Obituary Sydney (Sydney, NSW)

On a grey rainy Friday in Sydney the mother (or should I say grandfather ) of all death metal shows has begun. Obituary has rolled into town!

I missed Lo! when they opened for Anaal Nathrakh back in March last year, so I was very keen to see what they were all about.
Opening with As Fools Ripen, cue blistering guitar riffs and drumming that is executed flawlessly before exploding into vile screaming -it was a natural choice to start their set and a fitting way to get us into the theme of the night ahead. Fast hard and dirty, Lo! doesn’t let up from beginning to end.
What’s not to like ? The theatrics of front man Sam Dillon was like watching a beautifully grotesque exorcism, subjecting to us all his inner demons via a shrieking vocal assault. Jumping into the crowd as the pit opened up in front of him and the mosh pushed eager to be closer to the writhing front man. They gave me a haunting and eerie vibe with the ebb and flow of the guitars, shifting from melancholy and despair to utter ferocity.  Animal growls on the final song Butcher Birds are mesmerising and this band left you wanting more. The band was impressive throughout and the audience was mesmerised with this incredible live show. I feel like they have been a deep dark secret I wasn’t worthy to be privy to until now. I am worthy! I am worthy! Lo! was definitely a killer set and and won a few more new fans it seems by how the punters in the mosh were talking.

Set list:
As Fools Ripen
Glutton
Locust Christ
A Tiger Moths Shadow
Gods of Ruin
Judas Steer
Orca
Butcher Birds

Wormrot, This Grind core trio hail from Singapore and feature a new drummer Vijesh.
This band is gritty, and raw as hell. My first thought was, “Is this just pure unadulterated noise?”
The maddening screams of vocalist Arif left us feeling exhausted. Their performance was very, very tight and very brutal. The intense shrieking of Rasyids’ crushing guitar riffs track after track and the machine gun like drumming of Vijesh, it was pure insanity.
This band is for you if you like loud, fast and pissed off grind core. Or if you just want to have a wicked time listening to an awesome band. The songs are a little bit longer than previous, it seems, and also more
melodic. I did detect some black metal themes in there too. It was a perfect assault on our senses. Definitely check this band out .

Obituary are the pioneers of Florida death metal, a band that gave way to an entire genre of heavy metal and this near sold out show proved they are still a force to be reckoned with. Thirty years later and we are being treated to Cause Of Death live in full. I was hoping for some tracks off their self titled tenth album and they surely didn’t disappoint. Obituary began the set  to the instrumental Redneck Stomp. Vocalist John Tardy then entered the stage and …so much hair! Waist length and Trevor Peres the guitarist was the same. Majestic! And cue the so much hair in the pit head banging and flying once Tardy let his distinct signature screams loose with Sentence Day, the mosh went wild and horns were raised high. Chopped In Half was definitely a highlight, as was Infected. I was thrilled they played Sentence Day and Straight To Hell.
Closing with what seems the obligatory Slowly We Rot, Sydney was used abused and left for dead.
What an amazing start to my 20/20 of live music .This gig has definitely set the bar high for the rest of the year.

 

Setlist