Behemoth are one of the best, tightest live bands I have ever seen. Everything, so controlled, precise, mechanical, intense and mammoth. I really couldn't leave saying that a moment longer as I can't recall a gig (at least not recently) as memorable or enjoyable. Thankfully, Behemoth have been mighty impressed with their first trek to Australia and promise to return in support of every future album they release.

With a lineup consisting of 8 bands, Behemoth's final Sydney show was aptly dubbed the 'Conquer All' Festival. Priced at $45, it also made for one of the better value events in recent memory with some of Australia's most prolific bands making an appearance.

Beyond Terror Beyond Grace opened they day impressively, firing out their breed of aggressive Grindcore, which also incorporates the subtlest touches of Thrash. For a young band who have only just released a debut EP, they put on a great show, had a strong stage pretense and managed to engage and entertain the crowd. Flesh Mechanic followed. From memory it was only the second time I had seen them, and again I wasn't blow away but you can't win 'em all. Next was Ebolie, complete with new bassist, grinding out a handful of songs and getting a respectable reaction from the already sizable crowd.

The meat of the evening ensued with Tasmaniacs Psycroptic tearing though an excellent set of material from all three of their albums (the most recent of which is soon to be released). Opening with my favourite track, 'Lacertine Forest', I was won over and had major difficult actually taking photos as I was too occupied with violently banging my head. It was great to see a huge portion of the crowd very familiar with most of the material Psycroptic played and really getting into the music. As the set was coming to an end, vocalist Jason Peppiatt mentioned they'd be back for an album launch very soon. Awesome.

Giving Psycroptic/The Amenta's Haley brothers a break, Western Australia's 3-piece Black Metal machine graced the stage next, in all their comedically over-the-top glory. As always, baring ridiculous stage gear and corpse paint and blitzing through a sonically excellent set. Entertaining, and highly enjoyable. Here's hoping they'll return to support the next band Soundworks is bringing out..

Next were The Amenta. In a nutshell, brutal, intense, relentless and essentially enjoyed by all. Slightly less visually arousing without the multimedia setup that was used last time I saw them play, but great nonetheless.

For the first time in almost a decade and a half, Hobbs Angel Of Death played in Sydney. Thrash legends back in the day, despite not having released a new studio album in 11 years, there was a strong following for the Melbournites who played for a shade under an hour and really fired up the audience with a set consisting essentially of the best bits of their small discography.

Finally, the moment came. Behemoth graced the stage to a huge roar and unleashed the best set opening I have ever witnessed. It was like watching machines in synchronised action. So much precision was in every ballistic movement. Stepping back in unison, windmilling together in perfect time and fuck, did they sound huge. Lead vocalist Adam "Nergal" knows how to work an audience, as did his company. At times standing in the foldback literally centimeters from the crowd, engaging them in conversation, firing everyone up and even managing to change through a bunch of outfits. The crowd went mental, Behemoth annihilated, the gig was huge. Absolutely excellent. Bring on the next album tour!

'Pure Evil And Hate' - Full Song [2:50] (MP4 VIDEO - 7.9Mb)
This was the final song of the Sydney show, and indeed the Australian tour.
Note: If the band wishes for this video to be removed contact us and it will be taken down immediately: pyromusic [AT] pyromusic [DOT] net

As always, you can check out the photos in the online gallery below or download every single on of them in a convenient ZIP pack below:

Behemoth_Sydney_Jan_2006.zip (13.3Mb, 196 photos)

522x361 55kb 522x741 110kb 522x392 55kb 522x433 70kb 522x749 81kb 522x447 55kb 522x503 62kb 522x696 72kb 522x526 58kb 522x696 76kb 522x696 68kb 522x525 92kb 522x617 75kb 522x696 72kb 522x396 42kb 522x696 74kb 522x464 55kb 522x424 44kb 522x360 44kb 522x382 54kb 522x437 59kb 522x506 59kb 522x583 64kb 522x856 95kb 522x351 62kb 522x499 81kb 522x741 72kb 522x514 67kb 522x448 57kb 522x478 59kb 522x434 58kb 522x665 82kb 522x474 53kb 522x435 60kb 522x548 72kb 522x552 91kb 522x512 62kb 522x696 94kb 522x536 83kb 522x696 82kb 522x818 117kb 522x430 68kb 522x480 65kb 522x443 55kb 522x696 70kb 522x553 77kb 522x631 93kb 522x666 87kb 522x392 61kb 522x621 97kb 522x581 86kb