EYEHATEGOD, Goatwhore, Sundowner @ Lion Arts Factory, Adelaide 25/7/2024
There was an impressive turnout on Thursday night for what was a thunderous showcase of some very niche flavours of Heavy Metal when New Orleans heavyweights Eyehategod and Goatwhore tore Lion Art Factory apart on their national tour with Adelaide riff wizards Sundowner opening the stage.
I walked into the filthy dank quickening doom of Lysergic Ritual from Sundowner’s latest album of the same name, local lungs of steel and new mum Olivia sounding gnarly with her impeccable gutterals. Both rich and raw, she blends flawlessly with their fuzzy blues infused sludge sound. Closing with Degenerate Subculture, an unsettling dark track that slowly grooves its way into a fast frenzied banger, Sundowner whet the appetite for the ensuing onslaught of heavy bluesy riffs and chaotic energy commanding the audience to move for the entire night.
Goatwhore came on to open with thumper The Bestowal of Abomination which smacks you straight in the face and whirls its way into a frenzy that makes zero harmonic sense before the rhythmic groove emerges and captures your feet. This is Metal so extreme you don’t even know which way to bang your head or if you’re just having an aneurysm, yet the switch up to an alluring palatable dance beat throughout this sonic ride will keep you enthralled and moving. Front man Louis Benjamin Falgoust roars “Adelaide!!!!” while the crowd fire up and Alchemy of The Black Sun Cult provides a hefty breakdown that conjures fist pumping and synchronised headbanging. Legendary guitarist Sammy Pierre Duet, also notorious for his mastery in Acid Bath, blew the audience away with some insanely fast shredding, embellishing the turmoil of fast thrashy blackened tracks, while the melodic riffs in Born of Satan’s Flesh were a tasty interlude to the hazardous and high energy set. Frankie Demuru of Body Prison fame had filled in the drums for the night and had literally learnt these tracks in a day- an impressive feat that proves that these musicians are world class despite their more unconventional style.
Eyehategod fired up with an intoxicating and sexy blues jam, luring the audience back to the stage and establishing their special creole flavoured sludge metal that seems all kind of strange but it’s alluring and evocative. Throw in notoriously unfiltered and savage front man Mike Williams delivering harsh and agonised vocals and it’s a musical dissonance that draws a loyal fan base of blues and heavy metal fans alike. Everyone is dancing and moving happily in a trance to songs about addiction and dying. Williams interacts with his audience in a comedic yet pessimistic fashion while fans scream back at him like heckling banshees and beers get thrown across the room. “Everyone in this room will be dead at some point so have a drink” he proclaims after performing Medicine Noose, I should be depressed right now but I can’t stop dancing. Playing a hefty set of slow but short tracks that move through tempos and create an ominous reckless vibe, Eyehategod maintained the brutality throughout the ride and kept everyone on their feet.
Live Review By Bec Scheucher