ILLYRIA // Delivered Metal In Spades

After what has been a steady drain on punter’s pockets the past few months, Perth’s Illyria still managed to get a solid turnout for the launch of their new record The Carpathian Summit at Badlands Bar on Friday 3rd of May.

The night began what was to be a feast of Perth’s finest experimental, progressive, shoegaze-post-metal with Waste Not, who were well equipped to kick off the festivities. After a short changeover came Yomi Ship, another band who have been doing great things over the past 18 months with their unique brand of instrumental metal.

Unsurprisingly the stand out among the support acts was Deadspace, who have spent the last few years converting the masses (here and abroad) to their brand of sonic darkness. Vocalist and main-man Chris definitely knows how to reach into the depths of his own inner darkness to convey his musical and lyrical artistry in the live setting.

After a quick changeover and a visit to the bog and the bar, it was time for the band we all came to see: Illyria. The band kicked things off with Resurgence, the opening track from the new album The Carpathian Summit; which really set the tone for what was to come. Illyria are one of those acts that genre labels don’t fit, a trait that is always refreshing in the metal landscape. The band navigated through the bulk of the material from the new album and took the audience on a rollercoaster ride of progressive, post-black metal mastery. The show’s highlights had to be Kenopsia, the latest single from the record and their epic closer Winter’s Wedding.

It was a great night of metal all round, with a lineup that’s impossible to pigeon-hole. Illyria delivered, and proved why they’re on the rise in the Aussie metal/progressive/”who knows what to call it” space.

Order Illyria’s new album The Carpathian Summit here.

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