Live Review: Katatonia, Flaming Wrekage, Evocatus @ Metro Theatre

Contrast can be a great thing on a metal bill, and whoever was planning the support acts to Swedish masters of the depressingly (yet gloriously) melancholy Katatonia knew what they were doing.

Hunter locals Evocatus combined trad/true metal pomp with a good dose of thrash metal to deliver an energetic and well-received opening set. Chugging through material from their duo of battle/history/Norse mythology-themed LPs, the boys even managed to have a chunk of the growing crowd sitting on the floor and mimicking (presumably) Norse warriors rowing a dragon ship.

A little odd, admittedly, but it was a spectacle. The original evocati were veterans who had served out their time in the Roman army – let’s hope these guys are closer to the beginning of their career than the end.

Flaming Wrekage were anything but as they stormed through a razor-sharp set that blended thrash and melo-death flourishes that would make any number of Gothenburg outfits blush with pride.

Barely taking time to come up for air in a rapid-fire outing, the Sydney locals crowned their set with a mighty rendition of a new single, Witch Hunt, a blackened thrash goliath that sent the crowd into an appropriate frenzy. If you haven’t checked out Flaming Wrekage yet, they have a solid back catalogue and are well worth your time and, of course, your money.

Unfortunately, Katatonia started their first headlining tour of Australia in some eight years not with a resounding bang but with a concerning whimper. The opening one-two punch of Austerity and Colossal Shade from their latest LP, Sky Void Of Stars, was completely lost under a wet blanket of bass (at least from where I was standing).

Touring as a four-piece with main man Anders Nyström back at home, the loss of the second guitar was keenly felt throughout the set, even during stone-cold classics like July and Forsaker, both of which make you bang your head by sheer force of will alone. Despite this, the sound did improve, and Katatonia pulled off an emotive and well-structured set that pleased an audience clearly starved of their presence on our shores.

It’s testament to the strength of the Swedes’ songwriting that they could deliver a set that leant exceedingly heavily on recent records, including five songs from the latest album and four from Dead End Kings, and still get a rapturous reception. In particular, the driving Birds and the changing shades of Old Heart Falls were particularly well received, while Opaline, with its haunting melodies, provided the perfect respite from the relentless heaviness of the band’s output.  

Despite the sound gremlins, technically, the band played exceedingly well with their heavy touring schedule, leaving them as a well-oiled machine. Quietly spoken front-man Jonas Renske, who hid behind his own Cousin Itt hairstyle for much of the night, was note-perfect and clearly enjoyed himself despite the absence of his co-conspirator Anders Nyström. The rest of the band didn’t miss a step all evening, making some pretty complex material seem effortless and ethereal.

By encore time, the crowd didn’t care that the quartet hadn’t bothered to play anything from the first half of their career (by my reckoning, they only went as far back as 2003’s Viva Emptiness and even then only for one track) or that Nyström was M.I.A. With Behind The Blood, the mammoth My Twin and the obligatory closer Evidence, the kings had retained their throne in the minds of the sated faithful. 

Given the seeming turmoil in the band’s ranks right now, who knows what the future holds for Katatonia? The creativity is still there, and even though the band is basically a Jonas Renske solo project at this stage, they clearly have something to say. Hopefully, we don’t have to wait another eight years to see them return to Australia.