Live Review: Black Breath, I Exist, The Fevered

Kicking off tonight's fistful of hardcore-tinged metal is The Fevered. Having taken the step up to becoming one of the go-to supports for shows of this ilk in recent months, they waste no time in affirming exactly why that is with their mashing of melodic death and crust. The band is tight and proficient, and don't hold back on their thrashing energy levels. Vocalist Matt Cook appears to be in all kinds of pain during slower, more instrumentally sparse numbers like Sleep, Warm As Day, and you get a sense that while the accompanying showmanship is massive, the emotion that backs it up with such fierce vocals is all very real.

Canberra's I Exist are the national support for tonight's tour, and their stoned riffs rumble the PA with precise rambunctiousness. Despite being down from their usual three guitarists to two, their sound remains thick and their presence doesn't falter. The microphone is rocked on a stand for most of the gig, and a strong, staunch, yet pleasantly lighthearted vibe is strong throughout a selection of tracks largely from their latest album, II: The Broken Passage. One particular punter comments that “this is like stoner rock with metal vocals”, and the audience starts to get a little more rowdy as the set progresses.

Let it be known – Black Breath have come to destroy. The Seattle-based five-piece immediately rage to what has to be one of the most huge, clear and completely obliterating mixes to ever come out of the Crowbar PA, and the crowd finally explodes into the maelstrom that has been threatening on the sidelines all evening. Thrash, crust, death – this band exemplifies that they sit somewhere in the middle of all that with older songs like Eat The Wind and Virus, mixing it up about 50/50 with newer slayers like Endless Corpse and Feast Of The Damned. Thirteen or so songs in, the band calls it a night, vocalist Neil McAdams having already let the crowd know his sincere and succinct appreciation. No encore, no bullshit – just a non-stop, excited barrage of some of the tightest fury around from start to finish.