METAL AND HARD ROCK WITH CHRIS MARIC
LACRYMAE
MELODY OVER BRUTALITY In town for their first NSW shows – playing the Lewisham Hotel Friday and Hamilton Station Saturday – Lacrymae’s bassist Josh Terlick tells us how things on the west coast are sitting.
How are you finding the Perth scene? “The Perth metal scene has always had great support from local metal heads. I guess it stems from the fact that we never used to get many international bands touring here so if you wanted to see metal you had to come to a local show. Luckily we’ve always had world-class bands in Perth, beginning with Allegiance in the ‘90s, Pathogen in ‘00s and now bands like Voyager and Chaos Divine.”
How important was it for you to keep melody as a major part of your sound on The Hallowed Design? “Melody has always been the most important aspect of Lacrymae’s music. We would never consider sacrificing melody and harmony for the sake of being ‘brutal’. It’s never been about that. Whilst we do have our death and black metal influences and they are quite evident in songs like Handel’s Apocalypse and the title track, they are influences we would draw on to add texture to the song, not to keep the thrash metal fans happy.”
Has the response to the EP been one you had expected? “We worked incredibly hard on The Hallowed Design. We recorded it all ourselves at Frankie’s home studio. If he had any hair he would have pulled it all out by the end of it. It literally consumed us for all of 2009 to the point that after our CD launch in December we didn’t want to see each other for a solid month. But it makes it all worth it when you hear how much people have enjoyed it. It’s a real buzz for all of us to receive national airplay from the first release that any of us have worked on.”
• 62 • THE DRUM MEDIA 2 NOVEMBER 2010
So is your $26 pumpkin from Woolie’s now sitting in the backyard rotting away after a cracking Halloween? If so, you can still milk it for all it’s worth and create a band called Rotting Pumpkin – there’s your album cover – or not. Let’s get on with it shall we?
Again, cheap as chips to get in (ten bucks) and things start to get noisy at 7pm. But gig of the night must go to Five Star Prison Cell who are dragging Delorean Tide, Kahn Of K and Bustacap along to SFX for a night of screaming and drop tuning.
OK – Thursday to Sunday have consistently been packed with stuff to add to your To Do list for a while now, so as the plethora of live options remains I will format the column chronologically so you can plan your week (my wife sells Lunar Diaries, so I’m a little bit preoccupied with putting things in date order lately!).
SUNDAY Sunday arvo, more precisely between noon and 5-ish if you have the energy left after destroying yourself for three nights in a row, drag yourself down to the Annandale to catch nine bands rocking out at High Live 6. It’s $20 to get in and $5 for kids under 12. There is a raffle too with all proceeds from it going to Father Chris Riley’s Youth Off The Streets.
THURSDAY I mentioned this one a few weeks back but here’s a gentle reminder. Indigo Rising are co-headlining The Gaelic with Nat Col & The Kings, the newest project from Nathan Cavaleri and Col Hatchmen (Screaming Jets drummer). The two bands will be joined on the night by Contraban and Black Label (Sydney’s not Zakk Wylde’s) along with Melbourne boys Scarlet Blue. Very rawk and roll.
FRIDAY Lycanthia will be playing what could possibly be their last show of the year at The Lewisham Hotel with very special guests Lacrymae (see sidebar), who are whizzing over to Sydney from Perth for this one show only. These progressive titans also feature Simone from Voyager on guitar and their dark complex arrangements are definitely something to experience live. Joining in on the night are Temtris, who are female-fronted power metal (it’s a necessary evil to put the words ‘female-fronted’ next to bands. I hate it since if it’s good, it’s good no matter who is singing, but the distinction remains it seems). Thundersteel are playing a late set, so stick around for some ‘80s-inspired true metal and also newcomers, Terrorential get to show off their chops. First band at 7pm and it’s 12 bucks at the door. Meanwhile down the road at the Lansdowne, Synperium have been added to the all-out shred-fest that will continue until 2am. Opening the evening is Infektion from Victoria, who come on at 9pm, and in the interests of fairness, every band is playing a 45-minute set. Infernal Reign are next followed by Tortured, who are up from Canberra. Then it’s Synperium’s turn and they are promoting their newlyreleased Elemental Disharmony album. Finally, Havoc
www.utopia.com.au
FIVE STAR PRISON CELL take the stage at 1am and since they are headlining, they’ll play for another hour. Another upside is the whole thing’s free. And if you’re still undecided about which direction to head when you leave the house, option three is the everreliable Club Blink down at the St. James Hotel. They have a quad band treat in the guise of Vegas In Ruins, Caulfield, Pledge This and I Escape, and because they have the space to do it, they are holding album launches in another part of the hotel for new albums by Ill Nino and The Autumn Offering as well as their Tool Tribute I mentioned a while ago.
SATURDAY Wake up late, put on your clothes and take your credit card to the liquor store. Or you can check out more metal on offer. Lacrymae are heading north to Newcastle to play the Hamilton Station Hotel as part of a blistering night of prog metal with good friends Hemina and local proggers Typhos, who are also launching their album on the night. It kicks off a bit late at 10pm but only costs eight dollars so maybe hit the Brewery for a bit first and then head over to finish off the night getting your head twisted by as many time signatures as you’ve had beers. Havoc are also backing up from the night before and headlining the Violating The Valve night at (obviously) The Valve Bar. Joining them will be Headhammer, Foundry Road, Lie Dormant and A Shadow Complex.
twitter.com/drummedia
NEWS Megadeth’s Mr Dave Mustaine has been kicking a stack of goals lately. Endgame is a killer return to form; he kissed and made up with Junior (David Ellefson), did the Big 4 tour, pumped out a fascinating tell-all (well, tell-most) autobiography and is heading here soon to headline the No Sleep Festival. He’s even managed to turn out a new track called Sudden Death, which has been written and recorded for the latest Guitar Hero game Warriors Of Rock. It’s actually the first track Ellefson has recorded since coming back. Check out the Roadrunner website which is streaming the track – Vic Rattlehead would be proud. Melbourne’s Hatchet Dawn have an all-new website and myspazz layout that has pretty pictures and other stuff that showcase behind the scenes goings on while they worked on their new release. Said record is in the can, has an imminent release and the guys are hoping to head our way soon. I’ll let you know when they do!
LOCAL GIG GUIDE
SATURDAY
Daysend, Infektion, Killrazer, Tortured, Unholy Vendetta – Maram Cauldron Black Ram, Erebus Enthroned, Hellbringer, Innsmouth – The Wall The Sacred Truth, Geminine, Memorial Drive – Fitzroy Hotel heavy@drummedia.com.au