Live Review: Earth Caller, Deadlights, Daybreakers, Among The Ruined

It's a dreary, cold and wet night in Brisbane — the perfect kind of evening to put away Pokemon Go (though some dedicated trainers remain huddled in The Brightside's beer garden all night) and take in some live music instead. 

It's a given that hardcore shows are usually pretty intense affairs, but Gold Coast troupe Among The Ruined come out of the gate with the dial turned so far up that there's nowhere to go from here, as vocalist/guitarist Paddy Creamer emerges on stage and immediately starts full-on yelling at the too-small-to-be-yelled-at-crowd to 'Get the fuck down here!' in what will ultimately only be the first of multiple really aggressive and marginally offputting ultimatums from the bands on stage tonight. It's not clear that the forced extremity is really landing with those that are paying attention, though their pit does swell slightly in response to their ineffable enthusiasm and chunky, bone-shaking riffs. "WE ARE AMONG THE RUINED!" Creamer screams at one point, to which a clearly audible, solitary voice replies matter-of-factly from the crowd, "...Yep." Sadly, it's about as apt a summation of the vibe as one could hope for.

It's a similarly lukewarm situation that greets local melodic hardcore four-piece Daybreakers as they tear through an aurally devastating set that nonetheless bears the unfortunate hallmarks of its predecessor in terms of the overly pushy and in-your-face directives hurled at the crowd from the stage. Things do pick up, however, with the arrival of fellow Brisbane crew Deadlights, who prove to be the most technically proficient and polished band on the bill so far this evening. Spasmodic, stop-start rhythms and gargantuan breakdowns fly thick and fast behind vocalist Dylan Davidson's fierce, frenetic and frequently guttural utterances, while guitarist/vocalist Tynan Reibelt offers up some soaring melodic back-up work. Bassist Sean Prior, too, proves a most capable multitasker, adding to the vocal textures with aplomb all his own. The band hit a highlight with Invisible Hands, the first single off their upcoming album, while old favourite and closer Know Hope also strikes a climactic peak, proving a simply massive way to round out their boast-worthy set. 

Melbourne hardcore legends Earth Caller suffer a delayed start to their performance as a peaking bass-drum mic prevents them from getting under way for several minutes. The setback is unfortunate but not detrimental — the issue is eventually resolved — though the band themselves are clearly frustrated by the hold-up. Somewhat inexplicably, there are far fewer people in the pit area now for the headliners than the previous act — in fact, the entire venue seems to have largely thinned out, most of the audience now comfortably congregating on either side of the staircase leading down into the now-anaemic mosh.

For a band as established as Earth Caller — a band who very generously address the significant love that Brisbane apparently shows them every time they're in town (though this evening would make you question the fact) — it's disheartening to see, especially considering how good they are at what they do. The savagery of Dictated, Not Led is a standout moment in a uniformly solid performance, the pre-recorded arpeggiated piano and backing strings providing a degree of delicacy to the thunder, while Degenerate — the title track from the band's 2015 debut album — also proves particularly evocative as the band continues to play as though to a packed-out room rather than the group of diehards that remain to see things out to the end… so, naturally, it's a killer time — and frankly everyone else's loss.