I must admit that I’m not the kinda person to go into Black Metal discography in detail as my tastes mainly revolve around Power, Heavy & Melo-Death. But there are a few bands that I make an exception for. Harakiri for the Sky is one of those bands. The legends at Your Mate Bookings have been knocking it outta the park for a while now, and when they announced Harakiri was coming over and the other three bands in this stacked line-up, I was genuinely curious and decided to check it out.
Hailing from Canberra, Immorium were the first to start the proceedings for the evening. The stage glows red and the drummer’s double kicks resonates throughout as the vocalist’s screams fill the room. Right off the bat, this 5 piece are a tight unit, not missing a single beat. The axemen on either side look like bald brothers with the one of the left of the stage having a glorious long beard to tell them apart. Gone to Early Doors starts slow before going full throttle. The track commands the crowd to move in closer to the burning red glow emitted from the stage. The vox are energetic and the guitar solos take you on a journey. This is then followed by Chains with some sweet guitar solos and excellent transitions between slow and fast. The vocalist takes a moment to say that Harakiri for the Sky has influenced their sound and thanks everyone for coming out. The crowd claps and moves forward for the last track. The guitar solos keep flowing. This is an extremely cohesive band, the guys love what they do and it shows not only in their music but also on their faces. What an opener! What a way to set the bar high.
Next up was Burden Man. I have had the chance to catch them live a few years before but they were always a 3 piece. So I was interested to see what the addition of Troy from Cheap Coffins would now bring to this 4 piece. This time around the stage lights go blue, and Troy on keys and synths starts by walking around scanning the audience who are silent and confused all while atmospheric soundscape plays in the background. The droning background intensifies as the guitarist/vox comes in and starts playing. He then emits his doomy timbre. The drummer joins next followed by the bassist who again takes his time. This is a long intro, around 15 min. This cascades into the next track. The doom & gloom resonates from the stage to the audience as you see them slowly sway where they stand. Such a change in pace compared to Immorium. The third track gets heavier and ends with wailing cries. The singer thanks everyone, before starting the final self-titled track Burden Man. Lights flash and flicker blue along with the music. The atmosphere and droning reach its peak and come to a close.
Austere has gained a huge following internationally, so much so that tonight was their first ever Australian performance even though they hail from East Corrimal, New South Wales. Speaking to fans between sets, many were as excited to catch Austere as they were to catch Harakiri live. The 4 piece come onto stage backs against the crowd. The backing tracks kicks in and the crowd cheers. The screams flow with the melodies. Drummer jumps in on vocals and starts chants which sit under the lead vocalist’s raspy growls, which was a very fresh and layered approach. The drums kick off the second track and the lights go yellow. The guitars and drums are in unison for the next track. The drummer is engulfed in smoke and keeps banging on hard with the sticks and double kicks which was quite a sight to behold. Atmosphere backing tracks starts off the next song and the clean guitar kicks in, the crowd cheers instantly recognising this number. The lights go red and the song ends with the keys. The next track was the highlight for me as the entire song, the drummer screams and plays while the other musos focus solely on their instruments and no other vocals come into the fold. The bass player shines with his screams for the next track, clearly showing that each of these guys can hold their own when it comes to vocals. The final song starts with guitars and drummer this time showcasing his clean singing and ending with huge cymbal crash as the crowd cheers for the closer.
And finally, after three strong performances, the crowd were more than ready for Harakiri. Unfortunately, there seemed to be some technical difficulties with the drummer’s gear and the band start 15 min late. But the crowd quickly forgives this delay and the stage glows red and smoke rises. The band goes all in full throttle with I, Pallbearer. The band decided to be drenched in the shadows with only their silhouettes visible throughout the entire show which added to the darkness of their music. But this also meant that the drummer was the only visible member which is usually not the case. Nevertheless, it is an interesting choice of using the stage light to make their performance different from the bands before them. The moment the intro for Fire, Walk with Me kicks in, the crowd cheers, and claps and everyone has their fists and hands in the sky. Singer uses the mic and chord as a prop, treating it as a noose around his neck. The windmill head banging from the guitarists on either side of the stage accelerated the intensity and feeling of the music being played and embraced by the crowd. The next track starts with spoken word, the guitars and bass in unison. The crowd claps and the band encourages this. Again, the drummer conveys in his native tongue to other members that he’s having some technical issues at which moment someone in the crowd yells out “Your songs are beautiful” which was indeed a beautiful moment. Not sure if this was intentional but then the piano intro for Sing for the Damage We’ve Done begins, and the crowd starts to sway. I take a moment during the end of the track and turn around to see the entire audience (which honestly looked like a Sold Out show) sing the ah’s in unison with hands on their heart and some in the air. It was truly a beautiful moment. The next track ends with vocals trailing and echoing off, the members exiting the stage symbolising that the encore was next. And they don’t disappoint, the singer jumps down from the stage into the photo pit and climbs the barrier singing and screaming to a crowd that just can’t get enough. He then jumps over the fence, into the centre of the audience singing a Song to Say Goodbye with the fans singing, surrounding and circling him. He sings his last note throws the mic back on stage and exits through the centre of the audience as the final piano note closes the set for the night and the lights go off.
The audience had such satisfied smiles all around and why wouldn’t they? All bands brought such a great and diversified set in a stellar and stacked line-up. I know for a fact that Immorirum and Austere will now be on my growing Black Metal playlist moving forward.
written by TNT & Photos by Daniel Farr – Farski Photography
Harakiri For The Sky
Austere
Burden Man
Immorium
