Canberra Metal Fest Metalise brought to you by Josh Nixon
“Frigid cold, cracks your limbs, how long can you last in this frozen water burial?”
This question, posed by Mr Araya, often crosses my mind at this time of year. The answer is, of course, entirely ratio’d on if there are enough riffs in play to keep the circulation going. Thankfully, the answer this winter is there a bloody shit load.
Saying a fond hello to Dark Mofo
I took the opportunity to escape the Canberra winter to enjoy the Tasmanian winter for a night – well, 16 hours – to take in the Hymns of the Dead gig at the Odeon Theatre as a part of the Dark Mofo festival. It was well worth every minute to see Tom G Warrior lead Triumph of Death through the Hellhammer classics, as well as monster shows from fellow bill buddies Krypts, Chthe’ilist and Darkestrah, whose excess baggage bill for all those instruments must be eye watering. Get down to Tasy for these shows at least once; I’m hearing big things for next year.
June Canberra Metal Gigs
Friday, 25 June kicks off our publishing period with Western Sydney prog metallers Gravity Stone making their first appearance at The Basement on the back of their Dichotomy single launch, their first release. They are going to be ably aided and abetted by Taliesin and Endless Grin.
If something of a more hard rock edge tickles your fancy on the same Friday, you can exercise your consumer choice and embark on a mission to Transit Bar to take in Charlotte & The Harlots, Bad Lunar, Northbourne and Sonic Reducer.
You will then have a day to recover before Sunday, 26 June at The Basement when the long awaited, oft Covid impacted tour by New Zealand’s Stalker FINALLY hits town.
The New Zealand 3-piece bring a breakneck take on traditional speed metal. Perfectly complimented on this tour by Melbourne punk metallers Reaper, who are fresh from their first European tour and with their debut album Viridian Inferno under their bullet belts. There is no reason to stay home on a Sunday. Just be sure to have some Tiger Balm or deep heat ready for a Monday morning bangover. Tickets through Oztix.
Canberra Metal Fest Set Times
And so, we arrive at the gargantuan weekend at The Basement with a ludicrously huge bill over the 1st and 2nd of July weekend. Yes, Canberra Metal Fest is finally upon us and it’s time to give you the set times for the big show across both stages at Belco’s home of heavy so you can curate your bangover.
Friday, 1 July
SMALL STAGE
12 Gauge Rampage 11:10pm – 11:45pm
Pod People 10pm – 10:35pm
Carnal Viscera 8:55pm – 9:25pm
Lucifungus 7:55pm – 8:25pm
Terra Mortem 6:55pm – 7:25pm
MAIN STAGE
Psycroptic 11:45pm – 12:25pm
Remains 10:35pm – 11:10pm
Sumeru 9:25pm – 10pm
HyperGiant 8:25pm – 8:55pm
Point 17 7:25pm – 7:55pm
Saturday, 2 July
SMALL STAGE
Goat Shaman 11:10pm – 11:45pm
Burn the Hostages 10pm – 10:30pm
As Flesh Decays 8:55pm – 9:25pm
Carcinoid 7:50pm – 8:20pm
Hekate 6:45pm – 7:15pm
Ploughshare 5:45pm – 6:15pm
Plague Dweller 4:45pm – 5:15pm
Arkanae 3:45pm – 4:15pm
Celestial Oath 2:45pm – 3:15pm
MAIN STAGE
Abramelin 11:45pm – 12:25pm
Disentomb 10:30pm – 11:10pm
King 9:25pm – 10pm
Wretch 8:20pm – 8:55pm
Womb to Tomb 7:15pm – 7:50pm
Mytile vey Lorth 6:15pm – 6:45pm
Nembutolik 5:15pm – 5:45pm
Immorium 4:15pm – 4:45pm
Atrocita 3:15pm – 3:45pm
Besomora 2:15pm – 2:45pm
It’s an absolutely monster bill that you would otherwise need to travel to Blacken Open Air in Alice Springs to pack in this much heavy. Tickets through Oztix.
July Canberra Metal Gigs
Disentomb must be sweating too much in Brisbane cause apparently they’re coming back down twice to cool us down with their smooth Brisvegas melodies… OK ‘smooth’ ain’t happening. I played a show with them last year and my face is still in danger from melting at a moment’s notice due to the battering it copped from their performance.
On the night you also get German death metal act Defeated Sanity, as the two bands take in an 11-date co-headlining Australian tour. The Basement host the Canberra leg on Monday, 11 July and they’re throwing in awesome Sydney band Wraith as the opener. Tickets through The Basement ticketing site.
As if that weekend of sheer riff power isn’t enough for July, the following weekend, on Saturday, 9 July, there’s an absolutely essential doom metal show on at the Pot Belly in Belconnen with the welcome return of Sydney’s Potion.
The band have been in hibernation to a large degree and only recently stepped out to introduce their new drummer to Sydney audiences. Also along for the ride is incredible super heavy Melbourne band Isua and, fresh off an absolutely savage performance on the Religious Observance show a few weeks back, our own Blight Worms. Going to be a huge show in a small room, don’t miss it.
Friday, 15 July sees a visit from Kronoceptor who are bringing big power metal vibes to The Basement, complimented with the prog metal stylings of Axiomatic Theory and the folk metal trappings of Mirrorshield. Our promoters promise, “A night of faux philharmonic orchestration, broad fusion and very real power”. There’s no improving on that sentence as far as enticing one in from the cold for a beer, a Chompy’s, and a bit of a thrash goes.
Hard Out!
Rounding out July is a super awesome fest out at the one and only Rose Cottage. The Hard Out! fest brings a killer mix of bands to the iconic southside venue on Saturday, 30 July. What’s more, it’s an all ages show – as long as a parent is attending with the youngster. Witchskull headline over Hydranaut, The Vee Bees, B.C., Grand Duke and Street Trash.
Food is available, and if you get your ticket through Moshtix you will be to pick up a discount feed from the mouth watering Smoke Masters BBQ who offer a pork burger and 3 chicken wings package. The BBQ they make for those pork burgers is already making my mouth water as much as the thought of coping new riffs. Both headliners have recorded new albums in the last month so it’s going to be a blast.
