Review: DETHKLOK - Live in Brisbane
Brisbane Fans Risk Death!
Sunday 6th April 2025
Written by: Tom Wilson
Photos by: Rashid AlKamraikhi
I have a confession to make: until very recently, I was not a Metalocalypse fan. It has been on my to-do list for almost two decades, and I actually met Brendon Small before I finally sat down and watched it in preparation for this, the first DETHKLOK tour of Australia (it’s for this reason that I handballed our interview with Brendon to the much more qualified Rashid AlKamraikhi). Fortunately, I fell in love with the antics of the brutal death metal band that is inexplicably bigger than Taylor Swift, whose every move trigger massive global consequences, and whose fans die at their concerts by the dozen. So I rocked up to the Fortitude Valley Music Hall with one thing on my mind – if they don’t play Deththeme, I’m going to throw a tantrum.
Up first is Adelaide’s FREEDOM OF FEAR, who Sense last encountered at 2024’s massive Necrosonic Festival. Two dapper-looking guitarists take to the stage as a long piano intro tinkers through the speakers and the packed crowd watches in rapt attention. Then, they plunge into Immortal, and blackened riffs scorch the air as the spectral figure of vocalist Jade Monserrat springs into view, unfurling talon-like nails and contorting her limbs, hair covering her face like Samara from The Ring. As we are bludgeoned by Liam Weedall’s blast beats and Matt and Corey’s brutal riffage, it becomes increasingly apparent that we are witnessing four supremely talented musicians in their element, and I can only hope that they taste the same international recognition that PSYCROPTIC have enjoyed over the years. Jade gets a laugh by doing her best Nathan Explosion impression, and they close out their set with Purgatorium and leave with a lot of new fans. I’m very keen to see what they do next.
Image: Jade, FREEDOM OF FEAR
Image: Matt, FREEDOM OF FEAR
Image: Corey, FREEDOM OF FEAR
Image: Liam, FREEDOM OF FEAR
The lights go down, the crowd roars, and the giant projector screen behind the stage flickers to life with a familiar sight for Metalocalypse fans – it’s The Tribunal, discussing the return of the band. “Are DETHKLOK back?” they ask, and the entire building roars. Four band members emerge from the wings and take up their positions, entirely silhouetted against the screen, and one of the greatest extreme metal drummers in the world, the mighty Gene Hoglan, counts them in. The crushing Deththeme sets every head in the building in motion, and we’re off to the races as the Metalocalypse opening credits play behind them.
By taking all focus off themselves and onto the projector screen behind them, DETHKLOK have guaranteed two things. Firstly, this is going to be like watching a Metalocalypse movie with a live band, and secondly, our poor photographer is going to be very frustrated. But what might be a loss for irritated shooters is a gain for the rest of us, because tonight is a truly immersive audio-visual spectacle. Several times tonight I found myself so engrossed by what was happening on the screen that I forgot there were four musicians standing in front of it. We can’t really see him, but Gene’s drumming is phenomenally tight, and Brendon’s vocals are a lesson in brutality. Mutilation on a Saturday Night is absolutely hilarious, and the lyrics flashing up on the screen feel like metal karaoke.
Image: DETHKLOK
Band mascot Facebones does several PSAs throughout the night, talking about concert hygiene and not taking more drugs than you can handle, before revealing that he is ripped off his tits on hallucinogens so powerful they actually distort the subtitles beneath him. The Gears and I Ejaculate Fire see the pit explode and Awaken is so heavy it threatens to summon another dangerous beast. Murmaider is a fist-in-the-air call-and-response listing off weapons like the tooling up sequence from an 80s action movie (CHECK!), and the Duncan Hills Coffee Jingle remains the heaviest coffee jingle ever written.
They close out their set with a thunderous … er, Thunderhorse, before the band’s CFO and unofficial nanny, Charles Foster Offdensen, appears onstage to tell the band that they need to say goodbye, but they can do a few more songs. With the lights down, Brendon speaks to us as the various characters from the band, and Nathan Explosion professes his love for Mad Max and, most importantly, Tim Tams, getting a massive roar from the crowd. They bust out Fan Song and S.O.S. before ending the night with Go into the Water.
Image: DETHKLOK
Image: DETHKLOK
Image: DETHKLOK
Image: DETHKLOK
With the set finished, the band’s faces are illuminated for the only time tonight, and they say their goodbyes to an exhausted and satisfied crowd. This is metal written about metal by people who live and breathe metal, so unsurprisingly, tonight is pretty goddamn metal. It’s only April, and I know this is going to be one of my favourite gigs of the year.
Brutal.
Image: Brendon Small’s Silhouette, DETHKLOK
Photos by: Rashid AlKamraikhi
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