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Atheist

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ATHEIST (USA)
+ Ashen + Anoxia
+ Neomantra
@ Lynotts Lounge, Perth,
31st May 2025
(Live Review)

Review by Chris Reid

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Atheist

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Athiest kicked off their first ever Australian Tour on Saturday night in Perth. The veteran band arguably founded both the technical and progressive death metal sub-genres, so understandably the Australian metal scene is chomping at the bit to see them live for the first time. 

It would be remiss of me to talk about this show without acknowledging that this Perth show almost didn’t happen. When the Athiest Australian tour dates were announced there was no Perth date on the schedule. But, like a Knight in shining armour, along came Leigh Chalmers and his heroic concept ‘Gig Gage’. Shout out to Anthony Blayney from Your Mate Bookings for working with the concept too. I won’t elaborate on what this concept is but you can read all about it here (https://gig-gage.com/).  To cut a long story short, the Perth punters did their bit, purchased enough presale bonds to fill up the ‘gig gage’, and subsequently the Perth date was added onto the front of the tour.

The lineup for this show was stacked, and the rare Saturday night billing made for a prime showing. Despite it’s reputation,  Perth has a very healthy progressive/tech death metal following, and a very decent crowd showed up for this event.

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Atheist / @landoc69 @gig_gage

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Local act Neomantra opened the show in style…and with some serious decibel levels. Their style and sound  is cerebral and multifaceted. I hear sludge, doom, post metal and prog in equal measures.  At different times I’m reminded  of bands like Tool and Cog, and others I get shades of Crobar and Conan. Neomantra were a nice way to open proceedings and a point of difference on the bill.

Next up were East Coast tyros Anoxia. These guys played an enjoyable brand of death metal that seemed to focus on killer riffs,  headbang inducing drum patterns, along with deep gutural vocals. Anoxia play a nice fusion of old school Swedish and American death metal styles,  with a bit of a modern edge. These guys really impressed me and I’d imagine most of the rest of the crowd too – im sure that Anoxia merch will be seen at Perth shows for a good while to come. Their rendition of their single ‘Rule by Cold Steel’ brought the house down, with its trippelet-feel-pinch-harmonic-riff being a hit amongst the punters.

Local death metallers Ashen played next. Ashen are in the midst of a notably prolific year. They’re on a hot streak when it comes to landing support slots of international touring acts, for good reason too; they’re the real deal. The support slot exposure is helping them to build some serious momentum ahead of their next release. Subsequently alot of the crowd knew their material and crowd interaction was strong during their set. I’m a big fan of the fusion of old school death metal and some subtle hints of Melodeath. A quality set that showcased a nice blend of unreleased material and older tracks.

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Athiest have been around in one form or another since the early 80s but have never previously toured Australia. Like a lot of legacy acts that are still touring Athiest in 2025 isn’t a completely original lineup. This incarnation of the band is essentially long term front man Kelly Shaefer joined by a formidable band of virtuoso musicians. Whilst none of the band are necessarily house hold names they are all absolute pros; more than able to pull off the notoriously difficult and complex Athiest arrangements with precision and energy. For anyone sitting on the fence about seeing this tour,  make no mistake,  this band is every bit worthy of carrying Athiest’s name and legacy. Absolutley jaw dropping stuff. Jerry Witunsky in particular was an absolute shredder on guitars, headbanging like a madman without missing a note. The same comment is probably valid for all of the band, to be fair. Athiest’s set was an absolute tour de force and song wise was not far off what I’d call a ‘best of’ set. Almost everything you’d want to hear from their classic albums got played. With a very healthy selection from Piece of Time and Unquestionable Presence, and a handful of cuts from Elements.  Flawless reditions of essential tracks like Mother Man and Piece of Time were worthy of the price of admission on their own. I’m sure everyone in the venue left satisfied and grateful for the opportunity to see such an important act in the flesh. Showing just how down to earth and thankful they were, Kelly and the band hung around and mingled with the crowd after the show, capping off an unforgettable night. 

This was one of the shows of the year without question. Don’t sleep on this if they’re yet to come through your city. Athiest are one of the most important bands in the genre and due to the efforts of Gig Gage and Your Mate, the Perth metal scene was lucky enough to get the opportunity to see this unforgettable show – On They Slay

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Incredible Fan-Art!

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Atheist / @manitoba_metalfest in Winnipeg

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AMNPLIFY – DB