12 September 2023 – The Triffid, Brisbane – words by Joe Harbour – pictures by Charlyn Cameron
Midweek grind….
No, I’m not going skateboarding I’m off to see some chaps from Birmingham, UK and their guests Wormrot from Singapore and Brisbane locals Awful Noise.
So by now I’m sure you figured it was Napalm Death, one of the pioneers of grindcore/extreme metal. They have been around since forever and from what I saw from the crowd demographic, it showed up with all ages in attendance.
Speaking of the crowd I found them to be one of the most civilised I’ve been around and didn’t spy any drunken tomfoolery with most punters on the polite end of the spectrum. A gig like a Napalm Death one I’d expect this somewhat. If you’re a fan of the band I’m sure you know the subject matter is in the “be nice to each other“ vein of things and so it’d be hard to think of fans at odds with that stance in real life.
So up first was Awful Noise. Local death-core grind act and they were great. They powered through a set filled with tracks off the album A Peaceful Death with Pretty Flowers. Overall pretty solid in my opinion and I recommend checking them out if your flavour of music is on the extreme end and you don’t mind “awful noise”.
Next up came Wormrot from Singapore.
They ripped. I’d only heard of them before this but afterward I added their album Hiss to my collection and I have to say it’s very good! I will add more no doubt when I’m done listening to this solid outing from 2022. So what else can I say about them, they have a decent drummer his name is Vijesh and he’s probably one of the best I’ve seen. One bloke got in my face to yell about how good he was and that “he has to be the best drummer in the southern hemisphere””! High praise but again he is damn good!
Between blasts and chaotic fills he shredded the Triffid to bits. Vocals were provided by Gabriel Dubko and he can do it all, and after the loss of OG singer Arif they lucked out here. Guitarist Rasyid ran his axe through the grinder and I like some of the sounds he has come up with, I was feeling it.
Overall I highly recommend Wormrot.
Last was Napalm Death, and they tore through a pretty extensive set containing many tracks of 2020’s Throes of Joy in the face of Defeatism. They played the classic anthem of a Dead Kennedy’s cover ‘Nazi Punks Fuck Off’ as well as a cover of ‘Don’t Need It’ by Bad Brains. Two of my favourite hardcore punk bands growing up.
Tracks like ‘Scum’, ‘Suffer the Children’, when all is said and done made up some of the tracks from the back catalogue with newer songs like ‘Contagion’, ‘Narcissus’, ‘Amoral’ and ‘Fuck the Factoid’ rounding out the newer material.
This was something I have been waiting for, for quite some time as things just never seemed to work out when I wanted to see these guys in the past, after tonight though I can happily say I got to see the mighty Napalm Death and it was worth the wait.
Even Boy George was stoked!
