Dicey Riley’s is your traditional “Irish” pub in Australia. While many of these types of establishments will have a cover band playing, “Dicey’s Saturdays” gives the stage to all types of bands. Even better for the Wollongong crowds, these shows are free.
On the eve of Father’s Day, Flamin Wrekage and RUN followed from playing a packed Crowbar in Sydney with Psycroptic. Local lads Gosika opened the proceedings with some heaviness. They are a fairly young group, playing a traditional death metal sound with some sludginess thrown into the mix. They attracted a decent crowd and played some new material including the live debut of “Summoning the Unspoken One”.
Unfortunately after bringing the ruckus for Gosika, it seemed most of the crowd dispersed. Next up was RUN, who was the main act I had come to see. Following on from their tour with Svalbard, they released the True Heaviness is Time EP, which I granted a five-star review to.
There were a few lineup changes since the Svalbard tour, but no lack of skill in presenting the songs. Singer Lochlan Watt is energetic throughout, and just like the frontman of Gosika, uses the pillar that is inconveniently placed directly in front of the stage as part of the action.
A big part of the appeal of True Heaviness is Time is the guest appearances on several of the tracks. Unfortunately, Joel Birch from The Amity Affliction and the other guests couldn’t make it for the evening, with their parts piped in as samples. On some occasions, these weren’t quite loud enough, so you might have Sophie from RUB being overpowered by footy commentary from a distant TV.
Despite the small crowd, the band continued giving their full energy through the set, which played the EP from start to finish, starting with the title track and moving through the seasons. Each of the songs explores the four seasons thematically.
“True Heaviness is Time” builds up and builds up until Watt screams out “TRUE HEAVINESS IS TIME” which is followed by some impressive guitar work. “Spring” features a big guitar solo part which feels as if it should be played on a mountaintop in the video clip.
A trip to the beach on a sunny winter’s day gave something to think about, and with Spring the next morning it was the right time to be considering all things seasonal. After the EP closer ‘One Way Out”, RUN played a couple more songs including “For You”, the opener of their debut EP as well as “Everyone’s Cancelled, Everything’s Cancer”, about Watt’s battles with cancer in the brain.
Flaming Wrekage were next up and they certainly had the metal look. Frontman Dave Lupton had a bit of a Mikael Akerfeldt style, while the guitarists often had the back and forth of Robb Flynn and Phil Demmel in The Blackening era of Machine Head.
It was my first time seeing the Sydney thrashers, and they shouted out to a few people who were backing up from the night before. These enthusiasts continued circle pitting throughout the set, the light numbers not proving any barrier to their enjoyment.
Flaming Wrekage have been blasting ears for around a decade, though this was the first time I had seen them. Their album Terra Inferna crosses the spectrum of metal genres. With Lupton saying to Metalroos earlier this year the album “tackles themes of loss, anguish and holding onto hope. It’s about going through the pits of despair, but knowing that ultimately you can come out the other side wiser, more grateful and ultimately a better person.
Certainly a band to keep an eye on. While the crowd was small, the performances were strong. A free concert in the centre of town with a trip to the beach on either side of it is nothing to complain about.
Review by Daniel Boyle
