Museletter #2May 1999Welcome, all, to the second issue of the C.H.O.M.P. Museletter. Overflowing with news and reviews of C.H.O.M.P.'s contributions to the Victorian Metal scene, it's so darn chompy you can carve it... HAIL COMPUTER!Finally, we've got a computer! Thanks to a generous grant from the Macedon Ranges Shire council through their 1998/99 Community Funding Scheme, and the extra addition of some C.H.O.M.P. funds, we are now the proud owners of this fine specimen of computerdom I'm currently typing on. As nuclear power tycoon Monty Burns would hiss, "Excellent…" SINFEST '98Possibly the most hurriedly organised gig in the history of, well, ever, Sinfest '98 nevertheless provided an excellent metal/goth/rock/punk filled weekend. It rocked the neighbouring Lilydale Agricultural Show into submission over the weekend of Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd November with the help of Alarum, Seething, Poor Excuse, Clauz, The Lament Grandeur, Rancor, Redresser, The Embertide, Indecision, Narcosis, Chiron and the Oxymorons. Effervescent DJ Jeff Rule from PBS FM's 'Red Stink of Metal' show also made an appearance on Saturday, which seemed to be the more happening day, crowd-wise, of the two. The 'Fest was staged by Sin City, a tattoo and alternative clothing shop in Lilydale, Victoria, with help from C.H.O.M.P. to organise the bands. Held outdoors in a vacant lot next to the shop with free entry to all, Sinfest has the potential to only get bigger and better as the years go by. If you didn't hear about it in '98, keep your eyes peeled around the end of November for Sinfest '99, which will no doubt be organised a little more in advance this time round. Shit, even we didn't know what was going on 'till four days before the gig, and we had to book the bands! C.H.O.M.P. at Joey'sA night of fresh metal talent in the form of The Embertide, Seething, and The Lament Grandeur took place at Joey's Ministry of Sound on the 17th of November, 1998. Jeff Rule also lent his DJ'ing talents to the night, as well taking on the job of handing out the excellent giveaways donated to C.H.O.M.P. by Shock and Subversive Records, and PBS FM. The Lament Grandeur kicked off the night in true Black Metal style, resplendent in corpse make-up and lethal spiked armbands, (which I'm told they make themselves - a commendable effort). Seething followed with their particular brand of goth metal tinged with ambience and atmosphere; and finally the Ember Tide took the stage, who finished the night off with a solid blast of melodic, crunching metal. The turnout was surprisingly good for a Thursday night, proving that these three up-and-coming bands to are definitely ones to keep an eye on. HANGING ROCK FESTIVALFeaturing.....ALCHEMIST, DAMAGED, DREADNAUGHT, ORDER OF CHAOS, ALARUM, THE WOLVES, CATWITCH, SEETHING, THE EMBER TIDE, REDRESSER, EMBODIED, ENCABULOS, INDECISION MARCH 27, 1999. The idyllic surrounds of Hanging Rock, just outside of Woodend, Victoria, provided an excellent venue for an all-day, all-ages music fest. While the Festival itself actually featured four stages of various musical styles spread around the Hanging Rock Reserve grounds, I'm only going to review the C.H.O.M.P. stage here, as this was where the Metal was, and who wants to hear about anything else, right?! Featuring one of the best line-ups of Aussie bands Victoria has seen, the C.H.O.M.P. stage was kicked off at 11am by Indecision, a group of young and very talented musicians with a diverse and creative style. Unfortunately I missed their set today, but if previous gigs are anything to go by, Indecision's meld of keyboard-laden, intricate and doomy metal would have been very impressive indeed. Next up were Encabulos from Geelong, who despite the lack of an apparently sick bass player, powered on with a set of fast and deathy grooves. Their singer prowled the 40ft tautliner that served as a stage like a caged lion, and with only a guitarist and drummer to back him, Encabulos still packed a seriously weighty punch. Like Encabulos, Embodied like their metal decidedly Deathly. Although the two bands aren't particularly alike, they're definitely purveyors of a new breed of ultra-heavy music. Five piece Embodied are an extremely tight band who aren't afraid to throw a bit of variety into their tunes, and come across all the better for it. As retro rockers Redresser took the stage I was scurrying off in search of the loos, thus missing their set. From what I could gather while they were setting up, Redresser are big fans of the 80's, and although I didn't get to hear them, they certainly looked like they would have been interesting. The Ember Tide are fast becoming one of my favourite local acts. With riffage reminiscent of Carcass here and there, melodic clean breaks, and an extremely capable twin guitar assault curtesy of Cam and Rod, The Ember Tide rock with the best of them. Vocalist Tony makes an entertaining frontman, and all-round the band are another excellent example of the new breed of Melbourne Metal. Due to their lengthy tunes, three piece Seething's set was only made up of three songs. However, the band's musical variety and originality ensure that their songs never drag. Twisting and turning down a constantly changing path, the Seething sound covered a bit of everything. Dark and diverse, Seething provided an interesting change as the afternoon went on. Catwitch were up next, and once again slackness on my part prevailed, as I went for a wander to check out the other stages and subsequently missed their set. I was informed that they played like their trademark selves - Metallica influenced rockin' riffs with a background of Gothic imagery. Catwitch have definitely proved themselves to be one of Melbourne's more colourful acts. The Wolves have probably been the most hyped band around of late, so it was with great curiosity that I stood back to take in their set. Well, they were certainly extremely tight, extremely powerful, and put on an entertaining show, but I have to say that I was a bit disappointed in their overall lack of originality. The Wolves play that brand of modern metal embraced by the likes of Pantera, Machine Head and Segression, and undeniably they play it well, but a good dose of originality wouldn't go astray to add some variety to their music. Alarum are certainly no slackers in the originality stakes, with their blend of technical metal, a bit of jazz, and a verge on virtuosity apparent in all the members. Playing most of the tracks off their debut album, Fluid Motion, Alarum's guitarists Scott and Mark are both equally impressive as they make playing a hundred notes a second look easy, and frontman Mark (yes, another one!) is downright freaky on a bass. Alarum definitely seemed to me to be the loudest band on the day, which perhaps detracted a bit from the overall quality of their sound. Nevertheless, a very talented bunch of musicians indeed. The mighty Order of Chaos took the stage next, launching into their Carcass and Death tinged aural attack with aplomb. Mostly playing songs due out on a new album, with the awesome Sock Puppet thrown in from the Perpetual E.P. because it would be a downright sin not to, O.O.C. unquestionably kick some serious arse. Another bloody excellent band - Melbourne's crawling with ém! Speaking of bloody excellent bands, Dreadnaught are the epitome. I doubt that Dreadnaught could play a shitty gig if they tried ( although they'd probably disagree). Their set included tracks off the intense debut CD BodyBloodSkinMind, the more recent EP Idiosyncrasy, as well as some as-yet unrecorded tracks that have been making a regular appearance in the band's set over the last year or so. Churning, twisted, emotional music, Dreadnaught will take you on a trip you wont come down from. Time for a bludgeoning assault of mammoth proportions; time to have your head torn open; time for Damaged. Heavy is an understatement if ever there was one - Damaged are simply indescribably insane. With a drummer as inhuman as Skitz, Damaged seem to be getting faster and crazier all the time, almost coming across at times that the band do it purely because they can. Nevertheless, Damaged are always a great rush to see live, and when they launch into older songs off Do Not Spit and Passive, (played unbelievably fast), I'm in demented meal heaven. It's not quite the same without Jamie and Mohawk, but new vocalist Brendan and bass player Jamie (I think) do a more than commendable job. In the true tradition of saving the best for last (gee, I'm not half biased, am I?!), Canberra metal gods Alchemist took the stage to provide a fitting finale for a truly enjoyable day. How I love to be swept away on that atmospheric wave of sound that is Alchemist in all their majestic glory. Playing the songs that seem to make an appearance in most Alchemist sets; their cover of Eve of the War, in which they were joined on stage by the guitarist from the Pod People; and a couple of mindblowing newies, Alchemist proved once again that they would have to be the most original and refreshing band around. The Festival was a finale to the Macedon Ranges Shire Council's Youth Week, and was coordinated in a large part by C.H.O.M.P. It was all round a most enjoyable day, with various stalls and displays to look at, in spite of a bit of rain later on in the evening. But most of all the Festival proved the fact that we all knew already anyway - "AUSSIE METAL RULES!" ROCKIN'ROMSEYTo kick off the Macedon Ranges Shire Council's Youth Week, C.H.O.M.P. staged an all ages metal gig at the Romsey Mechanics Hall on the 19th of March, '99. The Ember Tide, Encabulos and Seething were on the bill, and although they all played very well, all these bands have their sets reviewed elsewhere in this newsletter, so I won't review them here. Being the first gig of its kind in Romsey, the night went off rather well. But one can't help but ask, "Is Romsey ready for Death Metal?!?!" ALARUM BECOME METAL WARRIORSDubbed by Andrew of RRR Hard Report fame as "The most technical band in Australia', Alarum have recently signed a distribution deal with Metal Warriors which will see the band's debut album, 'Fluid Motion,' available at all decent record stores. Up coming Alarum gigs include May 22nd at the Barwon Club in Geelong, May 28th at the Corner Hotel in Richmond, and a trek up to the Iron Duke in Sydney on the 25th of June. BASS PLAYER WANTED…Seething require the talents of a creative, dedicated, and committed bass player, as their current bassist/keyboardist is taking up the keyboard pretty much full time. Seething are a gothic/melodic/metal type band who have been playing regularly around the Melbourne scene for the last year and a half, and recorded a self-titled demo in late '97. They're looking to record again in the near future and are searching for the right bass player to fill out their line -up. Interested people must have their own gear and transport, be 100% dedicated, and have a desire to create original, different music. C.H.O.M.P. BANNERWell done to everyone involved in creating the most impressive C.H.O.M.P. banner! Erin, Bede, Matt and Steven did an excellent job of painting the C.H.O.M.P. tiger jumping through flaming faces which now takes pride of place at the back of the stage at C.H.O.M.P. gigs. ARTHOUSE GIGOrganised by the Eastern Suburbs Chompers, the 30th of May will see Alarum, Seething, The Ember Tide, Toecutter, Multiple Insertions, Narcosis and Clauz hit the Arthouse with an all day-type affair. For more information call Mark on 9754 1175. EARTH, CRYPT, EMBODIED, ENCABULOS and SEETHING play the Tote in Collingwood on the 5th of June. Who cares if it's on the same night as Sepultura - Aussie metal's heaps better anyway! Bands start at 9pm, so get down there and support the local scene! NEW YEAR'S EVE '99 @ SATAN'S PLACEIf you weren't there, where the hell (hell, geddit?) were you?! Even Roy from Alchemist made an appearance at Melbourne's Metal New Year's Eve gig. Dubbed the 'Hell Club Reunion' on account of the return to the once- off use of the name 'Satan's Place' again, the night featured the excellent and varied talents of the likes of Seething, Encabulos, the Lament Grandeur, Zaibatsu, Catwitch and Charnel House. Although the countdown was missed due to the Lament playing through it, who could think of a better way to bring in the New Year than with metal? MANY THANKS…To the following businesses and individuals for their support, donations, etc. - C.H.O.M.P. NEEDS A NEW LOGO!Design a logo for Victoria's only non-profit metal organisation and you could win: Cradle of Filth - Cruelty and the Beast Logos should be in black and white, and suitable for photocopying MAKE CONTACTFor more information on C.H.O.M.P., to become part of our mailing list, or to make a contribution to the next newsletter, choose your favourite form of communication: Phone: (03) 5429 5372 Home | About | Aims | Bands | Zine | Classifieds | Links | Contact | Mailing List |