Cattle Decapitation - Gig Review & Photo Gallery 20th September 2023 @ The Triffid, Bris QLD
Cattle DecapitationThe Triffid, Brisbane, QLDSeptember 20th, 2023Support: Fallujah and Mélancolia
It’s clear to see from the wide-selection of band shirts and fashion choices at The Triffid tonight that San Diego’s Cattle Decapitation commands respect from across the heavy/extreme music world. The quintet’s intense, morbid, cerebral, death metal-come-grindcore sound pulls fans from deathcore kids to hardened punk rock. The sold-out show in Brisbane brought close to their fourth Australian tour.
Thanks to a lousy public transport hold-up and an earlier-than-advertised kickoff time, Wall of Sound frustratingly reaches The Triffid just as Mélancolia are wrapping up their brief 25 minute opening set. Their blackened deathcore sound is a little different from the other acts this evening, but the four piece - sans bassist - led by impassioned vocalist Alex Hill, get more than a warm response from the already heaving sold-out venue.
After a tight changeover, main support Fallujah arrives onstage all of a sudden with the excellent ‘The Bitter Taste of Clarity’. Their modern technical and progressive death metal keeps the bpms high and the digits flying, yet always stays melodic with the soaring lead guitar work from the whammy-bar abusing founding member Scott Carstairs. Their second time in Australia, the Californian’s are immediately hamstrung with a rough mix that frustratingly does not improve through their 40 minute showing. Even new live drummer, the extremely experienced Gabe Seeber, seems a little off at times, with his snare sat way too high in the mix, while the cymbals almost non-existent.
Fallujah vocalist Kyle Schaefer is solid throughout - his sparingly-used cleans fall into the classic prog-style, yet come through so loud in the mix that they almost distort. Newer material from 2022’s Empyrean is the focal part of their set, while older classics ‘The Void Alone’ and ‘Carved From Stone’ receive big reactions from the filled Triffid. For a band with a lot of sonic nuances, it’s a shame a lot of them have been lost from a frustratingly inconsistent mix - fortunately Carstairs' leads his group with great aplomb, making sure Fallujah complete their support run on a strong note.
Perhaps with their return flight home looming on their minds, Cattle Decapitation burst on stage nearly 15 minutes early, with The Triffid dancefloor rapidly filling as the immense ‘Terrasitic Adaption’ begins our headliner’s showing. Opening with a trifecta of Terrasite tunes - including the vicious duo of ‘We Eat Our Young’ and ‘Scourge of the Offspring’ - the band's high quality new material easily stands up in the live environment, creating some of this evening's best moments.
Another big plus is the mix has fortunately improved for our headliners, with the band sounding both big and raw as they rattle through an airtight hour. The manic Travis Ryan is a great frontman, never descending into cliche, just showing genuine appreciation for the rapturous response he and his colleagues receive. Putting on a studio-quality performance, Ryan's gutturals, shrieks and feral cleans are all delivered perfectly, whilst looking demented as he leads both band and crowd alike.
Despite nothing earlier than 2012’s Monolith of Inhumanity making the setlist, the grind-freaks are kept happy with the sheer rapid intensity of cuts like 'Finish Them’, 'Forced Gender Reassignment’ and the main set closing ‘Pacific Grim’. The movement in the pit is consistent (especially for a work night) with bodies being launched forward throughout, the crowd's energy easily being met by newer members and head-bang machines Oliver Pinead and Belisario Dimuzio. Founding member and lead guitarist Josh Elmore, though keeping a lower on-stage profile, is equally adept at pulling off fluid multi-string sweeps and some of the most ridiculously fast rhythm guitar playing you’ll ever see.
Wrapping up this evening with the superb ‘Kingdom of Tyrants’, it’s obvious that things are running red-hot for Cattle Decapitation at the moment. With a very successful run of Australian and New Zealand shows finished and a killer new album under their belts, it’s easy to forget that they’ve been in existence for almost three decades by this point. Still at the peak of their game, the breathless, emboldened performance here in front of a sold out Triffid is all the proof in the world of Cattle Decapitation’s bottomless passion and hunger.
Gig Review by Andrew KapperPhotos by Sean Fabre-Simmonds. Insta: @sean_f.sPlease credit Wall of Sound and Sean Fabre-Simmonds if you repost photos
Setlist
Terrasitic AdaptationWe Eat Our YoungScourge of the OffspringDead Set on SuicideThe Storm UpstairsBring Back the PlagueFinish ThemA Photic DoomForced Gender ReassignmentVulturousPacific Grim
Kingdom of Tyrants
Mélancolia
Fallujah
Cattle Decapitation
