Archspire – Gig Review & Photo Gallery 11th October 2023 @ The Zoo, Bris QLD
ArchspireThe Zoo, Brisbane, QLDOctober 11th, 2023Support: Ingested and Werewolves
By far the busiest establishment on an otherwise quiet Wednesday evening in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley, The Zoo is encircled with punters in shirts with illegible logos before tonight’s Technical Death Metal Extravaganza. With the line slowly funnelling up the stairs of the iconic Brisbane venue, a sell out show on the opening date of Archspire’s Tech Trek tour is the perfect start for the Canadian’s first headline Australian tour. Their first Australian Tech Trek - a touring package they’ve taken through Europe and North America multiple times - Archspire’s reputation as a great (and fun) live band precedes them. Bringing along UK deathcore/slam crew Ingested - making their Australian debut - and feral Melbourne trio Werewolves, you better believe that tonight promises to contain more 16th and 32nd notes than most other act’s career’s.
Though not particularly stylistically close to the tour headliner’s, Werewolves’ grinding, blackened death metal assault does bring the pace in spades. With Dave Haley behind the kit - arguably Australia’s greatest metal drummer - the three-piece fly through an air-tight half an hour showing without breaking a sweat. With speed for days, their output is admittedly nothing overly fresh and original, but on the live stage it works a treat, warming up the necks of the headbangers and getting some movement in the pit. Armed with a self-deprecating sense of humour - something of a theme for this gig - Werewolves’ closer ‘I Don’t Like You’ is a violent way to wrap up another successful opening slot for the Melburnians.
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Nearly 3 and half years after the Covid-induced cancellation of what would have been their debut trip to Australia, Manchester’s - if not the UK’s - finest death metal/slam export Ingested have finally hit our shores. Arriving on stage to an admittedly slightly middling response, it doesn’t take long for the Wednesday night crowd to pick up their feet and get some serious movement started in the pit. Led by the confident and appreciative frontman Jay Evans, The Zoo is treated to a career overview from the slam crew, with newer cuts from their latest LP Ashes Lie Still showing the band’s recent musical growth. Mid-career thumper ‘Invidious’ gets the wall of death treatment, with the following ‘Better Off Dead’ effortlessly showing off the group at both their most furious and groove-heavy.
The stage dives come thick and fast as Ingested’s set progresses - even if one larger punter almost takes out half the crowd. The unearthing of the brutal ‘Skinned And Fucked’ - an OG tune from their earliest days - brings the slams and gutturals, with thunderous bass drops rattling The Zoo’s foundations. Closing out ‘Echoes Of Hate’, it’s clear by their finale that Ingested have clearly won over any doubter’s in the Zoo. Though not as wildly technical as their tour-mates, the Brit’s sheer drive and great material makes their fourty minute performance a big success - hopefully Ingested's own headline tour is not too far off in the future.
With a between band playlist that moves from King Diamond, to Lil Jon to the Mortal Kombat theme, there’s definitely a party, fun-vibe running through The Zoo as the full house awaits our headliners. Taking to the stage to a fake "tonight’s show has been cancelled" announcement, Archspire kick into their nine song blitz with the title track to their latest, Juno Award winning album Bleed The Future. Focusing on their last two releases, the packed dance floor easily matches the Canadian’s power, constantly churning and moving throughout their showing. ‘Remote Tumour Seeker’ is a mid-set highpoint, however things start to get a little muddy following ‘Human Murmuration’. While Ingested’s mix was strong and meaty, Archspire’s slowly gets more muddled and hollow as the show progresses, with drummer Spencer Prewett’s kit dominating a lot of the virtuosic guitar and bass work. Tech death is certainly a hard prospect for any live engineer, but sadly a lot of the nuances and subtleties in Archspire’s sound is swallowed up by the tail end of their fifty minute slot.
Fortunately, the audio issues fail to put a damper on both crowd and band alike. An endless source of energy, frontman Oliver Rae Aleron is clearly the focal point on stage, striking the middle ground between mosh-pit coach and seedy stand up. Spitting out vocal lines at a pace that would leave Tech N9ne tongue-tied, Aleron’s comedic timing is equally accurate - his between-song banter frequently directed at the quintet’s recently married guitarist Tobi Morelli. On top of the usual pit antics, Aleron guides the crowd to engage in a literal game of Twister during a brief interlude - only for the players to have the evening’s second wall of death unexpectedly crash over the top of them at the whip-crack start of ‘Golden Mouth of Ruin’. With Archspire’s snappy set closing with the one-two excellent of ‘Involuntary Doppelgänger’ and ‘Drone Corpse Aviator’, the faithful here in The Zoo leave into the cool night air to the tune of Men At Work’s ‘Down Under’.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkEONw63Tr4&t=9s
Audio issues aside, Archspire’s performance tonight cements their reputation as one of the best technical death metal acts touring the globe. This niche genre is not known for it’s entertaining live shows and light-hearted behaviour, but it’s a huge part of Archspire’s success - of course, being extremely gifted musicians with a talent for writing great music doesn’t hurt either. While not the most obvious band to bring under the Tech Trek banner, kudos must also be thrown towards Ingested for putting on a killer support. It’s hard to picture a more brutal - and enjoyable - Wednesday night in the big smoke.
Gig review by Andrew Kapper
Setlist
Bleed The Future
Abandon the Linear
A Dark Horizontal
Remote Tumour Seeker
Golden Mouth of Ruin
Human Murmuration
Calamus Will Animate
Involuntary Doppelgänger
Drone Corpse Aviator
Photo Gallery by Charlyn Cameron. Insta: @chuck_stuff
Please Credit & Tag Wall of Sound and Charlyn Cameron if you repost photos.
Werewolves
Ingested
Archspire
Archspire - Tech Trek Australian Tour
