THE HAUNTED w/ Nefaria, Lynchmada and Desolution - Brisbane

The last gig that I attended at the Hi-Fi was Alestorm - just a few weeks earlier, and after the awesomeness of that gig, it was with a happy heart I wandered down to the Hi-Fi, eagerly awaiting a night of metal mayhem which would blow my face off.

First up on the evening was Desolution, a great band with sadly, very little audience. Granted, they were the first band of the night. Ripping through their great set, and shamelessly announcing that their CD was available for purchase at the merch stall, Desolution set the tone of exactly what kind of night this was going to be: a loud one.

Next came Lynchmada, a fairly well-renowned band in Brisbane, with another great set of ear-drum-pounding songs. Playing tracks from their previously released album, The Other Mexico, Lynchmada also played a few songs off their upcoming release, “which should be out in October”. Here’s fingers crossed. 

A group with great energy, and whose members couldn’t stop head banging throughout their set, they clearly enjoyed playing, and helped knock the mood up a notch.

During the sound check of the next band, hidden deep within the vocal-bounds of “test, one, two, test”, came a very plaintive “meow”…. Random, but very amusing, and clearly whetting of the appetite to see exactly what the next group was going to serve.

This final appetizer was Nefaria, another pinnacle of the Brisbane metal scene, with a fantastic set, and a vocalist running around the stage alike to that of Bruce Dickinson after sculling a whole slab of Red Bull. 

One saw Dave [vocals] running about the stage, climbing over and onto the fold back monitors - even climbing into the crowd at one point, to allow an audience member to take over some vocal duties - before hauling himself back onto the stage to continue the set. 

There was an amazing energy, and it was truly maintained for their entire set - Nefaria were the icing on the support-band cake, giving just the right amount of release, yet also helping to build the tension for the main act - which was, of course, The Haunted!

By the time the curtains slowly opened to a blacked-out stage with the sound of a pre-recorded instrumental track, the crowd were eagerly and hungrily cheering their voices hoarse. Without further ado, The Haunted ripped into ‘Never Better’, the first of many popular and incredibly loud offerings, much to the joy of the audience.

Of course, what kind of Haunted show would this be without the various rants on behalf of vocalist Peter Dolving? The first tirade of the evening was about the world, and how “this world is fucked, with all the fat bastards” - at which point bassist Jonas Björler calmly walked up, and with a cheeky grin, slapped Peter in his own generous stomach. Peter grinned, and admitted, “I’m a fat bastard with a big cock because I don’t take steroids!” before The Haunted gleefully ripped into ‘Catch 22’.

Later, when it all became too much and Dolving had removed his shirt, toweled himself down, and taken a few more gulps of his coffee, he asked us, “Who’s got a fucking fat ugly mother?” Insert cheers and laughter here. “Well,” he continued, “this song goes out to mine. Bitch. May she rest in hell!” And away they went, with ‘The Medusa’.

The next little rant contained Peter’s admission about his initial impression of Australia, “[as a] kid, I used to watch a lot of Australian films, and I decided that you must all be on acid. In Sweden, we do mushrooms”. And while this reviewer will plead the fifth about the acid comment, she will admit that she did scent the unmistakable odor of a certain weedy substance after the night had ended as she was hanging around the backstage door interviewing the man himself.

Finally, the night came to its end, the band said farewell, and all left the stage, except, again, for Peter. Who slowly, but surely, cajoled his fellow band members into giving an encore. 

It was during the first song of this encore that an enthusiastic member of the audience, dressed in jeans and flanno, ran to the front, climbed the barrier, and jumped onto the stage. He spent the entire song moshing around with The Haunted, air-guitaring beside Per Möller Jensen, and generally head banging along. 

For some reason, security let him stay up there, and at the end of the song - after many hugs from Peter Dolving, and high fives from the rest of the band - he climbed back into the crowd, while The Haunted gave us one last, final track, before saying their final goodnight.

Overall, a good night - loud, heavy, deafening, and all that metal should be and is. If you missed out, don’t worry, you can catch The Haunted at Wacken this year. [Wacken roll-call?! – Ed.]