Metal Down Under: An Introduction to Australian Metal
by u/splodingshroom
G'day all,
Some of you might remember me as the guy doing the PhD on Aussie Extreme metal. I wanted to write a series of posts acting as a primer for Aussie metal as a whole and then some more specific styles; I've just done a literature review of the academic literature on Australian metal, so here's a 'literature review' of the musical literature if you like. I hope that this helps people discover some of the amazing bands we have here, and perhaps helps some of the more experienced folk find new bands! I'd like to give a big thanks to everyone who responded to my posts a few months ago giving suggestions for Australian bands. A special shout-out goes to u/AveLucifer in particular for a huge amount of help suggesting bands, making suggestions on the structure and Lo-Fi Black metal and potentially co-writing some later sections of this.
Here's how the posts will be structured (links to be provided as the posts are written):
1: An introduction to Australian metal, and the big bands that sound like other bands [This Post]
2: Developing Australian metal: Origins, traditional bands and Aussie thrash
5: Aussie war, 'blackslash' (black/death/thrash/etc. hybrids) and lo-fi BM
6: QLD Occult bands
The idea is that people can get a broad overview of Aussie metal, but can also jump into the sections that discuss specific styles or bands that they like or are interested in. Please note that this means that some of our really important and excellent bands will be covered in later posts, so please don't jump down my throat yelling that I forgot X band. ^^^You ^^^can ^^^do ^^^that ^^^after ^^^the ^^^final ^^^post. I'm going to give each band that I discuss a 'FFO' recommendation to help situate them with bands you might know. Some of our really big bands that I expect most people to know will also include an 'If I liked this Aussie band, I might also like the following Aussie band(s)' to try and connect people with some of the lesser-known bands in various styles. I'd love for people in the comments to add to sections like this if they can, because I certainly don't know every band and would love to connect people with more great music that they love.
As an aside, I'm not intending to cover our deathcore/metalcore bands in this series of posts, because I personally think those fall outside the purview of metal and, in my experience, the two scenes are relatively separate. This means bands such as Thy Art is Murder, Parkway Drive, Northlane, Amity Affliction etc. won’t be covered here (though, if you're into that style, those bands aren't a bad place to start).
With that out of the way, let's get going!
Background: The difficulties making metal in the 'Great Southern Wasteland'
Metal has something of a unique context in Australia. One of the things people who haven't been here don't often realise is that Australia is huge and quite remote. Most of the population live in the big cities on the eastern coast: approximately 80% of the population lives in Canberra (the federal capital), Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane. There's a big desert in the middle, meaning that the western half of the country is quite isolated from the east, and even cities like Darwin, Hobart and Adelaide are pretty removed from the rest of the country. Even on the Eastern coast, it's approximately 1800km from Melbourne to Brisbane, which is barely halfway up the Eastern coast. Sydney to Melbourne is approximately 880km, going up to 974km if you go via Canberra. Isolated within itself, Australia is pretty hard to get to from other places in the world as well, unless that place is New Zealand or somewhere in SE Asia.
You may be wondering at this point why I've interrupted my post on metal to give you a geography lesson. This is actually one of the biggest factors I've come across in my research for why Australian metal is the way it is. Australian metal bands mention it pretty frequently in interviews, because it makes touring pretty difficult for newer bands, both within the country and internationally, though the advent of online sharing has made spreading music somewhat easier for bands. As a result, most Australian metal is pretty hybridised: scenes aren't big enough (and there aren't enough of them) to have dedicated death metal, thrash metal, black metal scenes all over the place, so heaps of our bands end up playing hybrid forms of black/thrash/death etc. rather than dedicating themselves to a single style. When you compare this to examples of specific city-based scenes like Tampa, Stockholm, Gothenburg, you see that Australia doesn't really have anything like this. I'm sure you'll notice looking through these posts that the vast majority of our bands fit more than one genre, or perform in a genre that is already something of a hybrid (e.g. war metal). This isn't to say Aussie scenes are tiny and almost non-existent, quite the opposite, but they tend not to have the genre specificity that other scenes might have.
As a result, there's not really a clear 'Australian sound' that is immediately obvious in the same way that there's a Stockholm sound, a Bay-Area sound or a Gothenburg sound. There are a few things that people often mention when they talk about Aussie metal: they often say we're hybridised (as mentioned above); they often consider it to be comparatively more extreme or 'brutal' than similar bands from other nations; and we often put a fair amount of 'Australian-ness' in our music in terms of culture, our infamous sense of humour etc. Note that this is a pretty broad and complex topic that I'm not going to really go into here (I've got to save that for my PhD) but it might give you some ideas of what people see as being 'characteristic' of Australian metal.
The remoteness and difficulty with touring have some other impacts: many bands can't make a career out of touring. There's only so many times you can hit up the big east-coast towns after all. Oddly, some of our big bands almost ONLY existed as live bands, especially those on the east coast. To give an example, Slaughter Lord, one of our most significant bands that are cited as an influence by bands such as Bathory and At the Gates NEVER recorded a studio album. Their material was released years after they broke up by drummer Steve Hughes (more famous to some as a comedian) in the form of a compilation disc that collected some demos and two studio tracks. This is somewhat common for bands kicking off in the 80s - you might see a fair few 80s bands in the next post that have been active since 1984 but released their first album in 2015. Most of our bands that became super successful (particularly before the internet) did so via international labels and huge popularity in international scenes (for example, Mortification’s HUGE popularity in US Christian metal circles). Furthermore, some of our scenes get pretty incestuous in terms of band member sharing, with many of the occult QLD bands sharing members, though there are plenty of examples in other scenes too (special mention to Matt 'Skitz' Sanders for being in heaps of significant Aussie bands if you have a look at his 'past bands' tab).
Hopefully, this gives you some context for the way that sound of the bands have developed through the years. The next post is going to focus more on the historical-musical development of Australian metal, so for now, let's get into some music from our really big bands.
Australia's big bands that sound like other bands
These bands aren't really connected by anything other than relative popularity. While later posts will deal with bands on a more genre/scene-based organisation, these ones should give you an introduction to some of our tried and true bands in a variety of styles. Bands that broke up and then reformed under a new name are indicated with a slash.
Mortification
Genre: Death/Thrash
FFO: Tampa-style death metal (Morbid Angel, Death, Obituary), early Living Sacrifice
Start with: Scrolls of the Megilloth (1992)
MA: https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Mortification/792
Often cited as our best-selling band, largely due to immense popularity with US Christian metal scenes and a record deal from Nuclear Blast. Though they started as a power metal band called LightForce, they quickly shifted to a much heavier thrash/death style. The first three albums - Mortification (1991), Scrolls (1992) and Post-Momentary Affliction (1993) - highlight some pretty excellent examples of this style and are generally quite well regarded even outside of Christian scenes. Sadly, things gradually take a turn for the worse after this. The shift in vocal style seen on Affliction is present on the follow-up albums and the songwriting gradually decays. This coincides with bassist/vocalist/songwriter Steve Rowe's diagnosis with leukaemia, and many of the lyrical themes in the middle albums reflect his struggle with the disease and faith but without the excellent music behind it. More recent work, such as the Scribe of the Pentateuch EP (2012) and Realm of the Skeletaur (2015) reflects a bit more of a return to form, though Rowe has reportedly retired from Christian music, resulting in some uncertainty about the future of the band.
If I liked this Aussie band I might like the following Aussie bands:
Discarnated: An interesting spin on Christian death metal from Adelaide retaining the gory lyrics characteristic of the genre. Deus Misereatur (1993) is a decent album in a similar vein to Mortification.
Horde: Side project of drummer Jason Sherlock, Horde is notable as one of the first 'unblack' metal releases with 1994's Hellig Usvart. While Horde are clearly mocking the Norwegian BM scene (with Sherlock calling himself 'Anonymous' as a play on Euronymous), the music shows some authenticity for the BM style and aesthetic and is worth a look.
-- Mournful Congregation
Genre: Funeral Doom
FFO: Bell Witch, Thergothon, Ahab, Skepticism
Start with: The Incubus of Karma (2018) or The Monad of Creation (2005)
MA: https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Mournful_Congregation/2824
A commenter on reddit (u/ParaTC I think?) described them as 'Funeral doom for people who don't like Funeral doom’, which I think, is a great way to put it. While slower genres like doom are not usually my cup of tea, this is crushingly heavy but still infused with quite a lovely sense of melody. While their Australian touring seems to have been somewhat limited, they've toured Europe somewhat more frequently (though they performed live for the first time in 2009). A band that keeps many of their details deliberately obscure, they also share members with StarGazer, Martire and Cauldron Black Ram. 2011's The Unspoken Hymns is a compilation of their early vinyl work that can give you a better idea of their early work if you're interested, but they've got a pretty strong discography overall.
If I liked this Aussie band I might like the following Aussie bands:
Cryptal Darkness/The Eternal: A more gothic take on the doom style, though the earlier work as Cryptal Darkness is death/grind.
Elysian Blaze: Mixing some black in with the funeral doom, their Blood Geometry (2012) was very well received and they appear to have a new album on the horizon.
Abysmal Sorrow: Another black/funeral doom band that have unfortunately split up. The self-titled compilation released in 2014 contains all released material.
-- Abramelin
Genre: Death
FFO: Deicide, Entombed, Misery, Cemetery Urn
Start with: Abramelin (1995)
MA: https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Abramelin/2826
Originally called 'Acheron', Abramelin are one of Australia's most legendary death metal acts. With a heavy debt to both US and European death metal styles in their sound, they play some excellent death metal with lyrics that are pretty extreme even by most death metal standards. While this led to them copping some flak from the Western Australian government in the form of a ban, they kept up a strong release and well-respected live presence. While their discography may look somewhat unimpressive, their influence can't be understated, and former members have also featured in Blood Duster, King Parrot and diSEMBOWELMENT. Though they broke up in 2002, they recently reformed in 2016 and have been playing some shows with a fairly star-studded line-up of Aussie metal greats. A compilation EP was released in 2013 that covers their career.
If I liked this Aussie band I might like the following Aussie bands:
Cemetery Urn: A much murkier sound than Abramelin, producing some twisty riffs reminiscent of the best of Swedish DM mixed with Incantation. Last year's self-titled album is worth looking into, as is much of their earlier work. What Abramelin might have been if they'd gotten into Incantation instead of Deicide.
Depravity: An excellent up-and-coming band playing some great death metal that reminds me very much of a modern Abramelin. Their recent release Evil Upheaval (2018) has shown up on reddit a few times and is very much worth checking out as a personal AotY contender.
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Deströyer 666
Genre: Black/Thrash
FFO: Absu, Nifelheim, Sodom, Nocturnal Graves
Start with: Unchain the Wolves (1997) or Cold Steel for an Iron Age (2002)
MA: https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Destr%C3%B6yer_666/223
Another renowned Australian band, Deströyer 666 are (in)famous mostly for putting out some genre-defining blackened thrash, but will be known to some for the more recent antics of lead singer K.K. Warslut. That aside, there is some excellent material throughout most of their discography. The two suggested start points listed above are more of a personal choice, you could pretty safely pick any release from 1994-2003 and get something good. Later material isn't bad in my opinion but doesn't quite hold up to the classic material, though 2016's Wildfire was well received. Though the band is sometimes associated with war metal (given Warslut's previous tenure in Bestial Warlust), calling them war metal would be something of a misnomer in my opinion. Notably, they're a big Australian band that have felt the need to leave Australia owing to the lack of opportunity, having relocated to The Netherlands and London in the past (though they've made a recent return to Australia).
If I liked this Aussie band I might like the following Aussie bands:
Denouncement Pyre: With a bit more of a blackened/thrasy edge to the death metal sound, Denouncement Pyre put forward some pretty huge riffs. Their recent release Black Sun Unbound (2016) features a straightforward black/thrash/death in the vein of Deströyer 666 with some cleaner production.
Nocturnal Graves: Very well respected in the black/thrash arena, recent showings have included some elements of death in the mix as well. Titan (2018) was released a few weeks ago to pretty high praise, as was 2013's From the Bloodline of Cain.
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diSEMBOWELMENT/Inverloch
Genre: Death/doom
FFO: Dusk, Spectral Voice, Thergothon
Start with: Transcendence into the Peripheral (1993), Inverloch: Dusk|Subside (EP 2012)
MA: https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Disembowelment/4213; https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Inverloch/3540344841
Chances are that if you're familiar with death/doom, or even just doom you've run into diSEMBOWELMENT at some point. It's a bit hard to overstate how influential their 1993 album was for the genre and for good reason, it's fantastic. A great sense of atmosphere combined with some solid riffing. Inverloch originally formed as d.USK performing bits of the diSEMBOWELMENT back catalogue, though they gradually became their own band. While falling more on the doom side of things, the elements that made diSEMBOWELMENT great are still present and they're very much worth checking out. There's also a side project called Trial of the Bow that features members of both bands and is some pretty chill folk music.
If I liked this Aussie band I might like the following Aussie bands:
The Nihilistic Front: As with Inverloch, falling more on the doom side, but still pretty heavy. Worth a look if this is your kind of music. Their Procession to Alienation (2013) reminds me somewhat of Spectral Voice as well.
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Misery
Genre: Death
FFO: Abramelin, Morta Skuld
Start with: Revel in Blasphemy (1997)
MA: https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Misery/2239
Suggested by some as being Australia's first "proper" death metal band (though Abramelin had formed as Acheron in 1988), Misery hail from Brisbane and set the stage somewhat for many of Australia's death metal to follow. While their first album A Necessary Evil (1993) shows some brief flirtations with grind and doomy elements, the second album Revel in Blasphemy (1997) showcases a bit more of their sound and was the album that gave them a reputation nation-wide. Both are great albums, with Necessary having a crushingly murky sound and Blasphemy having more of an OSDM feel in the riffing and being a bit more focused stylistically. Vocalist issues plagued the bands through their early years and though they originally broke up in 2001, they reformed last year.
If I liked this Aussie band I might like the following Aussie bands:
More or less the same picks as Abramelin. diSEMBOWLMENT are a fairly logical progression if you enjoyed the more doomy vibe that Necessary has going on. Aussie death/grind will be covered in a later post.
--
Manticore
Genre: Death (Not to be confused with the war metal band of the same name)
FFO: Thrashy OSDM
Start with: Integrating the Extreme (1996)
MA: https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Manticore/5932
A short-lived band from Wagga Wagga, Manticore nonetheless put out two fantastic albums in the mid-90s, one of which features Darren Goulding of Misery. There's a thrashy bent to some of their death metal, mostly evident in the speed at which most of it is played and a cover of 'Raining Blood' as a hidden track on Integrating the Extreme. Steve Watts also featured in Frakenbok and Terrorlust for a while and made some vague comments about plans for Manticore around their 25th anniversary in 2015, but nothing much seems to have come from that. Definitely worth a look though!
If I liked this Aussie band I might like the following Aussie band(s):
Antichrist: Suggested by u/AveLucifer on a Manticore post, similar vein with more of a Black Metal styling. Not a lot of material (a demo and two splits) but worth having a look at.
--
Dungeon/LORD
Genre: Power
FFO: Theocracy, Blind Guardian, Excellently Cheesy Power Metal
Start with: Resurrection (1999); LORD: Ascendence (2007).
MA: https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Dungeon/171; https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Lord/10309
In amongst the murky extreme metal, here's something nicer and more palatable aimed at those for whom death/black/thrash isn't really their cup of tea. Dungeon are one of Australia's legendary power metal bands, and LORD are the continuation of the band in everything but name. Lord Tim is the driving force behind the bands and both bands once featured the drumming talent of Tim Yatras (Austere, Nazxul, Autumn's Dawn and millions of other bands). The Dungeon back catalogue is available through the LORD bandcamp page and it's pretty much all worth checking out if you're into power metal. It's even worth a look if you're not really into that IMO.
If I liked this Aussie band I might like the following Aussie band(s):
Silent Knight: Some similarly cheesy but catchy power metal from down under. It's worth grabbing the 2017 re-recording/remaster of their debut The Masterplan as a starting point.
--
Nazxul
Genre: Black Metal
FFO: Emperor, Astriaal
MA: https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Nazxul/2912
Start with: Black Seed (EP 1998)
A weird, obscure black metal band that is apparently a part of some Order of the Black Serpent thing alongside a bunch of other Aussie BM bands? For the length of time that they've been a band, they've got a fairly small collection of material, yet they've got a decent live presence and are often cited as influential. They've got a bit of a revolving door of members, but have featured the likes of Rev. Kriss Hades (Sadistik Exekution) Tim Yatras (tonnes of bands), Steve Hughes (Slaughter Lord, Mortal Sin) and Peter Peric (Dungeon, Rookwood). Worth looking into if you like Emperor-style black metal.
If I liked this Aussie band I might like the following Aussie band(s):
Astriaal: One of the Brisbane occult bands to be covered in more detail in a later post.
Austere: DSBM from Wollongong just south of Sydney (which has a fair Black Metal scene itself). Fairly standard for the style, their two full-lengths are worth looking into.
--
Psycroptic
Genre: Tech Death
FFO: Obscura, Decapitated, Necrophagist, Spawn of Possession, Archspire
Start with: Sceptre of the Ancients (2003)
MA: https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Psycroptic/187
Oh look, the one notable band from Tasmania! Yay! Tech Death isn't normally my cup of tea, but I quite like these guys, they manage to keep the technicality without getting too wanky and have some solid riffs and melodies in the mix. Former vocalist Chalky's 'croaking' vocal style was also something of a draw card/gimmick for people and it works decently well IMO. Drummer Dave Haley is something of an Aussie legend having been in Damaged, Blood duster and Abramelin, and he and his brother are also in Ruins.
If I liked this Aussie band I might like the following Aussie band(s):
Mephistopheles: Chalky joined this band after his tenure with Spawn of Possession and Psycroptic. Fairly standard tech death, also from Hobart.
Oroborous: Likewise, somewhat standard tech death, but they seem relatively popular. Not really my thing, so perhaps other commenters can elaborate more on Aussie tech-death?
--
iNFeCTeD
Genre: Industrial Death
FFO: Morbid Angel, early Fear Factory, Godflesh
Start with: Crawlspace (1994)
MA: https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Infected/5687
A band that was very popular for a brief time but never quite ‘made it’, in part due to difficulties touring widely from their home base of Perth. Their albums are something of a product of their time but manage to keep the death metal solid without giving into the industrial/groove/nu-metally side of things like some of the bands in the FFO list did. Still worth looking at, especially if industrial death mixed with bits of grind and doom is your thing. The follow-up CoNTRoL (1995) introduces a keyboard and is a bit more gothic.
If I liked this Aussie band I might like the following Aussie band(s):
I'm a bit stumped here to be honest. This isn't really something I'm into, so perhaps someone in the comments could offer some suggestions?
My picks for lesser-known but still solid bands
Like the previous section, these bands aren't organised by any particular genre or scene, but are a collection of some of our smaller and/or up-and-coming bands that I wanted to feature briefly here. Many of these are fairly new bands, and are very much worth checking out!
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Cauldron Black Ram
Genre: Black/Death
FFO: early Samael, Innsmouth, Sacriphyx, Ares Kingdom
Start with: Skulduggery (2004)
MA: https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Cauldron_Black_Ram/14440
Next time somebody tells you that Alestorm are 'Pirate Metal' and that lyrics are a good basis for determining genre, play some of this for them and then tell them BuT tHeY sInG aBoUt PiRaTeS???? On a more serious note they write some EXCELLENT riffs and aren't afraid to use them.
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Contaminated
Genre: Death
FFO: Tomb Mold, murky caverns
Start with: Final Man (2017)
MA: https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Contaminated/3540378961
Contaminated featured fairly prominently in last year's Album of the Year series and with good reason. Filthy, crushing death metal riffs and a solid live presence paired with it. Well worth your time if you enjoy murky death metal at all.
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Golgothan Remains
Genre: Death
FFO: Tomb Mold, Incantation, Suffering Hour
Start with: Perverse Offerings to the Void (2018)
MA: https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Golgothan_Remains/3540411725
A current shreddit darling, again with good reason. Their album this year is fantastic, and for me was only topped by Tomb Mold's recent release (seeing a pattern?). They manage a fair amount of melody in their death metal without compromising on their other elements and have some great songwriting chops to boot.
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Hordes of the Black Cross
Genre: Black/Thrash
FFO: Darkthrone, Inquisition
Start with: Dawn of War, Nights of Chaos (2015)
MA: https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Hordes_of_the_Black_Cross/3540331072
Pretty catchy as far as black/thrash goes, less oppressive and dark to my ears. From memory, their entire discography is available fairly cheaply on Bandcamp and is all pretty good, some great riffs across their various releases.
--
Ignivomous
Genre: Death
FFO: Immolation, Incantation, Cruciamentum
Start with: Contragenesis (2012)
MA: https://www.metal-archives.com/albums/Ignivomous/Contragenesis/338207
Solid, straightforward death metal here. Some nice tremolo style riffs in amongst everything with a nicely murky production topping it off. Chris "Volcano" Broadway has also been in many of Australia's significant metal acts (Abominator, Denouncement Pyre, Deströyer 666, Cemetery Urn).
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Runespell
Genre: Viking Metal (as in Bathory, the actual genre meaning)
FFO: Blood Fire Death-era Bathory
Start with: Unhallowed Blood Oath (2017)
MA: https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Runespell/3540426503
Do you like Viking-era Bathory? If yes, you'll like this; if no, might still be worth a listen because it's pretty accessible overall if you find Bathory themselves a bit too much. Nothing super new here, but a one-man black metal project (because those are sooo rare) that does what it does well.
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The Furor
Genre: Black/Death
FFO: Impiety, Deströyer 666
Start with: Cavalries of the Occult (2017)
MA: https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/The_Furor/17151
A band that's been around for a while, but I particularly enjoy their more recent output (their earlier material is still solid though). Drummer Louis Rando is in several noteworthy bands (Impiety, Depravity, Bloodlust, Mhorgul, Psychonaut). Fairly catchy and melodic as far as black/thrash goes.
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Atra Vetosus
Genre: Melodic Black
FFO: Mgła, Astral Winter, Batushka
Start with: Apricity (2018)
MA: https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Atra_Vetosus/3540337074
A recent discovery of mine that I quite like. Fairly calm melodic back with a viking-style choir reminiscent of Bathory's calmer moments and a sense of atmosphere that doesn’t get lost in itself. Worth looking into if you enjoy melodic/atmospheric black that's not too shoegaze-y.
That's all for this post. I hope this is helpful and interesting to people. Next time I'll cover the historical/musical development of Aussie metal from our pub/hard rock bands through to our thrash metal greats. Happy to take any feedback in the comments, and I'm looking forward to sharing more Aussie metal with people who haven't yet found it!