EYEHATEGOD GOATWHORE CHOOF GIG REVIEW 26TH JULY MELBOURNE-FFO: GLORIOUS UNDERGROUND MUSIC AT IT'S FINEST.

 

EYEHATEGOD/GOATWHORE/CHOOF GIG REVIEW 26TH JULY MELBOURNE-FFO: GLORIOUS UNDERGROUND MUSIC AT IT'S FINEST. SHITE WORDS BY MARK J. PHENOMENAL PHOTOS BY DAN MCKAY.

The anticipation around this gig was massive and for valid reasons; two massive but different bands from the same region, but both committed to the power of the dirty riff. Add some local yobbos by the name of Choof in the mix and you have a top-notch night of epic heaviness.

CHOOF:
Choof, (or as Mike IX called them (Le)Chouf) are local legends and always deliver a wild performance with their mix of power-violence and sludgy hardcore mixed with tons of booze and entertaining abuse thrown at both the crowd and each other.

Choof is a mix of all your obscure weirdo underground Ep's and pure self-abuse. And it works a treat, despite the fact the band is a bunch of alcoholics or mentally unstable or both(more power to them I say!) they are superb musicians.

Choof always plays tight as hell, they have exceptional songs with groove and play to their strengths; an insane vocalist with excellent vocal prowess and Jake acts like a madman, backed by vitriolic riff onslaught and hectic dominating bass tone matched by crushing and ruinous drums.

Even when they change the setlist slightly, it works so well. All they need to do is record a full-length asap, as they are more than a support band, Choof will be doing headline shows in a year I predict. Get Crazy, Get Choofed.


GOATWHORE:
Having missed this amazing band on the last tour, I was pumped to see this crushing band with their electric mix of old-school black metal/thrash and death metal. The band mean business the moment they arrive on stage and how cool is it to see a band with spiked/studded armbands etc, a band that looks like the real shit whilst not acting like some Scandinavian tosspots.


And Ben immediately fires the crowd up and continues this engaging technique until the end of their raucous set. The Bestowal of Abomination is always one of those sick arse tracks and at that exact moment everyone who had never seen or heard this band; their jaw dropped to the ground in disbelief. What was this brutal mix of black metal and brooding death-thrash and yes, you are getting TWO awesome bands for the ticket price, not just one.

And so it continued, the band was as dominant as expected be it the devastating guitar magic of Sir Sammy Duet, the pounding bass of Rob Coleman, Ben's brilliant vocals and stage presence and the stand-in aussie drummer Frankie who destroyed the drums so elegantly.

As in my interview with Ben, he is such a likeable frontman and top human, on stage he was geeing the audience up and having a drink and toasting the crowd. But vocally, he effortlessly translates all the deep skill in album recordings and lifts them to hell and back. His range is wide, but he quickly transitions from black metal high false chord screams to deep, death metal growls in seconds.

And not a single drop in quality for the whole gig. His overpowering growls were so reverberating and this is coming from a writer who has seen tons of grindcore and death metal bands. (He was also chilled post-gig, taking the time to chat and hug any fans, great bloke!).

The other brutal and raw charm of tonight's performance is the raw and thrash approach the band push hard; this gives them the edge with that grim but vibrant, throwback to both Venom and Bathory. But equally there is some subtle crust and d-beat in the mix. So many highlights: the savage Death from Above, Born of Satan's Flesh with its merciless riff assault, the title track from the last album, the headbanging abuse of Carving Out the Eyes of God and FBS and the head explosion and pure rock out of Baring Teeth for Revolt.

Also loved Sammy's punishing vocals on many songs, wild as fuck and it added so much atmosphere to the songs. Next up was the glorious and legendary sludge grit of EYEHATEGOD.

EYEHATEGOD.
What a band that has influenced so many and even if this lineup is not the classic 5 piece band many prefer; you know you are in for a celebration of pure punky sludge. Now this being the first time this writer has ever seen this band; I found watching the magnificence of Jimmy Bower more entertaining to watch than Mike, respectfully.


Whilst Mike IX is a true legend, he has about three stage moves on repeat and his cooked verbal messages to the crowd were not overly appealing to me. But on every track he delivered a perfect vocal performance befitting the solid catalogue this cult band has.


But how classic is this band's music; Dixie Whiskey is the ultimate set mega blast starter, then a full double shotgun mega blast triplet of Lack of Everything, Worthless Rescue and Masters of Legalised Confusion. That's already some of the best tracks you could want in a whole set let alone early in the set. Most of the long set was from their self-titled album, Dopesick and In the Name of Suffering. Kudos to both Gary and Adam for a flawless set of bass and drums that aren't no icing for the main cake of vox and riffs, their sublime rhythm section is the robust foundation to every single track.

Sisterfucker is one of the band's most well-known tracks and one of their finest live it soared and was the most dynamic track of the set. But the delightful section of classic tracks that was: Kill Your Boss, Agitation! Propaganda!, New Orleans Is the New Vietnam and Methamphetamine were the best moments of their set; deep blues-driven songwriting mixed with the underground scene influence they grew up in shines through so firmly in these tracks tonight.

But what I will say and my friends and others will crucify me for this, but as I am not a hardcore EHG fan-I was slightly bored for a fair portion of their set. Was it that Choof and Goatwhore were much more energetic and engaging as a live performer or was it because, like many doom/sludge bands all over the globe; it sounds a bit sluggish and dull as a live experience?.

This is no diss, this was stunning value for money as a live event and absolutely 75% of the punters were there to see EYEHATEGOD and they played solidly to the delight of their fans.

But without any doubt, Goatwhore was the best band on the ground that show.  A classic show for the ages, support all these bands strongly by buying music and merch.




Thanks to Dysie and Soundworks for the interview and gig access.

More Photographic gems by the wicked legend Dan McKay:




















 





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