Bands: Svalbard, RUN, In Throes, Encierro
Venue: Howler, Melbourne, Australia
(Naarm, Woiwurrung country)
Date: 26th May 2024
Review by Ziggy Thunders
Photos by Ben Eldstrom
It was one hell of a night at Howler for Svalbard’s first ever Australian tour, featuring an incredible line up of support acts covering a wide range of genres. I couldn’t think of a better way to spend a Sunday evening.
ENCIERRO
Encierro was up first and delivered a crust punk set full of raging riffs, blast beats, roaring bass lines and powerful screaming vocals. With musical influences from punk to black metal the energy they unleashed was nothing short of powerful, with the vocalist on the floor moving through the crowd at one stage encouraging anyone that needed too, to chant ‘I take my power back,’ a form of release that I’m sure many of us could benefit from.
They tore through their set with a ferocious energy, fuelled by music that takes inspiration from the black metal and punk scene of the 90’s, Encierro brought black metal screams with messages of power and world issues (their set was opened by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land and the ongoing horrors in Palestine). Along with music that seamlessly flows between old school punk and black metal, with fast double timed drums, screeching dissonance from the guitars, and a steady bed of bass playing that glued everything together.
If you need something to get your blood pumping go check out Encierro’s latest release, Doomsday Still Bleeds Red.
IN THROES
Atmospheric, blackened riffs laced with delicate shoegaze moments, roaring vocals from both bassist and guitarist, rumbling drums and bass that made the ground tremble – In Throes brought the darkness with them all the way from Hobart, Tasmania. The four of them knocked it out of the park tonight at Howler.
Flowing seamlessly from states of black metal influenced movements to softer more melodic sections, they transported us through a varied musical landscape. Low tuned guitars and bass brought a slower, doom feel to the night. Drumming flowed between states of beautiful steady patterns and absolutely chaotic blast beats, and everything in between. Shoegaze guitar parts helped push the heavier sections to sound even bigger when they charge back in, helping to create these intense build ups and releases.
I’m bloody excited to hear more from In Throes, but for now check out the video they released for Morningstar and give them some love.
R U N
The venue felt packed at this point and impressively so for a Sunday night, the energy was high and the air was electric. That was when RUN, who supported Svalbard throughout the tour, took to the stage with a delivery of blackened post-metalcore.
With an immediately infectious energy they launched into a set full of heavy riffs featuring metalcore inspired breakdowns and fuelled by black metal influence, pick scrapes that always seem to elicit an instant response of head banging, complex and technically impressive drumming with bass lines that roared below, all topped off by vocals reminiscent of old school hardcore.
Vocalist Lochlan Watt announced they’d be playing some recently released tracks from upcoming EP True Heaviness Is Time, based on the seasons beginning with Summer, to which an audience member screamed ‘fuck yes!’ Followed by performances the other seasons, including a special performance of unreleased track Winter.
The synchronicity of the band members was evident, through perfectly timed headbangs during the breakdowns, and even during the moment a guitar string broke. The band held it down in an extended jam with an improvised monologue from the vocalist detailing a recent personal battle against a brain tumour (this made lyrics like ‘we’re all going to fucking die but not today’ hit deeper), as the issue was resolved, making it look completely effortless.
RUN will be launching their new EP True Heaviness Is Time on the 6th of July at The Evelyn, go check them out if you can!
SVALBARD
The Howler stage was the last stop for UK based Svalbard on their very first Australian tour, and you could feel the excitement in the crowd as the first notes of Disparity rang out, and you could feel the pure radiant energy from the stage. All signs that this was going to be a special night.
The crowd immediately broke out into movement as Svalbard unleashed their blend of post metal/hardcore with whirring lead guitars, heavier riff sections, impactful drums and shared screaming vocal duties between lead guitarist Serena Cherry and rhythm guitarist Liam Phelan.
Second up was a performance of Faking It from Svalbard’s latest record The Weight of the Mask, which Cherry commented was about ‘masking your depression.’ This seemed to be an ongoing theme in the following song, Lights Out, and judging by some understanding nods in the audience, the messages definitely hit home – including myself. Sometimes music can be an outlet for those darker times, a comfort when we feel words fail us, and hopefully people found a release for it tonight through the high energy of Svalbard’s compositions.
Offering a form of release through the skills of drummer Mark Lilley, who played energetic drum patterns ranging from fast pop punk to ruthless metal, the perfect foundation was formed with bassist, Matt Francis, who complimented with a matching energy. Shared vocal duties between Cherry and Phelan roared over their heavy riffs and soaring leads.
Svalbard did change it up at points, offering lighter moments with positively haunting clean vocals, one of those moments happened during Don’t Throw Your Heart Away. Yellow lights shrouded the band from above, the audience left staring at a big yellow cloud as Cherry delivered a truly gorgeous solo vocal moment.
An encore of Eternal Spirits, a song dedicated to metal musicians who have passed on and the legacy they’ve left behind, was a high note to end the night on. Offering thanks to those who paved the way, the reason we all pick up an instrument, the memories we create listening to their songs, the common threads that tie us all together – the reason Svalbard were on that stage and why we were all there last night. Music is one hell of a beautiful thing. Let’s carry that with us forever.
Go and check out Svalbard, their latest record The Weight of the Mask is an absolute banger, and if you’re in Europe keep an eye out for their upcoming tour dates supporting Alcest! We can’t wait for Svalbard to come back to Australia.
Gig Gallery
THANK YOU to Svalbard, RUN, In Throes and Encierro for putting on a wicked show, Howler, Destroy All Lines and anyone and everyone involved in making this night happen!