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HOLLOW WORLD with As Paradise Falls, Kyzer Soze, Zeolite, & Caetera—Crowbar, Brisbane—Saturday April 29th, 2017
Hollow World have been touring in support of their debut LP release Exanimate over the last two months and tonight, the tour comes to its end with the final show at Crowbar in Brisbane.
The Melbourne melodeath band are joined by As Paradise Falls, Kyzer Soze, Zeolite and Caetera and from the looks of the lineup, the punters are in for a night of crushingly brutal metal.
It’s a busy night at Crowbar as the upstairs bar, Crowbar Black, is packed waiting for the doors to open and the bands to kick off.
Local death metal band Caetera are up first and though the first spot can be quite daunting on a bill of this size, the band are going from strength to strength at the moment and this shows as they command the stage.
Deep growls from vocalist Adrian Rosa and crushing riffs from lead guitarist Jackson Price melt the crowd’s faces as they move through tracks from their debut EP with their sound being likened to early Nile, Obituary and Morbid Angel. As more people file into the venue their attention turns quickly to the front as they can’t help but be drawn by the savage sounds coming from the four onstage.
It’s only a short set but they have definitely warmed up the crowd for the next band to hit the stage.
Tasmanian metallers Zeolite take the party up a notch with their energetic performance. Their songs are technical, yet full of groove and vocalist Fraser Mainwaring moves about the stage like a man possessed. They deliver their songs with precision and it really shows that they enjoy playing live. This is mirrored in the crowd’s reaction to their set and while it seems like they are relatively new to the Brisbane punters, they are by the end of their set, looking like they have a whole new set of fans in the Brisbane scene.
Following Zeolite came the extremely grim Kyzer Soze. These Brisbane stalwarts have built a substantial fan base over the years and it is easy to see why. They are brutal, fast paced and unforgiving, and their stage presence only enhances this. It’s hard to describe their presence without seeing it for yourself but the unnerving fixed gazes of the three up front, Tyler Welykitscholowik, Matt Dunstan and Alex Cabrera are extremely imposing and intimidating.
They too, have an old school death metal vibe, akin to bands like Behemoth, and their aggressive playing is nothing short of ferocious. We are treated to older tracks off their last release and newer, more vicious material in the works. It will certainly be a release to look out for.
As Paradise Falls are riding high at the moment, having recently released their own album and having been signed to Eclipse Records. Although they were a late addition to the bill for the absent I Shall Devour, the band pulled out all the stops to keep the party going.
Vocalist Shaun Coar has been hailed as one of the top metal vocalists in Australia, and has only recently joined the band after the departure of Ravi Sherwell. Coar’s vocals are a perfect fit for the Brisbane metal band and his cleans offset the raw heaviness of the music nicely.
Their latest single release, Starblind, draws plenty of approval from the crowd as everyone gets into the set, headbanging and moshing along with the five onstage.
By this stage the crowd has built up very nicely and the energy buzzing through the venue is building for the headline act.
When Melbourne fivesome Hollow World take the stage, the crowd goes nuts. They are a band known for having some fun and the arrival of guitarist Theo Goslett and vocalist Ben Roberts in nipple tassels gets a roar of approval from the punters.
Playing a host of new tracks taken off the debut album, the band move through their set almost effortlessly as they feed off the vibe in the room and really give it their all. The riffs from Goslett and Michael Truscott are melodic and crushing all at once and Michael Hodgson’s speed behind the kit was hard to believe. Although it was sort of refreshing to see him drop the sticks a couple of times, to prove that the man is actually human.
The set was over far too quickly and even a small encore of their popular track Scion of Fire from an earlier EP, wasn’t enough to satiate the crowd as they begged for more.
But alas, the night was over and the crowd left Crowbar feeling beautifully destroyed by a hailstorm of riffs and music.
Hollow World’s Exanimate is out now.
