Gig review: Katatonia + Flaming Wrekage + Evocatus at the Metro, Sydney

Live review: Katatonia, Flaming Wrekage and Evocatus at the Metro Theatre, Sydney, Friday, February 9 2024

By BRIAN GIFFIN

IT’S been eight long years since Katatonia last graced mainland Australia with their presence and it seemed that even the absence of Anders Nyström wasn’t about to keep the fans away. Indeed this was another close-to-capacity outing at the beginning of what is a veritable flood of tours through Australia for the next few months, so it still remains to be seen if this level of attendance can be kept up.

Opening the night were Hunter Valley Vikings Evocatus with a strong set of epic battle metal. The guitars were inaudible for fully the first two songs, and they never really got great sound but Nich Shields’ strong stage presence and the band’s stirring melodies won the crowd over when they shone through the washing-machine mix. The late-set appeal to the crowd to get down on the floor and row, Amon Amarth style, got at least a couple of dozen punters to comply. Meanwhile, I was waiting for Shields to start brandishing the sword or the horn he was wearing on his hip, but, alas, he never did. They definitely deserve a better mix than they got here this evening.

A tight change-over brought Flaming Wrekage to the stage for a no-nonsense performance of take-no-prisoners metal. With a trio of warm-up shows behind them to launch their latest single, Flaming Wrekage delivered death-tinged, groove-laden thrash with cut-throat precision, lead guitarist Justin Humphry head banging wildly, his mop of hair making him look from the other side of the room like a young Mustaine. Unlike the unfortunate Evocatus, Wrekage sounded full, heavy and aggressive, their blazing set coming to an end with the forceful new single “Witch Hunt” and a promise of more to come. Flaming Wrekage have been haunting the shadows for a while now; maybe the time has come for them to step out.

It wasn’t too much longer before the lights went down and the cheers went up as Katatonia made their entrance. Nyström’s absence from the band has been so low-key it felt like a surprise that he wasn’t there, but his presence was definitely missed at first with “Austerity” and “Colossal Shade” drowning under the weight of Niklas Sandin’s bass.

“Dead Letters” gives way to the hauntingly quiet intro of “Opaline” – a woman beside me leans over to two girls who are laughing loudly for some reason and snarls at them to shut up – and the crystalline melodies serve as a balm for the crushing waves of heaviness that come with “Forsaker” and “Buildings”. 

Late in the set and “Birds” injects some driving energy into proceedings and by now it’s like they are no longer missing a piece. Jonas Renkse peers out from behind his mass of hair to ask if we’re having fun at least a dozen times. For a band so mired in melancholy they are clearly enjoying themselves, Rog Öjersson smiling broadly each time he stepped forward to add vocals or step into a lead break. The crowd swayed, heads banging, to the dark heaviness evoked; into the encore and Katatonia seems re-energised. “Behind the Blood” is met with a massive roar but then “My Twin” unfurls its seismic monstrosity across the Metro. With “Evidence” shaking the room, the night is sealed. Katatonia had returned, and even without Blakkheim, they reminded us all of their sullen majesty.

Image: Fiona McDonald