ALPHA WOLF - The Metalcore Snitches Tour
Written by: Jimmy Wah - Sense Music Media | Tuesday 21st June 2022
Mayhem to Remember
The night was young and the doors of The Factory Theatre, Marrickville were open. Sydney metal fans funnelled in a steady stream into the venue to escape the cool night air and be captured by a wall of sound. Before the show started, the bar at the back of the venue was open alongside the merch desk, integrating the social atmosphere of the open bar and food van outside. The electric buzz from sound check half an hour earlier seemed to permeate into the growing crowd… and why wouldn’t it? An international crew of some of the best hard hitters on the scene including FIT FOR A KING (US), GREAT AMERICAN GHOST (US) and PALEDUSK (JPN) were supporting Aussie heavyweights ALPHA WOLF for The Metalcore Snitches Tour.
PALEDUSK
Kaito and Daisuke entered the stage to the familiar tune of EMINEM’s 8 mile, with live drums by Seiya fleshing out the groove. Don’t be mistaken, this was no Japanese hip-hop crew riding the coat-tails of a metalcore show. The audience was immediately hit with a thunderous wall of sound that could rip the throat out of any vocalist trying to make a living. I had to look twice to make sure I was only seeing 3 band members on stage because the instrumentation was that huge. The breakdowns had some serious heavy groove with 808 drops that let you know you had a skeleton. The sequential roundhouse kicks by the axe-wielding Daisuke matched the mayhem of the grind while the charisma of Kaito engaging the crowd left it feeling like a collective
Pictured: Kaito + Daisuke - PALEDUSK - enchanting the Factory crowd
Photo by: Matt Bartolo
GREAT AMERICAN GHOST
Next to bring the heat were Boston hardcore royalty GREAT AMERICAN GHOST and if music was a weapon, I’m certain they would have left bodies in their wake. With heavy machine gun rhythms, beats that locked in with your chest and blue strobes saturating your senses… These guys absolutely owned. Three axe-weilding combatants, each with different guitar shapes and hair moving in ways that could power a small factory, flanked the only one without hair. Heavily tattooed Davier Perez had such a commanding presence behind the mic that snap kicks from his guitarist couldn’t stop him from monstering the crowd. If he wasn’t hulking on the platform at the front of the stage, he was jumping up onto the drumkit. It was fierce.
Pictured: Davier Perez - GREAT AMERICAN GHOST
Photo by: Matt Bartolo
FIT FOR A KING
Entering the stage to the eerie screech of scratching strings through stacks that distorted the already mis-shapen tone came Ryan Kirby, immediately amping up the crowd screaming “Open it up, open it up!” before the band exploded into the first track with an intensity that felt like an instant injection of adrenaline. The refined composition of FIT FOR A KING allowed for broken pockets to open up the thick chugg and roar of the Texan quartet, accentuating their powerful riffs and steady breakdowns. Every song felt like a call to action as Kirby reigned in the crowd and made it as much about them as the music. The bassist, Ryan O’Leary continued the Martial Arts theme of the former bands with some of the biggest roundhouse kicks I’ve ever seen… and that’s without a guitar. The amount of energy in the band was reflected in the crowd as they sang along to well known songs and it only seemed fitting that not one, but both guitarists entered the crowd to be carried like winning sports stars by their fans.
Pictured: Bobby Lynge - FIT FOR A KING - being celebrated by the crowd.
Photo by: Matt Bartolo
ALPHA WOLF
Then came the headliners that everyone was waiting for… and boy did they deliver. The stage opened up. the stage lights filled the entire room and the band were greeted by a packed floor of eager fans. If you’ve listened to ALPHA WOLF you know how rich and powerful their sound is but seeing them live fills every inch of your being. The energy of their performance was heightened not only by the full use of the stage and lights but engagement of the crowd, everyone seemed so immersed. This collective union was accentuated by the inclusion of vocalists from every one of the bands at various points throughout the performance. The passion of vocalist Lochie Keogh was palpable, reminding the audience how lucky he felt to be performing live and headlining such an event. The focus and precision of the band on stage felt like it wasn’t forced… but rather coalesced with the energy of the room. “We’re gonna do three more songs and I fucking promise you there won’t be an encore” said Lochie, right before the band dropped into the epic single Bleed 4 You. The crowd honoured the sentiment holding their phones and waving them in unison to the crushing groove.
From social exuberance and happy vibes to metal mayhem and sonic destruction, The Metalcore Snitches Tour - Sydney - had it all. The crowd was treated to a plentiful run of bands on an iconic Sydney stage brimming with a catalogue of the world’s best metalcore talent. Each of the bands performing are far from their sunset years which left me thinking ‘Damn, I can’t wait to see where they go from here’. What’s more, as I packed up my camera from where I was recording just behind the sound desk I couldn’t help but smile to myself. This is going to look fucking awesome! Keep an eye out for the full length Moshcam production of ALPHA WOLF’s set. This is an event to remember that definitely needs to be repeated.
Pictured: Sabian Lynch, Mitch Fogarty, Scottie Simpson, Lochie Keogh + John Arnold - ALPHA WOLF
Photo by: Matt Bartolo
All photos by: Matt Bartolo
Pictured: John Arnold, Mitch Fogarty, Sabian Lynch, Lochie Keogh + Scottie Thompson - ALPHA WOLF
