18 April 2024 – Brightside, Brisbane – words by Joe Harbour – pictures by Charlyn Cameron
Thursday night I got a chance to go check out some extreme metal in the form of Suffocation from New York and Bostons Revocation. They were supported by locals Brimstone.
So for those that have been to the Brightside you will know what sort of night I was going to be in for.. let’s just I was t disappointed.
Up first was Brimstone. They play an old school style of heavy metal like Mötorhead or early Judas Priest and they got thing going with shredding guitars and some catchy tunes. They played a short set including the songs ‘When the ship goes down’, ‘Oxygen Thief‘ (a rad song too!) ‘Boogeyman’, ‘Forever No More’ and ‘Viking Lord’. The crowd enjoyed and they were tight musically I thought.
Next was Bostons own Revocation. I had only heard of these guys but I’d not seen them, so I wasn’t sure what I was in for. They’re described as technical death metal but I felt the set was leaning more towards a traditional style and they put on a great show. Consisting of drums and 2 guitars I was curious as to how this would sound without the lower end bass but honestly, the noise they made and the heavy riffs, it didn’t really matter.
We get things going with ‘Diabolical Majesty’ – a request for a circle pit is granted and it sets the tone for the rest of the night! We move through tracks ‘Nhialistic Violence’, ‘The Outer Ones’ and ‘Madness Opus’. They were great tracks but kinda hard to hear sometimes. I think that’s a venue sound issue really.
Revocation – Brightside – photos by Charlyn Cameron
Next we got ‘Teratagenisis’ from the EP of the same name and the crowd are into this. ‘Lessons in Occult Theft’ is blasted through and then it’s onto ‘Godforsaken’ before finally being wrapped up by ‘Of unworldly Origin’.
I liked these guys a lot and they seemed like genuine blokes too! They like to come out to Australia and it showed, I’ll look forward to seeing them again I think.
Next was Suffocation.
Suffocation has been around probably since death metal became a thing. Terrance Hobbs who is one of the guitarists has such a soft playing style almost fools you because the noise he’s creating is so opposite and watching him solo is kinda mesmerising. And the sheer speed as well, I was sitting with a bloke named Peter who advised me he’s a retiree and has been coming to the extreme metal shows, asked what he was in for and I said they go at a nice clip, fast and relentless so hang on. He was not let down, because from go to end they put a beating on us and the crowd responded perfectly! In fact shout out to the crowd because they had so much energy and matched the music, was a sight to behold!
So up first we’re blasted with ‘Seraphim Enslavement’ off their new album from late last year ‘Hymns from the Apocrypha’, followed by ‘Thrones of Blood’, and ‘Breeding the Spawn’, each garnering a circle pit on request, the guys making the circle pits seriously hats off to you lot.
Suffocation – Brightside – photos by Charlyn Cameron
Up next was ‘Dim Veil of Obscurity’, and then the classic from 1995 off the album of the same name ‘Pierced from Within’, I really like this song and the album, so seeing it live was amazing!
Another new song was ‘Perpetual Deception’ followed by ‘Funeral Inception’.
This set was showcasing a few of the new songs and frankly I like this new album by Suffocation a lot, next was the title track ‘Hymns from the Apocrypha’ and by this time in the set were all still thrashing hard and the circle pit was on standby ready for another request, and we get ‘Catalonia’ and then Liege of inveracity where the crowd are asked to get up and dive off stage. This was way cool, as I saw all sorts get up and toss them selves in from girls to an old silver surfer go up over the top. ‘Infecting the Crypts’ was last by way of encore, because let’s face it, we wanted more, and they gave us one more.
Suffocation – Brightside – photos by Charlyn Cameron
My Thursday was ended on a high note, because even though I am currently injured and can’t get too close to the mosh I was feeling a little catharsis as this show from all bands was non stop and really fun. If you were there then you know, and I will put this as my top gig of the year so far!
Cracking!
