PyroMusic.net - Gig Review/Photos of: Bloodlust V - 2005. Blacktown RSL, Sydney. 08-07-2005

Another year, another great Bloodlust. Now half a decade old, Australia's premier extreme metal festival was held once again at the Blacktown RSL in Sydney and treated punters to 14 hours of aural punishment.

Starting my day nice and early (7:00am to be exact) I cooked up a mammoth breakfast in preparation for a long day and headed out the door before 8:30am. 90 minutes later I arrived at the Blacktown RSL, ensuring I didn't miss a minute of music. Backyard Mortuary were set to hit the stage at 10:20 but in typical Bloodlust fashion the day didn't get underway on time. When it did however, I was more than a little surprised out just how good Backyard Mortuary sounded live. Having heard their 2002 demo and nothing since, I wasn't expecting anything too brilliant and was very surprised to discover how refined they sound in 2005. Chris's vocals are outstanding, with exceptional range (encompassing both guttural deep growls and retched piercing roars), the drumming was tight and riffs were great. I hope they'll be back, higher up the playing order next year. Very impressive stuff.

Chaotic Impurity followed Backyard Mortuarty and put on a very solid set and easily the most memorable of the day. Then again, when a kid whose age wouldn't even reach double-digits comes on stages and plays a song with the band then proceeds to shred through a bunch of solos, you're going to be hard to top in terms of impact. Be sure to check out the photos of the mini-axeman in action from Image 42 and on (especially if you're one of the many who arrived later in the day).

Odd-band-out Lycanthia were the third to take to the stage, their gothic metal (featuring violin, keys, dual female and male vocals) seeming to go down quite well with the growing crowd but certainly didn't flow with the rest of the day.

Tasmania's M.S.I. appeared next. Those familiar with the band knew they were in for a treat, vocalist Rick Ring being one of Australia's deepest, inhuman metal vocalists. In typical style, the songs were quick, sick and dirty.

Old school Death/Thrashers Kill For Satan tore through their 30-minute set around 2:00pm and put on a great show as they did in 2004. Next year I hope they will be playing later in the day and have an extra 10-minute to fill with 'Spawn Of The Maelstrom'. KFS were followed another inclusion from last year, and the second Tassie band on the bill this year, Intense Hammer Rage. The next trio of bands were Carbon, Stone Wings and late-additions Destruktor before crazy Canberran Doomsters Pod People took to the stage about the time everyone seemed to head off for dinner but provided a very entertaining set nonetheless.

Grenade drew quite a noteworthy crowd as they began they sound checks around 6:30pm and from there on the evening really eclipsed before winding up with sets from Dawn Of Azazel, Gospel Of The Horns, Rev. Kriss Hades, Raven Black Night, Cauldron Black Ram and Denouncement Pyre.

The turnout was noticeably less than last year (unless a lot of people only came for a few bands and then left) but Bloodlust V proved to be well worth the trip (regardless of where attendees travelled from) and there were plenty of bargains to be had in the countless merch/distro stalls. I had an excellent day and spent as much time catching up with people as I did enjoying bands, I suspect the same can be said for the majority of others that turned out too. Bloodlust VI, bring it on.

The official lineup and playing times (which were a little behind for the first handful of bands) is below, as are loads of photos (200+ of them). Enjoy.

Denouncement Pyre (12:30 am - 1:00 am)
Cauldron Black Ram (11:40 pm - 12:10 am)
Raven Black Night (10:40 pm - 11:20 pm)
Rev. Kriss Hades (9:40 pm - 10:20 pm)
Gospel Of The Horns (8:40 pm - 9:20 pm)
Dawn Of Azazel (7:40 pm - 8:20 pm)
Grenade (6:40 pm - 7:20 pm)
Pod People (5:50 pm - 6:20 pm)
Destruktor (5:00 pm - 5:30 pm)
Stone Wings (4:10 pm - 4:40 pm)
Carbon (3:20 pm - 3:50 pm)
Intense Hammer Rage (2:30 pm - 3:00 pm)
Kill For Satan (1:40 pm - 2:10 pm)
M.S.I. (12:50 pm - 1:20 pm)
Lycanthia (12:00 pm - 12:30 pm)
Chaotic Impurity (11:10 am - 11:40 am)
Backyard Mortuary (10:20 am - 10:50 am)

View the image gallery below or download a ZIP file containing every one of the 200+ images taken. The zip is just 11.1mb and a very convenient way of checking out all of our photos.

http://eddie.ratm.net/pyro/pyromusic/gallery/Bloodlust_V_2005_PyroMusic_dot_net.zip (11.1mb - right click and 'save target as')