It's official. Adelaide's cherished live music venue The Cranker has been saved!
What better way to ring in a collective sigh of relief that one of Adelaide's most crucial live music and social hubs is here to stay than with an evening (18 August) of America's most crucial extreme music export, Full Of Hell.With flyers celebrating the win for the historic pub scattering the ground, spirits were understandably elated. Skeptics could cast a view that the tone of the night would be disrupted by such guttural, no-holds-barred music.
However, this was far from the case and even encouraged by softly spoken Full Of Hell frontman Dylan Walker as he lead the four-piece through a mercilessly heavy, lightning fast set of experimental grindcore.
Thou - image © Mike Lockheart
Also featuring on the tour were Thou, a sludge metal group from Louisiana whose set demonstrated they are an act that embody the very nature of the sub-genre, with a back catalogue and performance to boot that rang with total perfection in its execution.
Doomy riffs landed like a paving slab to the head, profoundly groovy under the surface, bolstered by the occasionally creative basslines of Mitch Wells working in the rhythm section with drummer Tyler Coburn.
Facing Coburn and his kit for much of the set was vocalist Bryan Funck who spat guttural lines over the top of the seismic riffs that crashed like waves from the side of the stage inward. Indeed, such repetitive, chasmic guitar lines generated a sense of hypnosis, with the Crown & Anchor audience seemingly in a trance-like state for much of their rousing, dope-infused set.
Thou - image © Mike Lockheart
Closing the set with an earnest shoutout of gratitude for local openers Sundowner along with staple of the music buying community, Clarity Records, the stage was set for further gratitudes with Full of Hell's arrival.
"What a great day to he here," gestured Walker, evidently aware of the preceding public rally and announcement earlier in the day of the venue's guaranteed security.
"Is it called The Cranker because you can smoke meth here?" was postured before launching into a new track that fittingly was on the subject of "smoking meth with your family".
While such topics may hint towards an affinity towards contraband, Full Of Hell are far from druggy burnouts; in fact, the musical ability of each member of the four-piece was on-point, and judging by their latest, full-length release, 'Coagulated Bliss' is progressing forward rapidly.
Full Of Hell - image © Mike Lockheart
Performing several tracks from the 2024 LP at The Cranker, the development of this band's sound has been nothing short of stratospheric. Experimenting with electronic influences has broadened the soundscape their music has previously occupied, veering close to completely transcending the boundaries of genres they have encapsulated.
Further on the angle of expert musicianship, case in point was drummer Dave Bland whose machine-gun-like beats were nothing short of superhuman, at times standing tall behind the kit to further emphasise the thud of his kick drum.
Glitchy audio interference would seep into and between songs by way of Walker's experimentation at his pedal board centre stage, even introducing a wind-powered electronic instrument not unlike the freakish DIY instruments created by experimental French artist Anklepants.
The SOMA 'Pipe', a breath-controlled FX processor, generated a whirring vortex of noise that thread into the surrounding cacophony of distortion generated by the band members.
Full Of Hell - image © Mike Lockheart
Immersing further through their sizeable back catalogue, moments were extrapolated between songs where members steered almost in a jazz direction, none more so than drummer Bland's solo percussion sections, which were nothing short of spectacular on such an intimate stage.
More photos from the concert.
