Fit For An Autopsy - Gig Review & Photo Gallery 16th July @ Stay Gold, Melb VIC
Fit For An Autopsy
Stay Gold, Melbourne, VIC
July 16th, 2022
Supports: The Gloom In The Corner, Starve and The Wandering
It's been four long years since Fit For An Autopsy graced Australian shores, so needless to say - this visit was well overdue. They made up for their absence with a headline slot this time, after supporting Thy Art is Murder back in 2018, alongside Emmure and Justice for the Damned (our review here).
The New Jersey deathcore-come-death metal outfit sold out their first of two Melbourne shows at Stay Gold in Brunswick, so it was clearly going to be a wild one. Of course, Fit For An Autopsy brought some mates along for the ride - an all-local extravaganza, consisting of The Gloom In The Corner, Starve and The Wandering, a heavy night was ahead of us.
First up were The Wandering from Newcastle who sported 2022 single 'A Beautiful Agony' as well as a health back catalogue of death metal gems. Their combination of relentless energy and a groovy approach harnessed a fresh perspective in the realms of local metal. With doom elements immersed across their set, The Wandering delivered an impeccable show, demonstrating the pulse of death metal without the pressure of breakdown-driven success.
With a loyal local fanbase, Starve jumped on stage, immediately purging their hellish hardcore persona. Frontman Jordan Dunbar showcased his evolving on-stage personality, intersecting the ideal hardcore bravado with an unmatched level of affection for his local fans. With a guest spot from Outsider's Tom Drizners from Adelaide and a drum fill-in from Anticline's Darcy Carroll, Starve embodied the exact essence of this scene's idyllic community. The Melburnians closed with their back-to-back two-track single Six Feet Into The Poppy Field - namely tracks 'The Body Knows' and 'Parables', saving their most menacing breakdowns 'til last.
With Fit For An Autopsy's Joe Bad sporting their merch during our interview (more on that tomorrow), it's no surprise The Gloom In The Corner were asked to directly support. They opened up the killing floor to blister through highly regarded crowd favourites like 'Warfare', 'Bleed You Out' and of course 'Villain'. Frontman Mikey Arthur unleashed non-stop energy across the set, and found some more fuel in the tank for a music video recording of a track packed with Busta Rhymes level rapping. The Gloom In The Corner brought Starve's Dunbar on stage to throw some pig squeals in on 'Survivor's Guilt' and teased new upcoming single 'Ronin' featuring Crystal Lake's Ryo Kinoshita, out July 27th via SharpTone Records. Huuuuge congrats to the boys on their success, they've worked fucking HARRRRRD for it!
Finally, it was time for the monster six-piece act Fit For An Autopsy (minus Will Putney who doesn't tour with them) to hit the stage. The house-lights shut and an eerie string of smokey ember red lights dimmed across the stage as the band started strumming 'Oh What The Future Holds' with their backs facing the crowd. Front-man Joe Bad came out sporting an Obituary t-shirt, channeling an on-stage persona reminiscent of Napalm Death's Barney Greenway. As the 2022 title track built in tension and instrumentals ceased, Bad spat out those highly anticipated lyrics, calling out the album/track title.
The sold-out Melbourne crowd were swaying left to right and front to back as the mosh truly erupted with the powerful reverberations of the bass and drums at Stay Gold. Fit For An Autopsy delivered an interesting opening set, with three consecutive title tracks from three of their albums as they continued on with 'The Sea of Tragic Beasts' and 'Absolute Hope Absolute Hell'. The beauty of a live performance is you get to hear all three eras with the current pinnacle of their performance standard.
Guitarist Pat Sheridan embodies something of a deathcore Kerry King. His focused appearance paired with his scalp tatts leaves a serious guitarist who is not up there to waste any time or talent. It was surreal to watch Sheridan effortlessly strum the technical riffs of their back catalogue, particularly this year's release, with how impressive the recordings are.
However, whilst the Oh What The Future Holds singles were magnificent to hear live, the consecutive bangers from The Great Collapse were outstanding, namely 'Heads Will Hang', 'Iron Moon' and 'Black Mammoth' - encompassing the essence of their fairly recent livestream with Trivium (our review here).
It was also understandably cathartic to hear Bad rip through menacing vocals on tracks like 'No Man Without Fear' and 'Your Pain is Mine' as thanks to COVID, Australia missed out on their stopover for The Sea of Tragic Beasts tour. Bad leant into an uncanny resemblance to Thy Art is Murder's CJ McMahon in terms of his live vocal effort and how it translates from the studio versions; a forever-welcome delivery at a live show.
After less than ten seconds off stage, Fit For An Autopsy returned for a one-song encore of 'Two Towers' - their ultimate track in terms of how well it captures their style. The 2022 single blew the roof off the venue with earth-shattering bass and the frontman giving the crowd one last guttural inducing headbang.
Review by Ricky Aarons (@rickysaul90)
Photo Gallery by Clinton Hatfield. Insta: @ampd.agency
Please credit Wall of Sound and Clinton Hatfield if you repost photos.
The Wandering
Starve
The Gloom In The Corner
Fit For An Autopsy
