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BEEROCALYPSE
@ The Bendigo Hotel, Melbourne
21st May, 2021
(Live Review)

Reviewer – Brandon Valentine

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DRACOREX // Photography by Kellin

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DRACOREX // Photography by Kellin

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Nothing quite sums up the glorious Melbournian, sticky carpet venue quite like The Bendigo Hotel, combine that with a night of heavy and hard music predicated around debauchery and you have Beerocalypse.

Brought to the booze swilling public by Forge Productions; Beerocalypse is a four to the floor tour de filth.

The four band line up was rocketed in to gear by Sydney’s Hellz Abyss, a female fronted act that draws my mind to the Drop D rock of the late 90’s and early 00’s. Full with instrumental tones that mixed Sevendust’s ‘Aniomsity’ with Skunk Anansie, all acting as a solid bed for vocalist Lisa Perry to indulge in some heavy vocal notes that drew their power from soul and old R&B.

The ‘beer’ in Beerocalypse was brought to the forefront by Torrential Thrill, with guitarist Steven holding a can high in the air whilst proclaiming “Let’s drink! It doesn’t matter ‘cause tomorrows Sunday.”

Tomorrow was in fact Saturday.

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THE CROOKEDS // Photography by Kellin

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THE CROOKEDS // Photography by Kellin

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Torrential Thrill have a hard rock sound with a skate/thrash edge, that was unfortunately delivered with guitars out of tune, but with on stage fist bumps you could see that they were blokes and bros having a good time.

Everything hit a dramatic reset once The Crookeds leaped passionately in to their art. I say this in no small way and with no hyperbolic intent but WOW! This band is one to keep an eye on. An eclectic yet completely cohesive concoction of delicious riffs filtered through a myriad of lenses, from Thin Lizzy to Mars Volta allowing singer Sonny to paint a glorious picture with his hyper expressive, Jeff Buckley style vocals. A high energy machine with a great many moving parts, all of which worked in perfect balance and unison. Spiced up with a few classically mean pentatonic solos and a good dose of harmonic minor riffs, you a met with wonderfully dramatic sound that I cannot recommend enough.

Thanks to The Crookeds, the attentions and heart rates of the beer imbibing brigade of buccaneers currently bothering The Bendi were heightened and fixated.

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DRACOREX // Photography by Kellin

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DRACOREX // Photography by Kellin

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Dracorex immediately harnessed the cavorting collection of corsairs by evoking the huge and harsh energy of the rock beast of yesteryear. A furious yet fun fusion of glam and thrash elements, distilled with modern sensibilities. Helmed by Rick Grimm’s riffs and James Brennan’s aggressively grit laden voice, Dracorex solidified the brash and sass-tastic nature of their oeuvre, track after track.
Amongst the rock & roll nastiness, there were well orchestrated and very deliberate moments of nuanced musicianship; inclusive of jazzy transitions, trading leads between guitar and thunderous bass, or even Grimm’s solos employing cheeky chromatic notes and some dramatic Phrygian.

With all this chaos in mind I found myself asking a poignant and timely question… “WHO THE F#$K LET JAMES BRENNAN HAVE A GIANT CONFETTI CANNON?!”

All four horsemen of the Beerocalypse collided with considerable commitment to create a communal calamity centred upon creative cacophonies that culminated in chaotic celebrations. In other words, rockin’ tunes were heard and drinks were in hand. 

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AMNPLIFY – DB