Switchblade, Ignite the Ibex, Deprivation, ATTWG @ The Sandringham

The Sandringham hotel holds an atmosphere of a rehearsal space rather than a live venue.  Complete with peeling, graffiti covered white walls; this tattered and torn atmosphere became an intimate setting for four extreme metal bands and crazed punters.

Sydney’s metalcore outfit Alice Through the Windshield Glass were first to hit the stage. Formed in 2007 they have been described as a band that “ruthlessly fuses tech-death metal and hardcore” – as it turned out, they were more hardcore than death metal. Recently returning from a European tour, this was dubbed as their come back to the Australian stage after an almost three month absence. Unfortunately, being the opening for the night, they played to a sparse crowd – however small, the response was humble and welcoming, consisting of polite claps rather than furious howls and thrashing heads.

Opening with “Infanticide” Dave Stanton “Tweek” (vocals) began their set pacing around front of stage, projecting mostly to the ground and rarely making eye contact with his audience, it was unfortunate that he didn’t rejoin his band for the remainder of the set – creating a discomfited atmosphere.

“Tribute to Domestic Blindness” was definitely their standout. Being tight and precise it saw Stanton giving his best vocal delivery, showing more of an emotive connection and further engaging the punters in the music. The blast beats provided by drummer Tim Cetin were clean, topped off by Grant Eidintas and Adrian Sahid's melodic changes coming without timing issues – unlike the few hiccups before breakdowns earlier in their set as well as bass drones due to sound issues rather than Rob Anderson’s skill. Crowd pleaser “Tetris Chainsaw Massacre” saw the biggest response from punters, boasting a Tetris – Korobochka interlude by Grant, leading in to their cover of Grinspoon’s "Pressure Tested 1984".

Giving a modest performance, Alice Through the Windshield Glass tended to stick to their mark rather than using the stage. With a lack of audience engagement and an evident introversion whilst performing, these boys have to work on their self esteem issues – as at the moment; the heaviness of their sound is not translated in their school boy stage presence.

Next up were Deprivation. Hailing from Orange NSW these guys had what Alice Through the Windshield Glass lacked – attitude! Bursting into their first offering “Before I Die” to a steadily increasing audience crawling upstairs for their set, the now four-piece owned the stage.

Recently loosing their second guitarist - Brock Patton - one expected a flat sound – however this was truly overturned by a great delivery of skill from Lachlan Harrison (guitars) shredding furiously. With the thrashing “Denounced” Damien Harrison’s stage presence turned to that of a crazed serial killer – this being quite amusing as the lanky bass player looks to weigh 100 pounds.

Ben Weber’s ever beastly vocal delivery transcended into dominance whilst on stage, underlining the band’s overall tight set built on Albert Bevan’s flying limbs. The sound issues were not present for Alice Through the Windshield Glass alone, with Deprivation’s set given adverse peeks and backing vocals which at times seemed to wither away completely.

Presenting “Big Bald” Dave on air guitar, Deprivation leapt into “Skies Are Falling”. Evidently amused, the crowd gave a great response to Dave’s persistence to “shred” and sing for the whole song. Closing with “When the Smoke Clears” Deprivation were brilliant to watch live, delivering a heavy set with proficient skill and presence, these boys know how to command attention from their audience without exerting arrogance nor becoming pretentious.

Third band on the bill were Sydney’s prog/tech Metallers Ignite the Ibex. Hitting the stage in set uniforms, sharp and covered head-to-toe in black – ties included, the 5 piece were reminiscent to that of bankers straight from the Bible-belt rather than a skull shattering metal outfit.

Pulling the biggest crowd of the night, Ignite the Ibex had conveyed a large body of fans out of Sydney's township, all eager to show their admiration – and unfortunately making the tin can that is the upstairs Sando even smaller. Boasting an intimidating front man by the name of Terry Crane and the human machine Anthony Dyer (drums), Ignite the Ibex delivered an insanely heavy set, producing what can only be described as a wall of sound, changing the atmosphere of the room and each punter feeling the music not only mentally but one can be sure physically.

Boasting matching 8 string Ibanez guitars, guitarists Nick Pupovac and Ben DuBarry showed their excellence in the art of shredding, enjoying and being encapsulated by their music in different ways; Nick thrashing his locks and Ben seemingly in an inner world, eyes closed and staying in his trance for most of the set. Playing a six string, bassist Trevor Raiss took on a maniacal expression with brilliant technique, however - unfortunately the palpably Meshuggah influenced outfit held a vast fault. A clearly self indulgent band musically, the only fault found within their performance was that exactly – a lack of a show.

Overhearing conversations of punters wanting the release of their EP, Ignite the Ibex left the stage to chants of “one more song” filling the tight space, and leaving the crowd waiting for headliners Switchblade to tear things up.

After a quick change over, Switchblade were ready to hit Sando’s stage. Standing in front of a now slightly smaller crowd than present for Ignite the Ibex, the 5 piece Sydney outfit was welcomed with restless cheers and horns. Having played with the likes of Machine Head, Trivium, and Nevemore these guys were definitely very comfortable on stage, engaging the crowd and making sure that all eyes were on them. Unfortunately the Sydney quintet was not exempt from the muddy mix plaguing the Sando; with muddy bass undermining melodic motifs, and redundant feedback slicing through solos.

Playing songs from their latest offering “Invictus Infinitum” mixed by Neil Kernon, guitarist Andrew Najdek tore up the stage with his guitar, leaving with literal sweat running down the fret board. A ferocious and guttural offering from vocalist Adam Helmrich was met with excitement from punters, with a front line of head bangers saluting with horns - on stage like on the floor, all heads were moving.

“Lacerate” erupted and was delivered with perfection, a deep and low opening with clean and sharp double kicking and continuous blasting drums perfected by Mat Piccolotto. Bassist Gerard Dack and guitarist Anthony Delvecchio delivered a solid performance, with heavy guitar work and a firm stage presence.

The eagerness and passion of Switchblade made one forget of the grimy sound quality present on the night, and overall it was a great showcase of Australian extreme metal!