Prior to Saturday night, it had been five years since the last GigRadar gig, when we saw our favourites As Everything Unfolds support Griever in London. That’s pretty shocking when you consider the name of this blog, but it’s partly due to going on various travels to South America, Asia and Oceania over those five years.
As part of my travels, I’d been really keen to explore new music around the world, discover bands from different countries, and uncover new musical trends and genres. To an extent, we kind of did by chatting to Japan-based band We Carried The Boat when in Kyoto and interviewing Vietnamese band Windrunner in Hanoi. But I’ve really struggled to find many local bands and gigs while exploring the world and, specifically, travelling across New Zealand and Australia for the last four months.
However, that all changed on Friday night (3 May) as I discovered a gig taking place at Perth bar Lynott’s Lounge. The gig saw the return of From The Ruins, who formed in 2002 and released an EP and two albums of straight-up metal-infused hardcore before their final tour in 2006. They returned to Perth alongside three new talents of the city’s hardcore scene, Concrete Bomb, Hysteria and Closed Off!
The gig offered an opportunity to discover a new scene, attend my first gig outside the UK, and enjoy what would undoubtedly be some pretty heavy-duty music. So I paid my $15 (£8) and wandered the 30 minutes from my hotel full of excitement at my first gig in ages. Also, bear in mind I’m very new to all these bands so actual song names will be at a minimum!
Concrete Bomb
Openers Concrete Bomb got proceedings going with quite a reception as some very passionate hardcore lovers utilised moshing skills I’ve never seen before – helicopter-motion arm swinging and pretty aggressive high kicks, led by one very tall guy swinging his long limbs all over the place.
And that reception was well-earned, as Concrete Bomb were absolutely brilliant! The first song got the crowd going before some big low-tuned guitars fed straight into an energetic second. The third track began with big chunky guitars before a flurry of high-pitched guitars fed into a breakneck verse led by frontman Adrian.
The band played several tracks from their debut EP Demo, released in December, which I thoroughly enjoyed listening to in preparation for the gig. That included the fourth track, which I think was Facelift, opening up with a bumbling bassline before launching into a huge opening verse then huge dual screamed vocals. It ended with heavy guitars and cool little guitar flurries, as Adrian passed the microphone down to aforementioned tall guy to scream the vocals.
Their next song highlighted Concrete Bomb’s impressive ability to play the audience. It started with a cool wah-ridden riff, then inviting the crowd to scream the vocals before a guy in a tightly tied-up rainjacket ran on stage for a quick cameo before quickly flying back into the audience. They closed the set in style as heavy vocals and a cool instrumental section sent them into overdrive with vicious guitars and intense vocals.
Concrete Bomb ensured a great start to my first-ever gig outside of the UK. They were loud, fast, highly entertaining and offered great crowd involvement.
Hysteria
I’d already guessed this would be the case, but the tall guy dominating the pit during the opening set turned out to be one of the vocalists from the next band Hysteria. So I was probably within reason to expect these guys to go hard.
And that expectation was proven correct as the other of the band’s dual vocalists introduced himself by stating “Everyone else come forward, we’re a bunch of fucking kids so we’re not that scary” before announcing he wanted the hardcore audience to exceed the emo audience they’d played in front of one week ago.
Hysteria certainly didn’t disappoint, opening up with some huge screams and low-tuned guitars. A wild second track followed, with the second vocalist going a little bit crazy, in an entertaining way. Big low-tuned guitars supported some vicious screams before cool drawn-out guitar chords supported dual screams before a big smash of chunky guitars.
Their third song opened up with one of the vocalists doing a mic drop, before the tall long-haired guy performed some impressively vicious screams over chugging guitars. They also performed tracks from their recent debut EP Demo 2024, which came out in February, including a particularly impressive fourth song that included some powerful open string chords before descending into low-tuned carnage.
The long-haired vocalist had an impressive array of guttural screams, and I particularly enjoyed their penultimate track that began with cool high-pitched guitars then a poking riff under some slightly intense vocals. Next up, the drummer jumped forward to assume lead vocals as the short-haired vocalist took on drum duties on a really cool rhythmic track.
They closed out impressively as the drummer showed off his talents with opening cymbal crashes then dual vocals giving way to crushing guitars. That typified a performance that offered serious energy and intensity, but ended in chaos as the short-haired vocalist handed the mic back to the drummer and the bassist to scream, then fell writing to the floor.
Closed Off!
Next up, Closed Off! were clearly big proponents of opening songs with spoken word / clips from movies. They began in style with big chunky chords, a huge scream then driving guitars supporting intense vocals before some crushing riffs.
They had a little more material to work with, including their 2021 EP Iso Tapes Vol. 2 and a few singles since. A highlight was their third song, which saw a low-tuned guitar give way to a high-pitched riff before a wild smash of guitars and cymbals. That gave way to a cool section of chunky answered by little drum rolls before big screamed vocals.
Also impressive was their fifth song, which opened up with big drawn-out guitar chords feeding into a heavy verse. It featured some seriously nasty chunky guitars and cymbals, before taking a bit of a gothic turn with heavy guitars and a piercing solo giving way to a crushing outro. But it got even better as an awesome intro of low-tuned guitars quickly descended into chaos. Big cymbal hits and a deliciously piercing guitar lick dropped into a wild section of heavy vocals.
Closed Off! took a good gig so far to new levels, including concluding with a vicious combination of heavy bass, rolling drums and powerful guitar chords.
From The Ruins
That set the scene for the “old timers” to live up to an impressive display of what Perth’s new hardcore players were all about. From The Ruins came on stage to Johnny Cash’s God’s Gonna Cut You Down and immediately set about cutting Perth down with an impressive performance.
That began with Reality Check, the opening track from their In Time album that contained big cries of “fuck you.” They backed it up with huge driving riffs the highlight of Lights Out, the opening track of their other album of the same name.
From The Ruins specialise in songs that are short, fast and heavy, as epitomised by fourth song S.F.Y. A particular highlight was Bowing Down, which the frontman told us was about the “25 minutes you get to play a show after working in a shitty job” that was a little more melodic and featured cool riffs alongside big screams before dropping into low-tuned guitars and guttural screams.
They also did a great job with crowd involvement, inviting the hardworking lads in the pit forward to scream the lyrics. That was the case with the next song Know Your Enemy, which featured huge driving riffs and big vocals, then Walls, which took the heaviness notch up a level with big screamed dual vocals, and No Goodbyes.
From The Ruins closed the gig out with Home, the final track of their Lights Out album, that fittingly featured the line “we are family” given the lead singer described the importance of Perth’s hardcore scene being a family. It opened with driving drums and a little riff before delicious chugging chords before huge guttural screams as the crowd piled on top of each other, quite literally, for a chance to scream into the microphone.
This was a great gig featuring four really good bands that were full of energy and music packed with intense vocals, huge riffs and plenty of passion. I had a great time and really enjoyed my first taste of the Boorloo hardcore scene.
Follow From The Ruins on Facebook and Instagram, and check out their music on Spotify and Bandcamp.
Follow Closed Off! on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and check out their music on Spotify and Bandcamp.
Follow Hysteria on Instagram and listen to their music on Spotify and Bandcamp.
And follow Concrete Bomb on Instagram, and check out their music on Spotify, Bandcamp and Apple Music.
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