Culture

Once again returning to Dunedin after a spectacular May performance, the Beastwars Winter Tour saw some true sonic weight hit Re:Fuel.


Friday September 2
Re:Fuel 
Opening proceedings, Idiot Prayer played an unfamiliar set comprised of new material. With almost industrial flavour, and less hook-orientated than the more accessible Bailterspace-meets-Shellac material from their debut EP Falconer, drummer Sam Brookland and bassist David Ager nonetheless still proved a powerhouse rhythm section, the new songs combining loud and precise experimentation with time signatures and repetition.
 
With my first experience of Soulseller occuring at a now hazy and half-remembered Feastock 2010, I had a sense of the unknown mixed with high expectation before the trio’s set. Trading in the same desert sludge as the likes of Kyuss and the Melvins, Soulseller played a slightly lacklustrw set heavily reliant on the gravelly – albeit excellent - voice of frontman Jared Smith. To start, the rhythm section felt uncertain and a little hesitant underneath the head-nodding riffs, and it was a shame to see a good band not quite do themselves justice.
 
With a tremendous (and deserved) live reputation now preceding them, the hype surrounding Wellington’s Beastwars seems to have reached a fever pitch. With their rapid ascension from virtual unknowns to lords of local metal, backed with support slots for the likes of Helmet and the Melvins, Beastwars never felt in danger of not meeting expectations.
 
With an air of consummate professionalism and self-assurance surrounding them, Beastwars were devastatingly efficient from start to finish, their live power akin to a force of nature. Beastwars’ frontman Matt Hyde as always stole the show with his ‘if the devil could sing’ voice as powerful and guttural as ever. With a large crossover appeal, judging from many in the crowd Beastwars are becoming the ‘metal band for people who don’t like metal’, a credit to the craft in both their musicality and captivating stage performance.
 
A heavy, powerful yet melodic performance proving yet again Beastwars can almost do no wrong. It’s the year of the riff, baby.