This show had two local acts and two headliners locals Beneath the Heavens and Cephalopod supporting Decortica and New Way Home.

For once I turned up fairly close to doors opening because I wanted to catch Beneath the Heavens and I was glad I did as they delivered a great set to watch. These guys have been gigging frequently around Palmy now for about a year and have impressed the punters with their hard rock metal and progressive meld which shows great promise for the future. I do understand they are soon moving to Wellington, our loss their gain.

I was advised at the door that the singers for both headlining bands had bad throats and tours in the winter can take their toll but they changed the band order for the night so the two headliners played in the middle. I must say that when both these bands hit the stage there was no evidence of sore throats as these guys sung and screamed their hearts and lungs out. Both the bands have quite similar sounds being quite grungy and both seem to have quite a Deftones influence. 

Decortica have been making waves across the country having released three albums to date. All though it’s quite grunge it makes me think a lot of Thirty Seconds To Mars but  they can also get a lot heavier in places making it quite appealing. To me it’s quite emotive rock with big swirling walls of guitar twisting into a tornado crushing all heads in the way.

New Way Home has been together for quite a while now and has played many shows throughout New Zealand. They have released an EP and an album and played shows with some big international names like Meshuggah and Slipknot. These guys have a good solid set and show. Not unlike Decortica they provided giant slabs of guitar that smacked you from side to side and nobody was standing still the whole night.

Last time I saw them was at Capital Punishment in Wellington where they had Brandon Reihana previously of Blindspott as a second guitarist. Unfortunately he is no longer with the band having moved onto the Heavy Metal Ninjas which is a great thing. This hasn’t really affected their strength and aggression and they stalk the stage ready to pounce.

From quiet soundscapes to screaming to the heavens and guitar punches both bands put on an awesome appearance and left the crowd pleading for more. This was an awesome night for lovers of guitar rock and showcased some of New Zealand’s greatest assets our musicians.

To ends the evening local band Cephalopod was there to drag any last drops of energy left out of the seething mass of the pit. I can’t wait to see all of these bands again.

I have said this many a time and will say it again but the calibre of New Zealand musicians and their product is going in leaps and bounds dare I say it thanks to music reality shows giving people the opportunity to show their goods. Although I’m not a big fan of the shows themselves they provide a great stepping stool and confidence boast to our young people and encourage people to get out there and give it a go and to me that’s what New Zealand is all about.

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