Live Review: Ringworm, Against, Lo!

Sydney outfit Lo! can never be accused of false advertising. The quartet delivered a trudging bottom-heavy aural assault that made industrial strength waste seem weak and airy. Along with the likes of I Exist, Lo! are our scene's finest proponents of sludgy hardcore and live are akin to a cinder block to the cranium. Nice.

One suspects that if Against were from Sydney or Melbourne and not Brisbane, they'd boast a Mindsnare-sized buzz. Instead, these veterans are Australian hardcore's best-kept secret and their bruising brand of mid-tempo metallic hardcore was the perfect encore to the Clevocore antics of headliners Ringworm. Showcasing material from their decade-plus career (including a vicious rendition of Legion Of Parasites) the boys caused heads to bang and fists to pump courtesy of their unrelentingly brutal attack.

Sound gremlins caused Ringworm's set to get off to a slow start (vocalist Human Furnace was completely buried in the mix for the first few songs) but by the time The Cage, Angel Fuck and Dollar Whore came roaring out of the speakers the faithful were hurling themselves around the cramped confines of Hermann's Bar with reckless abandon. Ringworm played with a ferocity that belied their utter dedication to their craft and to life on the road. This was a performance that showed that the band, even after all these years, remain at the top of their game. Material from this year's Hammer Of The Witch (their strongest album in a long time) was greeted with as much enthusiasm as classics like Sideshow. Metallic hardcore may have been given a bad name by second-rate bands relying on second-rate breakdowns but Ringworm proved that the bastard lovechild of Slayer and Negative Approach remains a potent mix.