Silent Knight – Gig Review & Photo Gallery 14th July @ Amplifier, Perth WA

Posted on July 16, 2017 by Gareth Williams

Silent Knight
Amplifier Bar, Perth WA
14th July, 2017
Supported by: Taberah, Mason and Remission

Tonight’s gig was the final send off before Slient Knight heads off to the Headbangers Open Air in Itzehoe, Germany. Playing alongside the likes of Loudness, Pretty Maids, Toxik to name a few. What better way than to invite two of Australia’s best metal bands, and a few new kids to the party.

Kicking the night off were Perth youngsters Remission. Their set was short, sweet and fucking brutal. Ferdinand Handojo’s larynx shredding vocals combined with the thundering maelstrom created by the other three members gave punters who were brave enough to turn up early a taste of the future of thrash in Australia. The future is brutal people. Get on board.

“SCREAM FOR ME PERTH!” I’ve heard that somewhere before… Mason hit the Amplifier bar in the only way they know. Loud fast and with a shit load of attitude. Launching their new EP Impervious the Victorians brought their A-Game to the west coast. Lead singer and guitarist James Benson is a machine, punching out lyrics without missing a beat on the fret board. The four maniacs tore through a brutal set of old favourites and a few new ones, including ‘Wretched Soul’ ‘Impervious’ and personal favourite ‘Warhead’. Mason are an unapologetic thrash band, head down, horns up. The wall of sound they delivered destroyed all in its wake. At the conclusion of their set, a random punter turned to me, eyes wide, mouth open and proclaimed “fuck that was good!”. They were wrong, dead wrong. Mason was fucking great!

From pure metallic brutality to quite possibly the most entertaining band in Australia. The mighty Taberah are like a mix between David Lee Roth and Iron Maiden, with a dose of spandex thrown in. These guys are seriously good musicians with tongue firmly planted in cheek. There was none more entertaining than when vocalist/guitarist Jonathon Barwick spotted a dude in the back with a Nintendo 64 shirt and requisitioned it. Surprisingly enough old mate offered it up and there we were JB in a Nintendo t-shirt shredding like Eddie Van Halen and singing like Freddie Mercury. Suffice to say the lucky punter did get his shirt back, albeit soaked in sweat and slightly stretched. Tabz are always surprising, so giving guitarist Myles Flood the microphone and slipping a few bars of ‘Enter Sandman’ between ‘Dying Wish’ and ‘Sinners Lament’ got everyone’s attention. Because I’m a know-it-all music writer I know exactly what’s going to happen next, the cheeky Tasmanians will round out the set with their polarising cover of ‘Hotel California’. The same way they close out the album Sinners Lament (reviewed here).

Wrong! In an absolute master stroke we were transported back to the beer barns of yesteryear with a cover of The Angles classic ‘Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again’. Crowd participation was mandatory and immediate. Never have I seen four visitors to Perth so happy with being told to “get fucked, fuck off!”

Silent Knight, well it was their night. The last show before they headed off to the far shores of Europe. Kicking off with ‘Conquer and Command’ the boys laid the ground work for what was an amazing set.

If Taberah bought the entertainment Silent Knight all about the metal. There’s no better power metal band on the west coast (or the east coast for the matter). I have probably seen Silent Knight play more times than any other band. I’ve certainly put pen to paper more times covering them than anyone else. Results over the years have varied. I’ve seen a few Spinal Tap moments. Those moments seem to be behind them, with the last few shows the boys bringing it to another level. Tonight, was no different. Jesse Onur Oz after seen chugging down a can of Red Bull earlier at the bar was in full flight. He’s not a front-man in the traditional sense, he leaves the crowd interaction and banter to guitarist Stu McGill. But the boy can sing! Ripping through a swag of tracks off the newly re-recorded album ‘The Masterplan’ the whole band stamped their authority as headline act. Special mention must be made to the master of shred Cameron Nicholas, the lanky blonde was on fire. His fingers a blur dancing along the fretboard, note perfect. No mean feat when playing at 100 miles an hour, tearing up crowd favourite ‘Ravens Return’.

The front of the stage looked like a war zone, arm, legs and hair in a frenzied mosh. Surprise addition ‘One By One’ whipped the faithful into a power metal fury. It was an intense show as I’ve ever witnessed.

Silent Knight is a rising force, make no mistake about it. If the boys keep with this level of intensity Germany won’t know what hit them.

Reviewed by Gareth Williams

Photo Gallery by Vin of Trik Photography. Please credit Wall of Sound and Trik Photography if you repost @Trik_Photography

Mason