Antebellum | Fuzzyeti | Glass Throne
17th August 2019
The Dogs Bollix, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Andy Kim.
Auckland is lucky to have a vibrant live music scene that spans across a wide range of genres, and it is important not to take this for granted. One only has to make the effort to brave the discouraging chilly weather and stroll by their local venue to easily find some great local bands to both support and follow. This particular night’s event at The Dog’s Bollix proving to be just that sort of evening as two bands from Tauranga, Antebellum and Fuzzyeti had made the journey up to host a show alongside Glass Throne from Auckland. The three bands each displaying a different take on the traditional power trio for a night of great local rock and metal.
Glass Throne kicked everything off with a handful of upbeat rock songs that had just enough of a dark tinge to them. This even-tempered contrast worked very well, and the band came across as a tight unit. Guitarist Owen McKibbin stood out, exhibiting excellent rounded guitar work with riffs that gelled nicely alongside the rhythm section but that also had enough spice to offer a distinctive counterpart. He additionally had a keyboard set up that he used periodically to add brief moments of sonic variety, further setting him apart as the main melodic element. Bassist and main vocalist Justin Robinson sang with grit and locked in greatly with the other two instruments while Daniel Cutfield’s drumming laid down a firm foundation for the rest of the band to tread on. About three songs in with this style, I assumed that the rest of the set would follow the same sort of sound and would have been perfectly satisfied had that been true.
But then came a guitar solo from McKibbin, which immediately caught my attention with its impressive chops and dynamics. He began soloing in every subsequent song, with his fellow two band members following by very subtly shifting to more of a classic metal sound, with Robinson dipping into more screamed vocal delivery, Cutfield using double kicks to match the intensity. Glass Throne closed their set with ‘Vanity’ the first song they wrote for the project. I learned afterwards that McKibbin and Cutfield usually provide backing vocals but unfortunately were unable to during this particular showcase due to technical limitations, which was disappointing, but only makes me look forward to seeing them again that much more when they can play to their full potential without restrictions.
Up next were Fuzzyeti, whose sound mainly revolved around their guitar player and vocalist Jesse Wiltshire, while the rhythm section provided support. The majority of their set can perhaps be best described as droning ambient rock, with the songs feeling more like drawn out jams that retain a natural feel throughout.
Instead of the conventional approach to writing songs, Wiltshire provided his voice more for colour rather than following the traditional form of having the instruments revolve around the vocal lines. The spaciousness of the songs allowing Wiltshire to at times go wild with the effects, especially his wah pedal, while for the rest of the set he sprinkled in tactful lead lines to pigment each song. Indeed, Wiltshire had the widest range in his tonal palette out of all the performers on the night that he used to great effect to keep the songs engaging.
While for the most part holding the groove down to let Wiltshire do his thing, Brandon Croton also displayed some occasional chordal work on the bass guitar which I personally would have liked to have heard more of; while Jonty Climo’s gentle yet tight beats complimented the band skilfully. On their last song, ‘Barefoot Wanderer’, the band came together with a very distinctive punky and hard-hitting energy especially in Climo’s drumming, which was in stark contrast to prior moments to round off their unique set.
Antebellum, also from Tauranga, closed the night off with a performance of melodic instrumental metal tunes (or as they describe themselves, InstruMetal).The definitive highlight being Daniel Beeler who showcased soaring and atmospheric lead lines as well as tight riffing, while drummer Ash Rolston and Isaac Martin on the bass pounded out a firm rhythmic floor from which Beeler could effectuate from.
While they played one softer tune called ‘Redemption’, for the most part I felt their set suffered a little from the rest of the songs being quite similar to one another. However, this minor setback was firmly offset by Beeler’s superb guitar playing and more importantly Rolston’s infectiously passionate facial expressions throughout their whole set. Antebellum too, honoured the tradition of playing the first song they ever wrote together as a band, ‘Principium’.
Though there were only a handful of a crowd, all three bands played with passion and were well received. While this was Fuzzyeti’s first gig outside of their hometown of Tauranga, Glass Throne and Antebellum can often be found regularly gigging around town, so I encourage everyone to catch these bands the very next chance you get!
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