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DEPRAVITY,
The Harvest Trail, The Furor,
DoomCave and Ashen
@ Amplifier, Perth,
12th March, 2021
(Live Review)

Reviewer – Chris Reid

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Harvesting the Depraved

Last Friday night Perth metal fans were treated to a rare ‘Triple Album Launch’ show containing five quality sets of original music.  

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I was sceptical that Amplifier would be able to accommodate the early set time that Ashen given on the billing, however the doors cracked at the advertised time (earlier than usual) and the punters were able to soak up the Old School Death Metal stylings from this new, yet very experienced band. Ashen contains members from highly rated Perth bands including Vespers Decent, Darkenium,  Burial Ground, Water Colour Ghosts and Chaos Divine. Whilst the majority of these bands cease to exist, you get the feeling this band will have some real staying power.  I really enjoyed Ashen’s set – it was a tight, polished display brimming with quality, memorable riffs and old school DM vocal hooks from the 4 piece. The track Godless Oath has been doing the rounds on various digital platforms for a while now and hearing it live was a highlight of the set. Quality stuff.

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DOOMCAVE

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DoomCave are a 4 piece band who play a modern brand of Black Metal. This was my first time seeing them play I was impressed with the bands overall offering. Aesthetically the band went ‘all out’ – decked out in Corpse Paint, and wearing a desecrated version of formal ‘black tie’ – white shirts, black trousers, with neck ties, bow ties and suspenders on various members. I’m not a massive listener to this style of Black Metal but for me I got a recent era Behemoth sort of vibe from it. The band played  a super tight set which was enhanced through the use of a backing track of synth and other ambient parts which really filled out the sound.  The vocal performance in particular was of a very high calibre.

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THE FUROR

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The Furor is a long standing force in Perth Metal. The latest incarnation of the band sees Dizazter take the stage as a one-man-black-metal-wrecking-ball, handling drums and vocals with all other parts being played over the PA. This seems like a highly appropriate move given that his new album being launched (Obliteration Matrix) was a one man effort too. This was my first time seeing The Furor in this format and it’s fair to say that absolutely nothing is lost from the live experience. The set was an absolute masterclass in extreme metal drumming, blasting through classics from a decent spread of the back catalogue with great energy and precision. The reception from the crowd during The Furor’s set was as rabid as any other point during the night – a show of respect for one of the legitimate greats of the Perth scene. A hard act to follow.

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The Harvest Trail sees members of much respected Perth bands Claim the Throne and Red Descending deliver a high intensity melodic death metal offering. It’s impossible to speak about the sound of The Harvest Trail and their new album Instinct without referencing  the Gothenburg scene and more specifically At The Gates. Their set was an impressive display, reeling off track after track of short and sharp, high tempo riffing. Personal highlights included Strangled and Blood. On previous occasions I’ve seen the band play as a 3 piece, but their live sound was certainly enhanced with the addition of Jesse Millea who handled bass duties.

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Headlining the high calibre event was Depravity who were launching their 2020 album release Grand Malevolence. Depravity are seasoned pros and they delivered a commanding performance which showcased tracks from their latest release exclusively.  Indulging Psychotic Thoughts is a great opener on both on the album and in the live setting  – It’s a smorgasbord of riffs and beats which sets the tone in crushing fashion. As the band churned through their set you couldn’t help but be stuck by the quality of the musicianship across the board. The pairing of Curley and Cessford on Guitars is particularly formidable – both possessing head turning chops, yet have differing lead styles which adds to the diversity of the band’s sound. Perhaps the only negative of the evening is that Depravity weren’t afforded a longer set as the crowd were lapping up their brand of intense death metal.  I guess this is the trade-off for having a 5 band bill at an inner city venue which doubles as a late night dance club.

In the midst of a global pandemic we’re lucky to be living in Perth – whilst the venue had mandatory contact tracing, there really isn’t any noticeable COVID restrictions in this part of the world at this point of time. But beyond having the ability to get out and attend live music, there is no doubt that the night was a particularly strong in terms of the billing too. All five bands brought their A game and the turn out and reception from the punters reflected this.

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Track listing:

1. Indulging Psychotic Thoughts
2. Grand Malevolence
3. Invalid Majesty
4. Cantankerous Butcher
5. Trophies of Inhumanity
6. Castrate the Perpetrators
7. The Coming of the Hammering
8. Barbaric Eternity
9. Hallucination Aflame
10. Epitome of Extinction
11. Ghosts in the Void

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DEPRAVITY are:

Drums – Louis Rando (Impiety, The Furor)

Guitar – Lynton Cessford (Entrails Eradicated)

Vocals – Jamie Kay (Inanimacy, ex-The Ritual Aura)

Bass – Ainsley Watkins (ex-Scourge)

Guitar – Jarrod Curly (ex-Malignant Monster)

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Check out DEPRAVITY below
Bandcamp – Facebook – Instagram

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Follow
ASHEN – DOOMCAVE
THE FUROR – THE HARVEST TRAIL

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