Welcome to South Australia, where the beer is cold and the metal is hot, hot, hot.
The inaugural Heavy SA festival in May will showcase the broad spectrum of talent in the South Australian local, heavy metal scene. Organiser and promoter Jason North, who is also the lead singer of death metal outfit Truth Corroded, says the event is an excellent opportunity for local metal bands and fans to come together. “I’m pretty proud to be in a South Australian metal band and proud of the scene we’ve got here,” he says.
“We’ve had a great run of bands; a lot of bands are getting out there and doing big things across the world and we thought now’s a good time to showcase the talent in Adelaide and South Australia in one, big event.
“There are plenty of bands here and like in any metal scene in Australia and worldwide, the local bands don’t really get the recognition the big, touring bands do. So this is a chance to put on some of the lesser-known touring metal acts in Adelaide and put them on in one, big event.”
Boasting 18 bands across the day/ night, Jason says Heavy SA is a good representation of the South Australian metal scene, covering nearly every sub-genre of metal from thrash and death, to doom and whatever comes after that. “It gives the bands the chance to play in front of 500 people in one day and also people can check out some new bands they haven’t heard of or just haven’t paid attention to because they’ve been more attracted to the bigger bands.
“Hopefully it works out well for everyone: bands get new fans and fans find new bands. It’s a good chance for other bands that may not have played to come along and network; it’s a good way to develop a big scene and make more of a big family among the bands who are playing.”
Supporting the event is the Adelaide-based Australian Rock and Metal Institute (ARMI), a first of its kind educational facility training the rock and metal gods of tomorrow. It is this sort of home-grown networking and mutually beneficial support that Jason says is essential to developing a healthy, local scene in any genre. “The ARMI guys, they’re a great business here,” Jason says, “they teach people to play metal really so it’s amazing.
“They’re a massively talented bunch and Christian [Broome – owner/ director] does a great job in the industry and he’s come on board to promote the show. We do a lot for those guys and they do a lot for us. Adelaide is a small place so anything to do with heavy music is a friend of ours, so we like to get it all together in one big hit and saturate people with Adelaide metal.”
Also playing on the night is Jason’s own band Truth Corroded, who have recently wound out their 'Last Of The Slain' tour in support of their 2013 album, ‘The Saviours Slain’. Truth Corroded fans will be happy to hear the band are currently working on a follow-up record, slated for release in late 2016. “We’re just starting to work on our new album, which we hope to have out late in the year,” Jason says.
“We haven’t released any details about titles or anything, it’s still being worked on, but once Heavy SA is finished we’ll get involved with recording, get the tracking done, get it mixed and get it out as soon as possible so we can get back out on the road again.”
Heavy SA takes place at Fowler's Live, Adelaide, 7 May.
