Lich King – Whammy Bar February 23, 2018

American thrash metal band Lich King presided over a bill at Auckland’s Whammy Bar that included Silent Torture, Just One Fix and Hidden Intent.

13th Floor photographer Shelley Te Haara was on hand to catch all the action. And when our regularly scheduled reviewer pulled up lame, Shelley stepped up to write down her thoughts on the evening.

It’s a Thursday night and I follow a few people down the stairs into Whammy. This is the ideal venue for a metal gig. With a small intimate crowd gathered and the bulk of the stage lit in red, the gig starts.

Auckland local death metal band Silent Torture got right into it. These guys may be young but they definitely know what their doing. The vocalist Liam took the opportunity in between songs to tell the crowd to “give it up for the bands or just stand there and look weird”. They also let the crowd know that they were a bit different to the other bands but that’s okay. There wasn’t much movement from the band with Whammy being a small stage, there’s not too much they could have done. Silent Torture made it clear they were happy to be there and told the crowd if they wanted to hear more that their music was available on band camp for free so the crowd “didn’t have to worry about paying for it”. The band played a great set with no faults. Liam even got into the crowd during the last song to end the set.

With only a small set change, Just One Fix took the stage. Vocalist Ricardo Ball checked to see how the crowd were doing before also thanking everyone who made the night happen. He also acknowledged that Silent Torture had the hardest job of starting the show. The stalwarts of the NZ metal scene announced they are working on new music and  played their new track Warzone. It was a very good set and you can see why these guys are still around. Their next gig is opening for the mighty Mastodon & Gojira in March.

Next up were the 3 piece from across the ditch. Hidden Intent came over with Lich King to play the show tonight. The Adelaide locals wasted no time getting stuck into their set. The band had a lot of energy, especially vocalist Chris McEwen. Whenever he addressed the crowd he’d change the tone of his voice to something more grunge/metal., almost pirate-like. He told the crowd to put their horns in their and go crazy like it’s the 80’s. Hidden Intent have been here a few times, last playing the iconic Kings Arms Tavern. Chris then addressed the obvious, it’s a week night. “Who has work tomorrow?” Most of the crowd raised their hand, including me. Then they went on to dedicate their song ‘pray for your death’ to everyone’s bosses. It was a great set and as entertaining as the band were during their set, I’d definitely have to say their #1 fan at the front was more engaging. He was clearly feeling everything they were doing and he was so passionate about it. It is definitely a good reminder why people enjoy live music so much.

Finally it was time for the headliners Lich King. Instantly coming in was the new vocalist Zach, screaming “AUCKLAND!”. The 5 piece from Greenfield, Massachusetts let the crowd know it was great to be back and thanked everyone who put the show on. They all had so much energy and encouraged a circle pit, however the crowd that was going hard at the front just continued to do so as not everyone wanted to do a circle pit or mosh.

I didn’t catch the full set but what I did get to see was great. They put on a high-energy metal show and the crowd clearly enjoyed it!

Shelley Te Haara

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