Review and photography: Nate Rose
Municipal Waste a band synonymous with beer, battle jackets and Thrash and I can tell you the beer drinking, battle jacket clad punters were out in force tonight and more than ready for a thrashing. The vibes are high and you just know it’s going to be a good night.
Kicking things off are Brisbane locals Western Pleasure with their unhinged hardcore style. It is a good mix of old Swedish hardcore with a bit of punk violence thrown in. All members have decades of experience between them playing in various bands prior with the likes of threefounddead, Fail Safe and Whitehorse to name a few and tonight’s set the guys leave no prisoners. It’s a high energy set drawing songs from the recently released EP ‘Rats Nest Archeology’ as well as their 2022 Self Titled Album. This was my first time catching these guys and I was impressed, I highly recommend checking them out.
Up next are Cryptivore, a band I’m not too familiar with but has a familiar face on guitar in Chris ‘Crispy’ Anning of legendary Brisbane band From the Wounds fame. These guys are relentless from the get go with syncopated leads heading off their set of old school death and grindcore. Vocalist Taylor Burnett’s growl is from the depths of hell in opener ‘Solemn Desolation’.
“Cheers for coming out on a school night.” Taylor says to the crowd before ‘Cocoon Hecatomb’ off of their 2022 album Celestial Extinction. The crowd are also enjoying what they’re hearing with constant cheers of ‘fuck yeah’ coming from the pit. “Don’t get too excited we only have two left” Taylor engages the crowd once more before crushing our faces with ‘Vault of Obscurity’ and ‘Ethereal Deceased’ to close out a more than enjoyable set.
Now it’s time for the big guns. Municipal Waste enter the stage to an intro that sounds like it could be from the Toxic Avenger and waste no time Thrashing straight into opener ‘The Executioner’ and right from that opening note ensues a non stop Thrash party. “We are Municipal Waste from Richmond, Virginia” Vocalist Tony Foresta screams at the crowd as guitarists Ryan Waste and Nick Poulos shred into ‘Breathe Grease’.
Municipal Waste cover all bases tonight playing a bit of everything from their extensive discography tearing through tracks like ‘You’re Cut Off’ ‘Beer Pressure’ and ‘Substitute Creature’ which was dedicated to former drummer Brendon Ferrell who passed away in 2016.
It’s been ten long years since Municipal Waste have graced our shores and the battle vest clad crowd laps up every second they can to make up for the long wait between visits. Brisbane especially holds a special place with the band as it was the first Australian city they ever played and got wasted in as frontman Tony informs us.
With the smell of weed in the air, the crowd step things up and shit starts to get wild, stage divers, crowd surfers, bins and chairs all end up flying around the packed room, security definitely had their work cut out for them tonight.With the energy high all around, the band lose track of where they are in the set and start taking crowd requests. Smashing out ‘Unleash the Bastards’ for the guy up front who’s been holding the same beer can all night.
Municipal Waste came to Fuck shit up and thats exactly what they did.
The guys finish out the night throwing a bin into the raucous crowd and thrash into ‘Born to Party’ as crowd surfer after crowd surfer goes over the barrier and after a short break return for their encore ‘Demoralizer’ to close an epic night.
This being my first time finally seeing these guys, I’ve got a smile from ear to ear as does the rest of the crowd as they leave the venue bloodied and sweaty. What a party.
MUNICIPAL WASTE ‘’Wasted’’ July 2024 Australian Tour
Friday 12th July – ADELAIDE, Lion Arts Factory with Stabbitha & The Knifey Wifeys and Bone Reaper
Saturday 13th July – PERTH, The Rosemount Hotel with Gaoled, Sooks and Turd
Tickets available from: www.troubadourpresents.com
– Gallery –
