Artists: Lo!, Burial Pit, Class Traitor
Venue: Shotkickers, Melbourne, Australia (Naarm, Woiwurrung country)
Date: 26th October 2024
Review by: Dave Collopy
Photos by: Ben Eldström
Class Traitor
Class Traitor opened the night with a softly strummed guitar before entering into a world entirely their own with a super low tuned doom influenced sound, with an emphasis on more hardcore vocal screams. The softer parts of their music has a low eerie quality that only emphasises the heavier sections even more. With an absolutely huge sound these guys brought the crowd into a headbanging, dissonance fueled frenzy.
The drummer for the band had a huge sound with an impeccable snare sound, having the snare cut through the music like it did added an extra energy to the band’s music. Having a huge emphasis on massive crash filled half time beats and a technical take on time modulation, he held it all together as the huge backbone these guys needed.
A massive bass tone supported the songs, adding a super low fuzzed sludgy sound that added an insane heaviness to breakdowns.
The guitarist had such a defined sound that it’s hard to think, how he was able to make the more dissonant parts of these guys’ music sound so absolutely fucking massive. With his backing vocals having a harsher more growled edge to them.
The main vocals have an absolutely insane energy behind them, with high screams that rival the greats in metal, and cleans that suited a more sludge style with their looseness. He fuelled the crowd with energy to get them pumped for a massive night of insanely heavy and talented artists.
Burial Pit
Burial Pit has a sound that’s unmatched in the sludge metal genre. With insanely low, slow and heavy riffs and drumming they brought a sense of complete and total annihilation to Shotkickers.
Beginning with feedback and a low chugged riff with slow and heavy as fuck drums, burial put continued the night of heavy dissonant metal, with a welcome mosh pit beginning right as the first song kicked in.
Slow, steady drums, infused with elements of black metal, bringing blast beats in when needed, the drummer pushed the energy of the crowd and fellow musicians to another level.
There’s a forcefulness behind the vocals in this band that is infectious, with low tones rivaling artists like Lamb of God or Pantera.
The guitars have such a rich rounded tone to them, but also incorporate a glossiness in the sound that fills out the high end of the band. Playing such dissonant chords and riffs the two guitarists work perfectly together to bring a sense of coherency that could otherwise be lost in this style of metal.
The bass for this band is very much the glue that holds the chaos at bay. Perfectly sitting with the guitars, playing alongside the drums with ease, holding the chaos at bay.
Burial Pit is going to become a favorite in the Hook Riff and Banger catalog.
Lo!
Seeing any band signed by Pelagic records is always a real treat. They have a knack of signing artists that always suit the genres I love. LO! are absolutely no exception, in some ways they are the perfect band. An insanely charismatic front-man with music that has an infectious swing to it, combined with absolutely insanely heavy sections in their music, they have an incredible uniqueness to them.
The drums by Adrian Griffin for LO! have such a technicality and control to them, with a mixture of incredible speed, and slow heavy breaks and insane fills mixed throughout the set there wasn’t a single head in the crowd not bouncing along. The bassist Adrian Shapiro has a tightness and grit to his sound that’s a perfect piece of the puzzle that absolutely defines the sound of this band. The guitar work from Carl Whitbread is next level. With a sense of urgency in his playing, he somehow looks so completely at ease while doing it. He brings a raw ferocity to the band, with amazing compositions and flawless executions of riffs.
Last but definitely by no means least is Sam Dillon, the vocalist. Who belongs in a world of his own. Moving around the stage and into the crowd like a raptor seeking its prey, he brings a primal quality to the music that I’ve never seen by any other artist. Endlessly entertaining to watch, all while performing feats of vocal acrobatics no human should be able to perform.
Sam jumped into the crowd at multiple points during their set, still performing flawlessly while people moshed around him.
LO! are absolutely one of a kind when it comes to Australian music. It’d be hard not to become a fan of them after seeing them live.
Gig gallery
