Beastwars @ The Royal 18/05/2013

Turbostill were the first to grace the stage with their dirty grungy swamp rock n roll, with gravelly vocals laid over top. Simple catchy hooks and a steady rhythm section got the crowd off to a good start, and there was a surprising amount of people already there.

Deaths Door were up next and took the brutal up a few levels, the vox jumping all over the stage from the start, and the very 1^st breakdown had the whole band moshing in unison. More and more people were pouring in to my surprise but the pit was still kinda standoffish.

Anxious to see the “new” Cephalopod, I was eager to watch them take the stage with the new drummer, especially after previously finding myself addicted to this band.

Unfortunately right from the very first song the sound was well out which was a major let down for me as I was looking forward to the triumphant return of one of my favourite New Zealand bands. The bass was louder than even the drummer (who just happens to be one of the heaviest hitters I know) and I could hardly hear the guitar which had a little bit too much treble to give clarity at such a low volume. This is not really a fault of anyone in particular as they played immaculately and I can understand a soundman’s trouble mixing a band like this for the first time, maybe I’m just being anal about it? The crowd loved it and the pit finally went mental, it was good to see ceph back in action doing their thing with everyone putting on a great show, and I still can’t help but want more!

Finally we got to the headliners, Beastwars! This was probably the biggest crowd I’ve seen at the royal since 8 Foot Sativa, which I will admit I wasn’t really expecting (to that degree), but even the side of the stage was packed out!

If for some reason you have been living under a rock and have not heard Beastwars yet I’m sure you will be pleasantly surprised, groove and distortion filled riffs and a clear full sound, with a vocalist as raw and powerful as the music behind him (for which I give full credit to his epic beard, as a man of the beard myself I too know the power within a man’s beard, although mine does not have the power to pull in as many bearded brothers as this guys does, so many beards in the crowd!!!)

Even after the guitarist broke a string they kept going and it still sounded as crunchy and catchy as ever, the crowd got right into it and I couldn’t help but get infected too (mainly with tinnitus, but it was worth it), I’m looking forward to seeing these guys again but for now I’m off to get a copy of their new album Blood Becomes Fire.