OBITUARY

Chaos Divine /  Grotesque

Amplifier Bar
Sunday, November 22, 2009

The moment had finally come. The dual guitar assault of guitarist Trevor Peres and Ralph Santolla from pioneering Florida death metallers Obituary started dim in the background, exploding in the first few chords of Redneck Stomp from 2005’s Frozen In Time with drummer Donald Tardy’s crisp attack just warming up when... boom. The whole thing came to a grinding halt. Peres had blown his stack and the sound crew absolutely flipped out.  Taking a big whiff of his yeasty beverage, the stringsman faced the ravenous crowd with a salute and a few words to keep them at bay; ‘apparently we had a really shitty rental company we rented from and, whoever they are, they can suck my cock’. Amen to that.  Luckily the Perth round of supports did not fall to this same fate...

This Sunday evening soiree started off in the most arse-kicking of fashions with the mighty Grotesque. Let’s just say that new vocalist Dan Coombs has well and truly found his feet with this well-respected outfit. Making the stage his own and bringing a new, formidable, presence to older picks from 2007’s The Museum Of Human Disease - it was damn fine to see these lads enter a new era, one that will no doubt that them to new heights.

Fresh from nabbing the Best Band crown at the recent Australian Metal Awards, our very own poster boys Chaos Divine took to the stage with an air of frivolity about them. Pulling out all stops and clearly stoked they were playing alongside these death metal titans, they let their hair down a bit and just enjoyed the moment - grins upon their faces as they went.  The mood suited them well with guitarist Ryan Felton brazenly showing off, coupled with Ben Mazzarol’s skin precision making this set seem effortless.

So it seems that something sinister befalls Florida quintet Obituary every time they head to our shores in the technical department. If you can cast your minds, and ears, back to their Australian stint in 2007 when this crew came to slaughter our feeble senses, bass issues plagued their set to no end at the Capitol show. With one of the guitar amps going AWOL this time around, maybe a certain curse has attached itself to this legendary band whenever they set foot in our State. Even Santolla’s lead guitar licks were barely audible at key solo moments, which was wholeheartedly disappointing. But that initial bumble, and the subsequent uncomfortable near-crashes between every song here-after, did not stop these men from sucking it up and putting on the best show they could - considering the circumstances. 

Punters were more than grateful to just bask in the shadow of the Tardy brothers and company, with a brutal kind of bloodlust brewing as fans screamed their support at them while the band conferred to try and keep the music coming amidst the terrors of the curse. And headbang they did, in the only way you can to classic Obituary tracks like Cause Of Death, Back In Style and Chopped In Half - slow, deliberate and still as heavy now as they were when they first came to us with their debut in 1989. 

While the rest of the band left the stage for a quick smoke and bourbon before the encore, drummer Tardy treated us to an amazing solo - easily on the highlights of the eve based purely on its power of delivery - with the whole gang getting on stage for Slowly We Rot. The curse cannot last forever and, fingers-crossed, next time Perth can finally witness Obituary at their blistering best.

_ JESSICA WILLOUGHBY