Artists: Christ Dismembered, Deadspace, Irreparable, Requite
Venue: The Bendigo Hotel, Melbourne, Australia (Naarm, Boonwurrung country)
Date: 31st January 2025
Review by: Ziggy Thunders
Photos by: Dio Cassidy
A night of unholiness at The Bendi.
I’ve been keen to see Requite again after being introduced to them late last year. They left a lasting impression on me with their compositions that drift from crushing black metal inspired riffs to lighter atmospheric deliveries, combined with one hell of a front man adding powerful heavy vocals that hit hard. And what a difference a few months can make. Requite brought a renewed energy unleashed in the compositions and style I remember but it felt dialled all the way up tonight, it was clear they were stoked to be on such a stacked line up.Requite captivated the crowd, wearing corpse paint as they churned out their gritty, almost doom metal infused tunes. With performances of some already released tracks such as Stone from their self titled 2023 EP, a five minute slow grind of heaviness and even teased some new material off a forthcoming record titled Idle Hands, showcasing their ability to deliver bone crushing riffs combined with a delicate, sombre guitar outro. If this was a sign of things to come, I’m bloody excited.
Requite captivated the crowd, wearing corpse paint as they churned out their gritty, almost doom metal infused tunes. With performances of some already released tracks such as Stone from their self titled 2023 EP, a five minute slow grind of heaviness and even teased some new material off a forthcoming record titled Idle Hands, showcasing their ability to deliver bone crushing riffs combined with a delicate, sombre guitar outro. If this was a sign of things to come, I’m bloody excited.
Irreparable set a bleak scene starting with a haunting vocal introduction and gentle instrumentation before launching into an assault of brutal riffs and agonised, wailing screams. The three members created a unique atmosphere blending genres of black metal with goth rock, shifting flawlessly from confronting, oppressive lows to upbeat, energised highs throughout their set.
You could probably get whiplash from the shifts in emotion drawn out by their compositions, going from one extreme to another, which I guess is all part of the human experience and something I really enjoy about Irreparable. There were moments in their set powered by high energy, synth driven, goth rock influenced songs that drove a few audience members to dance with the infectious dark joy they produced. While other moments in their set felt so bleak in comparison, with gnarly riffs and piercing, anguished vocals. With some of the vocals being delivered by the vocalist as he took the floor and wailed, pacing backwards and forwards, shrieking like he was calling to another realm.
I can guarantee you’ll never forget how Irreparable will make you feel if you manage to catch them live.
All the way from Western Australia, Deadspace took to the stage and delivered their unique take on black metal, with traces of thrash and sometimes coming across as progressive to me.
Deadspace were a menacing presence on stage, with pure, unleashed aggression they had the crowd in a frenzy from the get go. I wasn’t prepared for the onslaught. The five members brought a raging, brutal presence with their corpsepaint distorting their faces in the low light to look like creatures of the underworld.
The presence. The aggression. The intensity. I was completely mesmerised by Deadspace. Their super intense black metal and sometimes thrash leaning riffs rattled skulls, paired with the most outrageous progressive style drumming with lots of syncopated ride patterns and even something akin to a disco beat (I got this from a drummer who was losing his mind over their playing style), the vocalist wielded his microphone stand effortlessly, like a weapon in the air while delivering some blood curdling screeches – along with a special guest who delivered bone crushing vocals with her devastating heavy vocals. Everything just hit so fucking hard. This was a truly unreal set from a phenomenal band.
To round out the night of unholiness we have Christ Dismembered, hailing from South Australia, they jumped on the lineup at the last minute and hauled ass over here to replace the legendary Thrall who had to unfortunately pull out due to an injury. And holy shit, Christ Dismembered crushed it.
The five band members took to the stage, armoured in corpse paint and bathed in red light to the atmospheric sound of rain and tolling bells – anytime a band starts like this you know it’s going to get grim – and of course, they delivered a set that sent The Bendi into the abyss.
With a ferocious energy the band enraptured the crowd, the front man commanded attention as a demonic presence onstage, unleashing astonishing harsh vocals set to the wall of catastrophic noise behind him. Break neck speed black metal riffs, pulverising bass lines and some of the most unreal drumming I’ve ever heard immediately had the room fired up.
This was my first introduction to Christ Dismembered and I can tell you I won’t be forgetting them anytime soon. The sinister, crushing riffs imbued with bleak chaos, moments of memorable shred solos, bass you could feel in your bones, a drummer that played in a way I never thought was humanly possible – I’m still reeling from the ridiculous blast beats – and a vocalist that even from the back of the room pierced you with a single, menacing glance and shattered the room with abrasive, snarling heavy vocals. They delivered a set that was staggeringly impressive in terms of musicality and atmosphere, it just felt so fucking deliciously evil.
Christ Dismembered have a new record Ov Vampiricy coming out on the 25th of February so go check it out if black metal is your thing.
