GIG ALERT: SMOCK STACK RHINO
Newly-formed heavy blues-rockers Smoke Stack Rhino are at the Espy Front Bar on Thursday September 5 with The Deep End, Dead River and Greta Mob, and at Kate’s Party at The Barn in Bayswater on Friday September 6 with Poseidon.
REZUME AT THE BENDIGO
This Friday September 6 at The Bendigo Hotel in Collingwood, catch Indonesian porn-slam-death-metallers Rezume along with Whoretopsy, The Obsidian Ascension and Iconic Vivisect. It all kicks off at 8.45pm. Rezume are about to release their new album, Fragment of Blessedness Spermicide, via Prime Cuts Music.
THE TRIUMPHANT RETURN OF THUNDERSTAG
Thunderstag return to the stage this week for their annual rock’n’roll extravaganza! Thunderstag combine a double bass attack with a triple guitar onslaught to fuel a glam-rock/psychobilly/ heavy metal juggernaut! Also on the night, The Mercy Kills launch their debut album as well as Chinatown Angels and Virtue. Catch the insanity at the Espy, Friday September 6. Free entry!
DEAR STALKER AT CHERRY ELECTION AFTERPARTY
Melbourne grunge-pop trio Dear Stalker are teaming up with Phill Calvert (The Birthday Party, Psychedelic Furs, Witch Hats) to produce their debut album, and will treat listeners to songs from the forthcoming release at Release The Sounds: Election After Party at Cherry Bar on Saturday September 7. While vocalist/guitarist Lisa Maxwell, bassist Adam Learner and drummer Alan Murphy are no strangers to Melbourne’s great band rooms, this will mark Dear Stalker’s first time gracing the iconic Cherry stage. This year the band headlined the Queens Of Noize festival in Bendigo, while their single Whole Other Kind has been added to community radio across the country (and you really should check out the kickass video on YouTube). Pre-production is underway for the album, with plans to lay tracks to tape in November. Also set to ‘release the sounds’ and deliver hard rocking performances after Australia goes to the polls are MY (Michael Yule) Band launching their debut album, Tequila Mockingbyrd shooting a live music video and Kanvas Grey returning to the stage after an extended hiatus. It all kicks off from 8pm, and entry is $13 at the door.
KVELERTAK AT THE CORNER
God gave rock’n’roll to Kvelertak. They used it and Dave Grohl approved it. True fans of heavy metal rejoice; your saviours are here. Throughout history bands have tried to meld multiple genres (punk/metal/hardcore/rock), and most have failed spectacularly. Kvelertak present a sound that fuses so many heavy elements successfully, they’re impossible to ignore. And they’re at the Corner Hotel in Richmond on Tuesday September 17.
NEW ASKING ALEXANDRIA ALBUM OUT NOW
2012 was a breakout year for Asking Alexandria, headlining massive sold-out European and North American tours, and capping it all off with a slot on the Rockstar Mayhem Festival. This year they’ve packed in a stack of European festival appearances as well as a huge, huge show at the Download festival. And now they’ve released From Death To Destiny, their third album. Produced by Joey Sturgis (The Devil Wears Prada, Buried in Verona, Of Mice and Men), From Death To Destiny is heavy, melodic, intense, powerful, energetic – all that good stuff. “From all the people I’ve spoken to so far, they’ve all said this is without a doubt our heaviest album,” guitarist Ben Bruce tells Crunch. “Albeit we’ve cut down on the breakdowns and we’ve focused more on riffs and leads, but it’s still very, very heavy. And we’ve always wanted it to be heavy but accessible to other people who may not necessarily have picked up one of our albums before, or any heavy album for that matter. So the idea was to get these songs on the radio because we wanted to show people that, fuck, heavy music is still alive and well, and it can be on the radio and it can be heard by more than just people in their bedroom, yeah?” The band is part of Soundwave 2014.
