- Jun 28, 2019
Updated: Jun 29, 2020
Photos by Dk. Gordon, Rod Hunt, Nathan Goldsworthy, Phil Tougas, Daryl Kahan, Annie Llewellyn & attendees
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Updated: Jun 18, 2020
Via Metalobsession net : "Every year as darkness descends upon Hobart, the heart of winter bears the scars of the world’s most intense extreme metal. This annual ritual is none other than Hymns To The Dead, within Dark Mofo arts festival. This year, five acts from far-flung corners the globe took the stage at the Odeon to deliver a night of powerful and enticing blackened death metal.
Opening the event was the cold and violent onslaught of New Zealand blackened death metal band Heresiarch. Their menacing, knife-edge style of war-metal was apparent in the sheer destructiveness of songs like Ruination that levelled unrelenting and abrasive riffs, the bellicose tone of Heresiarch’s sound opening fire upon the audience at the Odeon. From the militant drums and aggressive onslaught of their practically possessed vocalist to the profound emptiness in the stately mid-pace songs like Carnivore, Heresiarch’s impressive set came to a close with the ominous cry of no man shall have mercy upon another. Icelandic extreme metallers Zhrine is one of the most unique interpretations of heavy-post-black metal, if one could corner the sound somewhere. Oppressive and atmospheric, Zhrine are however far from lumbering, as the track Spewing Gloom showcased. Opening with a tremendous uproar into furious pace, the full-bodied warmth of the upright electric bass rolled hypnotically beneath the icy tremolo of the guitars, locking into a steady, entrancing groove. Zhrine’s sound does scale the contours of post-black; it has the undulating pulse of post-black but also the textures and speed of death and black metal. The vocalist/guitarist’s use of the threadbare bow across the guitar strings cast a mournful veil across Zhrine’s set, emphasised by his impressive vocal range from dire screeches to deep almost monastic delivery. The set moved seamlessly between journey-like songs, from thundering despair-ridden outcry to almost-instrumental eerily withdrawn pieces peppered with boutique rhythmic patterns and twinkling guitars. As the set moved into a transcendent ethereal finale and that gorgeous double bass had the final, solitary, lingering note.
Then, like a mallet-driven through the fragility of sorrow, New Jersey-based death metallers Funebrarum, wasted no time launching into their pulverising set. Funebrarum’s sound reaches a phenomenal scale of death metal; its tough and blackened in a kind of grimy style at times, and overall technically impressive and energetic. Daryl Kahan has a bona fide monster of a growl that decimated through the massive barrage of blasts and huge, dense guitar sound.
Funebrarum hit the fist-pumping crowd with some variety as they moved into the solemnity of Into Dark Domains, a perfect performance of death metal laced with a blackened edge that built into hectic mania before coming full circle to close in majestic pace. Never sticking with a single formula, Funebrarum then injected defiant energy into the moshpit with the bouncy number Beyond Recognition. With the announcement of a forthcoming album called, as far as could be heard over the screaming audience, Turning The Stone Of Torment, Funebrarum gave us a tantalising taste of the enormous, intensified sound that is to come, in the form a new song that was eagerly embraced by the fans. Funebrarum’s set was just wall to wall intensity, unrelenting throughout even the final songs, culminating in an almighty gritty blackened death metal neckbreaker Depths Of Misery, sending the crowd ballistic. Speaking of intensity, more was fast on its way. Following the mind-blowing antics of Funebrarum was dramatic UK band Dragged Into Sunlight. As if transporting us to another dimension, the stage at the Odeon became grimly adorned with an ornate candelabra and antlered deer skulls. The whisper of evil reigned as the strobes that backlit the drumkit rendered but fleeting glimpses of the bands’ silhouettes, backs to the crowd. This layout gave the impression that we were all complicit to some dark circular ritual, peering into the mysterious source of blinding light. The sound was hostile, all-consuming, the deep droning sub-frequencies disconcerting and unsettling. Although chaotic in a primal, disturbing way, the complex arrangements appeared to make cosmic sense, the use of voice samples produced a cinematic feel, and between some of the long and compressing segues, there were some refreshingly catchy riffs. As the candles extinguished in the final songs of Dragged Into Sunlight’s set, the night deepened. This was the perfect climate for the first Australian appearance of legendary custodians of satanic blackened death metal, Mystifier.
The ritual is just beginning…came the dark lines from Mystifier’s vocalist Diego DoUrden. Formed in Brazil in 1989, Mystifier are veritable anti-lords of the black metal underground and have a longstanding, committed fanbase across the world. Their sound is a fiery, brooding, and luscious bass-heavy form of blackened death metal. Despite a number of lineup changes over decades, the current form of Mystifier is solid, as demonstrated on their recently released album Protogni Mavri Magiki Dynasteia. Opening their set with the demonic invocations of the title track, our first live experience of DoUrden’s deep foreboding vocals was commanding, as the song moved from its sermonic intro to the seductive wax and wane of its heavier later movements. Since their inception, the constant member has been guitarist Beelzeebubth and his performance at Hymns To The Dead only underscored why Mystifier has remained one of the most intriguing and captivating bands in the genre. Beelzeebubth maintains a relatively clean toned sound that adds an extra hue of hostility to the haunting tremolo and screaming solos of this lurid and sultry, but newer Mystifier song.
Keeping with the run of Mystifier’s recent material, the set built up into a massive showcase of their more classic black metal leaning with Weighing Heart Ceremony and the powerful occultish rhythms and scorching solos of Ahkenaton (Son Mighty Son) cut through the smoke-filled stage, confirming that Protogni Mavri Magiki Dynasteia is a worthy heir the Mystifier’s own legacy. Before long, however, the familiar, austere opening riffs of An Elizabethan Devil Worshipper’s Prayer Book took the willingly seduced audience back to the early ‘90s. This is just one of those stand-alone songs in the story of satanic metal; it’s several movements just contain everything such a song ought to have, from the dirty blackened edge to the rich-toned opulent defiance of almost cheeky demonic disposition, complete with sinister keys. And it was delivered so convincingly, with the authority of genuine darkness. Furthermore, DoUrden was indeed mastering the feat of singing, playing bass and keys at the same time. After a wild moshpit for Give The Human Devil His Due, the set moved into the earliest era of Mystifer’s catalogue, to the dark and persistent pace of Cursed Excruciation, before the relentless storm of Defloration (The Antichrist Lives) closed this awe-inspiring set. In a final statement…See you in hell…DoUrden bid Hymns To The Dead 2019 farewell."
Photo credit : Darklab media Article originally written by Audrey Gerrard for metalobsession.net
Updated: Jun 18, 2020
Via Devil's Horn Zine : "This event is unrelentingly and lovingly tagged ‘’The International House of Metal” and for us who celebrate this genre and all the side meanderings around it, it is one of the gigs of the year. This year as with the previous years absolutely promised so, so much and superseded all degrees of epic greatness by the end of the evening.
First up were New Zealand purveyors of crushing war metal, Heresiarch. You know when you have a lead singer that looks likes peak Phil Anselmo, (but without the redneck comments) and has such supreme blackened death vocals and evil swagger then you know the opening band has the fucking goods. I was overwhelmed by the sheer heaviness of this four-piece, everything was so barbaric and heavy, but at the same time-besides the vocals and absolute war-machine style of drumming; none of the bass lines or guitar riffs stood out. And certainly on their releases, this is so much more clear cut, but this is not a criticism; I actually think it’s a magnificent statement how hectic they are live, an harsh audio steamroller over your senses. Not sure what’s in the NZ waters, but bands like this band and Diocletian are just pure and devastating extreme metal at it’s finest. Captivating and brilliant live.
Zhrine were the next amazing act. They hail from Iceland and visually were the opposite of the last band; they looked like an indie band that was more likely to play lo-fi folk etc. But no, we got a beautiful dose of dissonant and truly atmospheric black metal. And this is often the area that soars with this genre, dark tone punctured with ripping and searing riffs and an array of musical rollercoaster -like moments that keep you on your toes. Their whole set was exceptionally aggressive but so gripping and the well structured set list, as well as brilliantly crafted songs, really made them for me the standout band of the evening. Punters were generally taken aback with their sheer power and craft. Their album, Unortheta from three years ago is stellar as well, and they have achieved the perfect mix of grim atmospheric black metal with post-metal leanings that many try to aim for, but sadly fail. This was an intense and inspiring set from a solid band.
After the first two killer acts, Funebrarum hit the stage and owned it from the first moment they arrived. This was straight up nasty death metal from New Jersey and it was quite a time. No bullshit, straight for the throat evil music. And it went off a treat, and this is where Dark Mofo shines again with this event. Indeed it is a metal genre event; but the high quality and quintessential variation of the artists performing always is beyond impressive. This meat and potatoes style band (but they have the heavy riffs and demonic vocals of the highest order!) may not stand out on a major death metal festival, however on an eclectic night such as this they were a class act. Dirty and gritty music that makes you bang your head against a meatgrinder. Got to love this type of hammering type of set.
Dragged into Sunlight was the main act I was looking forward without any shadow of a doubt. This U.K. based noisy, crusty, black metal (and whatever extreme metal label you can possibly think of) unit were visually and ear crushingly awesome. Sonic landscapes of pure distorted metal with frequent drippings of doomy sludge in a furious battle with death metal is just one take this band’s dominance of the live battlefield. Strobe lights and smoke machines added an intensely great atmosphere as this band was clearly unhinged, whilst playing a flawless set of controlled mayhem. As with their incredible albums, they revel in their non pigeon-holed sound and as skilled musicians, they slayed the entire audience with utter brutality. These were easily the most talented band of the night, and most people were absolutely floored by the overwhelm of all senses and the skill level of this incredible act.
Whilst I give Mystifier the mighty horns up for longevity and no compromise in their sound and musical goals, I felt they were decent live but not incredible. And this is because of the precedent that Blasphemy achieved with their exceptional headline slot last year. Mystifier was loud, solid and heavy with their trademark black metal sound, backed by some incredible albums since their inception in 1989. The vocals were on point as were their playing skills and they delivered their set effectively and it was definitely enjoyable. It was raw black metal at it's best with enough gloom and doom to compliment their almost punk rock aggression. But I think Dragged into Sunlight would have been the more logical headliner for this writer. This was very clearly backed by how incredible their crushing set was; as much as it was challenging and completely life-affirming; despite the inherent bleakness. But as a whole, Hymns to the Dead was yet another blistering success."
Originally written by Mark Jenkins for Devil's Horn Zine
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