DEATHJAM 2009 - Review

Saturday - September 26th saw the first incarnation of DEATHJAM Metal Festival. Held in Western Sydney, the Lucky Australian played host to a massive ten band line up – including; Letters of Carnage, Infernal Reign, Mass Burial, Alice Through The Windshield Glass, Tortured, Deprivation, Intrepid, Norse, Synperium and Ouroboros.

Arriving in St. Marys saw a windy and thus vexatious walk to the venue which was slowly filling with punters coming out of Sydney’s woodwork. Slightly past midday, and beer already flowing, the crowd gathered outside waiting for the first band to hit the stage. With Spread the Ashes pulling out of the festival two days prior, Sydney’s Letters of Carnage were enlisted as the opening set for DEATHJAM ‘09.

Formed in late 2008, this saw the first live performance for Letters of Carnage. Playing to punters situated at tables, and none standing would have been intimidating – however, that is what one expects being an opening band. Delivering melodic metal, with thrash vocals and motifs ranging from death metal and back to thrash, Letters of Carnage are definitely a band that will get better and better live. For the moment, Ben [vocals] boasts an uncomfortable stage presence, with the rest of the band rarely engaging with the crowd. Props to Henry and Luke for delivering clean guitar work, melodic and tight solos galore.

Change over time saw an increasing crowd gathering outside; some basking in the sun, others evidently irritated with the wind and a select few clearly drunk. The day held a sociable and open atmosphere, welcoming Infernal Reign on to the DEATHJAM stage.

Opening their set with "Retribution", the mix left a lot to be desired. Picking themselves up with "Transgression", Infernal Reign pulled a bigger crowd to the front of the stage. Always delivering an energetic set, this was no exception. Joey delivering guttural vocals, and the rest of the boys enjoying their time on stage; some smoking others thrashing their heads, made for a good set to watch, alas constantly plagued by a muddy mix, and peaks. Notwithstanding there were other sound issues, quickly fixed by guitarist Chris, and the futile bass interlude of behalf of Josh. Closing their set with "Djinn", Infernal Reign gave a good performance despite a number of set backs, and introduced the only circle pit of the day - no matter how benign and supple it was.

Next to hit the stage was Mass Burial. Hailing from Sydney, the quartet gave punters a lesson in old school death metal. Opening their set with “Mass Burial” vocalist and bassist Goran proceeded to engage the crowd with conversation and jokes; unfortunately for most “No mass burial without desert storm” went over their heads, observing that only Benny [rhythm guitar] found it amusing. Having a number of timing issues throughout their set seemed to undermine Ron [drums] as he would tend to continue and push on rather than catch up and fix the beat. Lead guitarist Alen stayed right of stage for most of the set, being quite sedated, but making up for his stance with amazing guitar work! Finishing their set Goran once more showed his humility and kind nature by thanking punters and bands for turning up, giving the stage to metalcore outfit Alice Through the Windshield Glass.

Having reviewed them harshly only a few weeks ago, I was happy to see that Alice Through the Windshield Glass made a massive improvement to their stage show, and overall looked more comfortable with a better delivery. Playing favorites off their EP “Keep Your Eyes on the Road", released earlier this year, ATTWG received a great response from the crowd toward “A Bullet For Your Black Parade”, “Tribute To Domestic Blindness” and “Tetris Chainsaw Massacre”. Trying to engage with his audience, vocalist Dave Stanton went on a number of undecipherable rambles, some having to do with football, others in a description of a song – “punch on… don’t punch on etc”. Largely amusing to watch in his rants, he continued to pace and scarcely made eye contact with the crowd. Grant Eidintas and Adrian Sahid's guitar work was without fault, with Rob Anderson [bass] joining Grant in synchronized jumping and head banging. Hats off to Tim Cetin for blasting on and well at that – playing with a fractured leg! Covering “Pressure Tested 1984”, ATTWG announced to a drunken yelp of “Grinspoon did it better!” that they will do one more song, finishing their set with happy hardcore punters, who thankfully restrained themselves from redundant hardcore dancing.

Next up were Canberra’s death metal quintet Tortured. Formed in 2006 and currently working on new material for album - tentatively titled 'A Lesson in Holocaust' this was a first visit to a Sydney stage for the five-piece. Delivering raw death metal, these guys gave a great set, with awesome guitar work on behalf of Marcus. Front man Brendan’s rasping and guttural vocals seemed to push monotonic, and his presence seemed reserved. The standout on stage was definitely the aforementioned lead guitarist Marcus – clean solos, great performance techniques, hilarious facial expressions he was definitely someone one can’t take their eyes off! Tortured received an awesome response from the crowd - with highlight the insane and head thrashing “Bloodlust” - and are sure to be seen in our neck of the woods many more times.

Half way through the festival saw some punters leaving, and interchanging with those entering for the second half. The sun was slowly and amiably leaving, drinks were plenty, and morale was high for Deprivation ready to tear up the stage.

Opening their set with “Denounced”, the boys from Orange began playing to a sparse crowd, but pleasingly pulled a great many people out of the bar and outside. Once more, and as always, vocalist Ben Weber transcended in dominance on stage, with amazing vocal delivery he made for comical connections to guitarist Lachlan Harrison. Fast, clean and intricate, Lachlan showed his skill with a presence of ease, enjoying himself on stage without pretense. Playing other crowd pleasers; “Ignorance” and “Raise the Glass” Deprivation played a new song under the moniker of “Embrace” to which they received a vast response from punters. Closing their set with last track of EP “Re-Birth”, the heavy and melodic “When the Smoke Clears” Deprivation gave an insane show!

Sydney’s melodic death metal outfit Intrepid was on next. Combining death, thrash and power metal, Intrepid came on stage with an overtly intoxicated vocalist and in turn he did little to hide how pissed he was. Stumbling about the stage, the band erupted in “Nihility”, followed by thrashing “Into the Vortex”. With most of the punters alike in mind as Intrepid's front man, his stage presence was taken with amusement and more drinking, unfortunately I found that it undermined the rest of the band, leaving them to journey along with an atmosphere of wanting the set to end. The highlight of their stage time was seeing their front man singing into a megaphone and cupping the microphone with the other hand, undercutting any dynamic effect – lesson, don’t drink before gig! Overall Intrepid were not a memorable band on the night, lack of professionalism and respect for fellow band mates tends to always overshadow the rest.

As Intrepid were closing their set, the weather changed once more, bringing forth rain and seeing punters run inside. This unfortunate event saw and underlined the friendly atmosphere present throughout the day, as all big and strong enough helped in moving all equipment from the outside stage to inside the venue for the continuation of DEATHJAM.

Hearing Norse’s sound check showed everyone that they did not want to miss these guys. Hailing form the Southern Highlands NSW, the four-piece fuse Death and Black metal in what produces an awesome wall of sound with complex guitar work on behalf of both Treelo and Simon, as well as their shared beastly vocals. Norse were unfortunately plagued by a bad mix, however showed an easy going presence on stage and engaging the crowd they had an awesome response from the horde of punters, who were left blown away not only by the band as a whole, but in great it was Robin Stone [the Amenta], whose maniacal drum proficiency engages and demands appreciation. Largely an interesting band to see live, both for their antics and their talent!

After a long lasting sound check, Progressive death metal foursome Synperium finally came on to tear up the DEATHJAM stage. Opening their set with brutalizing “Parasite” these guys did not leave one head still. With a heavyset vocalist – Jason, their mix of ominous lyrics and Kai’s exciting guitar work made for a well received set, including; “Hypermachine”, “Thy Kingdom Come” and “Metalhead” all greatly appreciated by punters, underlining a true want and a thriving death metal scene. With an imposing stage presence coming from all, it was quite substandard to constantly notice the drummer’s lack of enthusiasm to be on stage – rolling eyes, and imprudent faces pasted on to underline what can only be translated as a lack of desire. Finishing their set with “Stormchaser” Synperium delivered a brutal show!

With a last minute pull out by Frankenbok, DEATHJAM enlisted Sydney’s metal outfit Ouroboros (ex-Dred) to fill in the headline time-slot. Opening to a frantic and overtly excited audience, Ouroboros played favorites – “Absent from Entity”, “Edifice of Tyranny” and “Animal, Man... Machine” which saw most of the crowd join in a sing – or growl a-long. However, they were not without problems; plagued by a terrible mix - dulling all guitar work, and shadowing any definition between motifs – this was not the only fault of their set.

As always Ouroboros are tight and precise live, guitarists Mikhail Okrugin and Chris Jones always showcase impressive finger work with melodic, extensive, at times indulgent solos, and David Horgan’s drum skills are mechanical. However, seeing Ouroboros live is like listening to them on record, this can be great, unless the band becomes a machine. Punters don’t want pretense, or pose, and unfortunately that is what the death metal outfit seems to deliver. Their musical proficiency is undermined by the fact that when you have seen them once – you have seen it all. Evgeny Linnik’s beastly vocal delivery is brutalizing, and the five-piece rarely leave one head not moving, alas Evgeny tends to either thrash his locks or completely walk off stage when the band is in an instrumental interlude, showing that he is a discomfited front man.

Ouroboros are remarkable musicians, unfortunately they need to become more comfortable on stage, take themselves less seriously and show their screaming fans that they can communicate.

With Ouroboros closing the inaugural DEATHJAM Metal Festival, it can be stated that the festival was a massive success, with a huge ten-band line up and punters hungry for extreme metal showing to all that there is a thriving underground metal scene alive and thrashing out of Sydney’s west. Stay tuned for next year!