By Lou Mitchell

Artist: The Black Dahlia Murder

Date / Venue: Wednesday June 24th, 2015 - Kings Arms, Auckland

Chaos Promotions delivered another evening of punishing metal to us last night, and it was a marvellous way to heat up our cold, chilly souls. There were four bands on the bill, and the night started with Setentia. This is a big band, with six artists squished on to a condensed Kings Arms stage. Setentia gave us a set of demon and doom flavoured blackness, rarking up the slowly growing crowd.

Seasons came next, with their breed of dark, sinister scream prog. This band was very tight, and as their set progressed I noticed more and more just how damn groovey they were. An instrumental break let loose some vivid and precise progressive exploration.

Carnal didn't have the best night, with amp and drum issues eating in to their performance time, making it a really short set of just a few songs. They dealt with it really well, and from what I heard, a longer set would have been brutal, they had a great stage presence and the sound was great from up the front.

It was time for The Black Dahlia Murder, and they took to the stage in such a humble way, it was apparent straight away that they were here with the crowd. This band was so energetic, playful and chatty and this made for a gig that was really interactive and fun. Especially if you were wearing Hi-Viz. Their music was tight and polished, and it was such a contrast going seamlessly between jokes about bartenders needing arms, to smashing us with so much relentless intensity it was like being attacked by a crow.

It was a fun gig, and I was sad to have to leave just before the end. As I was walking up the road I had to smile though, at the Blanket of Brutality that was wrapped over Newton, I've never heard music sneak out of the Kings Arms so loud!