LORD w/ The Sacred Truth + Rampage + Knightqueste

With the closure of the Oxford Tavern, which was possibly Wollongong's longest running live venue that constantly supported metal, things were looking grim for the scene in this town. It seems that other venues have now decided to embrace the genre and let the bands reign once again, and this time it was The Grand Hotel's turn. With a decent four band lineup consisting of some of Wollongong's best heavy bands; Knightqueste, Rampage, The Sacred Truth and the almighty LORD - this was set to be one awesome evening of metal.

First up was Knightqueste with their take on power metal, dressed in battle garb they took to the stage and destroyed the audience, many of which also dressed up and brandished plastic swords, in worthy fashion. This 5 piece consisting of Cahn Turner on vocals, Sean Falconer on bass, Gareth Hoyle on keys, Simon Batley on drums and Matt Bell on guitar tore up the stage with an awesome 7 song set with catchy tunes, pirate themes and keyboard solos! Since they first emerged in the local scene Knightqueste has developed into an epic live band which I would recommend to anyone to check out if ever given the opportunity.

Next up were local titans Rampage, showcasing their thrash metal to all. The audience really got going with these guys, as they normally do. Though I have seen Rampage many times before, their set was probably the best I had heard them ever. The sound of the venue really complimented the band's performance too. Though there were bass trouble in the beginning of the set, with vocalist/bassist Rob Rampage set his bass down mid-sing and continued with the performance, later rectifying the problem. Their set included all their classic songs including my favourite, 'New World Disorder'. It is always a pleasure to see this band perform.

The Sacred Truth were next on with their version of progressive metal, and while they had an awesome sound and some rather catchy tunes there was something about them that failed to keep my attention. Most of the songs had an 'intro' track that was played from an iPod, usually consisting of a single guitar and vocals (which lead me to wonder why they couldn't just perform it - same for the intro to their set). The vocals were heavily enveloped in reverb which sometimes made it difficult to understand any lyrics and with a single guitar the sound lost some of its edge during solos. But despite these somewhat minor setbacks I enjoyed their set as best I could and they plowered througha solidly performed set, though it is in my opinion that one of the other two bands would have been better suited as an opened for LORD.

And finally it was LORD's turn to engage in their live rituals which lead to an amazing full set of twelve songs. They delivered each song with excellent musicianship and energy. Songs were sampled from all across LORD's discography including 'Footsteps in the Sand', 'Same Old Lines', 'Rain' and 'Eternal Storm'. The highlight of their set for me was the inclusion of their latest song, a cover of Kylie Minogue's 'On a Night Like This' of which the video has made its way around the internet and creeped out thousands of viewers. During the song an inflatable doll emerged and was set on the audience who sent it flailing across the room until its ultimate death. The audience was getting more crazy after each song, eventually forcing me to step back from the front to escape the people stage diving from the tiny 1ft high stage the venue had. The band performed with the proficiency one would expect from such a band, with epic solos played spot on and the sound of the venue was surprisingly good for a band such as this. Of all the times I have seen LORD perform, I have not been left disappointed, and this show was no different.

LORD are on their "The Tyrants Return" tour, playing a number of shows around Australia, and a run through Japan. Check out the band's Myspace page for more details, and be sure to check out this awesome band at a show near you!