If the announcement of James Hetfield going back into rehab instead of coming to Australia on a package tour with Metallica and Slipknot has got you down, well allow Metalise to offer you a remedy of several international and domestic shows popping through the region in the next couple of months, from sludge to symphonic death.
Mark of Cain hit The Basement in Belco on Saturday, 19 October with the 30th anniversary tour for their album Battlesick. Ex Fugazi alumni The Messthetics are out for this national tour and you can hit Oztix to pick up your tickets for the birthday party.
Munt are a five-piece band out of Melbourne who blend black, modern death metal and grind core to great effect, and have put the fruits of their brutal labor into their fourth release, an EP called Towards Extinction. They are taking it up the east coast in celebration of its launch. Warpath from Adelaide are also on board with their new EP Out of Fear for this jaunt and they will be joined by Blight Worms, Tenchknife and Facecutter at The Basement on the Friday, 25 October.
Crowbar, one of New Orleans’ heaviest bands of all time, postponed their winter Australian tour, but now it’s just around the corner, happening on Friday, 6 December. Local supports were just announced with Arrowhead and Canberra’s Mental Cavity on board for all them riffs. Best of all, Crowbar are playing at… Crowbar, in Sydney.
There must be something in the water because Mental Cavity have also been announced as the local support for New Orleans’ other heaviest band, Eyehategod, happening on Monday, 11 November at The Basement. This is easily my must see pick for gig of the month. Black Rheno have the national support for the tour and good thing too; it’s been seven years since the NOLA sludge kings bludgeoned the ANU Bar. Going to be a sensational show.
Also vying for your November concert dollar is Italian symphonic death band Fleshgod Apocalypse. The Flesh’ will be closing out their six-date run of Australia here in Canberra in celebration of their new album Veleno (the Italian word for ‘venom’). Also performing at the show are Unholy Vendetta, Black Mountain and Freedom of Fear. Soundworks Direct or Oztix for tickets.
If you’re keen for a cruise up the Hume, a great excuse for a road trip is the Steel Assassins Festival in Sydney at The Bridge Hotel. Running over three nights if you count the Thursday night warm-up show, there’s a whole lotta metal from the event that bills itself as “Australia’s truest metal fest”.
The Thursday night show is 7 November in Glebe at the Staves Brewery and features Japanese thrashers Riverge, Sydney acid metal Sabire, and long time Sydney act Hazmat.
Friday, 8 November is the main event at The Bridge Hotel with locals Witchskull headlining. Rounding out the bill will be Tyrant, Riverge, Temtris, Shadow Realm, The Plague,and Triple Kill.
And Saturday, 9 November is even more stacked with Black Majesty, Elm Street, Mason, Envenomed, Hidden Intent, Snake Bite Whiskey, Bulletbelt, Wartooth, Canberra’s Mattersphere, Head In A Jar, Medics of Pain and a “special secret performance”. That’s a whole lot of metal and you can get your tickets at Moshtix.
Witchskull will also be appearing at Sun Burn Festival with Pod People, Lucifungus and a cavalcade of great slow riffing Aussie bands at The Tote in Melbourne on the Saturday, 30 November. That will be their last show before going into the studio on 1 December to record their third album. Early 2020 release due.
And finally, Opeth are out in Australia for five dates in December. If you’re seeking an early Christmas present, hit up the State Theatre in Sydney on the 14th to catch them bring forth some classics as well as material from this year’s In Cauda Venenum.
