Live Review: Pallbearer, Illimitable Dolor, Hashshashin

Sydney prog metal wizards Hashshashin (Persian for "assassin") opened and, as usual, their set was too short. Their mathematical arrangements have many hidden avenues to explore, but their impressive technicality never feels sterile and their use of Middle Eastern sounds as a fulcrum never feels like a gimmick. It was a reliably great spot; evocative and intensely invigorating.

Illimitable Dolor (dolor is Spanish for "pain") were far more straightforward. They were content to pound us into submission through riffage and while they had the conviction, they lacked panache.

Arkansas doom lords Pallbearer were a towering presence, a force to be reckoned with that eclipsed their previous show in every way. With new material and an energised approach, the group left very little room to breathe. At less than a dozen songs, each track boasted enormous reserves of power and the stamina and control involved in maintaining such a colossal, inhuman noise while still retaining their trademark lucidity was impressive.

The band have ripened with age. They arrived with confidence in 2012 (Sorrow And Extinction) and since then they've built up their skill set, honing their harmonies and opening up their melodic structure while still fully embracing their doom heritage. Vocalist Brett Campbell has never sounded better. His pitch-perfect falsetto is one of metal's most underrated assets. The mix respected this and gave us full access to his agile keening.

Opening with Thorns (a track boasting an unusually light clip), they ploughed through several dramatic minutes of chewing granite before dropping the mic with a devastating rendition of The Ghost I Used To Be. It was astonishing. They covered a good portion of their career (Fear And Fury and Worlds Apart stand out) and left without an encore (in true style). Thus ended one of the best metal gigs of the year so far from a band truly in their prime.