Grim Reflections live show Review 2nd February 2019 Kelly Tee.

Grim Reflections live show Review 2nd February 2019 Kelly Tee.

Saturday, 2 February 2019 The Factory Floor in Marrickville, Sydney was afflicted by 5 home grown Australian Heavy Metal acts presented by Grim Reflections.   These exceptionally heavy bands shoved down the throats of the crowd a mix of Heavy Psychedelic Doom, Blackened Progressive, Death, Black and Orchestral Doom/Death Metal.

Enter Mountain Wizard Death Cult from Sydney. These guys ripped up a 5 track set list of: Power, Stirring, Stairwell, All For Nothing and Don’t Tell Me. Oh what a start to a fantastic line-up! The energy that this band brought was extremely captivating. Every single band member putting their all into this candid and raw performance (queue my metal in hell grin).  This band did not lose my attention at any point, empty beer and all.  JJ’s vocals were extreme, his screams had the hairs stand up on my arms and those low gutturals…. well now I’m home.  The power that JJ thrust into each track was evident by the protruding veins in his neck.

I am confident that I am not alone in saying that Mountain Wizard Death Cult were an exceptional metal act that set a high standard for the show.

Mountain Wizard Death Cult are made up of: Lachlan Wink on drums, Anthony Langton on bass, JJ Brady who does vocals, and Chris Chaplin on guitar.

A short break and we were back inside waiting for Decrier to trouble us with their presence and did they ever. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this band since I was not familiar with their music prior to this gig, however what I saw, what I heard and what I felt was pure metal magic.  When you and your friend turn to each other with eyes gleaming with an OH YEAH expression and devilish smiles, you know it’s  great metal.  We were completely propelled into Decrier without warning.

Decrier poured out their emotions and angst  on stage with an 8 track set of; Soeur, Gate 31/17, A Distant Yesterday, Interlude, Departure, Separate, Arrival and Healing Asks Nothing.  How does one keep up the energy to belt these vocals out like Dave Xuereb does? I actually felt contently exhausted on the completion of Decrier’s set. They certainly took me on an intense and deep ride.

Decrier from Sydney are made up of band members: Henry Lyadilaga on guitar, Dave Xuereb who does vocals, Jaie Maher on Guitar, Aaron Bassman Cliff on bass and Angus McGaughran on drums.

Give us Death Metal! Inhuman Remnants as the name would suggest certainly did just that by unbounded amounts. Their themes were around anti Religion, hatred and insanity more so than gore and murder and I liked that!  A commanding and intimidating presence on stage, these guys went all out and really brought it to the crowd. The growls and doom Death vocals, which Dave produced were jaw dropping as his eyes rolled into the back of his head to reach the lowest point of his vocal supply. We, as spectators were revelling.

This entire band brought such power. Vocalist Dave ensured a great connection was made with the crowd through interactions with humour and breaking down the lyrics on the venue floor amongst us.  This was such a down to earth touch, one that the we all obviously appreciated.

Inhuman Remnants battered our ears with a 6 track Death Metal set list of: Solipsis II, Unsane, Anathema, Inattentional Blindness, Bleeding and Once Sent From The Outter Realms.

Canberra earthed, the band are AG on drums, JDK on Guitars, Dave does Vocals and Tommy on Guitars and Ash on bass.

All hail Christ Dismembered and yes, yes the crowd did. Corpse paint marked their faces in true Black Metal shocking style. You could see the whites in their eyes as they widened, further convincing us with every lyric as it was growled and screamed. Every instrument was played to its fullest. The sight on stage was pure Black Metal brutality as each band member broke their necks with vicious head bangs and trademark Black Metal neck whips. To say I was in my element watching these 4 lads violate the stage, is an understatement.

Peppered with just the right amount of distortion and crammed with rawness and grit, the band blew up the speakers while serving the crowd a nasty and unholy 9 track set of; Angelic Extermination, Child Devouring, Yearn For Blood, Demise Of The Unblack, a new track (untitled), Under The Cross, Blood Of The Innocent, Spit Forth Your Lies and Revel In Your Disgust.  Christ Dismembered certainly lived up to their reputation with themes of hatred, revenge and ungodly darkness.

Christ Dismembered out of Millicent South Australia, are made up of Plague on drums, NecroSatan who does vocals, Ominous on bass and The Sadist on guitars.

Finally, although of course not least was Rise of Avernus.  I will admit with a lot of  shame that I only discovered this whimsical and charismatically dark band when they started playing for us this night,  however they made a fan of me instantly. I was mind blown by their obscure stage presence, orchestral/symphonic elements and the vitality and ambiance they created. The vocals by both Ben Vanvollenhoven and Mares Refalaeda, well wow. Those blackened screams and blackened gutturals truly perfected by these two.

Rise Of Avernus battered out a 7 track set list of Terminus, Ad Infinitum, Tempest, Eigenlicht, Forged Eidolon, Mimicry and Into Aetherium. Every member of this band were completely committed to what they were there to do. They smashed us hard with their incredible sound and created such pain and beauty all in one. I get so much joy seeing musicians in their element and Rise Of Avernus were certainly in theirs.  They truly were a superb ending to a night of remarkable talent.

Rise Of Avernus, out of Sydney are Ben VanVollenhoven does vocals and guitars, Mares Refalaeda does vocals and keyboards, Allan Swaffield on bass and Robin Stone on drums and percussion .

I felt completely inspired, excited and humbled by the home grown Metal talent that was on stage that night, and the Heavy Metal variety we have here in Australia. This scene is alive and well.

I encourage you to explore the music of the bands’ mentioned in this review to feel the impact of their sound for yourself.  You can purchase their albums and merchandise  on BandCamp and follow their FaceBook page for recording updates and general band information.

To Mountain Wizard Death Cult, Decrier, Inhuman Remnants, Christ Dismembered and Rise of Avernus, thank you for the ruthless show.