Fleshgod Apocalypse – Gig Review & Photo Gallery 30th October @ Woolly Mammoth, Brisbane QLD

Posted on November 2, 2019 by KaydanHowison

Fleshgod Apocalypse
Woolly Mammoth, Brisbane
October 30th, 2019
Supports: Freedom of Fear & Kaerulean

Walking by the building with the garish pink doors, you could be forgiven for thinking this was the wrong venue. But by the time you evade the comedy club downstairs and walk up the stairs awash in a gentle Suspiria blue, you quickly realise, yes, this is the place Fleshgod Apocalypse is going to end the world tonight.

But first.

Much like the impending apocalypse described in the beautiful work of fiction entitled The Bible. The glory of the end of the world was heralded by the angels. Tonight these angels come in the form of Freedom Of Fear who upon walking onto the stage, set about laying waste to every single person who is there to witness it. Vocalist Jade Monserrat is a particular highlight as she strips herself bare with every single emotion she can muster, that mostly just makes you feel like you ran your face down the side of the rocky pavement and now you’re licking the blood off your smiling face.

Watch this band.

Subsequently, Kaerulean brings the kind of riffs that would make any band blush with jealousy. But ultimately, their frontman is unable to raise himself above the sound issues, inevitably making their set come off more like a form of drunk karaoke. The cleans are a particular sore point tonight as they fade and disappear into the haze of riffs being played on the stage. It all just comes off rather underwhelming and ultimately, their songs will drown you into a sea of sameness you will never get out from underneath.

I guess my main advice would be to just get drunk because, after three or four drinks, even this band will sound like Judas Priest.

Fleshgod Apocalypse, on the other hand, doesn’t need an introduction tonight.

Walking onto the stage looking as if they just dug their way out of an unmarked grave. The band open proceedings by utterly decimating your mind and body with their hard as fuck riffs and the delightful screams of Francesco Paoli. It’s not long before a sea of bodies opens up on the floor and people unleash their ritualistic sermons to the apocalypse with their sweat, blood and tears.

The band know exactly how to whip a crowd into a frenzied feast of delight with nothing more than a single word or a hand movement. It’s not every day you get to see a “lighters in the air” moment at a death metal concert. Indeed it’s the quieter moments tonight, such as in the song “Monnalisa” that give this band the necessarily light and shade to elevate their performance to that of the gods that they are. This is all because of the operatic vocals of Veronica Bordacchini who tonight soars above the heavy guitars and death metal vocals to provide a light in the darkness for you to grasp onto while the rest of the band beats you into absolute submission.

The album King is given a particular focus in the setlist and indeed songs such as “The Fool” prove why it’s such an important piece of their canon. The song smashes you in the face like a punch in the head and all you want to do is keep pushing your body to the absolute limit like the people standing on the stage before you.

Unfortunately, all good things have to come to an end, even the apocalypse and so Fleshgod Apocalypse join their adoring fans one last time to play “Syphilis” which much like the venereal disease spreads from person to person until everyone is infected by the hardcore fucking they just got from the people on the stage and so much like the afterglow of good sex, you’re left just begging for more as they high five the crowd and disappear back into the abyss from whence they came.

Reviewed by Kaydan Howison @Unicorn_Christ

Photo Gallery by Charlyn Cameron. Insta: @chuck_stuff
Please credit Wall of Sound and Charlyn Cameron if you repost photos

Fleshgod Apocalypse