Obituary, Truth Corroded, Freedom Of Fear @ Lion Arts Factory, Adelaide 14/1/2020
There are few metal bands of the planet that make fans salute each other from across a room like Obituary. A career spanning thirty-five years comes full circle as they deliver their classic death metal opus Cause Of Death in full on this epic tour.
With Adelaide a late and highly demanded addition to the tour, it’s South Australia’s finest that lead the charge. Opening are Freedom Of Fear, as an atmospheric intro of a piano sets the tone of a journey the band are about to take you on, singer Jade Monserrat welcomes us in to their world. Softly spoken during the breaks, guttural roars from the depths of hell while performing, Monserrat convulses with each sway of the music.
The soaring and searing solos from Matt Walters and Corey Davis uplift through the darkness as the pace switches from melodic dual guitar rhythms to finger burning shredding while the beat sounds like 1000 horses crashing through the speakers. Throw in a saxophone solo and a closing riff that should be used in a war movie and it is fair to say Freedom Of Fear won over a few new fans tonight.
Thrash metal legends Truth Corroded always brings a raucous and loyal following to their show and its easy to see why. The five piece are straight out head banging, fist pumping metal. The riffs are so tight it feels with every down-stroke your head is pulled into the sound before being let loose by beats that are akin to a pneumatic drill.
Playing tracks that spans the band’s career, especially their most recent album Bloodlands, Truth Corroded have the crowd displaying all the tell-tale signs of a good show. Heads have been bobbing, hair swirling and more than a few devil horns have been thrust into the sky.
Adelaide was not originally on the list for this Obituary tour however through demand was a late addition to the table. Being the first in Australia to see the Cause Of Death tour, the crowd were suitably enthusiastic. How could you not be as Redneck Stomp, in all its glorious southern swagger, sets the tone for what is to come.
It’s part of Obituary’s enduring nature that while they play like the devil is in their soul, they can slow it down to a almost blues like level and no one bats an eyelid. The set brings tracks from throughout the career at the beginning as A Lesson In Vengeance and Straight To Hell are deployed into combat.
Then they get into the album itself, played as listed when it came out in 1990, and it’s received with the type of passion you’d expect as singer John Tardy runs the stage like a metalized version of Steven Tyler, microphone in hand, hi-fiving the crowd.
It’s all there; Chopped In Half, Dying and even the Celtic Frost cover Circle Of Tyrants as the mosh pits starts and the surfers appear bobbing their way over their fellow metal heads.
Obituary don’t just finish at the completion of the album, they come back out and rattle the building with I’m In Pain, A Dying World and Slowly We Rot, again proving that this is no ordinary death metal as the southern blues grooves appear again.
If you’re a metal fan, you already know about Obituary, you already know what to expect. It’s metal the right way and it’s metal with style. They are primed, the set list is explosive and whoever doesn’t want to bang their head to ‘Redneck Stomp’ is probably dead anyway.
Live Review By Iain McCallum