LIVE REVIEW: Psycroptic + Rivers of Nihil + Growth + SlaughterCult at Manning Bar, Sydney. August 21, 2026
TONIGHT was the second to last date on the Pulse of Annihilation tour, and Sydney was to bear witness once again to the sonic storm that is Psycroptic.
I don’t know how often I’ve seen this band since their journey began, but the number of times they’ve been disappointing is zero.
Sydney brutalists Slaughtercult opened proceedings with appropriate violence. A three-piece assault of disgusting gore-ridden old school death metal full of hammering beats and gurgling, indecipherable vocals, they stirred up the early crowd nicely with future classics like “Steeped in Fungal Discharge” and other choice cuts.
Growth bring a completely different dimension to the evening with angular dissonance, Gojira-like grooves and complex, almost exhaustive arrangements. The stop-on-a-dime time changes and change-ups are impressively executed and Luke Frizon’s vocals cut through the unpredictable twists and turns. The songs are so long they don’t get time for many but the weight of their bewildering mathcore is almost overwhelming.
On their second visit to Australia, Pennsylvanians Rivers of Nihil were a striking contrast to what had preceded them. With a dimension of warmth and musical expansiveness to their roaring progressive death metal, they immediately captured the crowd with the eponymous tune from their self-titled album.
Then they held them there with sweeping arrangements packed into condensed frameworks, catchy choruses and breathtaking musicianship, with Adam Biggs’ Meshuggah-like bass rumble in danger of blowing the Manning Bar’s glass doors out. The first presentation of one of metal’s most unlikeliest scenarios came as Patrick Corona entered, wrestling a saxophone during the jazz-tinged middle section of “The Silent Life”. The Work’s “The Void From Which No Sound Escapes” followed in all its majesty glory and there could be no doubt that we were witnessing something extremely special.
The bulk of the rest of the set was a swathe of their most recent album, with Biggs and guitarist Andy Thomas taking vocal leads at various times while they dazzled with instrumental brilliance, and they rounded out their performance with a spectacular run through “Where Owls Know My Name”. Eight songs was barely enough of what Rivers of Nihil can bring to the table.
Psycroptic are incredible. Twenty five years since they emerged from the Tasmanian wilderness and they are showing absolutely no signs of slowing down. At every show they are 100% on, from the moment they take the stage. The sweep of Joe Haley’s guitar playing and brother Dave’s timekeeping is astounding, combining fearsome technical chops with unshakeable hooks and grooves.
Their attack is relentless. “Architects of Extinction” opens their attack with a relentless ferocity that takes a breather only with the acoustic build into “Cold” four songs later, and then rarely after that. Jason Peppiatt command of the stage is glorious to behold, directing the crowd as his raw shriek cuts across the fury of his band.
It gets tougher and tougher to review Psycroptic because they are simply always excellent. Tonight was no exception – they are a stupendous force of death metal that never fails to deliver.
