Words – @rixoncaptures
Photos – @Photo.amai
A gathering of over 1000 people coming together to experience an evening of carnage, caveman riffs, and impossible to read band logos, can only mean one thing: Sanguisugabogg are touring. The Ohio quartet have amassed a sizable following here in Melbourne since their inception in 2019, despite having only done a lap around Australia previously, and the long queue wrapping around 170 Russell was testament to their popularity. Tonight’s trio of death metal destroyers was rounded out by Peeling Flesh and Gutless.
There was an air of brutality from the moment Gutless took the stage, with the Melbourne quartet emerging to the sounds of an air raid siren overhead and lights firing an ominous red. They immediately launched into a barrage of death metal, with growling guttural vocals and ferocious riffs impossible not to bang your head along to. The band didn’t introduce any of their songs, instead letting the hellish glow of their red logo behind them maintain the atmosphere as psychopathic pop culture monologues were uttered overhead in between tracks. The vocalist spoke only once to the crowd directly, announcing “Thanks to all you sick fucks for coming out early. Now fucking kill each other,” as the pit became a space for non-stop action. Sweeping guitar solos soared into eerie dive bombs while the four band members headbanged along with the sold out room. The onslaught of distortion spoke for itself as crowd members frantically chased each other in the circle pit to the tune of machine gun kick drums and blast beats. Gutless successfully completed their task of warming up the crowd for the acts to come, and certainly found themselves a room full of new fans after tonight.
Peeling Flesh brought the heat with them all the way from Oklahoma. The band members barked like dogs and shared their excitement for finally touring in Australia for the first time, before launching into their signature slam death metal sound with breakdowns that shook the room. Diving into track Bed Bath Body In The Basement, vocalist Damonteal Harris called for crowdsurfers, and was rewarded handsomely as a constant wave of bodies spilled over the barrier. He danced slowly across the well-lit stage, hitting moves aimed at guitarists Mychal Soto and Chip Smith as their instruments squealed in between chugging refrains. 2021 single No Custer Shit featured double kicks from drummer Joe Pelletier that I truly thought couldn’t get any humanly faster, and yet surprisingly did, as his metallic snare hits punctuated every beat. CC from Melbourne band Algor Mortis was brought out on stage for her feature in 2025’s Holdin’, to great excitement from a hometown crowd. When he wasn’t flaunting his otherworldly guttural lows and demon-possessed pig squeals, Harris showed off his local lingo by commanding “Show me some crazy shit. Who’s the sickest cunt in the building?”
As their set closed, the all familiar sounds of FFWAS began. Not a single raised fist was stationary during the pit call of the track’s name “Face fucked with a shovel” as it was shouted from high up at the back of the room to the front of the barrier. Peeling Flesh mused that their first ever live show was with Sanguisugabogg, and now here they were on the other side of the world, selling out an entire Australian tour together. With a crowd reaction such as this from their first Melbourne show, the band are sure to visit our shores again very soon.
The already overflowing room somehow felt even more packed in time for tonight’s headliners. The stage never went completely dark to signify the start of their set, and instead the four members of Sanguisugabogg strode out plainly into a sea of anticipation. Their set opened with Rotted Entanglement; a blistering display of death metal with an intricate drum fill launching immediately into a relentless guitar riff from Cody Davidson. The thundering presence from Devin Swank on vocals called for metal horns to the sky that never disappeared from that point onwards; the tireless crowd opening up for a circle pit at the front of the room while fans towards the back headbanged in synergy with those on stage. Following tracks from newly released album Hideous Aftermath, Ritual of Autophagia and Felony Abuse Of A Corpse featuring Damonteal Harris from Peeling Flesh, tore through the air with their distinct guttural screams and cacophonous guitar passages. As the hour of violence came to an end, the recognisably evil opening riff to Dead As Shit rang out, and the whole room sang along to Drew Arnold’s dissonant guitar tune with phone cameras and fists swallowing the eyeline of the crowd. Every last drop of energy was squeezed out over the track’s duration while drinks were thrown across the maniacal moshpit and lost shoes flew high into the air, leaving the audience both exhausted and content at the night’s brutal events.
Swank proudly thanked the crowd for selling out the whole tour, reflecting that “Without heavy music, we wouldn’t have a whole lot of friends or cool t-shirts,” and a truer statement had never been spoken. None of us would have gathered here tonight if not for Sanguisugabogg and their savage brand of death metal.
Huge thanks to 170 Russell Crew, GUTLESS, PEELING FLESH, SANGUISUGABOGG and Maric Media for having us!
