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Live Reviews : Mayhem, Départe, Bölzer and Earth Rot @ Capitol, Perth 16/01/2018

By on January 17, 2018

Few bands in the entire history of music can possess a more violent history as Mayhem from Norway. It comprises of tales of murder, arson, and suicide way back in the early days of the band. During this time, however, the band managed to write an album which will go down as one of the most influential pieces of music in the history of extreme metal. That album being De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas. Like much of black metal in a live environment it can be a haunting and a disturbing experience for those who may not be familiar with the sound of these bands. It must be experienced in countries such as Sweden and Norway. It has become a sort of cultural phenomenon which has been well documented largely due to what happened in the early nineties in Scandinavia.

First up on the night was local HM 2 driven death/black juggernauts Earth Rot. Having been improving as a band over the last four years with each release and numerous tours of Europe and Asia, they got the crowd moving and started the night off in perfect fashion. Jared Bridgeman’s typically black metal vocals and Colin Dickie’s guitar leads which cut through an already growing audience while Daniel Maloney’s drumming complimented the band’s sound perfectly.

Second on the night was the melancholic doom like sounds of Hobart’s Départe. Providing a powerful yet sombre feeling which seemed to fit the bill of the evening perfectly. A type of extreme metal which has seen them do wonders for their career and appealing largely to audiences of a European breed. At times it can seem a little too slow for such an event like this, but they pulled off an impressive set and left the stage leaving a good impression.

After wowing audiences on their last visit to Australia it was Switzerland’s Bölzer who entered the stage next. I was extremely looking forward to catching this two-piece as I have found their albums of a particularly high standard, but something seemed off especially with the lack of clarity in the guitar. The vocals though I was extremely impressed with and the use of cleans which could almost be compared to the likes of Akercocke and even Type O Negative (no small mean feat). The technical issues were somewhat rectified towards the end of the set and did improve which was somewhat of a relief as I am definitely an avid fan of Bölzer.

An ocean of darkness engulfed the venue as Mayhem proceeded to take to the stage. In their hooded cloaks and corpse paint they unleashed wave after wave of ferocious black metal. The subsonic blasts of arguably black metal’s premier drummer Hellhammer were the perfect backbone for such a band. Frontman, Attila’s presence on stage was electrifying and seemed to have the entire crowd under his command. The stage show for such an iconic extreme metal album was there to see and was great to see such a dark form of music do so well in the most isolated city in the world.

Mayhem is a sight to behold in a live setting and the rest of Australia is in for a treat as the tour continues onto the rest of the country.

Catch Mayhem on the remaining De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas Australian tour dates. Tickets on sale via www.soundworkstouring.com.