Last month Hell Awaits saw to an evening of all things loud and untamed with beloved locals Meat Bikini, Sworf, Salacious, and quick to join the club, Odius. What was witnessed can be summed up in one word – promising.
Hell Awaits established itself an event to mark. and has established this with round two, with Melbourne Glam Metal outfit Sisters Doll to headline the night as they wrap up their east-coast tour. Meat Bikini, Odius, and Salacious were back to show the Melbourne up-comers (pun unashamedly intended) what Cairns is made of.
To be first on the bill along with such guests would be quite a daunting challenge for some. As stated on the previous Hell Awaits review, Meat Bikini had all hands on deck steering pass anything keeping them from belting it out for the love of it! I’m starting to come around to Meat Bikini. Maybe I was entranced in a style of music around the days of the last Hell Awaits, which had me looking at their music from the wrong angle . Meat Bikini’s structures are diverse for old school punk, yanking you from a solid, throttled grunt of Punk chemistry with structural changes that’ll surprise you.
Salacious, currently in studio, caught a chance to breathe and showcase a set to prepare and welcome fans old and new for forthcoming material. The new banners of Salacious took eyes from some of Sisters Doll’s stage décor, and ears with their emancipating growls and soars of dual clean vocals. Last time it was night when Salacious played Hell Awaits – it was great to see better the works between the three guitars, bass, and drums. Again I’m impressed with Peter Bullis’ ability to man the keys and guitar simultaneously, and the band collectively create an atmosphere unlike any (Prog) Metal band I’ve heard. Singing along to Mouth of Madness’ chorus (that epic chorus I wrote of in last Hell Awaits review) with mates got plenty of laughs.
As the sun came down, Odius hit the stage to deliver a viciously tight set of originals with a fan favourite cover of Lamb of God’s Omerta. As always the thrash outfit played their all, but this gig saw Kyle out of his shell and out from the stage, thrashing from an audience perspective. Playing with the headliners gear sometimes isn’t easy, but Odius made up for it bashing through their unabashed repertoire. They did well to keep the crowd in from Salacious’ performance, and all bands warmed up the crowd to a now anxious performance of Sisters Doll.
Fire, smoke, make-up, skulls, candles, and bandanas; these are just a few of the things that make a glam rocker happy. But Sisters Doll were so much more than that! Showmanship is of vital importance when it came to the era of such a glamourised genre, and you cannot deny the present enthusiasm as the trio dance through the set, hopping on the platform on solos, and twirling and throwing drumsticks between accents. Showmanship aside, more could be checked off as the humour and raunchiness of Glam came through in a particular track entitled Old Enough. The music itself was a “loaded gun” true to their aim; the riffs, pick scrapes, solos and harmonies of the guitar sounded of classic progressions expected and welcomed. The driving bass brought forth a power with a tight, cowbell-loving drummer, who all together knew their cues to flawlessly start songs between chit-chats.
After discovering the names of the members, it made all the more sense why bass player Auzy Foxxx had a fox tail tied behind him, singer/guitarist B. Munroe had worn a Marilyn Munroe singlet with her face adorning his Gibson, and Lipz? No clue why the name, yet had amazing control and seamlessly showed off tricks and poses for the camera. Hell Awaits came to an end but not without two covers of Kiss (Which Kayne of Meat Bikini laughed and boasted to having them do), as well as ending the night with Led Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love. The following morning attendees had posted on Facebook about aching necks and such thanks to the gig, and my neck especially for Sisters Doll!
Quick notes for you; Sisters Doll will be back sometime Jan/Feb in Cairns, Salacious are recording a two-part EP (smart move), Odius are almost done mixing and mastering their three-track EP, and Meat Bikini are solid blokes (Didn’t want to leave you out!)
Alex Flower
© Copyright 2024 | NQ Music Press