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| Cattle Decapitation |
Contributor Ken Geiger is spending a semester abroad in Sydney, Australia. Ken loves going to shows, and he'll be seeing a few over the next few months abroad. This is his first dispatch from Down Under. All photos by Ken.
Sonic Annihilation in Sydney
By Ken Geiger
I cannot speak for everyone, but I can imagine that anyone who goes to a concert in another country must have some first-time questions similar to mine:
"Is the headliner as well known over here as they are back in my home country?"
"Are the fans here cool?"
"Will the local openers be any good?"
Needless to say, all of these questions I posed were met with very positive responses as I attended California death metal outfit Cattle Decapitation's Australian Extinction Tour in Sydney this past Friday night.
People here sure do love their dose of heavy metal, which was evident by the clearly over-capacity audience that packed into the Bald Faced Stag. I made my way into the line about 30 minutes after doors, and there was still a line that nearly extended around the block. The fans I talked to on my way in were all beyond excited for the lineup of the evening. They had been patiently waiting several years for the return of Cattle Decapitation to their country. They treated me with respect and kindness, striking up casual conversation and asking about life back home in comparison to Australia. As I found my way into the room where the bands would be playing, I could already feel the temperatures rising. This heat would only continue to rise as the night went on.
The first band of the night was Sydney-based Daemon Pyre. I found out earlier that evening that the band was having a fill-in on vocals for the night, as their regular singer had recently made the decision to leave the band. In fact, they had only done a couple of rehearsals with the singer prior to this show. To me and the rest of those in attendance that night, it did not really matter who was up there singing; Daemon Pyre delivered a fantastic set of blistering melodic death metal. Anyone who is a fan of bands like Lamb of God or At The Gates would love these guys.
Next to go on was Psycroptic, the main support to Cattle Decapitation for the whole length of this tour. Their specialty is in technical death metal, with a tinge of hardcore in there for good measure. I would soon find out from these guys that it did not matter whether or not I knew who they were, because every Australian in the crowd certainly did. All the words were sung by the crowd. Moshing went down for every song, and people were trying to rush past the security outside just to catch these guys. It was the truest representation that I could think of for the metal scene out in Sydney.
Last but not least was the mighty Cattle Decapitation. This band has come a long way from its early grindcore roots as a Locust side project to turn into the death metal institution that they are known as today. Most of their set was comprised of a mix of their last two releases, The Anthropocene Extinction and Monolith of Inhumanity, which made for an amazing and blistering set that just spanned a little over an hour. Singer Travis Ryan noted multiple times how he was sorry they did not make it over here sooner but was happy they finally made it all. The crowd clearly agreed with him as they ate up every song and riff with ferocious singalongs or wild applause.
If I were Cattle D., I would make sure to come back here first on their next album cycle because, damn, do these Aussies love their metal.
Sonic Annihilation in Sydney
By Ken Geiger
I cannot speak for everyone, but I can imagine that anyone who goes to a concert in another country must have some first-time questions similar to mine:
"Is the headliner as well known over here as they are back in my home country?"
"Are the fans here cool?"
"Will the local openers be any good?"
Needless to say, all of these questions I posed were met with very positive responses as I attended California death metal outfit Cattle Decapitation's Australian Extinction Tour in Sydney this past Friday night.
People here sure do love their dose of heavy metal, which was evident by the clearly over-capacity audience that packed into the Bald Faced Stag. I made my way into the line about 30 minutes after doors, and there was still a line that nearly extended around the block. The fans I talked to on my way in were all beyond excited for the lineup of the evening. They had been patiently waiting several years for the return of Cattle Decapitation to their country. They treated me with respect and kindness, striking up casual conversation and asking about life back home in comparison to Australia. As I found my way into the room where the bands would be playing, I could already feel the temperatures rising. This heat would only continue to rise as the night went on.
The first band of the night was Sydney-based Daemon Pyre. I found out earlier that evening that the band was having a fill-in on vocals for the night, as their regular singer had recently made the decision to leave the band. In fact, they had only done a couple of rehearsals with the singer prior to this show. To me and the rest of those in attendance that night, it did not really matter who was up there singing; Daemon Pyre delivered a fantastic set of blistering melodic death metal. Anyone who is a fan of bands like Lamb of God or At The Gates would love these guys.
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| Daemon Pyre |
Next to go on was Psycroptic, the main support to Cattle Decapitation for the whole length of this tour. Their specialty is in technical death metal, with a tinge of hardcore in there for good measure. I would soon find out from these guys that it did not matter whether or not I knew who they were, because every Australian in the crowd certainly did. All the words were sung by the crowd. Moshing went down for every song, and people were trying to rush past the security outside just to catch these guys. It was the truest representation that I could think of for the metal scene out in Sydney.
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| Psycroptic |
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| Psycroptic |
Last but not least was the mighty Cattle Decapitation. This band has come a long way from its early grindcore roots as a Locust side project to turn into the death metal institution that they are known as today. Most of their set was comprised of a mix of their last two releases, The Anthropocene Extinction and Monolith of Inhumanity, which made for an amazing and blistering set that just spanned a little over an hour. Singer Travis Ryan noted multiple times how he was sorry they did not make it over here sooner but was happy they finally made it all. The crowd clearly agreed with him as they ate up every song and riff with ferocious singalongs or wild applause.
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| Cattle Decapitation |
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| Cattle Decapitation |
If I were Cattle D., I would make sure to come back here first on their next album cycle because, damn, do these Aussies love their metal.
Nice job Kenny
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