Artists: Uada, Malignant Aura, Thrall
Venue: Stay Gold, Melbourne, Australia (Naarm, Woiwurrung country)
Date: 20th September 2025
Review by: Ulffe
Photos by: Ben Eldström
I really feel for Thrall tonight. It’s been a hot minute since we’ve seen the band that originated in Tassie. They are legends, whose members have been associated with some pretty legendary acts (Whitehorse, Ruins, Destruktor). I recall each of the memorable times I have seen them as there’s locally not much that compares to them.
The combination of a failing amp, a strict schedule, and a slow-moving line at the doors meant that many punters missed part of the performance, if not their entire set. For those who did miss out there’s good news on the horizon – I’m so hyped to see them again on the 23rd of October supporting Pestilential Shadows for their album launch, along with the eclectic Midnight Odyssey at the Tote.
Their latest full length, 2022’s Schisms has left a huge impression, and their newest track Pestilence from the Graveir X Thrall split is sick.
In the greatest way they remind me of the era of black metal that got me into the genre. A certain production sound in their recordings, especially the tones of palm muted riffs that lead into dissonant ring out open chords. I say this as a compliment of course, they push the boundary of that era, too.
I lined up early and only saw about 13 minutes of their set. In this time I caught the last few minutes of a new track, their short and sweet set closer. Thrall packed a strong punch this time.
Cloaked only in solid red light, the band shattered the room. Tom was spitting cutting vocals and chugging his guitar in triplet feel with suffocated palm mutes that collapsed into jagged dissonance. The bass rumbled and growled, locked in with Jared on drums whose endurance provided a dense layer of brutality that got Stay Gold moving.
The guitar tones are on brand, icy and cold. Thrall are masters of unstable harmony, using open chords that resonate and pierce through us, cutting into our bones like glacial winds, with Ramez delivering moving leads.
I really look forward to being pelted by Thrall again next month, this was just the entree.
The death-doomer’s, Malignant Aura, were impressive. There’s a dreariness to their sound – I fell for their drawn out, doom riffs with clever percussion that builds in velocity at the end of measures.
I can speak a lot about their vocalist, Tim, who I’ve maybe seen perform in this band only once before. Huge respect for him ceasing with the mic between songs for a sincere thanks to punters for the support. His voice carried through the room as he shouted out in support of our US guests, Uada. He’s a loud dude and I loved his energy.
The brutal vocalist ended one of their songs by pulling out a huge ass fucking gong. He hit percussively, which led into the next barbaric performance.
When back in the element of bludgeoning us with their compositions, Tim got amongst the crowd, performing most of one of their tracks amongst the sea of bodies. The sea spiralled around him as he progressed further from the stage, eventually facing and performing to his bandmate before he slowly and steadily collapsed to the floor like a sinking ship as he screamed… There is Blackness in the Water… (to borrow the title of one of my favourite Malignant Aura tracks). Fucking awesome.
Chris played his guitar as if it were a weapon. He delivers melodic and dramatic riffs with force, while Jonathan commanded his bass with a thunderous ferocity, which grounded the band’s unrelenting sound. As a punter and with understanding they’ve gone through a sudden lineup change, they played as if this was how the band always was and carried the performance as if it were a regular show.
I’ve been re-listening to Abysmal Misfortune Is Draped Upon Me as I fine-tune this written record of events and would request you, reader, to not sleep on this band or recording.
Until now, the night has been awesome, but it gets even better as Uada shut down the stage lighting. Thank god, it was pretty flat and uninspired tonight for earlier acts. Instead they take a new approach, using solid white light and smoke they build an ominous ambience, they appear silhouetted for the duration of their set.
House music fades, their set begins with an ambient soundscape, I’m transported to a place where the night air softly sweeps through thick trees of a forest at the base of a mountain. As percussion slowly builds, the folky clean strums of a guitar builds as the band steps into the stage. Uada launched into the opening track, Natus Eclipsim from 2016’s Devoid of Light record.
Fans are elated as hundreds of horns fill the room and punters bang their heads.
Uada brings a warlike energy of some of the folkier bands of 90’s black metal, more of the Swedish style but with significantly greater production values in their recordings (for better or for worse to some). For me, this is a refreshing take, and I love how Uada has grown in their decade of existence. Compositionally they’re growing with each album. Their music is mighty and empowering, rejecting a lot of minor sounds and embracing a major key, with major harmonies while still sticking to the thick roots of black metal.
As their opening track comes to a close they quickly launch into the title track of their 2020 album with the same name: Djinn. This could be confused as a rock song from the very first moments; clean, sweeping guitar and stadium rock drums, but quickly the foundations of black metal kick in. This is a favourite track of mine, I’m excited in the moment to hear it and quickly absorbed in the energy of the band who is feeding off the crowd.
Jake Superchi is the driving force behind the band, and associated with many others (shoutout to Ceremonial Castings). A great performer as a guitarist and vocalist utilising predominantly a harsh, shrieking style stacked with plenty of ‘verb and delay he creates a huge otherworldly atmosphere. Seeing him sign to the crowd creating symbols with his hand, then thrashing around his space as a guitarist the next minute, he puts on an excellent performance.
They play a number of killer tracks spanning from their catalogue, another highlight being Cult of a Dying Sun. A great showcase of Josh Lovejoy’s drumming talents as he shifts between ritualistic tom work and pulverising blasts that tie together the string sections endless tremolo work.
The crowd pulse energetically throughout the set. There is moshing, there is dancing towards the back of the room but all out there is a beacon of euphoric energy that is different from other black metal shows.
As Uada close on Black Autumn, White Spring, which is an epic album closer and fitting set closer, I’m so stoked to be here with such a cool crowd for such an epic night.
Gig Gallery:
