Brisbane's The Triffid hosted atmospheric death metal pioneers Ulcerate last weekend (2 August).
They brought along Pestilential Shadows and Resin Tomb to ensure we are well and truly lubricated for their onslaught of tracks from their recent 'Cutting The Throat Of God' album and fingers crossed they add some older material.A recorded intro plays signalling Resin Tomb members are filling the cramped stage that is also holding gear for the following bands. Matt Budge (vocals) has a pent-up energy that is somewhat released by jumping and fervently pacing the stage, but mostly through a whole load of vocal oomph as he belts out the lyrics to 'Dysphoria' while a wall of sound from the band smacks us around the ears.
With sublime shattering breakdowns and carnage from the drums and guitar, Resin Tomb continue to hammer their way through a short but very stacked set consisting of 'Prostrated', 'Ascendancy', and 'Human Confetti' from a stage awash with just enough light to add to the dark and obscure atmosphere they're creating with their music.
Resin Tomb - image © Clea-marie Thorne
Brendan Auld and Matt Gordon showcase their riffage capabilities in 'Purge Fluid' and 'Flesh Brick' before bringing it down with the atmospheric tones of 'Scalded' although the sonic assault returns with heir closing song, the blistering 'Cerebral Purgatory'.
Their marque of death, grind and blackened sludge has certainly got the necks loose and is leaving an indelible mark on the blackest of music hearts here tonight.
As the lowered lights signal our short break between sets is over, Pestilential Shadows claim the dimly lit stage. From the 'Devil's Hammer' album, they take 'Armour Satanised' and offer it up raw to the hungry crowd.
There's no doubt from the reaction that Pestilential Shadows, who have been serving up tormenting tracks for some decades now, is one of Australia's most respected bands of their genre who have a hoard of fans in the gathering crowd.
Continuing to infect us with their dementing and atmospheric black metal with the likes of 'Hunter And Reaper' from their album 'Revenant' then some more with 'Beautiful Demise' and 'Amongst Famine' the crowd reacts by matching the high energy in the mosh.
Pestilential Shadows - image © Clea-marie Thorne
The music is dynamic while the lead vocalist's supernatural screams corrupt our ears sounding like a creature from another dimension. Finishing hard with two more from 'Devil's Hammer' is 'Jackal', which gets my attention as does the title track of the album 'Devil's Hammer' that smashes us with one long, last blast from these talented hounds from hell.
We get our last break before Jamie Saint Merat (drums), Michael Hoggard (guitar) and Paul Kelland (vocals, bass) – our headlining maestros of technical death/black metal – arrive onstage.
Kicking off the set with 'To Flow Through Ashen Hearts' from the new album, they ease us in albeit with a sense of foreboding before there is a more urgent discordant head from the guitars that follow increasing the impact of crushing riffs alongside the stampede of tumultuous drumbeats.
Kelland's coarse, guttural vocals punch in, and in the sparse vocal pauses during the song emphasise the insane hammering of Saint Merat on his kit. Oh, it is going to be a glorious set, as the crowd is already in a state of catatonic immersion.
Ulcerate - image © Clea-marie Thorne
An oldie, 'Drawn Into The Next Void' shows us how the band is locked in and loaded – tight as, but precision is one of their strengths. Right? Next up 'Further Opening The Wounds' has fans going nuts with horns raised and heads banging.
The welcomed trauma of bleak and turbulent cacophony of Hoggard's riffage during 'The Dawn Is Hollow' has one enthusiastic fan attempting to crowd surf, but it's short-lived.
On 'Dissolved Orders' the guitars are ethereal yet menacing and hold one of the most brutal riffs on the 'Stare Into Death And Be Still' album. Kelland's gruff roaring is the perfect blackened cherry on top.
Ulcerate - image © Clea-marie Thorne
Another from the recent album release is 'Cutting The Throat Of God' that gives me a sense of melancholy bliss, although it seems too perky when written down, compared to the place of oblivion this music transports you to. We finally get a little more light strikes, so we can see these masterful musicians in action. The lighting was all very Tool-esque in relation to obscurity up until now.
Fans let themselves get lost on the spatial rolling highways created by the aural vibrations of 'To See Death Just Once' and without resistance we let the immense talent of the trio shove us further into a cold, dark void with 'Stare Into Death And Be Still', another belter from the album of the same name.
Of course there is the ritualistic encore, although some fans weren't expecting it. I guess the time restrictions on venues sometimes dictates these things, but time we have and 'Dead Oceans' we have too. As soon as the band start, there is a roar and then silence as we immerse ourselves in the twist and turns of the wild aural storm that whips in long, slow lashes surely leaving welts that leave permanent scars on our black extreme death metal hearts.
Ulcerate - image © Clea-marie Thorne
While I'm no stranger to the dark, untamed magic of Ulcerate this was my first live show. I am beating myself up as to why I left it so long to allow the avalanche of the sonic vibrations of organised chaos to permeate my physical, mental and emotional bodies, and take me to a space that exists between worlds. I am living testament that the band's stunning musicianship and insane arrangements can be delivered even better live than recorded.
Ulcerate can be summed up as a high-tech musical weapon striking their target fan base with precision cuts, time and time again. However, if there was an Olympic medal for intense and fastidious drumming, Saint Merat takes gold uncontested.
More photos from the concert.
