Sinsaenum
11th November 2018
Whammy! Bar, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Cameron Miller. Photography by Matt Henry Mendonca.
Experience has taught me to be wary of supergroups. It’s such a cool idea – musicians already known for their own work or work in other groups, coming together like Power Rangers to make a musical Megazord. Sadly, most of these behemoths end up over-promising and under-delivering. Too often the mixture of different elements comes out watered down rather than explosive. International outfit Sinsaenum, featuring members of Slipknot, Dragonforce, Chimaira, and a dozen other bands between them, had me struggling to keep an open mind. Especially given that these musicians of such wildly varying pedigree were together making death metal that, while researching, struck me as rather by-the-numbers. By the end of last night’s triple bill, I’m happy to say my scepticism was erased.
People, if you’re ever going along to a touring metal show, get there in time for the local openers. Auckland death metallers Silent Torture are always, always worth showing up early for. They seemingly pop up on every second metal bill you see floating around the capital, and the sheer hours of stage time have given them a level of polish to put most underground opening slots to shame. Little elements of finesse make Silent Torture a joy to watch, like the snappy drum-fill transitions, the tempo shifts and breakdowns, the sole little cymbal tap before the blast beat rushes in. Liam Hand is a versatile vocalist, moving swiftly between shrieks, roars and gurgles, and at one point impressively moving note for note with the riff in a rapid-fire growl. Most importantly, god-damn these guys can write a riff. They showed off a couple of songs from their new EP, including the gloriously named title track, “Phallic Self-Mastication.” The new material showed encouraging growth, staying purely death metal while adding more variation in song structure. See them.
Sometimes bands don’t deserve their audience. Wellington’s Bulletbelt deserved a better one. Frontman Scott Spatcher Harrison pulled out all the stops to impart the band’s furious energy into the crowd, but it only really stuck for the last couple of songs. Face painted, snarling mouth dripping black gunk, Harrison embraced all the campiest black metal theatrics, and was a treat to watch. Meanwhile Bulletbelt’s brand of blackened thrash was tightly knit, frenetically paced, and impeccably performed. The mix wasn’t quite right for the first couple of songs, muddling Josh O’Brien’s and Ross Mallon’s guitars. This was a real shame as one of the delights of Bulletbelt is the interweaving of the two, galloping together across the riffs or one holding the line while the other embarks on a solo. Once the mix was sorted, they sounded immeasurably better. Despite the issues out of their hands, Bulletbelt determinedly put on a great show. Hopefully next time they’re in town they’ll get the reception they deserve.
By the time Bulletbelt were packing up, it was clear we had a disappointing turnout. Sinsaenum have been performing to crowds in quadruple digits, and here we had double digits on a rainy Sunday in an underground bar. You wouldn’t know it from the way they kicked off the set, though. It almost seemed unfair – this kind of metal felt like it belonged in a stadium. The professionalism and power were immediately obvious.
Did I say Sinsaenum were by-the-numbers? Perhaps they are, but in a live setting those numbers add up just right. Their song structures excelled at building tension and energy to a peak again and again throughout the set. Their collective performance had not a note, snare hit, or scream out of place. This was extreme metal delivered with drill-like precision, far from the phoned in self-indulgence I’d been fearing.
Drummer Joey Jordison, formerly of Slipknot, has something of a rep, and given he got a by-line on the posters, the promoters knew it. He lived up to the hype. Far from content to lean on a static blast beat, he cascaded all over his kit, rolling, booming and filling, while his double kicks pummelled us like the surf at Piha. It wasn’t the Joey Jordison show, though; Stephane Buriez and Frederique Leclercq laid down infectious, massive riffs and took turns impressing us with their solo dexterity. Frontman Sean Zatorsky, meanwhile, arrested our attention, getting right in the front row’s faces, screaming wild-eyed out of a mess of hair and beard, handing out frequent hi-fives and fist bumps. He proved humble and amicable between songs, reminiscing on the release of Sinsaenum’s first EP when introducing “Inverted Cross,” talking up his favourite cut from the latest album (“I Stand Alone”). He even exhorted the audience to join in on the mic for the hooks of “Final Resolve” and “Army of Chaos.”
This performance could leave no crowd unmoved, and there wasn’t a still head for the entire setlist. The front rows finally came to life in one of the most sporadic and clumsy mosh pits I’ve seen, due to the abundance of space and the intoxication levels of some participants. One game gentleman insisted on multiple crowd surfing attempts, which with the sparse front rows was rather like playing hopscotch with just one square. Zatorsky loved it all, even shouting encouragement when the chaos spilled briefly onto the stage at his feet.
Look, I prefer my black/death metal with more filth than sheen, and the songs absolutely lacked variety. The sound issue popped up a few more times during the night, with some shrill feedback and random squawks. Sinsaenum just made it very hard to care about these things. What sold me completely was the send-off, as Zatorsky thanked the rapt crowd with genuine gratitude, the band all gathered at front stage to shake hands with the fans, picks and drumsticks were handed out, and we even got an ensemble theatre bow. Sinsaenum treated our gathering of fifty-ish dedicated metal fans like a stadium, and that made them so easy to love.
Were you there at Whammy! Bar for this brutal death metal supergroup? Or have you seen Sinsaenum live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
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