Gig

Hymns To The Dead – Dark Mofo – Gig Review 14th June @ The Odeon Theatre, Hobart TAS

Walladmin
Heavy Metal Wordsmith
Jun 15, 2023
7 min read

Hymns To The Dead – DødheimsgardThe Odeon Theatre, Hobart TASWednesday 14th June 2023Support: Zuriaake and Haunter

Music is that universal language which unifies the spirits of mankind.” Paul Horn.

This arguable mastermind of musicianship – a celebrated saxophonist, flautist, composer and producer; furthermore a pioneer of world and new age music who received five Grammy nominations, has in all likelihood captured the essence of the Dark Mofo festival with this quotation. Although the “Hymns To The Dead” showcase celebrates heavy music from the world over and has an exclusive genre focus, it embraces this sentiment whole heartedly. Essentially, metal music is just as vital to this notion, a language barrier does not exist with earth shattering drums, deafening guitar and bass blasts and screeched vocals that inject immeasurable adrenaline to those who witness the prowess. It universally unifies and inspires our spirits and on this night, three different outfits from three different continents executed this concept flawlessly.

When George Jones’ country song version of ‘Soldier’s Last Letter’ silences a growing audience on the ground floor of the Odeon Theatre, it is understood that what is to follow will not be light-hearted. Enter the Texan blackened death quartet Haunter – it should be brought to attention however, that the four-piece’s entrance was not one of majesty, it was simplistic - a calm before the storm. But when drummer Steve "Belgor" Leyva raised his drumsticks to signify their arrival and devoured a beer shortly after, it was time for the death (metal) bells to ring.

Having released the brilliantly mind-bending LP Discarnate Ails last year, this was Haunter’s opportunity to flaunt the full-length in the only style they knew, in full and full throttle. That’s what these three tracks require - the onlookers full attention and the band’s full astounding authority; thankfully this is exactly what transpired. Bassist Cole Tucker was animalistic, head-banging and windmilling his wild locks with no fear of neck dislocation. Guitarist/vocalist Bradley Tiffin shrieked and howled to similar monstrous values, finding a beastly realm of vocal delivery while maintaining adventurous song structures that moved from their blackened death, to thrash, progressive rock to atmospheric doom with marching percussion thanks to the energetic drummer Steve "Belgor" Leyva. Guitarist Enrique Bonilla acted as a torch to light the way for the four-piece and venue, however the exploratory sounds were unified via the band’s chemistry – ‘Chained At The Helm Of The Eschaton’ amounted to an explosion of nuclear capacity and the witnesses were left aghast, if not haunted. Hobart is a cold place in winter, this surely warmed the city to Texan style hot wings fieriness.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxxWklJMnV8Within moments the stage was transformed, the microphone stands were decorated with traditional branches and vines, amps were covered with immaculate blankets patterned with Chinese characters and an enormous backdrop featuring an artistic representation of the band “Zuriaake” was unveiled. A sudden silence then overtook the entire establishment for an eerie few seconds before a jovial roar from the capacity audience marked the unbridled ecstasy of anticipation for the Shandong quintet. A heavily cloaked drummer then stood at the kit, head lowered in focus and completely motionless – the guitarists then crept onto the stage holding ceremonial lanterns which were offered to the attendees then carefully placed on the branches adorning the microphone stands. Finally the vocalist known as Bloodfire prowled onto the stage, holding a white silk sheet adding an immeasurable level of grace to the entire ensemble. Besides the drummer, each member of Zuriaake is completely cloaked in black traditional robes, masked and bamboo fishermen hats are worn in tribute to a Chinese landscape painting featuring an old fishermen alone in his skiff; Bloodfire also wears a woven reed raincoat. As each member arms themselves with their instruments, the beautiful nature sounds come to a halt and the unholy black metal screeches pulverise all within the theatre enhanced by cacophonous guitars and gunfire percussion. Although this identifies as a music performance, it is better described as a ceremony, one which outfits such as Batushka and Heilung transmit and make no mistake, Zuriaake are very much in this league.‘Autumn Of Sade Ode’ was hypnotising in combining elements of first and second wave black metal, OSDM and doom metal nuances which encased the adorers in a spiritual trance, only to be briefly awoken when the cowbell was struck. The crowd swayed and moved in hypnotised unison like trees in a forest experiencing a mild storm and this was elevated with the track ‘Gu Yan’ and the harmonic chanting from Bloodfire. The front-man performed a blessing of sorts with a traditional splashing of the crowd from a ritualistic snuff bottle (at other times, a chalice is used) that undoubtedly enriched the experience; in all honesty with the remarkable guitar tones that were utilised to resemble ancient Chinese sounds, it did feel as if Hobart had been transported to a different time a place.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQcLg5m9TF8Almost too soon, the hypnosis was over. Zuriaake collectively bowed ceremoniously in thanks and appreciation, Bloodfire going one step further holding a tight fist to his chest and enacting movements representing holding the audience as family in gratitude. This was beyond memorable and yet the headline act was still to come.“We f**king made it! 40 hours of travelling for one show! Are you ready?Vicotnik screamed at Tasmania in exhilaration having removed the gold laced black scarf that acted as a costume for his entrance – the crowd went wild at the question and this wild-man was ready to bedazzle them. This is the marvel of the front-man and also Norwegian extreme metal band Dødheimsgard – they welcome the unusual and it is remarkable. The stage antics of Ozzy Osbourne are undoubtedly highly regarded, especially in his youth; but Yusaf Parvez goes to another higher dimension of odd and it is fantastic. It is near impossible to describe, but this scribe will attempt to, think of the modern day villain the Joker performing in a dramedy theatre with Shakespearean motif and this might capture the metal pioneer’s persona, to a degree.The spasmodic episodes Mr Parvez exhibits are enthralling, at times he will be crawling on the ground and then rising to a kneeling position to flap his arms like wings. Often he would wallop his band members’ heads with powered paint and then smear it across his own face and suit. He would flail about almost in fits as if being shot with bullets but with a creepy smile on his face, often poking his tongue out. He would entice his audience for more contribution, even misbehaviour and he would do this from the floor, off the stage. There were seven microphones present for the maniacal front-man and he utilised and nearly destroyed the majority of them – impressively in his late 40s, he is still able to fly kick and headbang more vigorously than musicians half his age. Welcome to black abnormetal theatre, it is amazingly alluring.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJrI07bNfnc‘Aphelion Void’ was the pinnacle, a 15 minute opus of extreme metal which included jazz interludes that would have The Dillinger Escape Plan jealous as Yusaf experimented with how many different vocal tones he could portray: shrieking, growling, groaning, spoken word and some very disturbing sounds that were questionably human. ‘The Ultimate Reflection’ was gargantuan and provoked a circle pit with very little encouragement. ‘Ion Storm’ brought about an industrial oddity that Killing Joke would have revered and then En krig å seireelevated intensity, energy and insanity from band and witnesses alike. Truthfully, Will Ferrell might have adopted his rhythmic gymnastic routine in Old School from Vicotnik’s talents which were on display in full force.‘Vendetta Assassin’ was delightfully deranged in severity which was escalated by the earlier black metal anthem ‘Traces Of Reality’ that Emperor and Dimmu Borgir probably wish they had penned. In an almost shocking fashion, this was announced as the five-piece’s last song, which was very short-lived. Dødheimsgard were barely able to move to the backstage area before the encore demand was required to be met. ‘The Crystal Specter’ was this final sprint and the delirium overtook everyone at Odeon, so much so that all Yusaf Parvez could muster at the end with hilarity was: “You are f**king amazing, thank you and good night. Now, f**k off”.Consider our spirits unified in harMETALisation. Review by by Will Oakeshott @TeenWolfWill

Dark Mofo dates are: 8–22 June 2023

Photo by DarkLab Media

Darko Mofo Festival 2023Subscriber tickets on sale: 12pm, Wednesday 5 April AESTGeneral tickets on sale: 2pm Wednesday 5 April AEST

Festival dates: 8–22 June 2023

Tickets here









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