Gig Review: Astrodeath + Red Bee + Mountain Wizard Death Cult + Celestial Oath at the Baroque Room, Katoomba

Live review: Astrodeath, Red Bee, Mountain Wizard Death Cult and Celestial Oath at the Baroque Room, Katoomba, June 2, 2023

By BRIAN GIFFIN

WINTER has a tendency to keep punter numbers down at the top of the mountains, but tonight’s show at Katoomba’s Baroque Room offered plenty to warm up the crowd. Sydney riff mongers Astrodeath had chosen tonight to kick off their national album launch tour and had invited a few mates along to help out.

Lithgow three-piece Celestial Oath are up early. The last couple of times I’ve seen this band they’ve all been shirtless for some reason but this evening only the bass player Tom Hine was brave enough for that caper. Fundamentally a jam band, Celestial Oath exude good vibes with their fat riffing psychedelic stoner grooves rolling across the room, vocals occasionally intruding on extended soloing and long instrumental movements. They finish off with the lively “The Devil’s Saxophone” and the promise of a long-awaited album to surface soon.

Mountain Wizard Death Cult weave sludge, doom, post-metal and drone into long, mesmerising jams perfect for a long, cold winter evening. Each song rising slowly from some primordial ooze through a single discordant note or twisted riff, they expand into expansive ebb and flow passages, clattering drums behind a hypnotic riff, then a dark groove comes in and JJ Brady adds a bloodcurdling element with shrieking vocals and a couple of piercing screams that rattle the glass in the chandelier that hangs above the room’s 1920s ballroom floor. Guitarist Chris Chaplin busting a string didn’t put a dent in their set; the rhythm section just locked into a long groove until he came racing back on to finish the song. It was another stunning set of dark and mystical esoteric metal from MWDC.

Next up were hometown heroes Red Bee, exploding onto the stage in a whirlwind of constant energy that barely stops for the entirety of their set. Red Bee’s music stands out in stark contrast to the rest of the bands tonight as riffs and drum beats rain down in a frenzy. Out front the Silk brothers are a blur of moment, pausing only for Dan to introduce a track ahead of another barrage of time-signature defying technical wizardry, or talk the crowd through how they should go off to it. Epic multi-directional instrumental “Angelo’s School of Arms” was unleashed for what they said might the last ever time and dark new track “Gutter Christ” points toward what might be expected when the album finally surfaces. Red Bee never disappoint and their quirky, jittery compositions were well received once again this evening.

It was Astrodeath’s night, however, and they weren’t about to let anyone forget it. For a band of just two guys that make a hell of a noise, Yoshi pounding his kit into total submission as Tim bellows into the mic while tearing out riff after riff. Tired of that riff? Here’s another one that’s just as good, or better, now another – then another. Now there’s an earthmoving groove and is that a splash of melody somehow? The room erupts as the band work through their new album track by track, in its entirety. “Celestial Blood” has a riff to kill for and a huge chorus that resounds around the room. “Invasion” is angry and urgent, meaningful and punishing. With the album done, they pull out a few more favourites. Most of the crowd joins them on stage as they tear through “Children of the Grave,” with Lachlan from MWDC joining Yoshi on drums; when it’s down to the two of them again, they close with an enormous version of “Relentless Brutality” that no one seems to want to let come to end. Finally, the hour-long barrage is over and Astrodeath have once again proved themselves as rifflords of incredible power and quality, capping off a stellar night of guitar-driven mayhem and kicking off their tour in style.