Live Review: Russian Circles, Eagle Twin, I Exist, Lo!

A handful of keen punters braved the uncharacteristically cold, wet and blustery October weather to see Lo! warm up the crowd at The Hi-Fi. Reminiscent of a sludgier Converge, these local boys brought plenty of energy and tightness to their performance, but tailed off on the home stretch. While an admirably relentless assault, their set could benefit from some more subtlety and breathing space.

Next up was I Exist, who are building a reputation as one of the best live acts in Australian metal and hardcore, combining no-bullshit uptempo doom with death-metal vocals and D-Beat energy. While it's an interesting mix, the band seemed to struggle on the Hi-Fi stage, fighting against a poor mix, microphone feedback and, even with six members onstage, never looking like they quite occupied the space as they should.

When Eagle Twin launched into their seamless set of avant-garde doom, the rapturous response suggested that a good chunk of the crowd was here to see the Salt Lake City duo as much as the headliners. Guitarist/vocalist Gentry Densley's fuzzy distortion lather warped and roared as he married atonal noise-rock improv with some incredibly brutal stoner riffage. The clear chemistry between Densely and powerhouse drummer Tyler Smith meant that the complex structures and risky improvisations of Eagle Twin's music were executed with a palpable intensity that endeared both to old fans and new punters getting their first taste of this genuinely dangerous and unique music.

Chicago's Russian Circles have spent the better part of the last decade solidifying their stature as one of experimental metal's premier bands and from the first moments of opening track 309 it was clear that this was going to be a powerful and authoritative lesson in instrumental rock. Combining the visceral, gut-level attack of hardcore with the yearning textures of post-rock, the band effortlessly and naturally switched gears between claustrophobic noise, majestic wall-of-sound catharsis and thundering metal assault. While guitarist Mike Sullivan and bassist Brian Cook are impressive in their own right, the drumming of Dave Turncrantz is the engine of Russian Circles and his performance stole the show. Endlessly creative and combining jazz subtlety, metal bombast and punk-rock fury, his ferocious groove elicited rapturous headbanging from the assembled crowd down front.

As befits music so monolithic and ominous, the headliners executed their set in silence and almost-darkness, only acknowledging the crowd with some grateful waves after a powerful rendition of Mladek from their latest record Empros. But if the enthusiastic purchasing of t-shirts, hoodies and vinyl down at the merch desk was anything to go by, then the wordless power of Russian Circles live show had spoken loud enough to leave a roomful of metal-loving punters very satisfied.