Gig

Gatecreeper - Gig Review 5th April @ The Brightside, Bris QLD

Walladmin
Heavy Metal Wordsmith
Apr 8, 2024
7 min read

Gatecreeper
The Brightside, Meanjin/Brisbane QLD
April 5th, 2024
Support: Kruelty, World of Joy & Descent

A rainy, muggy Friday evening greets punters on the second night of Gatecreeper’s 10-date Australia tour here at Brisbane’s The Brightside. Though only being a group for north of a decade, Gatecreeper have quickly filled their back catalogue with some of the best songs – and songwriting – in modern death metal.  Having played the same venue just over a year ago with fellow American’s Undeath, the Swedish Death Metal-loving five-piece are back with Japan’s Kruelty and local lads World of Joy in tow. Not only that, but the tour Down Under marks some of the Arizonan’s last gigs before the dropping of their upcoming third LP, Dark Superstition.

A filling room of diverse heavy/extreme music fans is no doubt thanking The Brightside management for the recent upgrades to the venue’s air-conditioning, with openers Descent hitting the stage to warm appreciation. Featuring members of WOS favs Resin Tomb, the Brissy blackened death metal quintet have certainly got riffs for days, with a crusty, HM2 edge – and a helping of dark atmosphere – to their sound. The waves of double kicks are overpowering, with frontman Anthony Oliver struggling at times to be heard through the mix; though his casual between-song banter makes for an engaging figure on stage. Not a mountain of movement through their set, the crowd finally starts to show signs of life towards the end of Descent’s half-an-hour slot, with the monster groove of ‘Resolve‘ serving as a thunderous set closer.

Bagging the national support slot for this massive tour, local-boys-done-good World of Joy are proudly showing the rest of the country what proper Brisbane hardcore is all about. With the dance floor immediately coming to life, World of Joy only need 20 minutes of vein-popping power violence to turn The Brightside into bedlam, with bodies and limbs hurtling around the pit non-stop. There’s no fat on the five-piece’s music whatsoever, with their brief cuts shaved back to reveal their most immediate edges; highlighting the band’s influences across grindcore, d-beat, and crossover. While the guitars get swallowed up in the messy mix, it’s a cliff note on a powerhouse performance – consider World of Joy’s job to get the crowd the warm-up act completely achieved, and expect them to be headlining this venue next time around.

A hybridisation of raw and old-school death metal, doom, and hardcore, Tokyo’s Kruelty have built their name from good ol’ fashioned hard touring, seemingly always on the road in a different corner of the planet. Much like tonight’s headliners, Kruetly’s last Australian foray was at the start of 2023, and it feels like the Japanese quartet’s profile has only gotten more prominent and revered in the last 12 months – a fact solidified by the members of the crowd that can’t wait and start moshing during their soundcheck. When the band properly starts their set, all the energy from World of Joy immediately transfers to Kruelty, with the massive opener ‘Under Your Pressure‘ highlighting their thick riffage. With their music not really containing repeated motifs, there are endless feel and groove changes, packing plenty of caveman beatdowns and two-step beats to keep the pit warriors busy and security nervous; especially when an overly enthusiastic stage diver almost flattens diminutive bassist Seina en route. Guitarist/vocalist Zuma – who only stepped up to the frontman role within the last year – is effortless as he grunts and chugs while commanding the pit into violent fun. A yet-to-be-released new track serves as Kruelty’s penultimate piece, with the excellent ‘Burn the System‘ closing the all-too-brief showing of one of Japan’s finest and realest heavy acts.

As the evening is somehow running ahead of schedule, Gatecreeper takes to the stage before 10 pm and receives a proper headliner ovation from the rammed Brightside. Our much more metal-centric headliner makes for less wild moshing and more old-school pits, with vocalist Chase Mason ordering the headbangers to the front as the crowd gleefully matches the band’s neck-warping windmilling. The minute-long, grindcore-inspired ‘Rusted Gold‘ and ‘Sick of Being Sober‘ get the circle-pit treatment, while it’s their last LP – 2019’s Deserted – that receives most of the setlist attention. The epic set-highlight ‘From The Ashes‘ moves into Amon Amarth/Bolt Thrower marching-into-war territory, while the older tune ‘Craving Flesh‘ is coated in razor-sharp hooks and receives a proper push-pit and a couple of eager crowd surfers.

Gatecreeper’s 50-minute showing admittedly covers a lot of the same ground as the last time they were in the country, so it’s the three tracks from their soon-to-be-released new record that stand out the most. The storming ‘Caught in the Treads‘ and ‘Oblivion‘ are foot-to-the-floor ragers and slot perfectly into their set, while the mid-tempo and mournful ‘The Black Curtain‘ sounds absolutely fantastic live. ‘Flamethrower‘ closes the main set – and probably thanks to the show moving smoothly – the fist-pumping ‘Boiled Over‘ is tagged on as an extra encore treat, serving as a way for the crowd to wring out whatever energy they have remaining on this Friday night. With album number three, Dark Superstition, out in mid-May, the previews aired tonight show that Gatecreeper have all the talent and work ethic to level-up in the extreme music universe. It’s a real array of music buffs that have turned out in their droves, and Gatecreeper have certainly lived up to their vast reputation. Hopefully, they don’t forget about their Australian fans and continue the trend by returning to our shores no later than next year…

Gig Review by Andrew Kapper @andrew_kapper

Setlist

Sweltering Madness
Puncture Wounds
Ruthless
Craving Flesh
Starved
Caught in the Treads
From the Ashes
Rusted Gold
Patriarchal Grip
Desperation
The Black Curtain
Oblivion
Barbaric Pleasures
Sick of Being Sober
Flamethrower
Boiled Over

Gatecreeper – Australia Tour 2024with Kruelty and World of Joy

Tuesday 9th – WOLLONGONG – Dicey Riley’s

Wednesday 10th – CANBERRA – The Basement

Thursday 11th – MELBOURNE – Prince Bandroom

Friday 12th – FRANKSTON – Singing Bird Studios

Saturday 13th – ADELAIDE – Lion Arts Factory

Sunday 14th – PERTH – Lynott’s Lounge

Tickets here

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Heavy Metal Wordsmith
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