Live Review: Twelve Foot Ninja

Few bands can be epic, spastic and sarcastic at once. Rocking up to the Corner Hotel on a Friday night with little idea what to expect and despite their technical skill and tight live performance, Twelve Foot Ninja don't take themselves too seriously. After supporting Periphery, Tesseract, Dead Letter Circus and Fair To Midland, Twelve Foot Ninja have finally struck out on their own, launching debut album Silent Machine with an Australia-wide tour. The release of the album follows two solid EPs (New Dawn and Smoke Bomb) and cements the band's reputation in the heavy realm.

Supported by Mike Mills (Toehider), Circles and Wasabi Girls, the Twelve Foot Ninja album launch is a powerful concentration of heavy music. The influences of this genre-bending five-piece are evident, with dub-reggae and smooth funk interludes that, surprisingly, complement the band's metal roots. Classic metal drumming and cranked-up bass pins together experimental guitar riffs. The vocals swing between soaring and roaring, and the crowd don't hesitate to join in.

In the 12 weeks leading up to the album launch, the band released 12 digital tracks and 12 six-page comics created in collaboration with Keith Draws. Project Twelve was inspired by the Twelve Foot Ninja fable, with each comic based on the corresponding song's lyrics. The attention to detail and grand ambitions of this band carry through to their tight live set and impressive connection with the audience. At one point vocalist Kin presents a new copy of the band's EP Smoke Bomb to an audience member he'd heard lost his entire CD collection in a car crash.

Wrapping up with an explosive rendition of Coming For You (mandatory viewing; if you haven't seen the video clip for this yet, do yourself a favour) the Corner is flashing with strobe-lit, moshing punters. We leave invigorated and elated, buoyed by a crowd and still laughing at the memory of a crowd-surfing ninja.