Words – Clare
Photos – Mitch
Perth locals Xenobiotic opened the evening with a drum-heavy chaotic bang, bringing everything they had and leaving it all out on the stage. The lead vocalist stood on the centre platform with outstretched arms, looming over the crowd while the guitarist’s head banged behind him. By the third track, the room was full and buzzing. He Who Dwells in Grime from 2018’s first full-length album Prometheus was introduced as ‘We don’t play this often but we want to see some heads snap!’. They brought everything they had for the set and left it all out on the stage, closing with Saphris from 2020’s Mordrake.
Revocation was up next performing as a tight trio with the sound of a satanic orchestra. Fans in the audience, which included musicians from many local metal bands, looked on in sheer amazement with horns held high at every extremely technical albeit wailing guitar solo performed by the absolute weapon that is David Davidson. From their latest and well-received 2022 release album Netherheaven, they played Diabolical Majesty, Nihilistic Violence, and Lessons in Occult Theft all of which sparked some righteous head banging from the room. In addition, Revocation blasted our ears with a couple of tracks from their seventh studio album The Outer Ones including the title track and Of Unworldly Origin which started a circle pit around The Corner’s infamous pole. Teratogenesis from the band’s second EP released in 2012 was dedicated to the ‘Suffo boys’, as David put it, while Godforsaken was dedicated to ‘All my heavy metal demons in the pit’. There wasn’t a single track that didn’t satisfy the mob. The set ended with the band getting a pic with the audience taken by our very own EM photographer Mitch.
An ominous blue light leaked onto an empty stage while the prelude played. One by one, the members of Suffocation came out and acknowledged the audience with devil horns and outstretched arms while the crowd cheered in kind. Without delay, we were thrown straight into Seraphim Enslavement from the band’s latest album. Also showcased from the 2023 album release were Dim Veil of Obscurity, Perpetual Deception, and the title track Hymns From the Apocrypha which vocalist Ricky Myers respectfully dedicated to Leeway’s frontman Eddie Sutton who died mere days prior to the performance after a battle with lung cancer. Our ears and the mosh pit barely rested as they kept things going with an onslaught of early tracks from their second studio album Breeding the Spawn released back in 1993, Pierced from Within was the title track and Thrones of Blood and from way back in 1991 was the first song that Suffocation ever wrote Catatonia, which was released in the debut EP Human Waste. The brutality concluded with the room crowd surfing and moshing to 1991’s Liege of Inveracity and Infecting the Crypts proving that after 9 years since Suffocation last performed live in Australia, they still go strong.
Thanks to the Corner Hotel crew for having us and a special thanks to Lochlan Watt and Destroy All Lines for arranging media access.
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