Stormrider Festival returned to Badlands Bar in Perth this past weekend with another stellar lineup of local rock and metal acts. From sleaze rock to power metal, grungey riffs and death metal headbangers, we had it all!
A 4.30pm kick off meant we had a long day ahead of us but luckily we were provided with solid entertainment value at every hour. Street Creature opened the show performing a brand of dirty hard rock to get things warmed up early on. Slightly punky vibe but with a strong focus on that classic hard rock sunset strip type sound, it was a great way to get things rolling for the day.
Electric State rocked the house as they always do, their take on the grunge rock stuff consistently goes down a treat but what makes them stand out is their stage presence and live performance. The band performed a string of well oiled set regulars as they got the crowd involved wherever they could, frontman Rob Viney as always getting in amongst the audience to put the spotlight on them as much as the band themselves.
The room was starting to fill up nicely by the time Amberdown hit the stage, the powerhouse trio (missing one member today) busting out stadium sized rock tunes that at times were heavy and others filled with melodic chorus lines that could slip into any radio set. Early on in the night and we were already treated to some solid sets so far.
Things started to get bit more serious though when Crypt Crawler rolled up afterwards. Their heavier, more metal sound attracted the metalheads in the audience towards the pit area as the band proceeded to pull off the heaviest set of the day so far. The band recently released a new album so the momentum for these young guns was on a roll, a devastatingly on point set marked another highlight for the show.
Could it get heavier? Depravity thought so as the death metal veterans pulverised the now packed room with a blistering set of brutal numbers that was unrelenting as it was energetic. An impressive set pushed the bar pretty high for the rest of the acts to follow but to say they left the crowd gasping for more was well noted.
Tempest Rising are about to celebrate 10 years as a band but before then, they came into Stormrider Festival with the aim to let people know there’s still plenty more to come. The band struck a well balanced style of both the melodic rock stuff and the heavier, machine gun riffs of all the earlier acts before them tonight so their placement in the running order was the right one. A new member joined the ranks in the lineup but they still rocked the show as hard as they always do, another winning set.
Silent Knight are celebrating the release of their brand new album “Full Force” and what better way to do it than at Stormrider Festival. The new tracks are on par with anything they have in the past but of course you can’t go past some of the classics like “One By One” and “Strike Of The Sword”. The fast paced energy of the band was on fire, every member on point like a well oiled machine. It was the speed and intensity that really stood out as the band plowed through the set like a freight train, never once waivering from the goal of arguably out performing every other act on the show. Of course “The Final Countdown” closed out the set which got the crowd pouring the last of their vocal chords back to the band, killer performance tonight.
Rounding out the night was a set of mixed classic metal anthems from The Metal Hits Project, which you couldn’t think of a better way to top off the night really. People say they are waiting for international bands to come back to Perth but when you have a show like this on your back door step, you don’t need to wait for world class music.
Photos by Pete Gardner
Metal Hits Project, Silent Knight
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Tempest Rising, Depravity
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Crypt Crawler, Amberdown
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Photos by Linda Dunjey Photography
Electric State, Street Creature
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