DEGENERACY w/ 1 Shot Kill, Hatchet Dawn, Deprivation and Scar This Sky

Coming up to the Bald Faced Stag it was hard to miss Degeneracy plastered in large, luminous white letters upon its wall. The 30th of October brought five extreme bands onto its stage, including; Scar This Sky, Deprivation, Hatchet Dawn, 1 Shot Kill and headliners, the aforementioned, Degeneracy.

Waiting for the first band to hit the stage I was surprised to see such a small turn out; however, being the beginning of the night one assumed it would increase, unfortunately – and disappointingly - for the first three bands the crowd scantily improved in mass.

First to hit the stage were Sydney Metallers Scar This Sky. Starting their set to perhaps ten people inside the venue, they did a fantastic job and seemed not to be bothered by a bad turn out. Borrowing Intrepid’s [Sydney Thrash] guitarist James to fill in on bass duties for the night, the five-piece held great stage presence, and blatantly enjoyed themselves. With punters slowly entering the doors to watch the set, vocalist David continued his aural attack with harsh vocals and fervently strong body language. Judging by their energetic set and vicious metal offerings, it was a surprise to find out that Scar This Sky only played their first show this May. Finishing their set, the stage was open for second band of the night, Deprivation.

This night was the inaugural performance for Deprivation with new bass player Orry Swann. With Damien Harrison’s unfortunate departure for personal reasons, the introduction of Orry was to a regrettably sparse turnout. That being said, Deprivation - as always - gave an insane set. Maniacal vocals and stage presence alike on behalf of Ben Weber, and brilliant shredding from Lachlan Harrison was underlined fiercely by pounding rhythms and Swann’s great technique.

Having reviewed Deprivation a myriad of times, and having constantly been blown away, I will confer that the addition of Orry does not at all undermine the four-piece. Albeit at times Orry did seem introverted on stage – yet compared to the outfit’s usual antics most would – he gave a great performance. One point of amusement is his deportment, Deprivation must fancy emaciated musicians.

Driving twelve hours from Melbourne were Goth alt. Metallers Hatchet Dawn. Having recently supported Marilyn Manson on his “The High End of Low” tour for the Melbourne and Adelaide stops, this five-piece came out with morose gashes and blood, topped off by a withered scare crow as front man, who possessed such vocal diversity greatly complementing their genre-pushing music.

Playing songs such as “Perfect Parasite” from their 2009 EP “FAITH IN CHAOS”, as well as “Enter the Dragon” and “King Cold”, Hatchet Dawn were fantastic to watch on stage. Vocalist Loki was torn up and broken, conversing with the audience in a drone, much like his cleaner vocal style. However, as he began to growl, the austerity would soon progress to a howl reminiscent to that of a B-Movie Scream Queen! The highlight of their set was the baleful and perturbed “Mother Armageddon”, presenting ominous melodic lines this piece was in ways the musical representation of a sinister mentality.

With another break, one noticed an influx within the crowd. Pulling the biggest mass of the night, 1 Shot Kill hit the stage to launch their new EP “Showcase”. The demographic of people in attendance was interesting to observe; there were the metal heads and their girlfriends, the drunken Metallers, other bands and a number of older folk, one in particular possessing a white tress of hair.

1 Shot Kill is an interesting metal mix, combining hardcore with screeches of death without becoming either redundant or repetitive. Technically the band is fantastic; they were tight on stage and further managed to create an awesome atmosphere within the room. The crowd prized them, and there was a mass of engagement within the band. This Sydney four-piece markedly took pleasure in being on stage, and rightly so, their energetic stage presence and reception of a great response from the crowd underlined theirs being a highly professional outfit.

The last band of the night hammered through their set; with hit after hit of brutal grind at menacing speed, complemented with hilarious stage antics, comments and of course, the riotously obscene lyrical content. Naturally, this was Degeneracy!

White shirts, black ties, black pants, slicked hair and name badges; one could envision Utah, or most Sunday mornings.  Degeneracy stepped on to the stage in door-knocking gear, ready to spread its “dogma”, however decided to play a song not on the set list to ensure the people from “the full room would come into the empty room”. From the first note, this was an assault upon the intellect; however their tongue-in-cheek content was amusing, and even refreshing to hear. For the close minded Degeneracy may be offensive, for the liberated they are fantastic decadence!

Playing songs with obscene titles such as “David Jones Change room Defecation”, “Eyeball Salad”, “Nappy Chowder” and “Right Handed Abortion Technique” the four-piece were an awesome finishing set. With two minute songs speeding past, this grind outfit still held catchy riffs and awesome bass on behalf of Jonny [also of the Hell City Glamours]. Some in the crowd grew as maniacal as the depravity on stage; vocalist Simon parading with his backpack only to pull out a Mormon Bible ready for tearing, and the sight of Deprivation's vocalist Ben drinking out of a shoe front of stage. In totality, this was a beastly band with colossal energy who has to be seen live!

Degeneracy: www.myspace.com/degeneracy

1 Shot Kill: www.myspace.com/1shotkill

Hatchet Dawn: www.myspace.com/hatchetdawn

Deprivation: www.myspace.com/deprivationband

Scar This Sky: www.myspace.com/scarthissky