Live Review: Earthless, The Shrine, Eternal Elysium, Dreamtime

Acting as Australia's only representatives tonight, drone-psych trio Dreamtime open proceedings. One of the best things about a Dreamtime set is that it's so adaptable – possibly in tribute to tonight's headliners, guitarist Zac Anderson slips a number of lengthy and impressive guitar solos into the set, transforming their sound into something totally unheard from them in the past.
Japanese trio Eternal Elysium introduce a thunderous volume to the venue, which carries through for the remainder of the evening. Despite all the noise, it's fantastic to see the vocals from guitarist Yukito Okazaki and bass player Tana Haugo blending together so beautifully. While their overall tone is loud hardcore-doom, there are plenty of hypnotic instrumental moments woven into the performance, making this group one of the standouts of the evening.
Frontman of Californian psych-violence rock outfit The Shrine, Josh Landau, greets us by saying how disappointed he is that the Valley is so quiet, and that he was hoping to run into some adventurous crack heads around town, but will settle for hanging out with us instead. The group pick up the speed and intensity with ripping tracks Zipper Tripper and Louise, paired with a brilliant lightshow that matches the climactic points with intense strobes. There's a row of dedicated fans at the front of stage who headbang and sing along to every word, which only adds to the frenetic energy created on stage. If you can look past the incessant “this next song is...” between tracks, The Shrine deliver an amazing set, filled with some truly inspired guitar work.
After a short, heartfelt speech from guitarist Isaiah Mitchell about how grateful they are to the fans, Californian instrumental psych-rock troupe Earthless immediately launch into over an hour's worth of perpetual, hard-hitting jams. The set mainly comes from their critically acclaimed album of last year, From The Ages, opening with the 15-minute epic, The Red Sea. What's incredible about this group is their ability to push the limits – it will feel like they are sitting on the edge of a climactic point for so long before they manage to intensify the speed, musicality and energy even further, leaving most of the audience with their jaws constantly dropped. Because the songs are also so long, the set starts to feel like an endurance test. You wonder just how they are capable of performing at such extremes for so long, and there's a sense of euphoric release, pure wonderment and accomplishment once the songs fade out. Earthless are just one of those bands you have to see to believe: insane guitar solos, forceful bass lines, mesmerising drums. More like this please.