The Word on Metal with Josh Nixon
The year relentlessly surges forward, and I write to you today in the afterglow of the wholesome stadium entertainment of Iron Maiden + Killswitch Engage.
The Future Past world tour on the Thursday night show kicked off with a super great intro of Somewhere In Time and—after some timing weirdness due to some monitoring issues for Bruce—the band laid down two top-notch hours.
While Nicko is noticeably a step behind his best—the single kick drum reflective of the impact of the stroke he suffered early last year—was still a huge night, opened in highly professional style via a super-tight 30 minutes by Killswitch Engage.
Ploughshare
First up this month is a big up to the mighty and indeed indomitable Ploughshare.
These locals have been at the forefront of the more extreme end of the metal spectrum in the ACT in the last few years, staking their claim with a bunch of dense, confronting material.
Never afraid to experiment, the lads have a killer new release entitled Second Wound due out on vinyl through Brilliant Emperor on Friday, 8 November. A single 9-minute track, The Fall of All Creatures, is in the offering and will doubtlessly encapsulate the darkest reaches of their morbid musical universe.
Always a must-sus – check it.
Witchskull Residency
Continuing the Canberra triumphs, our own Witchskull dominates October with whole month-long residency at The Baso to celebrate a decade in the game. Over the four weekends, the band will chronologically take us through their four studio albums.
So, that means you get:
- Saturday, 5 October – Vast Electric Dark
- Saturday, 12 October – A Coven’s Will
(ft support Voodoo Acid Space Kings) - Saturday, 19 October – Driftwood Cross
- Saturday, 26 October – The Serpent Tide
The last show includes support from legendary Oz metal alumni, the Bengal Tigers. You can grab a ticket to the lot or to individual shows. What a way to mark one of the best metal bands to come outta tha capital. Tickets to all shows via Oztix
Deep Purple Legend
On Saturday, 5 October, the legendary Glenn Hughes performed the iconic Deep Purple album Burn to celebrate the album’s 50th anniversary. Hardline Media have been looking after Canberra recently, so I hope you all got along and sailed away.
Mixed Bill Madness
On Saturday, 19 October, another chapter in the Mixed Bill Madness lands at Smith’s Alt with an outstanding 3-band bill.
With Melbourne’s Velvet Parade tantalisingly described as “theatrical, luscious and dark, a vampiric presence with rich, decadent opulence”, ya can’t miss.
Local upstarts Voodoo Acid Space Kings have been gigging heaps and will bring their increasingly honed prog-tinged stoner doom, killer vocals and big riffs. The mixed bill is completed by locals Krampus, who will be no strangers to regular readers of this column and their grinchcore delights. Grab your ticket via Smith’s.
Periphery and Pestilence
November ramps up the international fun with Periphery on Tuesday the 5th at The Baso as a sideshow of their Monolith tour. Guitar nerds unite! Tix via Oztix!
Freshly announced, the legendary Dutch extreme act Pestilence bring top blokes of Melbourne and support act Alarum out on the road for a 5-date Australian tour, landing at The Baso on Friday, 8 November.
As a foundational member of the death metal fraternity, Pestilence should require no introduction, assaulting the world with their seminal works Consvming Impvlse, Testimony Of The Ancients and Spheres. Tix via Oztix.
Weedeater
Weedeater is an institution in rollicking stoner sludge. The USA act welcomes visitors to The Baso as part of the elite tour package, including Aussies King Parrot, Astrodeath and Choof. The show is a Sunday affair on 10 November and should see in the warmer months in style.
And the rest…
Recently announced is a welcome return from LA HC hard legends Xibalba on 12 February and the very enticing proposition of Left To Die on 7 March.
The band, featuring two members of the classic Death line-up, performs songs from Scream Bloody Gore and Leprosy (Terry Butler and Rick Rozz) and will be joined by Exhumed and Malevolent Creation members. A night of the classic era of early death metal awaits.
A LOT is coming up, folks! You keep reading about it, and I’ll keep writing about it. – Josh [doomtildeath@hotmail.com]
