OBITUARY – Brisbane, Australia 16th January 2020
Obituary hailing from Tampa, Florida are death metal pioneers. To no surprise they sold out the Woolly Mammoth in Brisbane. Obituary were supported by a heavy variety of chaotic Grindcore by Wormrot and Brisbanes beloved mankini thrashers F.U.C, performing for a large and sweaty crowd Thursday night in Brisbane. Work night or not, Obituary were in town and the Brisbane metal scene let their hair out for a night of glorious brutality.
F.U.C were an interesting choice for an opening band, given the brutality that was awaiting the punters. Their humorous approach to their song writing and lyrical composure complimented what the heavy hitting Obituary would later bring and the light heartedness that Wormrot brought to their set with their unique brand of grindcore.
The mankini clad duo vocalist/guitarist Dan Fromfuc and vocalist drummer Todd Hansen (Yes, that same Todd that pounds the skins for King Parrot) had a lot of fun on stage and there was plenty of interaction with the crowd during their set, with Hansen even going as far as to mock the more serious death metal fans who were grappling with what they were witnessing onstage as they refused to unfold their arms and get a little silly.
Wormrot hailing from Singapore have established themselves in Australia. The audience loved them and the venue was insanely packed it was difficult to get through the crowd. Wormrot are hard and fast grind with thick brutality and blasts. Their thrash beats resonate and their vocalist goes ballistic to create relentless but controlled chaos.
By then the crowd were definitely warm, the drinks were flowing and the venue was wall to wall. Obituary took to the stage like Gods, one of the giants of the Tampa classic death metal waves hitting so hard it turned you inside out.
Opening the set with the one and only Redneck Stomp, an instrumental consisting of nothing but sheer power and ultimate groove. No introduction is needed when these guys are in their element. They have a created a life of creating pits and the crowd instantly combusted into a moshing frenzy of insane metal heads. If the crowd were expecting a mass of brutal fatalities then Obituary certainly delivered. Even though a sold out show at The Woolly Mammoth can easily turn into an oven on a Brisbane summer night, where else would you want to watch an Obituary show, but in the depths of Hell.
The tour was for their second album released in 1990, ‘Cause of Death’ and is considered to be a classic album in the history of death metal. The crowd just could not get enough of the destruction being caused by these legends. A notable stand out was during the song ‘Body Bag’, (surprisingly enough no body bags came out of the venue tonight). ‘Body Bag’ is the tastiest of death metal collaborations and the crowd exploded.
As well as the famous ‘Cause of Death’ tunes that were belted out they also gave Brisbane classics such as ‘I’m in Pain’ and ‘A Lesson in Vengeance’. They also played a release from 2019 single, A Dying World and closed the show with ‘Slowly We Rot’. The front man John Tardy has an effortless but commanding presence on stage. He has nothing at all to prove and unleashes volumes of screams as close to the range and style as the late Chuck Schuldiner of death metal tyrants ‘DEATH’. The rhythm guitarist and one of the founding members Trevor Peres, constantly engages and smiles with the crowd and the band rages together to create an unforgettable atmosphere.
Overall, Obituary delivered a fantastic set list of classics that will live through the ages, and it was a pleasure to see them sell out Brisbane. Don’t miss the next chance to see these heroes crush it on the big stage, if I missed this show I would prefer to get CHOPPED IN HALF!
Reviewer: Nikki Christina
Photographer: Bruno Cechella
