Sepultura @ The Governor Hindmarsh
Attitude at its (bloody) roots.
Review by Caleb Morgan.
I can’t tell you what mistake I made to not find myself attending the Good Things Festival this year but when I saw the announcement for a Sepultura sideshow in Adelaide, I had to let out what I could only, but fittingly describe as a primal scream. The set had been arranged for The Governor Hindmarsh - a 600 odd capacity venue that generally hosts an intimate circular stage that had been reformatted into an elongated square stage. Despite my frustrated rambling about not being able to fit in the photo pit, there was a beautiful relationship with that frustration and the thrash-violence powerhouses in Deprivation and Hidden Intent that absolutely overwhelmed any of those feelings.
Deprivation were a real surprise. Not just because I had the show arranged without having openers announced, but because of the sheer strength of the set from the Canberran powerhouse. I mean seriously - Benn Weber’s monstrous vocals cutting over the intense backline seemed like no easy feat and yet the man moved around engaging the crowd like no one’s business. Adelaide can be an odd city for shows of this nature where often an opener will have to succumb to a smaller, almost motionless crowd, but a few songs in and the headbanging became hard to ignore. Burn was a well placed track in the set breaking up an almost unrelenting thrash set with a groove that sent the crowd into motion. Blending the ridiculously tight guitar tone by the wizard Lachlan Harrison laying over the bassline grooves, there was no wonder to leave behind.
Hidden Intent can seriously just be encapsulated with their own catchphrase in Eucalyptus Fueled Violence. Hidden Intent has always brought a well rounded performance, and this set was emblematic of that in practically every way. The mix was fantastic with the bass wholly filling the room with its own grinding pace layered beautifully under the vocals of double timer bassist/vocalist Chris McEwen. Underneath the ridiculous talent, the lads have always had an air of self-awareness and humor in their on and off stage presence that have always reminded me (at least characteristically) of municipal waste with a heavily blended Australiana twist - a level of surprise at each set only a drop bear could offer. How guitarist Phil Bennett manages to move around the stage and capture the crowd with his presence through each set while simultaneously ripping these ridiculously cutting shred solos is completely unknown given I was drenched in sweat with overworked eyeballs trying to figure out where Phil was at any moment.
Sepultura is as Sepultura does. This was honestly one of those sets that was so meticulously crafted it just could not have failed. Every song on the bill was not just a brilliant representation of what the band had to offer, but a journey through the history of metal in itself as the set list told a story of the progression and influence Sepultura has had on all derivatives. Attitude set a ridiculous tone both literally and figuratively for the night as it brought a level of heavy that somehow broke through what the openers had presented (which was an incredible feat given how heavy Deprivation were in their own right) and yet the standout song individually had to surprisingly have been Chaos AD. Andreas introduced some palm muting to Chaos AD that really did take it to the next level with its dynamics that somehow felt twice as heavy as what the album presents and this reflected in the crowd as it became a sea of surfers aiming to beat the hell out of themselves to the stunning track. If watching Andreas wasn’t already a staple feature of the night, I couldn’t tell you what was bigger - Derrick Green in his physical stature absolutely towering over his peers with a vocal performance to suit, or Eloy and his absolute gargantuan performance behind the drums. The level of talent on this bill was unprecedented, and with a great sound and well manicured bill there was no disappointing component of the night. Despite already mentioning a standout track, it would be dishonest to say that the highlight of the night was not the final transitional encore performance from Ratamahatta into Roots, Bloody Roots that perfectly capped all the positives that the night could have offered prior.
