Bands: Esoteric (UK), Subterranean Disposition, Burden Man, ISUA
Venue: The Bendi, Melbourne, Australia (Naarm, Woiwurrung country)
Date: 01 / 07 / 2023
Review and photos by Ben Eldström
ISUA
With the recent release of their debut album Abandon, ISUA have a renewed ferocity in their live performances that is entrancing. They seem to be addicted to playing gigs lately, and even the people that only get out to gigs sometimes have probably been bludgeoned by ISUA by now. They’re in the midst of their album launch tour, started a few weeks ago, but have already headlined a Melbourne gig and also this Esoteric gig isn’t part of their album launch tour? And they still have more gigs left in their Abandon tour? Definitely an addiction, and we’re all better off for it. Good news is if you’ve somehow never seen them live, you should absolutely take the next opportunity which won’t be far off.
We’ve given them glowing reviews in the past, and there’s no change here tonight, just another example of why this band is one of the most exciting bands in Melbourne’s doom/sludge scene today. Moving through a couple of their newer tracks, ISUA finish out their set with Burden of Dreams which is met with plenty of movement from the growing crowd.
Burden Man
Those unfamiliar with Burden Man would have been taken aback by the slow start to their set, before quickly realising that this band can really make the ground shake. Reminiscent of the song-writing structures of Cult Leader, Burden Man focus on slow and tender sections before unleashing brief periods of boisterous calamity. These softer sections are by no means sunshine and flowers, with low gruff vocals often covering the morose and foreboding nature of existence. With the crowd warmed up by ISUA, more movement begins when their music lends itself to headbanging. But listening to Burden Man takes concentration, yet it’s difficult not to be entranced while the clean vocals take centre stage. Their set methodically rises and builds to a cacophonous ending driven from relentlessly heavy drumming.
Subterranean Disposition
This is a band doing something truly different in the heavy music scene. Sure, there’s a handful of very famous artists that have worked with Jørgen Munkeby in addition to his band Shining, but there aren’t many death-doom bands making use of a sax. And Subterranean Disposition resist the trappings of making it gimmicky, too, often used to carry interesting melodies and, contrastingly, some truely jarring and haunting discordant tones.
This aforementioned death-doom sound is far from typical, bringing in elements of prog and maybe even a little black metal too. Each song is written to achieve exactly what it needs to, cutting no corners and permitting no constraints. Front man Terry Vainoras worked the crowd well and had them amped up for Esoteric to top off the night.
Esoteric at this point are sitting at legendary status, and yet it’s still a real pleasure seeing the Brummy lads make the journey all the way to Australia. These pioneers of funeral doom show that the years under their belt have led to a tightly refined live performance, brimming with both gloom and ferocity. It seemed throughout the night they were trying to play slow enough to summon whales, and this was exactly what the crowd wanted. Now packed in to the Bendi like sardines, the slow lumbering riffs were met with swaying and nearly impossibly slow headbanging in the crowd.
The whole set feels like a trance, both expanding forever through time yet also rendering time itself non existent. To say that it’s easy to get lost on Esoteric’s music is an understatement; getting lost in it is the default! Even casual fans of the doom genre will be sucked in and mesmerised, trying to piece together the themes that slowly play out. As the Melbourne crowd awakens from its accidental slumber, moshing opens up as the night draws to a close.
Gig gallery
