Combichrist Make Brisbane Monsters…

It’s only been a year since Andy LaPlegua’s last visit to Australia with Combichrist and mere months since his tour with Icon Of Coil. So it seems that the land Down Under is a hit with the musically gifted Norwegian.

December 2010 saw Combichrist at Brisbane’s Step Inn celebrating their newly released “Making Monsters” album. With only a handful of punters at that gig, the entire crowd was reduced to one solid, heaving moshpit.

Last Saturday night, Combichrist returned to ‘Bane, this time to Westend’s multi-tiered HiFi Bar.

The first support act was Brisbane metal band DarkC3ll who played a set of original songs, ending with a cover of Nine Inch Nail’s “Head Like A Hole” which seemed to get the nod of approval from the punters… or maybe they were just headbanging.

Two DJ sets then filled the next two hours: AngelSpit’s Zoog, dressed in familiar red PVC with a torn black jacket stood centre stage, rolling out a variety of remixes, some incorporating David Bowie samples. It was an hour that my friends and I tolerated, only due to our excitement of being at a Combichrist gig.
At the end of Zoog’s set, DJ Lab7 dominated the stage, once again invading our ears with another hour of noise. This began to do my head in, so my party discretely left the venue for the bar next door to give our ears a well deserved rest.

At 11pm, we made our way back to the moshpit in time for the headline act.
Not as fully made-up as their 2010 gig which had the band in full body monster make-up, Combichrist were still out to entertain this Queensland crowd.

Tonight’s set included anticipated tracks from their latest “Making Monsters” album (“Follow The Trail Of Blood”, “Just Like Me”, “Throat Full Of Glass” and “F*ckmachine” which was dedicated to the Brisbane fans) as well as a few surprise songs as “Deathbed” and “Blut Royale”.
Crowd pleasers were “Today I Woke To The Rain Of Blood”, “Get Your Body Beat”, “Slave To Machine” and the main set finishing with “They” which had the entire moshpit rocking.

The night’s encore was a two song stompfest of “Never Surrender” and an amazing live version of “What The F*ck Is Wrong With You” with the crowd screaming the chorus and punching fists into the air.

As always, Combichrist’s two drummers added a visual delight to their act, often very animated, leaping upon their kits, splashing water upon the drum skins and twirling sticks in the air.
LaPlegua’s animated monster facial expressions and pure energy kept the crowd’s attention and on their feet with hardly a moment when the fans didn’t stop dancing.

A slight disappointment was the sound from the HiFi’s moshpit being somewhat muddy with the vocals and killing any chance of hearing the lyrics.
Moving to the back of the venue, I discovered it to be a little clearer. But the moshpit was where the action was, and my return venture to the front won me a meeting with LaPlegua as he moshed his way through the heaving crowd.

As with their 2010 show, Combichrist didn’t disappoint this fan. This was the third time I had seen them play live and their energy is always amazing, enveloping their fans to the very last song.
Although I would have liked “Red” and “All Your Bass” in the setlist, I couldn’t fault the last three songs which had the entire venue on their feet and jumping to the beat.

Combichrist on the Net:
Combichrist.com

Combichrist on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/combichrist

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