Bands: Bentham’s Head, Ghostsmoker, Treebeard, Black Aleph.
Venue: The Workers Club, Fitzroy, Melbourne, Australia (Naarm, Woiwurrung country).
Date: 18th October 2024
Photos: Dave Collopy
Review: Ziggy Thunders
Bentham’s Head & friends celebrate the launch of Blood Salt and Ash.
Black Aleph. What can I say? I love them. I am so utterly fascinated by this beautifully devastating band. This is my third time seeing them live and they’ve left me speechless every single time. The way the three piece work together to weave these vast sonic landscapes full of emotion is nothing short of mesmerizing. Black Aleph took The Workers Club on a journey through their experimental doom that honestly felt like a ritual. They ventured through heavy moments of gritty, dread fuelled guitar chords from Lachlan Dale, to delicate and sometimes frantic cello arrangements from Peter Hollo, to the powerful percussive stylings of Timothy Johannessen that sound like they’ve come from another world. All of this combined creates such a rich, emotive, borderline spiritual experience that will transport you to unknown realms – and you might not want to return.
Black Aleph’s debut record Apsides comes out on the 26th of October so make sure you check it out, and they’ll be celebrating its release with a special show at Northcote Social Club on the 28th of November. Go experience it for yourself because I still don’t think my words can do their live performances justice.
This was a very special night in a full circle kind of way as Treebeard opened for Bentham’s Heads first ever gig last year, and here they are supporting them for their debut record launch.
The packed room at The Workers Club was treated to a stacked setlist. From the highs and lows of Incognita showcasing some incredible riffs from Pat Cooke, the hard hitting barrage of Nostalgia II with Beau Heffernan’s drums being a driving force, the screaming into the void of In Tooth and Claw featuring haunting vocals from guitarist Josh Bills, the pummelling emotional rollercoaster of Snowman (this song will never not emotionally destroy me) and the headbang inducing 8×0 led by a sinister bass line from Rhys Brennan to end on.
However the personal highlight of their set for me was an unforgettable, face melting performance of Mountain of Madness as Bentham’s Head vocalist Conor White made a guest appearance and blew everyone’s minds with his unreal vocal range which complimented Pat’s heavy vocals as the two traded off in the chorus. I’m certain I’ll have a core memory formed of this unbelievable performance.
Go check out Treebeard’s latest record Snowman and catch them on their upcoming tour dates supporting Khan and next year’s dates supporting the legendary God Is An Astronaut.
There’s nothing you can do to prepare for the heaviness of Ghostsmoker. You just need to let the sinister, bone crushing riffs of dread transport you to the depths and enjoy your stay.
The tone shifted in The Workers Club as the tempo slowed and the tones shifted to the darker side with Ben Astbury’s gritty, massive distorted guitar tones; Rhys Brennan’s super low punishing bass lines supported by the solid foundation of hard hitting, high energy drums from Brayden Becher that give this extremely foreboding sway to their compositions. And then we have Nathan Brunning’s vocals – a truly mesmerizing, horrifying force to watch as he stares into the void, delivering some of the most intense, haunting screeches I’ve ever witnessed to a captivated audience.
Ghostsmoker’s performance of their latest release Incarnate along with the title track from their upcoming record Inertia Cult had heads banging as they gave us a taste of the heaviness that is to come. Brutal, intense, ferocious, sinister, honest, raw – these songs will stay with you. Once you’ve seen Ghostsmoker, there is no going back.
Inertia Cult will be released on the 21st of March 2025. In the meantime check out the latest single Incarnate and catch them on the upcoming Incarnate tour, kicking off at The Bergy Bandroom in Melbourne on the 1st of November.
The build up to Bentham’s Head’s set was honestly poetic to witness, I could find traces of each band that played before them in the genre shifting compositions of their incredible debut record, Blood Salt and Ash. So when their set began, everything just exploded. The energy that built up over the night in the packed venue unfurled as they took to the stage with their backs to the audience bathed in red light as Dark Signals played, building in anticipation before they tore into New Path.
The five piece ripped through the track showing their versatility as musicians and composers, journeying seamlessly from progressive metal riffs to a jazz sounding break to death metal – all while vocalist Conor White commands the stage with an intense presence and truly impressive vocal performance. A guest vocal appearance from Treebeard’s Pat Cooke towards the end of the track added to the already phenomenal performance as the band descended into chaos behind them and the crowd broke into a mosh.
And it only got more intense from here.
The title track Blood Salt and Ash starts with 80’s virtuoso level lead guitar work and features backing vocals from Rick Grimm and captures feelings of desolation, Talons brings slower swaying rhythms provided by Stew’s impeccable drumming with a vocal delivery that sounds like its retelling an old fable from yesteryear before descending into chaos; Bangala – which made its live debut tonight – starts with a gritty sludge riff from Christopher West that immediately had the circle pits going as Conor teases ‘I hope you brought your mosh shorts.’
Isle of the Dead delivered crushing riffs, face melting solos, and a moment of ambience fuelled by a slow rumbling bass from Gabe Lyons that led to military inspired drums from Stew before technical difficulties (and not the fun Racer X kind) set in but they were handled like pros and remedied with the help of the supporting bands.
For the final song of the night Bentham’s Head tore up the room with Oran, with Conor addressing the crowd saying ‘now’s your chance’ as the opportunity for one last pit opened up. They held nothing back as the technical barrage of thrashing riffs started, pummeling double kicks and basslines, dive bombs (hell yes) and lead guitar solo trade offs (another hell yes) and ended with a descent into doom with Conor’s vocals hitting an impressive, brutal low.
I’ll be honest – I didn’t want this set to end and I don’t think anyone else in the crowd did either. There was something magical in Bentham’s Heads set, the energy exchange between the band and the crowd was so god damn infectious, the nonstop mosh pits and the clearly thrilled family members of the band in the crowd made this night truly special to be a part of.
Gig Gallery
THANK YOU AND CONGRATULATIONS to Bentham’s Head for such a wicked night & record release. To Ghostsmoker, Treebeard and Black Aleph for their phenomenal sets. The Workers Club and everyone involved in making this night happen.