I’m always loathe to compare a new bands sound with that of an established, vastly more famous outfit.

People’s perceptions and tastes vary and can rightfully be subject to individual interpretations.

But in saying that, I have to go on the record as saying that local Cairns thrash metal band Odius’ debut E.P, The Immortal One, is a fair blend of early Metallica, Pantera and Slayer. It’s that good.

Talking to guitarist Adam Perrett and vocalist/guitarist Luke Blackburn is a refreshing exercise in humility, with the two aspiring musicians yet to be affected by ego or expectation.

“We haven’t been around too long as Odius,” Adam explained.

“Maybe eight months maximum. It started out with our old band Freebooter, that me and Luke were in but which sort of went South when our drummer moved to Melbourne. Luke and I went to TAFE and while we were there we made contact with Kyle and Tyrone who were a bass player and drummer respectively and we ended up having a few jams that went well so we kept rehearsing.”

“We weren’t even really trying to make anything of it,” Luke continued.

“I mean, we weren’t totally sure that these guys were keen to pursue the thrash dream – but they were – so as we started to rehearse more they slowly started to get into it more and they started throwing some ideas at us which took the pressure off us a bit.”

Having known each other since Grade 3 and playing music together for 10 years, Luke and Adam had a fair idea of where they wanted their music to go from the outset, and were rapt to meet up with like minded musicians.

“We listen to alot of old school metal like the heavier stuff of Metallica, Sepultura, Slayer, Randy Rhodes and Black Sabbath,” Luke said, ” but we also like to listen to modern thrash bands like Havok. We kind of listen to a bunch of old school stuff then to a bunch of the newer stuff and it gives us a combination of the two eras which results in the Odius sound.”

The band has gone from relative unknowns to major players on the local circuit in a short space of time, but it’s something which the boys don’t really spend much time thinking about.

“We don’t think about it at all,” Adam stressed.

“I still think of us as pretty unknown but the more we play the more we have people coming up to us and telling us we are improving every time they see us which I guess shows they’re actually coming to gigs!”

All that is about to hopefully change, with ‘The Immortal One’ set to be officially launched this Friday night at the Balaclava Hotel, and while the band are happy with the final product their heads are still spinning a bit over it’s upcoming release.

“It all happened really quickly,” Adam said. “We planned it all about two weeks before we went in to record it. We knew financially we only had one day to get in there and do what we wanted to do, which was try and get the three songs down which we ended up doing, but it was really pretty quick and pretty crazy.”

“We have enough songs to do an album,” Luke offered, “but we want to get out and do a bit of touring outside of Cairns first and then work our way into the full album.”

With the launch party set to feature fellow local metal band Salacious, as well as Ghosts Over Black River from Townsville, Luke says the band are looking forward to getting on stage and doing what comes naturally which is rock out.

“Mostly we’re just excited to get out and do what we do best which is play live,” he enthused, “but there are a few nerves flying about, I have to be honest.”

“We’re still trying to figure out what’s the best way for us to go about our live shows too, especially in terms of the opening and the closing of our sets. We want to get away from the standard thing we’ve always done which is really just be quick and get into the songs.”

“We want to make more of a show out of it,” Adam added.

“We want to keep coming up with ways to make our sound and performance better.”

And it’s just that attitude which should see them succeed.

Kris Peters

Odius launch ‘The Immortal One’ this Friday night at the Balaclava Hotel supported by Salacious and Ghosts Over Black River. Entry is free, doors open at 7 pm with Salacious up first from 8 pm. The Immortal One can be bought from the gig for $10

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