Words – @redonthemic
Photos – djsedick
For those of you who don’t know, Stay Gold is a venue that hosts gigs from world-class international bands and Australia’s hottest local acts. On this particular Wednesday, the iconic venue offers the best of both worlds.
Bodysnatcher hailing from Florida and playing all over Australia have stunningly reached us.
Starting the night was Identity Error, a metalcore band from Melbourne who are quickly gaining notoriety, a band I’ve seen several times and never fail to impress. Having played with bands such as Seeyouspacecowboy and To The Grave, they’re clearly catching the attention of metal heads around Australia.
Showcasing quality metalcore sound with powerful vocals conveying passion and heart, Identity Error carved the night open with ease and warmed the punters up fantastically. After a short break to facilitate a changeover and allow the growing crowd a breather before the next act.
Body Prison is no joke, a hometown band taking the scene by storm and showing rapid growth throughout the country with a very respectable discography to explore, they took to the stage. Bearing some of the finest extreme vocals going and a wide range of techniques on offer from impressive vocalist Daniel MacDonald, Body Prison captivated the room.
Focusing on deathcore with a blend of slamming riffs and ultra-fast double kicks contrasting deadly breakdowns it only took one song for the crowd who weren’t familiar with them to realise who they were dealing with.
There is a reason they took out the Good Things Festival competition to secure an opening slot at that behemoth of a festival last year. A truly impressive set from these up-and-comers (and the first comment of the evening from my height-deprived friend about safety)
The next band needs little introduction, Volatile Ways took the stage. Having spent 2024 touring with The Acacia Strain and Dying Wish AND coming off their brand new release “Perfect Dark”, Volatile Ways is a staple of the Aussie scene. The only reason Volatile Ways wouldn’t have gained a room full of fans is because the room was already full of fans and the energy from the crowd confirmed this.
Bodysnatcher came out hard and fast and we were curious to see their performance mid-tour with Lorna Shore, I was not surprised to find that they had all the intensity in the world at their fingertips, this is not a band to overlook. With the sheer rage in the music itself and the mildly abusive crowd interaction everybody was waiting for, Bodysnatcher chugged through their set, playing every song true to the studio version or arguably better.
The pit is now officially in full force with a near-constant parade of stage invaders climbing up and launching themselves into the crowd, limbs flying everywhere and the photographers relegated to the edges of the stage because there’s nowhere safe in the front. Gaining particularly enthusiastic reactions from songs Murder8 and Infested from their 2024 EP Vile Conduct, the sound was huge, turning new and returning fans into violent mosh pit maniacs in the blink of an eye.
So that’s it, the gig finishes and the punters file out, loudly discussing their impressions of the evening and how much work is going to hurt the next day. No complaining to be heard, everyone is buzzing off the calibre of what they’ve just seen. The consensus is that the night was special, next time they come out it’ll be a big venue, we are lucky, we got in on the first rung in an intimate venue,and one day we’ll be able to say we remember seeing them at this great little pub in Brunswick.
Bodysnatcher stands a level above much of its competition.
A huge thanks go out to the Stay Gold crew, Destroy All Lines and Dallas Does PR for having us.
EVERYDAY METAL – SUPPORT LOCAL HEAVY METAL
