LIVE REVIEW: ELECTRIC EYE FEST

Electric Eye Heavy Fest made its debut in the Perth metal scene as a festival to be reckoned with, only last year in 2023. Presented by metal photographer and music lover JV Photo & Film, Electric Eye Heavy Fest was back again in 2024 to show the metal community that it is a festival worth keeping around.

Gracing the stage at Freo Social were to be 10 bands, with no clashes. This hook, that there would be no clashes, was enough to draw in music lovers of Perth even before the lineup was announced. This year the lineup carved out a range of incredible local heavy metal bands and interstate guests, as well as an album launch and a reunion show. Punters were in for a treat!

The day of Electric Eye Heavy Fest came and the weather in Fremantle was a perfectly warm and sunny 24 degrees. The early crowds were in good spirits as they poured into the venue to see some metal. My overall thoughts of the day are ‘holy fuck, what an insane lineup!’ and ‘well done Jess of JV Photo & Film for putting on such an awesome event!’

The first band to take to the stage and open the second Electric Eye Heavy Fest were local metal legends, Banished Realm, made up of Leigh Kapor shredding on guitar, Jared Thornton on bass, Shaun Borg smashing the drums and vocalist Shaun Griffiths, also shredding on guitar. For a band that has only been around since 2022, Banished Realm are no strangers to the festival stage. Having played Darker Craft Fest at Seasonal Brewing earlier in the year, Banished Realm are continuing to make waves in the metal scene with their atmospheric death-doom metal.

Watching these guys play on stage is a feast for the eyes and the ears. Its always a wicked experience seeing a band do what they love on stage and Banished Realm were no different! They use their instruments to create these dark lengthy atmospheric tracks, with so much depth to them. Their tracks are long, melodic death metal at its finest, taking listeners on an emotional journey mastered through complex layering of guitars, drums and growling vocals. And the tone, it (metaphorically) melted my face off, it was that good!

My first thoughts after hearing them play are reflected in the shorthand notes that I wrote next to their name – ‘so much tone!’ It is easy to see influences like Black Sabbath coming through in their tracks, especially the guitar work. They absolutely shredded on the stage, ripping out some heart-pounding metal for the crowd of early punters, showering them with merciless double kicks and drum licks. Griffiths’ growling and screaming vocals were impressive and transcending, he had an insane vocal range, not just deep and heavy. Even when they switched it up a bit and slowed it down to clean finger picking, the pace was soon picked back up as it slammed you back down to earth again only a second later, with a nice interlude of screaming vocals to wake you up. This was one hell of an opener!

Follow Banished Realm: @BanishedRealm | Facebook | Spotify

Following after Banished Realm would be difficult to do, but, The Wedges took to the stage next. The Wedges are Molly Corduroy, Sam Pursglove, Cameron Maclean, Michael de Klerk and Daniel Ross, sweating it out on stage. Formed in Perth in 2019, this band is one that has seen quite a few evolutions of their sound over the years, from initially an indie-rock group to a much more psychedelic fuzz-laden sludge groove metal nowadays. They are hard to define, so you are best off letting your ears experience The Wedges for yourself! My first experience seeing The Wedges was at Spliffs n Riffs earlier this year, and I was blown away. I loved them so much that I got a T-shirt.

Picture this, a five-piece band takes to the stage, the singer an unassuming chick in a dress with a bow in her hair. My first thought was indie rock / prog rock vibes. But then she unleashes these unholy death scream and growly vocals, overlaid with loads of distortion and warpy guitars and these thundering double kicks and super heavy bass notes bouncing around the band room. Once again, my mind was blown and I was instantly taken back to the first time I saw The Wedges, and how insanely good they were! The 3 guitars layered nicely together to create this atmospheric, almost psychedelic fuzzy metal sound, with the drummer hitting the toms with perfect timing. The bass sounded thick and luscious, the sound reverberating through your whole chest, right down to your bones. Special mention to their song, ‘Resin’ which is phenomenal on all levels.

The Wedges are a band that knows how to pick up the pace and roar with their instruments when they want to and by contrast, how to slow it right down to an almost dirty sludgey metal sound, switching the vocals between members and using the strengths of the band really well. They are a great band to watch live, as they just vibe off each other’s energy on stage, bouncing the beat around, heavy metal with a psychedelic, lounge-sludge groove to it, fused with jazzy elements. Listening to The Wedges was like listening to what a baby would sound like, if Led Zeppelin and The Dandy Warhols had a musical love child. Wicked juicy bouncing fuzz-ladenn distorted riffs, shredding solos, psychedelic, sludge-groove-metal punctuated by hard hitting drums taking you on a journey. Once again, I was blown away!

Follow The Wedges: @TheWedgesBand | Facebook | Spotify

The Furor replaced Primrose Path on the lineup and while it was sad not getting to see Primrose Path take to the stage, holy shit did they replace them with someone equally as incredible! The Furor is Louis Rando, an absolutely ridiculously talented musical genius, and self-titled as a black metal / death metal assassin. I would say this is an accurate description from what I saw at Electric Eye Heavy Fest! I have seen The Furor pop up on a number of lineups around Perth and heard rumors from friends who had witnessed the insanity of The Furor about how good he was, but I was yet to see it for myself.

For context, The Furor has been around since 2002 and used to have 3 musicians in the band, however for various reasons, line up changes over the years have seen just one remain – drummer Rando, aka Dizazter. The Furor has been a one-man-band since 2012, with Rando writing, playing and recording all of the instruments himself. For his live shows, Rando writes and records all the instruments as backing tracks, and then drums and sings live over the top. Singing while drumming is no easy feat to achieve, yet somehow Rando makes it look like a walk in a park!

At Electric Eye, Rando as one-man-band The Furor, took to the stage in death metal makeup and equally impressive costume, flanked by two tall banners decorated with pentagram swords and chains, with silhouettes of people hanging from them and staked on spines. This set the scene for the absolutely fierce onslaught that was to come! There was no introduction, there was just ear-blasting, hard hitting, thunderous drums, played to slashing and shredding riffs while he sang and did death metal growling screams right from the get-go! The crowd were head banging, there was a circle pit going on, and there were going to be a lot of sore necks tomorrow. I grew up with drummers for brothers, so I have a deep appreciation for all the math and timing that goes into drumming. There was no slowing down for The Furor – he wasn’t here to mess around! He had a job to do, and god damn, he did it so fricken well. It was a constant onslaught of fast paced and intense drum licks and fills, double kick delights and screaming death growls to remind you that he is the epitome of black metal and death metal combined. The Furor is definitely an assassin – he came, he saw, and he slaughtered!

Follow The Furor: @TheFuror_Official | Facebook | Spotify

You don’t often hear of a reunion show happening at a metal festival, certainly not in Perth, but that was what was next on the card, as Perth metal band Dyscord took to the stage. They were reuniting as a band, coming together again after a years-long musical hiatus, to play the Electric Eye Heavy Fest. The crowd has well and truly filled out by now, with many fans from years ago keen to see Dyscord take to the stage once again and relive their glory days. It had definitely been a while between drinks for Dyscord, and their fans!

These energetic, powerful, heavy-hitters were made up of Raffa Houston on bass, Owen Thomas and Matthew Herbert on guitars, James Herbert on vocals and good mate Tim Stelter from Chaos Divine on the drums. Showing what they were made of, like no time at all had passed, Dyscord launched straight into wicked heavy riffs and shredding guitar solos. The crowd responded in kind, with some very heavy head banging and a raging mosh pit in full swing! It was great to see people of all ages had turned out for the Electric Eye Heavy Fest and to catch Dyscord’s set, including kids tagging along with their parents, getting a heavy music introduction, all the way through to people in their golden years enjoying the day. The energy was insane, as Dyscord divulged that they last played about 8 years ago and had reunited for this gig, to the cheers of the crowd. Their powerful presence and heavy riffs were felt by all present, from the front of the stage, all the way through to the back of the Freo Social band room. Dyscord were back, with a vengeance!

Suneater has been kicking around the metal scene since 2017 and are a sludge metal band from Perth, a four piece of guitars, bass, drums and both screaming and clean vocals. The crowds packed out the band room at Freo Social when Suneater took to the stage, their guitars absolutely shredding with thick fuzzy tones droning over the crowd. Suneater rapidly launched into wicked climbing and heavy hitting riffs before announcing to the crowd ‘we are Suneater, and we play stupid heavy riffs’. They weren’t wrong!

Suneater debuted a new track at Electric Eye Heavy Fest called Untitled, the title track of their last EP. It started with a slow melodic intro before climbing with fast chugging riffs and then descending into pure madness with super growling vocals and hard-hitting drums and fast fills. This was definitely some of Perth’s heaviest music, with a raging circle pit in front of the stage. The last song of their set featured aggressive and loud growling vocals, with head banging encouraged. Suneater are certainly soaring to heights in the Perth metal scene!

Follow Suneater: @SuneaterBand | Facebook | Spotify

The crowd got heavy and frenzied as South Australian progressive metal legends Dyssidia took to the stage, returning to the West Coast after 6 long years. Dyssidia are Corey Davis (guitar), Neil Palmer (bass), Mitch Brackman (vocals) and Liam Weedall (drums). The crowd was full as everyone packed the front of the stage, and for good reason, as they knew what we were about to be in for. Dyssidia’s tracks had some high notes, and clean vocals, and then next minute it was death screams again. There was some seriously funky bass notes dropped by Palmer, a lover of jazz and contemporary bass himself and that was definitely shining through the tracks.  This was coupled nicely with some incredibly soaring vocals laid out by Brackman washing over the crowd on a wave of some insanely wicked guitar solos and overdriven heavy riffs. The guitar solos were glorious, it was like Christmas had come early.

The incredible talent being showcased by Dyssidia continued with some almost jazzy-esque vibes, before switching a second later to screaming death metal vocals, thrashing guitars and solos ziplining right through you. The band brought the energy in a big way on stage and the crowd was giving it right back. Brackman has an incredible vocal range, able to hit the high and low notes and easily switching between clean vocals and screaming lyrics as though its nothing at all. Dyssidia had excellent stage presence and showmanship throughout their entire set and really commanded the crowds attention right from the get go. This is a group of insanely talented musicians in their own right coming together in a perfect blend of progressive metal with these wicked jazz elements that makes you really appreciate how talented they are. Special mention to their phenomenal song Metamorphosis, which blew my mind.

Follow Dyssidia: @DyssidiaBand | Facebook | Spotify

Joining the Electric Eye lineup were 6-piece dark folk/black metal band Suldusk, from Melbourne. What started as an acoustic solo project in 2016 of vocalist and guitarist Emily Highfield soon spawned and evolved, growing organically into the current 6-piece band made up of heavy metal musicians. Creating these powerfully heavy tracks and joining Highfield on stage are Shane Mulholland (vocals and guitars), Daniel Green (bass), Josh Taylor (guitars), Hayley Anderson (violin) and Frankie Demuru (drums). Together they blended dark gaze, metal, and dark folk elements together to create these insanely haunting and beautiful atmospheric soundscapes, overlaid with Highfield’s driven vocals and occasional screams.

Highfield’s vocal range is intense – she is able to capture the deep low notes, rising through and soaring to high heights, then launching into these screaming banshee wails. The addition of Anderson on violin gives Suldusk an almost symphonic vibe. Suldusk are incredibly talented and mixed up their set by changing pace from the harsher heavy screaming vocals to clean soaring melodies washing over the crowd. Some songs slowed down the pace with the violin and drums supporting the acoustic guitars, and others took it back up several notches with crashing cymbals and screaming vocals. No matter where you stood in Freo Social, it sounded good! I have previously spoken with Emily and asked how she writes her songs and where that comes from. She was vulnerable and talked about having that creative outlet to express all the dark heavy shit that she had been through. This was so evident on stage, as she transformed, supported by the rest of the band, from a gothic angel into a death witch! Suldusk were a dark atmospheric reprieve from the heavier bands that had played earlier, but still carved their place as one not to forget on the Electric Eye lineup. With their overdriven guitars and thundering drums, giving visuals of undead armies marching through the night. Suldusk brought something deep, dark and different to the Electric Eye lineup, and damn, it was good!

Read my interview with Emily here.

Follow Suldusk: @Suldusk | Facebook | Spotify

Soon it was time for one of the most heavily anticipated bands to hit the stage, fresh from their tour around Australia and launching their new album, The Immortal Realm. Crypt Crawler are a local Perth death metal band, headed by Marco Ieritano on vocals, Cameron Gillam on bass, Zach James and Dan Jackson shredding on guitars, and Lewis Oliver on drums. Crypt Crawler are an aggressive assault of the senses. Right from the get-go, Marco’s vocals ripped you right off your feet and slammed you back down to ground, again and again, carried by intense guitar riffs and thunderous drumming. They are fast paced, furious and intense! Screaming death metal vocals overlaid by screeching over driven guitars and hard hitting drums just absolutely soaring over the crowd. This was death metal at its finest!

Crypt Crawler worked through their set list amongst soaring screaming guitars and death vocals, the intensity climbing with every song. Guitarist Dan Jackson was ripping wicked solos and Marco was like a demon, raising hell on stage, it was phenomenal! I didn’t know it was possible to drum so fast or shred so fast, but Crypt Crawler  certainly pulled it off with ease. It is easy to see how Crypt Crawler have such a big following in Perth. If you haven’t seen Crypt Crawler play, do yourself a favour and get along to one of their shows, you will thank yourself later!

Read my interview with Marco here.

Follow Crypt Crawler: @CryptCrawlerMetal | Facebook | Spotify

Pathogen were hitting the stage at Electric Eye Heavy Fest, playing for the first time after an 18 month hiatus, in one of the most highly anticipated return to stages a Perth metal band has made. Pathogen has seen many lineups over the years before settling on this one. The metal veterans on stage have been making heavy hitting music in all different bands for over 20 years, bringing their wealth of talent to the Electric Eye Heavy Fest stage.  Pathogen rocked hard as they played and slayed the crowds, headbanging along with the audience.

Pathogen have truly refined playing their instruments to a fine art and this was heavy metal at its finest! There was a lot of metal hair flicking and head banging, from on stage and in the crowd as their soaring guitars took you on a journey over the hills and into faraway lands. There were wicked solos and juicy riffs that climbed into your head and ripped your soul out through your eyes, it felt like I was witnessing greatness! The double kick drums teamed with the screaming vocals and shredding riffs were all well-rehearsed and coordinated. The crowd were more than happy to singalong, as the band played guitars back to back on stage and the crowd ate up every bite! This was music to get lost in with the gravelly vocals and double kicks. The whole crowd was stomping and moshing and headbanging hard! There was a phenomenal solo to end a wicked set!

Follow Pathogen: Facebook | Spotify

Headlining all the way from Tasmania were death metal legends, Psycroptic, playing in Perth for the first time in 6 years. Taking to the stage were vocalist Jason Peppiatt, Dave Haley and Joe Haley, guitarist/drummer brothers, Cameron Grant on bass, who just celebrated 20 years as a band together. It is probably the hardest and longest distance to travel domestically within Australia, which made the fact that they were headlining Electric Eye Heavy Fest all the more sweeter. If I had to describe Psycroptic, it would be ‘technical masterminds’.

This was an aggressively fast paced, dynamic band with a fuck tonne of energy on stage, skilfully playing their instruments as though they are extensions of their own limbs. The circle pit and the mosh pit went absolutely off during Psycroptic’s set with screeching guitar solos and deep and heavy, juicy bass notes – everything Psycroptic gave the crowd was extremely well received! Their merch was also well received, being the only band there selling a hoodie – a sign they hail from a colder climate than Perth. As the cold night air crept in, the Psycroptic hoodie’s sold out, with even the toughest warm blooded metal heads opting for a Psycroptic hoodie to keep warm.

Frontman Jason Peppiatt told the crowds that Psycroptic have been coming to Perth for 20 years now and they still have the same dudes coming to their shows, as the old guard. The crowds cheered with applause as Psycroptic dedicated the next song to them. Jason is an insanely talented frontman and vocalist, and Psycroptic as a band is a tight unit. For a four-piece Tasmanian death metal band, they knew how to bring it! Jason told the crowd that it has always been a good scene here in Perth and in Freo, in between heavy screaming vocals, double kick wet dreams surrounded by high speed fills and licks, and raging guitars. The circle pit was insane, there are going to be a lot of sore necks tomorrow!

Read my interview with Jason here.

Follow Psycroptic: Facebook | Spotify

I hope that you enjoyed my review of Electric Eye Heavy Fest. For a festival only in its second year, its fast carving a name for itself in the Perth metal scene, and in the Perth music scene more broadly speaking. I would like to extend my gratitude to The Rockpit , Dysie from Cult Etiquette and Jess from Electric Eye Heavy Fest for the access and allowing me to attend this awesome event. I will definitely be back next year!

All Photo Credit: Adrian Thomson 

In the meantime, make sure you follow Electric Eye Heavy Fest and look out for 2025: @Electric.Eye.HeavyFest | Facebook