yeah nah, melbourne has some good acts but nothing even close to the early 90's - mid 2000's apart from Ignivomous, Inverloch and Nocturnal Graves


Brisbane is where its at these days, i mean bands like Invocation, Impetuous Ritual, Grave Upheaval, Paraoxymal Descent, Spire, Portal (well i guess all these bands are related as they are all connected to portal in one way or another member wise) then Spear of Longinus, Carbon, Winterfallen, Catacomb, Misery etc....

As far as I'm concerned, the best bands from Australia are:

- Fuck...I'm Dead
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RrI2muRPX8
- Alchemist
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tawhVKHeBIo
- (early) Blood Duster
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1agd_gQuULI
- Abyssic Hate
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vv-VjKfw6ao
- (Chalky era) Psycroptic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Xg9EyzB9Mo
- Damaged
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQzPiS5tdQg
- Cauldron Black Ram
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXkRfyE7yOw
- (When they were from here) Destroyer 666
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ax7cdHiZ010
- (early) The Berzerker
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gqVVQ-q8Zs
- Mortal Sin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewT4xR6awsA
- (early) Mortification
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmuxmtiK06o
- Reverend Kriss Hades
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5v4dPP6xg0
- The Kill
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3aQ0VJd1zI
- Super Fun Happy Slide
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lb7lcMGaz0A
- Captain Cleanoff
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnnkFcLlO2A
- Segression
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSduZ8HkrXE
- Hobbs Angel Of Death
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RXc6QvVgw8
- The Furor
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOL1-wdnT6Q
- Intense Hammer Rage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojXFeMeehds
- Nothing Sacred
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tD9naQ6L-eo
- Striborg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1CW-DBggKE

Terrible band after the 2nd album. And that's possibly the gayest album cover ever conceived.

I happen to think that may be the greatest album cover I've ever seen.

Not sure if they've already been mentioned yet, or whether or not they're still obscure enough to be considered underground, but Ne Obliviscaris is one of the best things to happen to progressive, technical, melodic death metal, heavy metal music as a whole, and music in general since death metal became a thing.

That Mortification cover just made my day. Disregarding the actual lyrics for a moment, I must say that some of the titles on that album seem hilariously appropriate - "Elasticised Outrage", "I'm Not Confused", "Alexander the Metalworker". Hmmm.

I was waiting for someone to mention NeO (as the cool kids - and those who can't pronounce the band name properly) call them down here; not sure I'd describe them as death metal though. Can't decide whether or not I like them, to be honest, but they're certainly a band worth checking out.

bah, leave the hall. Overwraught shite - you should definitely decide they are a band appealing to teenagers only

(its no secret I cant stand them)

I actually did fall asleep the last time I saw them play, at SonicForge (though that was more a reflection of my tiredness than the quality of their music)...

They are one of those bands who seem to inspire either absolute devotion (as among many of my friends) or virulent hatred among metalheads here in Melbourne; mentioning them at any local gathering is pretty much an atmosphere-killer right now, guaranteed to start a dispute of sorts. I find that kind of reaction quite interesting; there's always a band like that around, it seems.

What makes them so polarising? I mean, I understand that everyone has their tastes and that's fine, but apart from Charles' violin and (in my opinion) beautiful cleans, there isn't much there that won't please anyone who holds a particular enjoyment for progressive, technical, and/or melodic death metal. :/

Maybe the violin and cleans are the point of contention?

Honestly, I wonder about that myself. I think it might be more a case of people reacting to others' views than to the music itself; one side thinks the other's response is disproportionate, unfair, etc.

Though I have heard several people who dislike the band's sound saying that they find it too cold and technical, especially live, and that they don't like the worshipful aura the band and its fans seem to project. I'm not sure how fair that is; it's just not really the kind of music that interests me, though I can see why people like it.

did the frenchie ever get deported? back in the metalshop.com.au days there was a petition to have him deported hahaha

It's not so much the music, it's the way they used to carry on, big-noting themselves on every forum around. there is a "way things are done" among australian musicians and they bypassed that, which was interpreted as a lack of humility/respect. They have toned that down now, but they made themselves a lot of enemies among the older crowd, and I think it's interesting to note that the lineup on the gigs they play is comprised of all very young bands - they burnt their bridges with pretty much all of the established or older bands. Have you ever noticed that nobody over 30 rates them very highly? Maybe it's a generational thing and they were the first Australian band to leverage their success primarily on social networking and forums, which put the older people off-side. Either way, the music while being a terrible candy-floss, emasculated version of "extreme metal" is not the problem really - there are plenty of bands I dont like but dont go out of my way to comment on. It's the hype.

You also have to bear in mind that most of the people who really hate them are GOTH/Bestial Warlust/D666/Vomitor etc fans who loathe "progressive, technical, and/or melodic death metal" in the first place haha.

Yeah, all of that makes a lot of sense. It's interesting to get that perspective on the local scene. It's certainly true that most people who dislike them tend to be of that demographic; apart from the age (I'm a few years younger), I myself prefer the bands you mention^, though I tend to go to gigs of all kinds.

From the perspective of an audience member who doesn't play in a band, it does seem that NeO have had a really quick rise to their level of fame, especially internationally; they've only released one demo and one full-length, and there isn't that same interaction with people at gigs etc as there is with almost every other local band. I mean, going to a gig here, you're very likely to see someone from the band manning the merch stand, having a drink at the bar with everyone, happy to shake hands and exchange a quick word after a show - I've never really seen the NeO guys do that; at Sonic Forge (for anyone who doesn't know - big local festival, mostly for the less extreme/underground bands), they were pretty much the only band that you didn't see catching others' sets or just being part of the crowd. Hmmm. Ah, well. Takes all sorts, I suppose.

Arch daemon is from Australia, I actually know the guy behind this one man project, and I have the full demo with two more songs that arent on the page if anyone wanted to hear them

http://archdaemon.bandcamp.com/

Has anyone here heard of Cicadan?
He may not be based in Australia anymore, he's very good, and he plays a style of Black Metal that's very similar to WitTR.

Yeah, hehe; I kinda know the guy (friend of a friend, knew the same people at uni). He's definitely still mostly based in Australia - he tends to go back and forth between here and the States, I think, but he's around Victoria a lot of the time. Cool dude.

Yeah, I was talking to him via email and he told me most of his tapes went quick while he was in the States, I just assumed it was a permanent move.

I came across this artist called Nontinuum. Strange that I didn't find any mention of him on this thread so I'm leaving this here for you guys.
http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Non ... 3540316182

I'm currently listening to this track and planning to get his latest 2012 album soon. The stuff I linked is quite mid-tempo paced ambient black metal. Good music to put on while you're getting work done.

Arkheth are an epic black band I enjoyed quite alot, especially their second album, though like Elysian Blaze this is a huge two disc release but well worth a listen.

http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Arkheth/15548

They did headline some progresive rock festival/tour thing last year around the time Portal I came out. Forget the name of it, but I do recall them being the only metal name on the bill.

Also, for those into raw black metal, you could do worse than check this out.

Edit - Here's the Ne Oblivisacaris tour I was talking about. The line up really sickening.

You couldn't do worse within Australia as Entsetzlich is fucking garbage and after an email exchange 8 months ago I know the guy behind it is an idiot.

"Regarding Satanism, I see it as a bandwagon that I don't want to jump onto. Majority of Black Metal bands seem to attach themselves to it, without any real knowledge of it, whether it be Levay's version of satanism, or the traditional goat worship style, personally I try to distance myself from it altogether."

"I'm on a European label and most of my releases are ultra limited tape runs. Why am I so unknown within my own country?"

You could listen to Nontinuum, or you could just listen to the first Woods of Desolation album since Nontinuum sounds exactly like it, only less interesting. Walked out on them during their first live show as it was even more boring than the demo.

thats the most horrid thing i have ever heard, no offence its just my opinion! but ....come on

Katabasis is pretty good. They remind me a bit of old Opeth.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emuKfJxdy2s

good band managed to see them live twice

I still own this obscure split between Dark Dominion and Secratain called 'Bound In Blasphemy', which is coincidentally the only thing that either band ever released. Now, the Secratain side contains completely forgettable cookie cutter black metal with poor production of Impaled Moonforest-like proportions, but I always found the Dark Dominion side a surprisingly good collection of atmospheric black metal with acoustic guitars. It's by no means a must-have, but I've always liked it and it appears that it has been overlooked by pretty much everyone.

it was mentioned only once, so I want to second for MARTIRE.
Awesome album in 2012 - Brutal Legions of the Apocalypse. Absolute Killer!

I like that split, I've been meaning to track down a physical copy at some point.

The various members of Secratain went on to so many excellent bands (DTL, Nazxul, Pestilential Shadows, Baal Gadrial, Baratheon, others) but Secratain itself never had their time to shine, personally I like horrible production values in black metal so long as it gives the song more character.

They were pretty good live too, apparently.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cD_FgAl85PY

Indeed it is a great split, and both bands featured were awesome live, as I've witnessed both.

anyone a fan of weird metal should check out this band a band just coming onto the scene and everyone seems to like

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45dmxZGIaXo

i just tripped over an oz band called volkmar the other day, wicked stuff, everything from electro-industrial/dark gothic stuff to mid paced thrash to almost death metal
they totally remind me of atrocity or therion
they aren't listed here...

the album i got was blessed sins, i've not heard anything else they've done though
check out 'eyes sewn shut' [if you want to] the rest of what's on their myspace page isn't that cool, meh, i like this album i have here
http://www.myspace.com/volkmarsins

and for if your wanting some tech, prog with your death theres Midland...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqutRvRE32M