Church Of Misery
9th October 2018
Whammy! Bar, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review & Photography by Sarah Kidd.
Apostles of the sonic teachings of serial killers and mass murderers delivered by Japan’s own Church of Misery made their way down into the inner sanctum of Whammy! last night; Tuesday becoming the newly anointed day of worship.
Like with any good ceremony, the night began in triptych; three ‘head banging babes who just want to smash stuff’ appearing on stage and leering at the audience as if they were sacrificial lambs. Led by the vocally impressive Donny, Slumbug are boot-wearing, ass-kicking metal banshees who incorporate both punk and a healthy dollop of sludge into their repertoire. While Donny wails, Scruffy on drums is a whirlwind of leather, hair and drumsticks; do not underestimate her talent, she can punish the skins as good as any seasoned pro.
With a track such as ‘Angry Fish Face’ kicking it all off, audience members were soon treated to a set of tunes that embraced everything from drugs to anal … “did you guys want anal?” bassist Sassy enquired with a sly grin; ‘Analstasia’ seeing Donny ‘sacrifice her kidneys’ as she delivered the song with a pitch perfect and well timed shriek throughout. As always, the Slumbug sirens conquered their domain, leaving jaws hanging in the wake of their body-quivering riffs and spit in your eye attitude.
Following close behind lords of the ginger Bloodnut were the second part to this evenings unholy trinity. Recently seen in support of Samsara Blues Experiment, Bloodnut decided to shake things up a bit, hitting the crowd with an unexpected cover of the Aphex Twin track ‘Come to Daddy’; Doug Robertson on guitar seemingly embracing the persona wholeheartedly as he contorted his face while smashing out some killer guitar work. Dipping into their back catalogue ‘Send in the Berserkers First’ was celebrated by their long-standing followers before Bloodnut once again delivered one of their latest (and unreleased) tracks live; ‘Clean Green Yeah Right’ sounding even better second time around.
Inviting Donny of Slumbug back on stage to join them for ‘Burning Bush’ was sublime, both Doug McFarlane’s and Donny’s vocals combining to create a bigger and more voracious beast. Finishing on ‘Space Orangutan’ and the Bloodnut crusaders once again left the stage victorious.
The pledges made, and the metaphorical blood spilled from the veins of those before them, the hour had arrived for Church of Misery to take their rightful place in front of their parishioners who were more than ready to hear their sermon. Formed in Tokyo in 95’ Church of Misery have seen a number of members come and go from their ranks, bassist Tatsu Mikami the only constant member of the purveyors of doom metal.
Appearing tonight Mikami was all hair, flares and arched spine, his four-string bass slung so low that it required him to bow like a willow branch. Surrounding him, the latest Church of Misery line-up; Yasuto Muraki on guitar while delivering shredding solo’s remained almost invisible to the fans under a curtain of pitch black hair while behind him recent permenant addition drummer Junichi Yamamura pounded out the beats, periodically raising one stick in the air to which the fans would respond with howls of delight. Heading the quartet of stoner rock goodness, Hiroyuki Takano; dressed in flesh hugging bell-bottoms, a large talisman around his neck, he immediately laid down some psychedelic musical pathways for the crowd with his work on the Theremin, overlaying it with his own vocal incantations.
As ‘El Padrino’ swirled about the room you could almost imagine the spirit of Adolfo Constanzo the Cuban-American serial killer watching from the shadows, no doubt impressed by this composition inspired by his crimes. Moving swiftly into tales of Ted Bundy and the fans were already baying for more, their hands turned upwards, their fingers clawed, ‘Born to Raise Hell’ sending them into a frenzy of hair and limbs as they moshed to the tale of student nurse killer Richard Speck. While his band members continued to churn, Takano periodically took time out to wander the stage; swigging from a beer he grinned at the audience before declaring that he loved New Zealand. “Arigato!” Takano would cry, the audience repeating it back to him in a sign of mutual respect.
All too soon witching hour approached, our unholy priests needing to take their leave, but not before an encore that saw the Auckland fans give everything they had one last time, the set closing as it had begun with the eerie sounds of Takano and his theremin. Sermon delivered, confessionals completed, Church of Misery disappeared into the night to heed the call of their world order of believers.
Were you there at Whammy! Bar for this magnificent darkened doom metal gig? Or have you seen Church Of Misery perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Church Of Misery Setlist:
- El Padrino
- I, Motherfucker
- Born To Raise Hell
- Brother Bishop
- Killfornia
- Shotgun Boogie
- Blood Sucking Freak
Bloodnut Setlist:
- Come To Daddy [Aphex Twin cover]
- Send In The Berserkers First
- Clean Green Yeah Right
- Burning Bush (feat. Donny of Slumbug)
- Space Orangutan
Slumbug Setlist:
- Angry Fish Face
- Lord Of The Dickheads
- Selfish Living
- Analstasia
- Lies
- Phlegm
- Niu Niu
- Lucy’s Hate Song
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