Words – @dbak456
Photos – @photo.amai
Norwegian black metal in Australia in January is starting to become somewhat of a tradition, and by tradition, I mean with now having had ABBATH grace our shores this year, along with MAYHEM last year and MORK a week or so ago, it’s a small pattern, but it’s a pattern I can absolutely get behind. Maybe it’s also no coincidence that all of these gigs, housing bands from under the northern skies, take place on the northern side of Melbourne.
Greeted with balmy weather, it was the perfect night to go for a short wander from my little apartment in Northcote up the road into Thornbury and into the CROXTON BANDROOM. On entry, I’m immediately reminded that variety is very much the spice of life, with patrons adorned in all manner of battle jackets, spiked belts, big boots and even some going through the effort of donning their very own version of corpse paint. This variety wouldn’t be limited to just fashion choices, but through the music each band would be showing off throughout the night.
The first slice of variety would be in the way of beer swilling, high tempo, riff shredding, growls and great fun vibes that New South Wales’ BASTARDIZER bring to the table with an immediate roar on vocals to start the set and right into their brand of old school thrash metal with its own modernity, adding slight blackened elements. Leaving no real room for a breather, they ripped through tracks from their album ‘Dawn of Destruction’, which made up a majority of the setlist. A big highlight for me was the third track they played, ‘Crimson Trenches’, which I simply wrote in my notes app afterwards as “fun as fuck”, even bringing in some willing crowd participation, which is pretty rare for an opening act.
Themes of hell, Satan and the occult are scattered throughout the lyricism, and even the imagery, with the vocalist’s mic stand equipped with its very own upside-down cross. Whether intentional or not, it was really hard not to be reminded of having ‘Midnight in Hell’ give me big ‘Metal Militia’ by METALLICA vibes, which is never a bad thing. BASTARDIZER gave the crowd the perfect warm up to get up, groove, headbang and set strap themselves in.
With a crowd beautifully warmed up and starting to fill more of the venue, Melbourne’s own WEREWOLVES were out with their own slice of variety and to show off that they play death metal, I didn’t just find this out by the way they played, but it’s literally what they opened with, saying before starting. Three pieces at times can have difficulty creating the sort of full sound a four piece might have but this is absolutely not the case with WEREWOLVES who produce a mammoth sound.
Being a lapsed drummer, I can’t help but focus a lot of my attention on that part of a gig and god damn, was this guy an absolute monster behind the kit, with insanely quick and clean double kicks and constant blasts on the snare. It was an absolute treat to watch the immense concentration, especially through the lengthened blasting sections. I don’t envy the tension placed on the forearms, that’s for sure.
Through their deep, dueling growling vocals while still maintaining a high level of bass and guitar (all done with a playfulness in between songs and having a laugh with the crowd) playing through songs like ‘Crushgasm’, ‘Under the Ground’ all the way to their closer ‘I Don’t Like You’, this was a full effort and a full assault on a ravenous crowd fully invested in WEREWOLVES, giving just as much back as the band gave to it.
A “Return to the Raven Realms” was now upon us. ABBATH DOOM OCCULTA, best known through his work with legendary black metal titans IMMORTAL but more recently for his work with his band ABBATH has, alongside a band of equally talented players, found himself far from Bergan, Norway but hopefully feeling just as at home as the Croxton, which had gradually been filling through the night was now wall to wall with local black metal enthusiasts waiting for what would not be a set comprised of ABBATH material, but one as the tour tagline suggests and a “Return to the Raven Realms”, a showpiece for the aforementioned legendary IMMORTAL material.
It was a furious start with Ukri Suvilehto on drums coming out first to start ‘All Shall Fall’, joined by Rusty Cornell and Ole Andre Farstad and finally, the man of the night, Abbath himself, all in black and all in their own version of corpse paint, the final slice of variety in Norwegian black metal. A crowd ablaze, fists raised, heads windmilling, it was an opening and showmanship worthy of all the excitement that had built.
Given this is a set of fan favourites, it’s hard to describe any particular song as a fan favourite but I feel that’s exactly what ‘Sons of Northern Darkness is’, comprising all the elements of that classic Norwegian black metal sound that’s so distinct and influential in how its carried on throughout the decades, with its harshness that can only be bred from the cold winters, tremolo, blast beats, it is a song that is perfect for a crowd wanting to move, raise their fists, even one dude who piffed a beer to shower the crowd.
Through the intense pace of ‘Tyrants’ and ‘One By One’, a brief respite in pace is given in the intro to ‘Norden On Fire’. Beautifully placed in the setlist to add that element of groove that black metal can also give. Even though there’s a lot of seriousness throughout, Abbath shows off his humour with a wry smile here or there or little bits of dry Norwegian humour in between songs; it’s a nice way of taking time to engage with the crowd without being too self-indulgent.
Reaching deep down into the back of the catalogue, closing with 1993’s ‘The Sun No Longer Rises’, it’s a fitting end to go so back into the classic amount of songs on a shower based around a return, and not just that, but it’s hauntingly evil and the kind of vibe those most interested in the genre are there for that they can’t get elsewhere. A rare, lights on after, long break before an encore in a world where most bands go off and within 10 seconds are back for the assumed encore was a nice change from the norm. ‘Withstand the Fall Of Time’ completely closes us out.
A cold end to a balmy night, ABBATH showed off why they still, after all these years, draw such a crowd and show why Norwegian black metal continues to strike such a chord with its dedicated fanbase.
Thank you to BASTARDIZER, WEREVOLVES, ABBATH DOOM OCCULTA, CROXTON BANDROOM and CULT ETIQUITE PR.
