Gig Review: Napalm Death + Wormrot + 12Gauge Rampage at Factory Theatre, Sydney

Live review: Napalm Death, Wormrot and 12 Gauge Rampage, Factory Theatre, Sydney, Friday, September 8 2023

By BRIAN GIFFIN
IMAGES: ROD HUNT, BRENDAN DELAVERE

NAPALM Death. Both the first and the last word in grindcore, and tonight in front of 800 at the Factory, they were about to prove why, after more than 40 years, they are still that.

With the volume and bass distortion turned up past “Lemmy” and into the realm of “Aaarrgghh!” Lithgow’s 12Gauge Rampage took to the stage. Unloading both barrels at the crowd, the hillbilly brutalists fired off favourites like “#killedmorecuntsthanCOVID”, “Breathe In Bleed Out”, “Your Mate” and more, having a ripper of a time while doing so. To the uninitiated, they probably came across like a ceaseless array of blasting drums and unintelligible vocals that sound like demented farmyard noises, but it’s fair to say there weren’t many of them here tonight and the steadily-growing crowd got into it.

Last here supporting Obituary a couple of years back, Singaporean grind cult Wormrot then took over. In contrast to 12 Gauge’s guitar-less death-flavoured assault, Wormrot’s pulverisation is a more pure grindcore attack. Vijesh Gharlwala’s drumming steers the band’s over-driven guitar violence with flair and swing without relying on the previous act’s endless blastbeat apocalypse. Newly minted vocalist Gabriel Dubko carries off the material with a casual air as Rasyid rabidly punishes his guitar to the point where it doesn’t even obey him after the first couple of songs. Back on track after a minute or so, Wormrot hurl themselves through a set that moves through bursts of sheer grind chaos, looser, punkier moments and even some groove here and there.

In the end, though, tonight was all about Napalm Death. With Danny Herrera laying down an endless array of complicated patterns and rhythms and John Cooke tearing out ferocious and crushing riffs, the godfathers of grind beset the crowd. Moving in circles in something halfway between a demented stagger and stalking angrily, the apparently ageless Barney Greenway bellows with a fury that loses none of its potency or rage for the falsehoods, hypocrisies, lies and injustices his band expose. Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism is the focus tonight but “Narcissus” from last year’s EP opens the show. By the time of “Contagion” the crowd is going stupid but that’s nothing compared to when Barney introduces “Scum” and chaos ensues. “Amoral” sets a bleaker tone but “Suffer the Children” sets the pit ablaze and starts a small avalanche of divers and surfers that lasts until the end of the set. “You Suffer” makes a blink-and-you-missed-it appearance ahead of the anti-capitalist crusher “Smash a Single Digit” and 800 voices shout “Nazi Punks Fuck Off!” in unison before “Siege of Power” brings the set to a thunderous conclusion.

Only pausing long enough between songs for Barney to make an observation, entreat us to vote “Yes” or dump on Pauline Hanson, Napalm Death were a relentlessly brutal onslaught of sonic ferocity and devastation, timeless, tireless and still insurmountable. We can only hope it’s not six years before they crush us all once again.