More was to come with “Beer Pressure” and even the killer track “Drunk As Shit” from the 2003 debut “Waste ‘Em All”.
“Headbanger Face Rip” had the bodies flying in all directions and whilst the mosh pit boogie board did not make an appearance in Perth following some eastern states sightings, it mattered little, as Waste (lead guitar), Landphil (bass), Foresta (vocals) and Witte (drums) continued their relentless assault.
The wall of death made its appearance as guitarist Ryan Waste urged each side to “smash each other into oblivion”…a likely scenario considering the size of the venue. Alas, it appeared there were no major casualties and the crowd battled on.
“Black Ice” was dedicated to the late Cliff Burton and then ‘Landphil’ Hall ripped into an inspired albeit short bass solo. “I Want To Kill The President” was fast and loud in true thrash style as Foresta exclaimed he wanted to kill President Bush. Not long after we had a Waste dedicated song to Obama aptly named “Black President” It lasted all of two seconds.
“Sadistic Magician” had the crowd participation in full voice and then it was over as “Born To Party” filled the hotel and the crowd sang in unison “Municipal Waste are gonna fuck you up!”
A one song encore ensued, “The Art Of Partying” and the 65-minute speed set was complete but nonetheless entertaining. Combining a handful of new tracks with a host of oldies from their five albums, Municipal Waste bought their “A” game to Perth in both their music and their partying. The ears may well ring into 2014.
