Gig

King Parrot - Gig Review 16th December @ The Factory, Sydney NSW

Walladmin

Heavy Metal Wordsmith

/10

Dec 17, 2017

7 min read

King Parrot
The Factory Theatre, Marrickville NSW
16th December, 2017
Supported by: Hostile Objects, Pagan & Disentomb

Could you imagine a better lineup? Four bands from three states and more influences than you can count on both hands. I’d be hard pressed to find a better way to conclude the wonderful year of 2017 and the Australian metal scene.

Kicking it off was Sydney based Hostile Objects, a thrash punk band that looked set give the crowd what they came for. Unfortunately, as with most thrash, despite the technicality and speed of the playing, it came across as bland and generic. Every time frontman Rod Hunt would engage the crowd, I felt myself liking them more and more, but that was until I had a chance to listen to the music once again and get drowned in the monotony of it all. Not saying it was bad, just saying that the balls to the wall riffing and machine gun drumming get a bit stale when that’s all that’s on offer.

Breaking the monotony of the night so far, was Italian pop band Pagan. Their blackened rock and roll sensibilities breathing much needed life into the venue. Vocalist and dancing acrobat Nikki wanted to ‘summon the fucking devil’ and I feel like she wholeheartedly succeeded. Between her stage antics and the brilliantly dirty bass lines throbbing underneath the music’s skin like a diseased heart, the entire show begged you to try and refuse that pulsing need to get your body moving. Set closer ‘Good Grief’ saw the completeness of the band as a unit, as they managed to perfectly deliver one of the greatest songs they’ve written to date. Pagan are one of those bands that I have watched a few times now and every time they offer something different and something more of themselves. They are truly a band to follow.

Up next was a band I’ve been following since 2012; after I saw them support Cannibal Corpse; the disgustingly heavy and morbidly brutal Disentomb. Combining the absolute chaos of technical death with the mosh erupting riffs of old school death, the Brisbane based quartet admirably ruined the necks of all present. The first thing you notice is how intricate the drums are and how languid Henri Sison is in form; seeming to hit an inhuman amount of objects on the kit at one time whilst still looking calm as ever. However, this is in direct contrast to the crowd. With Jordan Phillip’s demonic vocals visiting violence on all present, the crowd appears to be a sea of windmilling hair and thrusting horns. Tracks from Misery were the key to unlocking it all, as the superior songwriting and increased proficiency have served them well since their earlier years.

After all the exhaustion of watching the previous mainstays of Australian metal, the one and only King Parrot were up. Coming on stage conspicuously fully clothed, Youngy and Slatts wasted no time in removing their shirts (what else do you expect really) and exploding straight into newer tracks ‘Entrapment’ and ‘Ten Pounds of Shit in a Five Pound Bag’. All at once I was engulfed in a maelstrom of sweat and unfettered ferocity. Youngy’s signature shrieking and squawking punctured the brief respite of the night and was met word for word by the crowd; those new video clips are obviously paying dividends.

Classics like ‘Dead Set’ and ‘Need No Saviour’ elicited a frighteningly similar response; Squiz and Mr. White powering through the riffs like a the engine of a speed boat through a crowd of small fish. Seeming to pound their instruments to the point of no return, the dual guitars continued to fuel the flame of insanity that was spreading throughout the entire room. These three and four song acts of musical brutality were only broken up by the occasional heckling of the crowd and trademarked “man shower” as Youngy likes to call them (don’t ask).

The night got a bit political, then leaned heavy on nostalgia as King Parrot whipped out an AC/DC cover in memory of Malcolm (Young, not Turnbull), before finishing the night with obvious favourites ‘Dead Set’ and ‘Shit on the Liver.’ The latter saw the help of Pagan’s glorious shrieking vocals to propel the amazing set even deeper into the minds of all present. For a King Parrot show, was it the craziest? No. Was it the biggest? Yes. And I can only think that it means that great and wondrous things are on the band’s horizon.

Review —Dylonov Tomasivich

Revisit King Parrot frontman Youngy co-hosting the Halloween Edition of our Wall of Sound: Up Against The Wall podcast here

Setlist