GalleryDitch This MagazineMay 13, 2026gallery, live, Gallery, Sydney, James Gough, Architects, House of Protection

Ulcerate + The Amenta + Sorathian Dawn @ Crowbar Sydney 10-05-26

GalleryDitch This MagazineMay 13, 2026gallery, live, Gallery, Sydney, James Gough, Architects, House of Protection

photos: James Gough
@byjamesgough

Back behind the lens with no photo pit, barely any lighting, and after a long hiatus from shooting live music — honestly, there are only a handful of bands capable of dragging me out of hibernation these days. Ulcerate comfortably sit at the top of that list.

Returning to Crowbar Sydney felt like coming home. Sticky floors, oppressive volume, and a room packed wall-to-wall with people who clearly understood they were about to witness something special.

Opening the night was Sorathian Dawn, handed the unenviable task of kicking off an absolutely stacked bill. From the outset, they wasted no time launching into a relentless barrage of melodic black metal, driven by non-stop tremolo riffs and blast beats from Robin Stone — easily one of the best extreme metal drummers in the country right now. Corpse paint, speed, and chaos dominated the stage from start to finish.

While the band aren’t necessarily reinventing the wheel stylistically, that hardly mattered in a live setting this tight. Every transition landed with precision, every blast hit like a hammer, and the energy in the room ramped up immediately. Seeing the venue already packed that early in the night only added to the atmosphere.

Then came The Amenta.

Nearly 30 years into their career, The Amenta somehow sound heavier, uglier, and more refined than ever. If there’s one word that sums up their set, it’s crushing. From the moment they began tearing through Occasus in full, the room was swallowed by an unrelenting wall of sound that never loosened its grip.

Dave Haley’s drumming alone is worth the price of admission — absurdly precise blasts and double kicks delivered with machine-like consistency — while the guitars sliced through the mix with terrifying clarity. The absence of longtime vocalist Cain Cressall was certainly noticeable, but Mark Bevan stepped back into the role seamlessly, delivering a vocal performance that felt genuinely feral.

Credit also has to go to whoever handled sound duties on the night because this was one of the best live mixes I’ve heard at Crowbar in years. The guitars cut through perfectly without becoming abrasive, the bass rattled through your chest, and the vocals sat exactly where they needed to in the chaos.

No music played between sets. No chance to chat. No breathing room. Instead, the venue was filled with low-end drones and suffocating ambience that slowly drained the oxygen from the room, building a palpable sense of tension before the band had even stepped on stage. By the time they appeared, the foundations of Crowbar itself felt like they were begging for mercy.

In my opinion, there isn’t another extreme metal band on the planet operating at Ulcerate’s level right now. Watching them perform feels less like seeing a band and more like witnessing three musicians functioning on some completely different plane of ability. Every dissonant chord, every impossible drum pattern, every subtle dynamic shift is executed with surgical precision.

It’s not just technically impressive — it’s hypnotic. Personal favourites 'to see death just once' & ''the dawn is hollow' make the night. Finishing with a rare encore 'Everything is Fire' from the same 2009 album