Live Review: Destroyer 666, Bane Of Isildur, Hellbringer, Bastardizer

No matter what strange new directions heavy metal heads in, there are always going to be people who prefer to stick to well-trodden paths. Exhibit one: Bastardizer, who churn out blackened thrash a la early Destruction, with the beer drinking swagger of NWOBHM heroes Tank thrown in for good measure. The performance was marked with a decent amount of vigour and received appropriate cheers from the growing crowd.

Hellbringer love Slayer - they really love Slayer. Over their solid half hour, the Canberra-based trio churned out song after song directly culled from the DNA of Hell Awaits (deviating only to tip their collective hat to Kreator and very occasionally Morbid Angel). It was pretty derivative but damn good fun all the same. Their brand spanking new Awakened From The Abyss is definitely worth checking out.

Bane Of Isildur, with their melodeath-influenced style, was an odd choice for this bill, and unfortunately their set never really got going. It's hard to peg but for some reason the band's energy levels just didn't seem to be there. To be fair, even consistent bands like Bane Of Isildur, have an off night: maybe this was one of them. Of course with the amount of meat-and-potatoes thrash on offer there's also a chance the crowd was suffering from a thrash-induced short attention span by this point.

Destroyer 666 may now be based in Europe, but they remain ambassadors of the Australian war metal scene. In a tight, hour-long set, the quartet raced through a brace of new tracks (Wildfire, Traitor and Hounds At Ya Back) while delving into an extensive back catalogue (Australian and Antichrist, I Am The Wargod and Sons Of Peredition) as a tacit acknowledgement that it's been far too long since they played our shores. Having been on the road supporting their new record, the band were predictably tight, but at times the set was marred by an uneven mix that favoured the top end of the guitars over the rhythm section. Still, these hiccups aside, this was a decent showing from a band who in recent years have made some of the best records of their long career.