LORD w/ Alarum, Darker Half, Backyard Mortuary

LORD have to be one of the hardest working Australian metal bands around and after months of touring all over the country, New Zealand and most recently Japan, these lovable metal-heads launch their new album 'Set in Stone' at The Gaelic Club tonight.

First on deck, BACKYARD MORTUARY. Never seen these guys before and didn't mind some of their doom-oriented riffs but was kind of mystified by the onstage stagecraft of the singer superglued to the one spot the entire set, clutching a can of VB and introducing the songs in his 'metal voice'. The band also seemed a little lacking in energy and net result was their failure to really capture the attention of the audience.

Next up; local boys DARKER HALF. Have always heard good things about this band and tonight, they didn't disappoint. From the moment they hit the stage to the end of their breakneck set, the pace and the energy refused to let up and the audience loved it. A little reminiscent of Iron Maiden stylistically except that singer 'Stevo' Simpson is shredding on guitar while belting out operatic melodies at the same time. Yes, that boy has some serious skills and the whole band gave a power-house performance that was undeniable to everyone present.

DARKER HALF played a lot of the tracks off their debut EP 'Duality' including the very melodic 'Helpless' and the killer track 'Confusion' that had everyone singing along. These boys truly are good performers but alongside the idols they are so reminiscent of? Perhaps a little green-understandable for such a young band. I would love to see them develop more of their own unique voice. There is also room for improvement in their onstage sound. Whoever is working with them needs to understand that it is lacking in bottom out front in a major way and we (the punters) want to actually hear the bass. Nitpicking aside, DARKER HALF have the most potential I've seen in such a young band for a long while and are definitely a band to watch.

ALARUM were up next and while they have their chops down, but I just couldn't get into their jazz/thrash fusion. There was a noticable lack of excitement coming from the audience as well. My feeling is that although they have great riffs, their chord progressions are inventive and execution is flawless, the riffs are just that; riffs. I didn't really hear any songs tonight. What you're left with is an awesome technical display but that doesn't always strike a chord with your average metal head. Lovers of more technical metal probably loved it but for me and most of the audience tonight it seemed, Alarum failed to resonate.

Before long it was time for LORD. These guys have steadily gained formidable live reputation through relentless touring throughout 2009 and tonight they thrilled with an awesome water-tight set.

Starting out with 'Spectres of The Ascendant', LORD slammed into their set and it has to be said, truly owned the night. Launching their new album, 'Set In Stone' they are energetic, charismatic, amusing and entertaining to boot. While they haven't re-invented the wheel in terms of original songwriting, these guys really know how to hold the attention of an audience. There was the obligatory show of sweeping and finger tapping and a great mix of tracks including a chunk of older Dungeon material. Lead singer/guitarist Tim certainly a gifted front-man but the rest of the band are also entertaining especially bassist Andy. Overall it was a fun night and though the Gaelic was not packed, the crowd present provided the passion and energy of a much larger audience.