Hailing from Sydney, Our Last Enemy opens what is a killer lineup at the Enmore. This is the first time I’ve seen Our Last Enemy, so apologise for my lack of exposure. Our Last Enemy has had plenty of experience with high-profile supports and it shows as they rip apart the stage with their brand of industrial metal. Our Last Enemy sounds fantastic and draws in the eager Enmore punters. With only a small sound issue toward the end of their set Our Last Enemy took it all in stride and put on a great show for the quickly filling up Enmore.
Fear Factory
This is actually my first time witnessing the powerful industrial metal icon Fear Factory. With the recent additions of new vocalist Milo Silvestro and Pete Webber on drums, Fear Factory continue to define the genre they arguably created. With the floor of the Enmore packed out Fear Factory launch into Shock and the fans go absolutely crazy. Edgecrusher had basically the entire floor bouncing. The furious Dielectric was next, what a massive sound. Powershifter sent the pit into an absolute frenzy, seriously Fear Factory sounded incredible. The man himself Dino Cazeres then got the crowd chanting “I hate everything” as Fear Factory was destroyed once again with Fuel Injected Suicide Machine. Another storm was unleashed in Linchpin and once again the whole floor went insane. What Will Become kept the energy flowing with Pete Webber showing his relentless foot and hand work. Slave Labour and Archetype continued the crowd destruction with added sing-along! Dino thanked the fans of Australia for our continued support before demanding the floor open up and prepare to unleash hell for Demanufacture and the fans were all too happy to oblige. Zero Signal brought me all the way back to the 90s and listening to the Mortal Kombat soundtrack. While loving the movie, the Scorpion v Johnny Cage scene was legendary to me and the music was the heaviest thing I’d heard at that point. After a well deserved cheer for every member of the band and a Happy Birthday song for the mighty Tony Campos on bass, Fear Factory laid waste once again with the classic Replica. Only Meshuggah have beaten my ears into submission like this before, Fear Factory absolutely crushed finishing their set with Resurrection.
Machine Head
After the wrecking ball that was Fear Factory, I was seriously concerned about how much energy the packed put Enmore would have left for the legendary Machine Head. As the ending stanza of Ozzy Osborne’s Diary Of A Madman came to its climax the lights went down and the cheers and chants went up, I guess I shouldn’t have worried about the crowd’s energy! The crowd roared into life as Machine Head tore into Imperium the pit was immense with drinks, debris and people flying in the air. Ten Ton Hammer had fists in the air and what a devastating riff, “Headbang MotherF@#$er!” so good. A massive circle pit as icing on top. Choke On The Ashes Of Your Hate from 2022 release Of Kingdom and Crown kept the circle pit party going. Now We Die was colossal as Reece Scrugs tore shreds off his guitar, combining that with the icon that is Rob Flynn, powerful doesn’t come close to adequate. With chants of Dimebag, Aesthetics of Hate was unleashed, a song close to my heart as it happens to be my reintroduction to Machine Head. It slayed as always, with that amazing solo section still pulling at the heart strings. Going all the way back to 1994’s Burn My Eyes, Old once again stirring up the pit and the masses to destroy, what a cracking tune. Bathed in green light Machine Head began the epic Locust to a roar of approval from the crowd. Rob and Reece trade incredible licks with that epic solo section and huge breakdown, it’s just so great to be reminded of just how deep with classics the Machine Head’s catalogue is. For the first time on this tour we got treated ro Take My Scars which had the whole floor bouncing, simply crushing. No Gods No Masters brought a huge sing-along and more headbanging. Slaughter the Martyr has an incredible build and when the dam burst all hell broke loose, another epic track. Jared MacEachern’s bass was thunder and what a rhythm section with Matt Alston tearing the skins apart. They then kick into Bulldozer which simply put “Crushes All” and did. I swear the people that were on the floor are going to be so sore tomorrow as they once again leapt into the air as Beyond This Day bounced into action and brought that Chorus for us to sing. It was then time to “LET FREEDOM RING WITH A SHOTGUN BLAST” as the monolith that is Davidian was blasted at us and the pit once again tore up the floor, several stage divers attempted to breach the stage but thankfully were subdued carefully by security. That’s how crazy the crowd went for Davidian and that was before that classic breakdown at the end. It felt like getting run over by a tank. Rob then called out a fan called BBQ, demanded a Shoey and he delivered! But then lost his shoe. Ending the night with my favourite track Halo Machine Head nuked the Enmore. I don’t know why I worried, if anyone could follow Fear Factory it’s Machine Head. What a night of Metal. I don’t think my ears will recover for days. Brilliant.
Photos by Marc K/Nell Photography & Review by Jonathan Hurley
Machine Head
Fear Factory
Our Last Enemy
