Australia attacks pt.3 - Through Plagues

This is my third post looking at the Australian death metal scene. Through Plagues are a new band who recorded their first EP - From the Depths in 2010. They are part of a growing Brisbane death metal scene and are currently building a great live reputation in their local area. 

I caught up with guitarist Clarke to find out a bit more about the band and their scene: -

You guys are the third Australian death metal band I've featured Stay Ahead. How do you guys view the Australian death metal scene at the moment?

I think Australian Death Metal is doing great at the moment. There are tons of older and younger bands killing it live as hard as ever, Especially in Brisbane. I think we are pretty lucky to have a metal scene that not only is quite large in size but the quality of bands makes it so much better.

What have you got planned so far for 2011?

We cant wait for 2011, we are just about to get our first run of merch done, so that is pretty exciting - a design by Artist Joshua Andrew Belanger should be up for sale on our big cartel soon, so keep eye out for that.

There is a lot more going down on the show front, we have a show this Friday with some great bands, (Bane of Isildur (nsw, Album launch) and Defamer) Then a great mixed bill show in march featuring Adrift for Days from NSW. Our plan after that is to definitely try and branch out by playing some interstate shows and all ages events.

We are still promoting our free EP which can be downloaded at throughplagues.bandcamp.com and we urge more people to download that but
there is talk about recording a split later this year, which we plan to release a video clip with as well.

All up it should be a pretty busy year for us.

Obviously, Australia is very spread out touring wise. Have you guys found it easy to get shows so far?

We haven't toured yet, nor played as much as we would like to, but locally promoters have been really great to us and we were urged by many to play shows from the moment we put our first demo online with vocalist Luke.

What's the feeling like when you're playing live and how have the crowds reacted?

Its been a long wait since writing our first songs, plus recording and releasing well before our first live show. I think this has made us if anything push the songs harder live, people already know the songs so they expect them to be tight, just like the EP. The crowds have been great so far. We had great turnouts for our first 2 shows. I just wish we could play more songs for them!

Do you find that you local metal scene has a good DIY ethic and do the bands help each other out?

Overall yes. But there are always bands who don't and I think people realize pretty quickly.

What has been the highlight for you guys so far?

Self-Releasing our own EP and Playing our first show to a packed crowd rate pretty high! I'd also say seeing over 1500 downloads of the EP in the first 4 months of release. I think all the guys are really proud of that.

Finally, can you give us your suggestions for bands that we should be paying attention to in your local scene?

Locally, there is lots of great talent.

Our Great mates The Fevered just released an EP thefevered.bandcamp.com, to quote them "We think we're Swedish and it's the nineties".

Disentomb are also some really intense brutal Death from Brisbane as well. http://www.myspace.com/disentomb.

Other cool bands worth check out are, Teargas and Brazen bull.

 

Here is a quick review of the bands debut EP - From the Depths - 

1.Intro

2.Goddess of the sea

3.Ice to see you 

4.Wings of Damnation 

5.Eternal silence

From the Depths begins with a sampled intro which sets the tone nicely for the rest of the EP. First song proper, Goddess of the Sea shows off Through Plagues instrumental dexterity, which is noticeable throughout the rest of the EP. The bands influences include The Black Dahlia Murder and Darkest hour, and are not that far off for people who want a reference point. They incorporate very good, Scandinavian death metal inspired musicianship and dual high pitched/low pitched vocals, which complement each other very well. A grinding, raging rhythm section keeps the whole thing in check and the band don't lose any brutality, even including a nice guitar solo in Goddess of the Sea.

The production of the EP is really good and considering this is Through Plagues first recorded output, it shows that these guys are not messing about and have set out their stall early. It will be really interesting to see what progression they make with their next record.

If you want to download their EP, go to - www.throughplagues.bandcamp.com.

Also check the band out at - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Through-Plagues/279779609336 and at http://www.myspace.com/throughplagues. 

It's really great to hear band of this quality and Through Plagues should give you a good excuse to do some digging and find out more about the growing Brisbane death metal scene.