Live Review: Bastardfest 2012

The premier billing for Australian extreme bands, the annual Bastardfest is back for year number three. Continuing the incremental growth that's followed the festival through its first two years, this time around the black-shirted masses are converging upon The Hi-Fi in West End in the late afternoon.

Thrash'n'groovers Magnertron really kick things off with their short set. Locals Idylls showcase one of the most furious rhythm sections our city has to offer, their set of extreme noise-punk seems to win over the curious onlookers. With a sound dextrous enough to fit with metal or hardcore bands, Canberra's I Exist seem to be on every extreme bill that rolls through town. All that practice has made their idiosyncratic approximation of sludge sound pretty lethal. Locking into a monolithic groove quickly, the band's time on the main stage is a treat. If you ever find yourself wondering what homicidal-looking Mormons are doing playing a concert, you're probably witnessing the goregrind slaughter of Fuck… I'm Dead. Tonight the Melbourne four-piece are killing it, bringing pride to their blood-covered aprons and white shirt-black tie combos. Working with new material, King Parrot's grind-flavoured thrash stands out as unique addition to the bill.

Having played the festival since its inception, Blood Duster are sort of like the crown princes of bastardry at Bastardfest. It's a position the Victorian five-piece seem to relish too; vocalist Tone Bone appears to be hammered and keeps spitting beer across the crowd and bassist Jason PC is on the mic between songs givin' everybody a piece of his mind. It's all in good fun though, and the new material that finds its way into the set is some of the most exciting stuff played tonight at the festival. When is that new album coming out by the way fellas?

Local death metal crew Defamer are sandwiched between two extreme metal greats. It's an unenviable position, but the band's nuanced, atmospheric death metal garners a big response from the crowd. If Duster are the crown princes of Bastardfest, Tasmania's Pyscroptic are the undisputed kings of Australian extreme metal. Their headlining slot tonight doesn't give them much time on stage, so the band immediately set about working the room. Vocal Jason Peppiatt bounds across the stage, holding the audience's focus while Joe Haley's incendiary riffs burn through the PA.

Though the set times don't give bands much room to breathe, especially those playing the second 'stage', the third Bastardfest is another resounding success as an introduction, or re-introduction, to some of Australia's finest extreme bands. Filing out of The Hi-Fi with ringing ears and a sore neck, one can't help but think, 'bring on Bastardfest number four in 2013!'.