Alpha Wolf - Gig Review & Photo Gallery 10th August @ Fortitude Music Hall, Bris QLD
Alpha Wolf
Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane QLD
August 10, 2024
Supports: The Devil Wears Prada, Invent Animate and thrown
After putting in the hard yards and slogging their way up Australia's heavy music echelon, Alpha Wolf, graduated to the ranks of not only playing their biggest headline show to date, but also selling out their entire Half Living Things Tour across Australia which proves hard work, determination, a solid lineup of supports and a dedicated team will always prevail.
By the time we entered the Forty, the main showroom was already breaching peak capacity, something never before seen with an opening act this early. But this wasn't just an ordinary opener, it was one of Sweden's most hyped metalcore acts who made their maiden voyage across Australia for this tour. thrown are unrelenting chaos - wrapped up in short, attention-grabbing songs that boast avalanche force breakdowns with chunky, gurn-inducing riffs and bellowing screams that blend metal and hip-hop with uncompromised precision. As the opener, your role is to get the party started for the onslaught that follows and from the second the band hit the stage, the room erupted with autonomous circle pits and walls of death as Brisbane's moshpit enthusiasts went hard from the opening bars of 'guilt' - all the way through the 9-track setlist - until closer 'grayout' rang out through the speakers. Despite sound issues which didn't seem to unfuck themselves (vocalist Marcus Lundqvist's mic was mid-level for the entire performance), fans screamed at the top of their lungs to fill the void, especially on crowd favourite 'on the verge'.
While departing the mosh mid-way through the final track (to make it to the elongated merch line before anything sold out), I found myself weaving through the crowd all the way into the Fortitude Music Hall foyer where many viewers found themselves peeking over the shoulders of punters who were flooding out of the main showroom doors.
https://www.instagram.com/p/C-gto-KSv-R/
I have never seen this kind of attendance for ANY opener at this establishment. If that's an indication of the hype surrounding thrown, then you better jump on the bandwagon immediately and count down the days until their debut album Excessive Guilt is released on August 30th. Also, keep your eyes peeled over the coming weeks for our chat with the lads where we discuss their first Aussie experiences, massive international recognition and future plans.
Because of the aforementioned interview, we only caught a glimpse of ambient metalcore upcomers Invent Animate, who also drew a noteworthy crowd keen to catch a glimpse of their energetic display of musicianship. As they powered through tracks like 'Sleepless Deathbed', 'Shade Astray' and 'False Meridian', I couldn't help but be captivated by frontman Marcus Vik who owned the stage as he belted out those impressive cleans and earth-shattering screams. The band all dressed in white made the performance feel like a religious experience (not to be confused with the overhyped Sleep Token worship sesh) and I can safely say Invent Animate converted a stack of new followers in the process. Revisit our chat with guitarist Keaton Goldwire and drummer Brody Taylor Smith here.
The Devil Wears Prada were next and after missing their 2018 tour with Polaris, I was more than eager to familiarise myself again with the six-piece for the first time since Soundwave's final outing in 2015... Sadly my high expectations weren't fulfilled due to a variety of personal things of note...
It wasn't the setlist though. Given the band's recent second coming with favourable new material from albums such as 2019's The Act, and 2022's Color Decay, I was more than impressed with the inclusion of new tunes such as 'Watchtower', 'Salt' and 'Ritual'; all banging songs on record, but in a live setting, I just feel like the band didn't give the best delivery they deserved, leaving me wanting more screams, or to hear those higher notes sung. These new songs were on high rotation upon release as singles, but to hear them in this live setting, I almost preferred the recorded versions to what I heard during TDWP's set.
I've also been waiting YEARS to hear the band's iconic mental health anthem 'Chemical' played live - as it served as a key track in my own journey through depression. As I stood there singing along, I couldn't feel the impact or intensity this song had brought in the past; the performance was just good, not great. Whether it be final show blues, illness or lethargy, it just left me unsatisfied as I ventured to the bar.
What happened next though, invoked something inside of everyone as Alpha Wolf took to the stage for their LARGEST headline show to date and the final stop of their SOLD OUT Half Living Things Australian Tour... Having only witnessed the band rip it up at Eatons Hill Hotel for their own curated CVLTFEST back in February, it was as if they not only levelled up, but maxed out their band stats with spectacular production and a stage show worthy enough of a position alongside this country's greatest metal bands such as Parkway Drive, Northlane and Polaris.
Taking attendees on a journey from their Fault EP, through to latest offering Half Living Things, we were treated to a vast array of pyro, confetti blowers and confetti gunson top of a monstrous 15-track setlist comprsing of killer hits like 'Creep', 'Sub-Zero', 'Bleed 4 You', 'Bring Back The Noise' and 'Sucks 2 Suck', while Holding Absence split EP The Lost and The Longing songs '60cm of Steel' and 'Hotel Underground' turned the ferocity up for dedicated fans to lose their minds. Despite the venue's hilariously ignored warnings for no moshing or crowdsurfing, Alpha Wolf left the pit possessed as body after body was flung into the air with an abundance of crowd surfers getting a top-side view at the spectacle that unfolded before them.
As expected, the band's biggest song to date wrapped up the night with one final burst of collective energy as 'Akudama' intro "WATCH THE BODIES DROP!" was screamed in unison from wall to wall before pandemonium erupted one last time. There's a lot that can be said about Alpha Wolf, but going back to that initial paragraph, their dedication and hard work has well and truly paid off and they've more than cemented themselves as the latest player to set fire to the scene and prove to the world that the best metal in the game right now is from little old Australia.
Kudos to Lochie Keogh, Sabian Lynch, Mitch Fogarty, Scott Simpson, John Arnold (and unofficial sixth member/sound engineer Lance Prenc), this will be the tour the entire scene will be talking about for decades to come.
Review by Paul 'Browny' Brown @brownypaul
Photo Gallery by Charlyn Cameron. Insta: @chuck_stuff
Please Credit & Tag Wall of Sound and Charlyn Cameron if you repost photos.
thrown
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Invent Animate
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The Devil Wears Prada
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Alpha Wolf
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