Obituary – Gig Review 16th January @ The Triffid, Brisbane QLD

Posted on January 17, 2024 by andrewkapper

Obituary
The Triffid, Brisbane QLD
January 16, 2023
Support: Psycroptic, Black Lava

While it may have taken genuine, bonafide Florida death metal legends Obituary twenty-plus years to reach Australia, the band have made up for it by regularly keeping the country on their touring map ever since. Having last visited the country (and New Zealand) in 2020 with the Cause of Death anniversary shows, Obituary were one of the last big metal acts to roll through before everything got shut down thanks to Covid. Exactly four years to the day since the highly influential, groove-driven five-piece last performed in Brisbane, Obituary’s Barely Alive… tour – with Australian friends Psycroptic and Black Lava – sees the group bring a new album of material and the promise of a death metal history lesson. With a packed Triffid impressively filled early on a work night – and the outdoor temperatures mercifully cooling down – this evening will be many’s first taste of live metal for 2024.

The quickly rising Black Lava get the honour of kicking off the festivities, their blackened death metal attack also carrying a strong helping of atmosphere, dissonant riffing and headbang-able moments. Though a relatively new name in the Australian metal scene, with current/former members of Ne Obliviscaris and Hadal Maw in their ranks, it’s no surprise they put on a very professional, airtight set. Frontman Rob Watkins commands the centre stage confidently, barking out harsh vocals, and with good mix to back him up, he and his bandmates stand tall as they deliver tunes of their 2022 debut Soul Furnace – whilst also previewing a cut off an upcoming new full length penciled in for the middle of the year. While they do get the usual ‘arms crossed’ support-act response from the crowd, the solid applause and occasional roars of approval shows that Black Lava has been put on a lot of Brisbane metalhead’s radars tonight. A potential massive force to reckon with.

Tassie tech-death heroes Psycroptic having been proudly flying the flag for Australian metal for years; they’re easily one of this country’s greatest extreme music exports. With Brisbane getting the last date of the band’s support run, and nearly five years since they’ve last played in this city, the four-piece get a big reaction from the now full Triffid. Having eight full lengths and somewhat recent EP to their names, Psycroptic play something of a ‘greatest-hits’ style showing, with a focus on their more thrashing material – the opening ‘Cold’ setting the tempo, while late-set highlights ‘We Were The Keepers’ and ‘Frozen Gaze’ crank up the technicality. The pit finally starts to show some signs of action – thanks to some encouragement from high-energy vocalist Jason Peppiatt – with crowd surfing and head-banging to any higher BPM moments. Sound-wise, Psycroptic seem to suffer a little bit more than the openers, with guitar and bass getting a little buried with the more fleet-fingered sections, but special praise must be given to fill-drummer Robin Stone. Not only does his kit sound great, but Stone does more than an admirable job stepping in for one the country’s best drummers in Dave Haley. Though substantially more in the technical death metal camp than old-school DM, Psycroptic have put on a killer support slot, receiving a headliner’s ovation after the grooving ‘Enslavement’ closes their 40-minute performance.

With Obituary’s customary intro music of Pat Travers’ ‘Snortin’ Whiskey’ blasting out The Triffid’s PA, the Tampa kings burst on stage with the all-time classic instrumental ‘Redneck Stomp‘. Any mix issues that may have been affecting Psycroptic have clearly been ironed out, with the band sounding fantastic – Trevor Peres’ signature thick guitar tone sits perfectly among his bandmates, with the amount of controlled low-end on display vibrating the venue floor. Frontman John Tardy takes the mic-stand as the last notes of the first track ring out, before launching the group into the back-to-back pummeling of ‘Sentence Day’ and ‘A Lesson in Vengeance’. John’s voice is in fine form tonight, showing zero signs of father time, while his brother Donald Tardy keeps the feel and tempos rock solid, never overplaying his parts.

Not as brutal or pace-driven as a lot of their peers, Obituary have always focused on great songs, riffs and grooves, with the non-stop, push-pit – and even more crowd-surfers – filling the dance floor throughout. New tunes from 2023’s solid Dying of Everything are scattered throughout, ‘The Wrong Time’ and the encore-opening ‘War’ sound particularly huge live, while older deep cuts ‘Find The Arise’ and ‘Slow Death’ keep the diehards satisfied. It must be said that Obituary certainly don’t lean too heavily on their first four classic LPs – with a healthy selection of post-reunion tracks also featured. Perhaps a number or two more from The End Complete and/or World Demise on the setlist would have really put the cherry on top, but that’s nit-picking. Of course there’s still some of Obituary’s finest works on full display; with ‘I’m In Pain’ and the iconic, creeping ‘Slowly We Rot’ the perfect duo close out the show. Even both guitars briefly disappearing from the mix at the end isn’t enough to derail progress, as Obituary leaves the Triffid stage to rapturous applause. Not that it was ever in any doubt, but it’s performances like this evening that further solidifies Obituary reputation in the heavy music world – well over three decades into the game, the band are genuine in their appreciation, their energy and their craft. No motions-gone-through this event, just old-school death metal delivered by one of the best to ever do it.

Gig Review by Andrew Kapper @andrew_kapper

Setlist

Redneck Stomp
Sentence Day
A Lesson in Vengeance
Visions in My Head
The Wrong Time
Barely Alive
Slow Death
Find The Arise
My Will To Live
Chopped in Half / Turned Inside Out

Encore

War
Dying of Everything
I’m In Pain
Slowly We Rot