Sydney’s Crowbar hosts a night of metal mayhem with the launch of Neptune Power Federation’s new album ‘Memoirs of a Rat Queen’. Joining them to celebrate this ultimate blackness tonight is Black Aces, Astrodeath and Slugpunch.

Slugpunch

This Sydney four piece open up the show with a bit of raw, unadulterated rock. Drums, bass, guitars and plenty of roaring vocals.

The set is full of no nonsense straight out rock – loud, metallic and in your face. Chunky guitar, heavy bottom ends and thumping drums straight out of hell.

Hear them for yourself at this place.

Astrodeath

The band scales down in size to 2 – drum and guitar, but not in power. Slugpunch bass player, Tim Lancken, swapping four strings for six in Astrodeath, does a double shift tonight.

If a thrashing mess of metal is what you wanted tonight, then that box was solidly ticked. With a driving power guitar reminiscent of the early days of Lard, mixed with a little Metallica and Queens of the Stoneage; Astrodeath launched a room full of eardrums into hyperspace.

The set was full of tunes with simple progressions with smashing drums; but with the fullness and power of a band with 10 guitars and a stadium of Marshall amps and boxes. A delight that brought on involuntary head banging within a 10 km proximity.

Listen and bang to their debut album here.

Black Aces

Bendigo’s Black Aces stepped the night sideways. With a fist-full of classic oz pub rock; these four lads strapped on and we all strapped in for a rock and roll ride. A straight up line up of drums, bass, guitars and screaming vocal puts on a show that comes straight out of the 1970’s oz pub, hard rock scene.

Sounding like the sons of an unholy union of AC/DC and Rose Tattoo, you wouldn’t blink seeing these boys playing on the back of a flat bed truck rocking past Flinders station. But as hard rockin as they are, they allow plenty of room for some bootie shaking rock – of the raw, adult rated, pub kind.

The set ended with a monster, thundering version of Soulstealer, featuring a 3 minute guitarist solo run through the crowd, making the most out of the latest wireless pickup technology – no nasty leads to trip you up here.Check out their thundering, hip shaking new release here.

Neptune Power Federation

The stage curtains were drawn, a black clad crowd filled the room, anticipation was at Rocky Horror Picture Show heights. Slowly the stage is revealed and satanic chants fill the room, welcoming the coming of the Rat Queen. With funeral march pace, she makes her way through the crowd from the back of the room, anointing the chosen as she passes.On stage, the band unleash hell; bringing a 70’s metal rock opera to life. The drums, they pounded, the bass, it throbbed; guitars were tortured into screaming flails; and driving it all was that banshee cry of the Rat Queen herself. Tonight, a gaggle of ghoulish hooded spectres joined the on stage mayhem to add their demonic wailing to the proceedings.

The crowd strained at the barriers, soaking up the waves of raw, dark, metallic, energy that smashed through the room. The set was relentless, weaving from one metal epic to the next; only broken by a little incantation at the start of each tune by the Rat Queen.

At the height of the show, climbing to the top of the barriers to be amongst her flock, the Rat Queen delivers her unholy communion to the willing faithful. Passing on the power of the night before she disappears into the crowd, the sound of the metal mayhem inflicted on us is left ringing in our ears.

Listen to their new album here, but attend the church of the Neptune Power Federation at their next gig for the experience.

The Brown Note was teased and tortured tonight, turning black with the satanic power pulsing in the room.