Eyehategod are long time veterans in the New Orleans sludge metal scene and are arguably one of the main pioneers of the genre. They were supported on November 15 by local band The Black Swamp and Sydney’s Black Rhino, who devoted EHG fans lapped up like cats on hot milk.
With songs like New Orleans is the New Vietnam, the band work a field of their own. They have fused southern rock, blues and doom influences and come up with their own mix.
Since their 1988 formation, EHG members have clung onto the band by their fingernails, with jail time, health issues, and drugs facing most of them at regular intervals.
The Crowbar was a fetid, hot, sweaty snakepit, and the crowd revelled in it. The place was packed with 99% true long term supporters hanging off every sludgy riff until it died. At times you could be mistaken for closing your eyes and hearing sprinkles of Celtic Frost and early Sabbath. Gary Mader (bass) Jimmy Bowers (guitar) and Aaron Hill (drums) laid down a blistered torture trail of foul sludge magick which singer Mike Williams rolled around in wringing every last drop out of.
The crowd of the long-time faithful formed a sea of agony across which Williams roared across beating himself to oblivion. Many audience members performed their own self- hate rituals reflecting Mike’s energy.
Stopping just over the 75-minute mark, Eyehategod left behind a shredded mass, wrung out like a wet rag after worshipping at their church and feeling all its black wonder.
Mike thanked the crowd for coming out – and they roared like a beast as one. EyeHateGod is an unpredictable juggernaut which we saw in all their fractured glory. GodSpeedYouBlackEmperors !!! Come again soon.
- Donald Gunn