Artists: Pestilential Shadows, Midnight Odyssey, Thrall
Venue: The Tote, Melbourne, Australia (Woiwurrung country)
Date: 23rd October 2025
Review by: Ulffe
Photos by: Dave Collopy
Thursday Night’s Black Metal Baptism at The Tote.
I’ve barely had time to blink between now and the last time Thrall took the stage in Melbourne. Just over a month has passed since their opening set for Uada at Stay Gold. That show was the entree but Thursday night at the Tote was the main course.
Their set opener, the title track of 2022’s Schisms, hit with force like an elbow to the head. That intro lick cracked down as bass and drums snap like thunder and lightning. Tom’s vocals, way more front and centre in a live setting, were cold and commanding. Guitars snarled and ripped like icy winds, and drums rattled.
What a bloody killer start to a Thursday night. For a 9-5er like me, there’s such a strong feeling of anticipation for the weekend at this point in the week, and a black metal focused night is exactly what is needed to energise you for that last stint before more bloody gigs on the weekend.
Their second track was a new one, dedicated to Pestilential Shadows and Midnight Odyssey.
It started with slow, strummed clean(er) guitar that built strong ambient tension. The blasts came on suddenly, cutting through you like frostbitten winter winds. Double kicks cracked the pressure open. Their drummer – a bloody octopus, arms everywhere, cymbals shimmering like shattered glass.
I have grown quite attached to Thrall‘s ice-cold tones, and surgical riffs. It was a bleak, precise, and unforgiving set, with some new music that I’m keen to hear more of.
They closed by introducing Epoch. Which had some of the heaviest moments of the night. Tom lifted his arms to the ceiling triumphantly during this track as punters responded with horns.
Thrall didn’t warm up the room. They cracked it open by forcing a tectonic shift, launching the room into a winter storm.
Midnight Odyssey took the stage like a dream that bleeds into reality. Fog billowed from the smoke machine, cyan light blanketed the room like moonlight on ice. Ambient soundscapes set the tone, cosmic and expansive.
The three-piece live band stepped forward: Dis Pater on bass and vocals, flanked by two guitarists with one on backing vocal duties. Percussion and atmospheric layers piped in from backing tracks, but the presence was not hollow. Relatively new to performing live, they’re carving out something exciting in the cosmic, ambient black metal space.
Their set began with a beer spill. Gravity was altered in the room as we were launched into the cosmos. An enthusiastic punter, surprisingly sober, couldn’t contain themselves.
Ethereal sounds of strings floated through a moment of quiet, then shrill growls and guitars kicked in. Huge sounds. Soothing neoclassical lead melodies closed it out, evoking sounds that reminded me of what ignited the fire and love of this wave of black metal. Think Limbonic Art, Luciferion, and Summoning.
One punter sat off to the side, sketching the scene. More neoclassical leads filled the room, this time in a dreamy, major-key which felt juxtaposed against the hooded figures on stage. Feedback ended the section, bass carried on, and Dir’s vocals turned clean. Ancient sounding melodies on modern gear. Beautiful.
For the track, Dis stepped away. The Telecaster wielding guitarist tremolo-picked warm tones, building with clean textures. Then came the classic black metal “urrrgggghhhhhhhh” as the kicks of the drum kit hit. Spectacle achieved.
Midnight Odyssey might not be to everyone’s taste. Backing tracks might turn some off. But if you skip this band, you’re sleeping on something vast. Their catalog is huge, dating back to before 2010. Their reach is international (shout out to a guy I saw last year repping Midnight Odyssey merch at a metal festival in Germany), and their fan base is devoted.
If you’re new to Midnight Odyssey, I recommend 2023’s Biolume, Pt 3: A Fullmoon Madness. It’s hypnotic and transformative. Close your eyes and be transported across space and time.
If I haven’t said it already, this was one of those nights that made you stoked to be in Melbourne.
Pestilential Shadows pulled a solid Thursday crowd to The Tote, and the room was even thicker with leather, corpse paint, spiked armbands, and chains. The tone shifted from the two openers. This act brings thrashier, feral, and death-fixated mysticism that they’ve honed for many years.
They’ve been around for two decades and celebrate their 2025 album, Wretch.
Their logo threateningly loomed behind them as they hit the stage. It hangs on a huge flag behind the drum kit. Pestilential Shadows‘ sound can only be described as savagery and violence.
Tracks oozed murderous riffs and dissonant tremolo leads.
By the third track, the cold, dirty guitar work kicked up a notch in front of galloping drums. Their vocals hit that God Seed register. A seething tone that was not quite poisonous, but more venomous, and commanding.
“This is an old one, Plague Eclipse” they announced. As it ended, sonic atmospheres lingered. The band turned their backs to the crowd, resetting. Somewhere near the sound desk, punters joked about herpes and syphilis. Probably a gag, but the people around them edged away just in case.
As the set proceeded, out came a surprise: Dis from Midnight Odyssey joined the stage for vocals. He started with chant-like stylings, then dropped into full growls. It was sick. An extra layer that elevated the whole set. Pestilential Shadows sounded bigger and more dimensional, like they’d cracked open a portal.
Pestilential Shadows didn’t just close this deadly Thursday night, they sealed it with blood and horror. What a legendary night.
Gig Gallery:
