One of the great aspects about travelling abroad is the opportunity to catch local metal acts at new venues making the cliché that a journalist never rests very apt as I was very pleased to be able to catch Sanzu who had travelled from Perth (Australia) for this gig which is a very long distance indeed. However up before them were four supports and the one thing that differs with the gigs I’ve been to here is the start and end time as the gig was scheduled to end past midnight with a door time of 8PM. The Tote Hotel (it appears that most bars I’ve been to have the word hotel tagged on the end), was your typical metal venue as the pub part was decorated with various posters on the walls and ceiling. Amusingly the toilet area had a sign above it saying ‘Through To Barter Town’.

Grabbing a pint from the bar, which was pricey at bordering near £7 a pint, Zeolite, hailing from Launceston (Tasmania), were already on stage as I entered. The bands brutalising death metal was tinged with core and slam tendencies making their songs very accessible and overtly catchy in places. Apparently, the backing track wasn’t working for one song so the vocalist impersonated it with much sniggering from the crowd. Also the band played without a bassist which was completely fulfilled by the density of the guitar work. Their animated singer infused their show with plenty of energy as the crowd seemed to know the band quite well as I promptly bought their shirt and a CD, well it would be rude not to and the guys in the band really appreciated it when I spoke to them.

Up next was a whole new division of death metal with local act The Hazard Circular, pounding out a technical death metal tornado. The limited stage space meant that movement was compressed as the band peppered their songs with skilful lead breaks including some deft fret tapping guitar duels. There was an Obscura touch to their songs utilising pulverising drums within the guitar shredding. Tech death metal can often be messy but this well rehearsed act had confidence pouring from their musicianship with hurricane like momentum giving Deadspace who followed a tough time to surpass their intensity.

Deadspace, from Sydney, were extremely popular as the band set themselves up using an intro piece during which the bassist stated “I’ve heard this place is filthy as fuck… so let’s party”. Musically the band was on fairly safe ground as the vocalist had a drink of his pint then poured it over his head and did so at least twice more during the set which I found baffling. The band was showcasing their new drummer as this was his first show as the bands laid back black metal style had plenty of nuances but the execution was flawed with the clean vocals being absolutely dire unfortunately. There was plenty of backing track which I always find annoying when it can be easily played given the right gear. Contrasting with the frontmans varied bellowing, the bass player unleashed some very dulcet and gothic tones as she carefully paved the way for her bass riff to follow which was excellent. There was a parade of guest singers during their set, which probably equates to dragging their mates on stage for a stint. The vocalists party antics continued with him being sat on someone’s shoulders. Airing a new song, which I didn’t catch the title of, the track was sample heavy initially as I could see the intent of the songs structure but some cleaning up is needed to make it flow more cohesively and had a post black style that I found interesting and look forward to checking the band’s music out more fully on my return home.

Penultimate act Daemon Pyre, also from Sydney, brought things back on track with their ultra-dense pulverising and accomplished musicianship. Every song was packed with variation as the band embellished their set with adroit guitar trickery and a formidable rhythm section. “Defeated” was a no frills tune that harvested the fields of death metals fertile period some 20 to 25 years ago by stacking out the track with technical breaks and even some thrash metal savagery. With such variability in their songs tying the band down to one genre was difficult as they followed with a Carcass like drum intro which lead into a whirlwind riff complete with the drummer headbanging like his life depended on it during the song. An excellent set from this band as I picked up their CD but no shirts unfortunately.

When I saw that Sanzu were playing during my time in Australia to say I was pleased is an understatement as I had already bought their album on vinyl having had it for review for a different outlet. The album in question titled “Heavy Over The Home” is one of the densest assaulting slabs of death metal I’ve ever heard as the band set themselves up ready to annihilate all before them. Having already bought a shirt and their debut EP I was anticipating a total sonic bludgeoning as the singer apologised that he was unwell and might disappear from the stage at times and to his credit he only did it a couple of time. The mix was nigh on perfect and almost a match for the oppressive suffocating density of their studio work. Standing near the front gave everyone there an almost a pyroclastic flow of bass and drums as both musicians created a chassis on which the complex guitar work was bolted. The massive variations in pace leaned the slower aspects of their set towards doom in all their songs but with oblique tempo shifts inserted seemingly random but to devastating effect. “Old Orchard Floor” had a chainsawing riff as the singer stood on a stage monitor peering out and I wondered whether the people at the front were in danger of projectile vomiting judging by how unwell he was. The guitar work that Sanzu deploy in their songs can be overlooked due to the colossal heaviness but here I could hear them all though I did need to concentrate and pick them out especially when the songs were cranked up to blast speed. As the set progressed the singer really did look unwell as he sat down on the stage floor vomiting into a bucket as the band pounded out a grisly slothful riff and beat. As he found new energy the vocalist got up and barked out the lyrics with renewed vigour as the set came to a close with “Variant Red” from the bands EP “Painless” as I made a quick departure to grab the bands long sleeve before heading home.

My first ever gig in Australia was resoundingly successful and I enjoyed every second of it. There was a good humour to the gig too with every band enjoying/enduring (delete as applicable) some barracking by the crowd as I looked forward to my other planned gigs during my stay.

(Review and photos by Martin Harris)