Adelaide is a small city, as anyone who lives here can attest to. So it’s no surprise that when music acts decide upon an Australian tour, they sometimes leave the city of festivals, churches and murders off their roster.

This fact is even more aggravated if your musical tastes are a little… different, like my own. While massive pop acts may have the resources and the fan base to justify a night or two in our fair city, I dare say many smaller acts would just be doing it for the love.

This summer however, I must say that I am absolutely blown away by the amazing array of talented bands making the trip to Adelaide’s fair shores. Some of these bands are recent infatuations of mine, others I’ve been waiting years to see, but whatever the case, I can assure you the following shows are all worth your hard-scavenged shrapnel, and possibly even some of your beer money.

Jump to:

1. 18^th December: Sweatfest 08 (The Acacia Strain)
2. 25^th January: Declaration World Tour (Between the Buried and Me)
3. 13^th February: The Parallels Australian Tour (Misery Signals)
4. 28^th February: Soundwave 2009
5. 15^th March: The Summer Slaughter Tour

#1 – 18^th December: Sweatfest 08 (The Acacia Strain)

Now officially this gig is headlined by Parkway Drive, a great Australian metalcore band. Parkway are great, and put on an excellent live performance but I’ve seen them plenty of times now, so for me they aren’t really the draw card in this gig. I can’t personally vouch for Suicide Silence, A Day to Remember or Confession, as I’ve never heard their music, but the real gem in this bunch for me is The Acacia Strain.

Sounding something like a Saw film in the form of music, Acacia Strain can be a difficult first listen. It’s easy to dismiss the simplicity of the guitar work as a lack of talent (I know I did at first), and some may have trouble dealing with the dropped G# (read: really fucking low) tuning, but have another few listens and you’ll discover beautifully crafted songs, engaging lyrics, and quite simply some of the heaviest music ever played:

“Angry Mob Justice” from the 2006 album “The Dead Walk”

The LHC may be better known for creating black holes, but the ones created by The Acacia Strain on stage may actually put you in danger of being sucked in.

Sweatfest 08 details

When: 18^th December 2008

Where: Thebarton Theatre

Cost: $32.40 plus booking fee

Licensed: yes

All ages: yes

Tickets from: Venue*Tix

#2 – 25^th January: Declaration World Tour (Between the Buried and Me)

Similar to the last gig, I feel they chose the wrong band to headline this lineup. Bleeding Through are quite popular it’s true, but nothing compares to the perplexing mix of beauty and brutality offered by Between the Buried and Me.

Their 2005 album Alaska is one of my all-time favorite albums, and is well-deserving of a listen if you haven’t already done so. BTBAM are one of those bands that seem to be able to adapt themselves to any style of music; true musicians if you will. This is evidenced by the diversity present in their music.

A unique vocal sound and thrashy riffing dominates most songs, but their forté as far as I’m concerned is their mellow sections. Skip to 3:45 on the video below for an example:

“Selkies: The Endless Obsession” from the 2005 album “Alaska”

Joining the lineup are As Blood Runs Black, who I’m not a huge fan of (although their drummer does posses some incredibly fast feet), and Australians In Trenches, who I have not heard. But for me, BTBAM is all the incentive I need to attend this little ditty.

Declaration World Tour details

When: 25^th January 2009

Where: The Governor Hindmarsh Hotel

Cost: $45.00 plus booking fee

Licensed: yes

All ages: yes

Tickets from: moshtix or STOMP entertainment

#3 – 13^th February: The Parallels Australian Tour (Misery Signals)

Oh my giddy aunt. Where do I start with Misery Signals? This band holds a special place in my heart as I’m sure it does with many others. Their music is a huge inspiration to me and my band, all of whom are huge fans.

Always with a different sound to your run-of-the-mill metal / metalcore releases (and a very strange guitar tone that defies description), Misery Signals create sprawling, epic soundscapes that will send your mind racing with their near-perfect melody and subtle but impressive rhythmic complexity:

“A Certain Death” from the 2008 album “Controller”

These guys are just amazing, so don’t do what I did last time they came and miss out because I hadn’t heard of them before. Supporting acts include The Amity Affliction and Confession, neither of whom I know of, but hey, at under $40 you can’t really go wrong.

The Parallels Tour details

When: 13^th February 2009

Where: Fowlers Live

Cost: $32.40 plus booking fee

Licensed: yes

All ages: yes

Tickets from: Venue*Tix or moshtix

#4 – 28^th February: Soundwave 2009

If I was going to cover Soundwave properly it would take numerous blog posts, but in lieu of this I’ll just provide you with the main bands that interest me this year:

• All That Remains
• Lamb of God
• Unearth
• DevilDriver
• Underoath
• In Flames
• The Dillinger Escape Plan

In roughly that order. There are so many bands playing this year (see here for a full lineup) that there will honestly be something for everyone, even if you don’t like metal at all. Here are some samples for the uneducated:

All That Remains – “This Calling” from the 2006 album “The Fall of Ideals”

Lamb of God – “Laid to Rest” from the 2004 album “Ashes of the Wake”

Unearth – “Zombie Autopilot” from the 2004 album “The Oncoming Storm”

DevilDriver – “Not All Who Wander Are Lost” from the 2007 album “The Last Kind Words”

A couple of years ago I traveled to Melbourne to see Lamb of God and Unearth play with Killswitch Engage. That would probably have been the best show I ever went to, except for the fact that the mosh pit was so cramped that I literally could not move for the entire performance. Needless to say I’m exited to see them again (and hopefully I’ll be able to breathe this time).

Whatever your music taste, check this one out for sure.

Soundwave details

When: 28^th February 2009

Where: Bonython Park

Cost: $135.00 plus booking fee

Licensed: yes

All ages: yes

Tickets from: Ticketek or the Soundwave website

#5 – 15^th March: The Summer Slaughter Tour

Admittedly, this show may not be for everyone. As the tag line “The most extreme tour of the year” suggests, this is likely to be the most extreme tour of the year.

If you can stomach this much death-iness, the two bands to look out for here are Necrophagist – which features one of the best technical metal guitarists in the world (IMHO), Muhammed Suiçmez, and one of my all-time favorite bands, The Faceless.

If the Summer Slaughter DVD is anything to go by, Necrophagist put on an absolutely breathtaking live performance, with amazing musicianship that is rarely equaled in this world. Just check out this teaser clip from said DVD (skip to 2:15 for an example of Suiçmez‘s amazing soloing style):

“Ignominious and Pale” (live) from the “Summer Slaughter” DVD

The drums in Necrophagist are also something special, courtesy of new drummer Romain Goulon:

Goulon playing along to guitar tracks from the 2004 album “Epitaph”

The main reason for my attendance though, will be The Faceless. I fell in love with this band when I heard their debut album Akeldama. The way the band manages to blend so many styles together is breathtaking, and at times bewildering. For me they are (or at least were) at the forefront of the progression of the metal genre.

If I had to choose 10 albums to take to a deserted island, this album would probably still top the list. Here’s a sample of the crazy delights that await the listener:

“Horizons of Chaos 2: Hypocrisy” from the 2006 album “Akeldama”

Joining this already prestigious line-up are Dying Fetus (ewwww), Aborted, and The Red Shore. I can’t help you much with any of those, aside from Aborted, who seem like a fairly standard technical death metal band (to be fair I haven’t given them much time).

The gig is a bit pricey unfortunately, at around the $90 mark once you add booking fees. Still, it’s cheaper than Soundwave, and well worth the pain in the hip pocket if you can afford it.

The Summer Slaughter Tour details

When: 15^th March 2009

Where: Fowlers Live

Cost: $88.50 plus booking fee

Licensed: yes

All ages: yes

Tickets from: Venue*Tix or moshtix

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Great Odin’s raven that was a long article! I got a bit carried away there, sorry. But with so many amazing acts coming to Adelaide this summer, you’d be mad not to check at least one of them out. You’d just better start a swear jar or something to help you afford them all…