Bands: Mushroom Giant, Bear the Mammoth, All is Violent
Venue: Northcote Social Club, Melbourne, Australia (Naarm, Woiwurrung country)
Date: 20th July 2024
Review by: Ziggy Thunders
Photos by: Dave Collopy
Celebrating 20 years of local progressive metal legends Mushroom Giant with a night of instrumental madness, featuring Bear The Mammoth and All Is Violent.
All is Violent
A droning synth introduction wavered through the room, a slow guitar picked intro followed, rolling rhythms and sparse leads floated above as the drum hit built up and up in a moment of intensity before everything fell back into a brooding quiet. The way post rock/metal trio All Is Violent evoke emotion and weave narratives with their soundscapes and song writing is nothing short of mesmerizing to me.
Backed by projections throughout their set that switched between landscapes of snow capped mountains, volcanic eruptions and heavenly clouds added a layer of exploration to their tunes. The themes perfectly matched the moods of their music as the trio flawlessly switched from dreamlike, soaring clean sections to heavier riff driven moments.
All Is Violent explored the various aspects of post rock and metal, performing tracks from their EP Cartographers of Human Purpose, featuring gentle guitar patterns that turn into memorable lead moments, rhythmic bass lines that on occasion take over and lead the charge and drumming that ranges from steady, heavier rhythms to slower more ambient movements that compliment the songs.
It was a real treat to see All Is Violent again after a stellar performance at the recent Fungus Brain festival (which we also reviewed here), give their EP Cartographers of Human Purpose a listen and keep an eye on their socials for upcoming gigs and hopefully new music soon!
Bear the Mammoth
Bear The Mammoth are no strangers to Hook Riff & Banger. We’ve had the pleasure of reviewing them for the launch of their most recent record Purple Haus last year and catching them when they opened for Russian Circles earlier this year. However this is the first time I get to write about them and I’m bloody excited because every time I see Bear The Mammoth I fall even more in love with them.
Taking the night into a more progressive direction, Bear The Mammoth ripped out some of their complex post rock grooves featuring the heavy use of cinematic synths, intricate guitar moments soaked in delay, bass lines that swayed underneath with an infectious groove and drums that were full of character in their arrangements. From the prog level guitar lead hook in Freshwater to the eerie sci-fi sounding synths paired with the hauntingly hypnotic outro in Eugene, Bear The Mammoth showcase their incredible ability as composers.
Another anniversary being celebrated tonight is ten years of Yamadori, Bear The Mammoth’s first record, to which they celebrated by treating the clearly ecstatic crowd to a performance of Hieronymus Bosch. A nine minute journey that I’m sure could be the soundtrack to one of the songs’ namesakes works of art as it flows through some truly great, unhinged progressive movements.
The joy onstage was infectious as they played and after ten years you can see the bonds that have formed, and all the fans made along the way. If you’re a fan of progressive post rock I highly recommend giving Purple Haus a listen.
Mushroom Giant
20 years of Mushroom Giant. Let’s just appreciate how much of a feat that is – sticking together for twenty years as a band, even with everything that’s happened in recent years alone and to come out swinging the way Mushroom Giant have is bloody impressive. They released their fourth record In A Forest in April 2023. Shortly after that they headed over to Belgium as part of the Birds Robe family to play the Dunk!Festival stage, one of Europe’s most popular post rock and experimental music festivals and are featured in the Birds Robe documentary about the experience. They’ve had some incredible supporting act spots, opening for the highly regarded Mono (JPN) and Russian Circles (USA), respectively. They’ve helped organise, support and promote multiple local gigs in Melbourne, reviving the scene after the time we all spent in isolation. So to be able to celebrate this night with Mushroom Giant and a room full of fans is something special.
Through a seventy minute set we explored Mushroom Giant’s career, playing tracks from their most recent record and even some sneak peek performances of promising new songs off an upcoming record, we were able to see how they’ve grown over the years as songwriters. Channeling different moods from chaotic, frantic riffs to grim, lumbering jams to delicate, nostalgic synth moments, their set showcased their unique take on songwriting within the progressive metal genre. The newer material had fans excited, with fast heavy metal driven riffs, high energy drumming and a thundering bass that shook the floor. The one constant that ties them all together is the natural jam session feel that their songs carry, ranging from more progressive influenced movements with lumbering bass driven sections to the all out metal influences that take their form in pummeling riffs.
Mushroom Giant’s trademark projections played out on a big screen behind them, their compositions were paired with various themes of galaxies and starry skies, architectural forms and equations, inverted forests and trees set ablaze. The visuals aided their songs in creating a spectacle, complimenting the songs and themes attached to them, and allowed the audience to become immersed in their unique world.
They’ve built one hell of a career, all starting when bassist Craig Fryers met drummer Trent Horwood when they were in school, bonding over Pantera, Metallica and Primus. Then they happened upon guitarist/keyboardist Simon Wade at a campsite and hit it off, and later found guitarist Derek Richards through the local scene. Twenty years, four albums and countless shows and tours brings us to tonight. Here’s to you, Mushroom Giant.
Gig gallery
A MASSIVE THANK YOU to Mushroom Giant for having us and for everything you guys do for the scene, Bear The Mammoth, All Is Violent, Birds Robe, Northcote Social Club and everyone behind the scenes.