Slaughter to Prevail @ The Governor
Russian Brutalism
Photo supplied by BM Images from Good Things Melbourne.
Review by Caleb Morgan.
December the 6th couldn’t have come by any quicker. When the Good Things Festival sideshows were announced, no band was as highly anticipated as Slaughter to Prevail with this fact being reflected in sales.This tour stop was not only the only side show in Adelaide to have sold out - but doing so in presale just showed how hyped the Russian brutalists were for their first time destroying Australian soil. The show was set to take stage at The Governor Hindmarsh much like the other stops for the good things sideshows and while it’s one of the bigger venues we have in Adelaide it really wouldn’t have surprised me if the sell out announcement had shifted to somewhere like Lion Arts or the entertainment centers second room just to reign in that level of anticipation. I’m not sure what set that level of hype for the general crowd where it be from the hype the band has received in press lately, to the strange relationship the music has with the tik tok generation but personally I couldn’t wait to see how Alex Terrible’s days on YouTube fared in a live setting.
Before getting into the band itself, there was one common piece of criticism surrounding the night that unfortunately came as a result of a request from the band directly (at least this is what was relayed to me from a solid source). From the other good things sideshows the opening bands had been announced either the week or day of the show themselves. So when an entire crowd of people saw a 7pm door time at a similar ticket pricing of other significant acts, there was an expectation that people would arrive early to see who else would be on the bill but to their (and my) surprise - there was no opening act(s) at all. This left an awkward 2 hour gap between when a majority of the crowd had arrived and when the first (and only) band of the night in Slaughter to Prevail was to play. Coupled with an awkward merch table closure less than an hour after doors had even opened, it felt like the standard opportunities for talented Australian acts to play / tour home soil with similar tastes were taken away. Thankfully, this was the only disappointing factor of the night.
The two hour wait did one benefit to the night in bolstering the anticipation of the crowd as the house lights cut only to leave a striking blue feature with pounding techno blaring over the pa. Eyes gawking at the green room doorway leading to the stage and an uncomfortable silence covered the gov for what really did feel like an hour left a strange ambience that felt like inevitable catered violence. It felt like all of those factors were set to foster an impatient and frustrated mood before the band could even show, but when they inevitably made that slow walk out, the weight of that stress shifted into amusement as Alex Terrible’s cutting vocals bled out the opening track Bonebreaker. For the next 45 minutes, it was all heavy. For whatever reason this show had easily been the thickest in sound of the sideshows - perhaps because the equally large bassist in Mike Petrov (who barely fit into photo frames) provided a crushing backing. Standing out of the set (for the crowd at least) was the usual expectation with the track Viking comprising of Alex’s popular move in dropping the microphone over a silent crowd to fill the room with nothing but raw vocals and while this was beyond impressive, my own stand out had to be the sudden encore in Hell. It could be the nostalgia coming from a fan’s perspective of following Alex through his YouTube covers well before STP had even become a thing but when that track was released I knew it would be huge and it was as crushingly brutal as any expectation demanded. Paired with a legendary pickup in guitarist (and STP’s songwriter) Jack Simmons, no surprise was to be left as to why this band is and will remain a must watch.
