Bands: Figures, Mushroom Giant, SEIMS, Beautiful Bedlam, SENTIA, Giant Clam
Venue: Evelyn Hotel, Melbourne, Australia
Date: 06 / 08 / 2022
Words by Dave Collopy
Images by Ben Eldstrom
Melbourne based prog outfit Figures bring a night of progressive rock and metal mastery to the streets of Fitzroy at the Evelyn Hotel.
Giant Clam
Kicking off the night were Giant Clam. A complex act, bringing a combination of multiple genres from some kick ass old school progressive rock to indie rock and beautifully ambient Post Rock suites. With a projector at the Evelyn, having cute cat photos in the background the whole set was a great way to warm up the crowd!
Starting the night off with complex time signatures and tempo changes, quickly shifting between head banging riffs to very complex dual guitar tapping melodies. Rarely ever leaving space to breath and compose yourself, there was a consistent beautiful fluttering of reverb drenched guitars. The rhythm section was as tight as we’ve come to expect from modern progressive rock acts. With difficult to play yet masterfully executed polyrhythms pounding out of the PA it was a great start to long night of incredible music from Melbourne.
SENTIA
Next up were Sentia, starting off their set with a combination of stunning visuals displaying an ever-evolving background of spiralling shapes and patterns, and stunning Synth backing tracks kicking into some very soulful guitar tones and head banging riffs, this band’s sound constantly evolved throughout their set. Incorporating elements from all aspects of music including foremost Metal and Post-Rock but then evolving into some incredibly groovy Latin influenced and Reggae-esque rhythms and bass lines. Then into some old school blues soloing which was a very nice surprise that fit very well into the mix of genres they masterfully blended together.
They were incredibly tight and well-rehearsed, the musical compositions were very well thought out, where everything had its place. The front man, which was the first vocalist of the night was engaging to watch and listen to with a lot of charisma, which was needed in a bad as fun as Sentia!
Beautiful Bedlam
This act is a hard one to pin down. The music was a mishmash of a LOT of genres. The first thing I noticed was the absolutely massive combination of guitar, bass and drum sound. Creating this wall of energy which radiated from the stage, instantly pumping up the crowd and putting them in an even better mood somehow following Sentia. The rhythmic sections of Beautiful Bedlam’s music were ridiculously tight, with very nice, syncopated passages between the Drums, Bass and Guitars.
Keys were a heavy feature in this act, complementing the music and never being overwhelming in the mix, which others have fallen victim of in the past.
Their style was something I’m struggling to pinpoint. It reminded me a lot of Mike Patton’s Mr. Bungle and Fantômas.
It just radiated fun and energy. Mixing really catchy headbanging riffs, ambient sounds heading towards noise at some points, going into almost Circus music style melodies with a bounce that shook the room, and mixing in some traditional metal screams from a guest vocalist for the bands last song of the night which they performed in pig and clown masks. It was a feast for the eyes and the ears which was incredibly enjoyable through and through!
SEIMS
Seims were a progressive metal and math rock nerds wet dream. This Sydney based three piece started the night with an absolute blast to the senses with a monolithic sound incorporating everything from Jazz influenced math rock, punk, progressive rock, post-rock and metal, and everything in between. The drummer was absolutely on point with a huge amount of technicality in his playing. The Guitars were precise and when they needed to be, completely chaotic.
The band had such a lush and full sound that at times was incredibly soulful when it needed to be and other times, completely and utter chaos in the best way possible.
Having a backing track in the mix of stunningly beautiful and lush piano and orchestral recordings was a great way to break up the pure energy these guys gave off.
Mixing a cover of ‘Song 2’ by Blur into their setlist was an unexpected but very welcome surprise, getting the crowd engaged. The crowd giving their best “WOOHOO” bringing the energy levels even higher somehow.
The ridiculously high standard of musicianship from this band was anough to have jaws hitting the ground. I’m pretty sure I walked away from seeing these guys half deaf, but I’m not upset about it!
Mushroom Giant
Mushroom Giant as always put on an absolutely stellar performance audibly and visually, bringing their distinct brand of trippy projections and ambient drone like Progressive Metal. Starting the set with Bassist using a Bow on his bass like a cello, creating a soulful drone tone right from the start. Mixing in the free flowing yet tight and punchy drumming and Guitars that sound luscious but have a warm yet harsh growl to them, they come together in perfect harmony to become what is widely considered one of the best prog outfits in Melbourne.
Mushroom Giant have a knack for creating their own worlds within their songs. Combining the visual element from projections with thunderous but free flowing compositions, it’s a tight, well-rehearsed act that feels like you’re floating in a dream space while they play.
Nothing about their music is overly complex and that is a huge breath of relief for progressive metal, relying more on groove and atmosphere to create soundscapes that could even be used as soundtracks for film or TV.
These guys are creating safe spaces for bands all around Australia to come together with a love of progressive, post-rock and ambient music and they’re doing an incredible job at helping smaller projects get off the ground by offering them spots on their bills like they have in the past with other events such as Progximity. All of us around Melbourne really appreciate the endless hard work these guys are putting into creating a scene for people just like us.
Figures
Figures close out the night with their first show back from when the pandemic started, and it was a fantastic way to close out the event.
With their mixed genre style of Progressive Metal, Djent, Hard Rock and even into some Pop in parts, it was a highlight of the night that you’d be insane to pass up. An engaging front man is definitely needed for a band like this. With super catchy and extravagant vocal melodies, transitioning into 90’s style Hip-Hop Metal (Rage Against The Machine) era vocals, Super heavy extended scale Guitars and tightly gated tones, thick and warm sounding bass that felt like it could elicit bowel movements, and an absolute monster of a Drummer that felt like you were getting repeatedly punched in the chest by the massive force of energy flowing from his kit, Figures have created something really special.
The constant onslaught of bouncy and headbanging tunes that came from this band was enough to make the crowd really start moving. I haven’t seen an audience move like this one did in a long time. You can tell just how much the musicians on stage were enjoying playing for the first time after their long (enforced) break during the period that this pandemic started. There was rarely a point where any of them stopped smiling, except for pulling out traditional rock faces during especially heavy moments.
The pure brutality and energy that poured from the stage during Figures set was something we all needed after such a shitty few years. It was amazing to see so much love for this band, both given and received.
It was an incredibly enjoyable night overall, full of a lot of emotions, dancing, WOOHOO-ing, headbanging and of course lots of Beer.
It’s been a hard few years but we’re on the other side of the tunnel now. And I’m certain there will be many more night like this to come in the near future.
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