Live Review: Raised Fist, Arteries, Life's Ill

Western Sydney belters Life's Ill churn out a no-nonsense style of hardcore that thankfully will never go out of fashion. The boys chugged their way through a tight 30-minute set culled from their Constant Struggle EP (check it out) and 2014 demo to start the night off with an appropriate dose of aggression.

The off-kilter, post-metalcore stylings of Sydney locals Arteries were always an odd choice to support Raised Fist. Matters weren't helped by an unfortunate mix that left riffs sounding like pea soup and vocalist Brendan Dafter literally without voice for the first few songs. Things did pick up, however, and the band ended their set on a sonic high.

Raised Fist were a taut ball of anger ready to explode. We didn't have to wait long for the conflagration either, as moments into set during opener Sound Of The Republic the overheated Swedes were sweating as if they'd just spent an eternity on stage. Over the next hour or so the boys romped through their impressive back catalogue of hard-as-nails hardcore (such as You Ignore Them All and Friends And Traitors) mixed with the absolute highlights of the superlative From The North platter. While introducing Until The End, vocalist Alexander 'Alle' Hagman gave us a guarantee that Raised Fist will never change, saying they're in this until the end. And we believe them, if this explosive performance is anything to go by. Raised Fist obviously live and breathe hardcore culture every single day of their lives.