Words & Photos – MITCH
We went down to Melbourne’s iconic Forum Theatre on Saturday night and holy shit we were surprised by the crowd. It’s not often you see a venue full from the moment doors open.
Fans showed up early for the absolutely stacked lineup of Alpha Wolf’s ‘Half Living Things tour’ supported by Thrown, Invent / Animate and the Devil Wears Prada.
First up was Swedish heavyweights Thrown who were pure energy straight away from the opening track ‘Guilt’ from their soon-to-be-released record ‘Excessive Guilt’. Vocalist Marcus made use of the Forum’s ample stage, running, jumping, and whipping the audience into a frenzy. Thrown has a fresh take on heavy music blending metalcore, hardcore and deathcore into a single bludgeoning entity. They ripped through their massive set with some standouts being Guilt, Parasite and their latest track and set closer Greyout.
In almost no time at all, the lights went down and the Texan’s, Invent Animate, entered the stage as a roar of excitement from the audience boomed. All dressed in white, Invent Animate brought a different, yet equally energetic vibe to the stage. Lead singer Marcus Vik has a vocal range to envy with soaring clean vocals that descended into death growls that came from the bowels of hell. It was impressive to witness first-hand.
In a brief interlude, bassist Caleb addresses the crowd “Melbourne we didn’t get on a plane to see a mosh pit like that, let’s see some movement!”.
It was no surprise that crowd surfing and mosh pit chaos ensued. Every member of Invent Animate put in serious work, each claiming the stage as their own. Heading into the last track, Caleb addresses the crowd once more, “Melbourne, stop what you’re doing and pick a fucking side” This would be the first wall of death of the evening but definitely not the last.
It was time for the final support of the evening, The Devil Wears Prada, who had not graced the stages of Melbourne in six long years. They opened the set with ‘Watchtower’ from their 2022 release Color Decay and continued by ripping through tracks Danger: wildman, Salt, broken and Ritual. Guitarist Jeremy interjected “Come on you Aussie fucks, let’s go!”, as they launched into the fan favourite track, Reasons.
Caleb looked out at the audience “Where my ladies at, this one’s for you” and they closed out the set with Sacrifice. Six years was well worth the wait.
It was finally that time, sheets that covered objects on the stage came down to reveal ALPHA WOLF’s complete stage setup which featured a huge backlit boom box surrounded by a chain link fence and a massive graffiti-style backdrop sporting the band’s name. Guitarist Sabian entered the stage pointing at the audience, waving his arms and demanding us to get up and pay attention as shit was about to get loose.
Opening with ‘Haunter’ taken from their latest album and the tour’s namesake Half Living Things. It was track three ‘Acid Romance’ where things got spicey with pyrotechnics shooting flames into the air. Vocalist Lochie then took a moment to talk with the crowd “This is our hometown, Alpha Wolf at the Forum theatre, look at this shit”, he seemed completely humbled by the wall-to-wall of fans that filled the venue. The set was filled with absolute bangers. Things got interesting during the new track Suck 2 Suck, where instead of the Ice T vocal spot we had a guest vocalist who got the crowd to get down on the ground, (reminiscent of the antics you see at a Slipknot show) and as the breakdown hit, everyone launched to their feet. Another new (and possibly my favourite) track followed Whenever You’re Ready, which although has a more sombre vibe than their other tracks doesn’t lack that Alpha Wolf punch, and they really let bassist John Arnold’s vocals shine with a killer chorus.
The back half of the set featured the new track ‘Feign’ that is being debuted on this tour, followed by Hotel Under Underground, Mangeko, 60cm of Steel and the show finisher Akudama.
ALPHA WOLF absolutely owned the stage and showed that they are destined for big things. It was a hell of a night and a performance they should be proud of.
Thanks to the Forum Melbourne crew for having us and a special thanks to Dallas Does PR for arranging media access.
EVERYDAY METAL – SUPPORT LOCAL HEAVY METAL
