[Gig Review]: ULCERATE (NZ) w/ THE AMENTA & MUNT (AU) @ MAX WATT’S MELBOURNE (AU).
Credit: Soundworks Touring, via social media.
Introducing, our latest Inner-Strength Check contributor:
Sammy O’Flynn!
Credit: Home-grown right here on our blog with the enriching powers of Richie Black Photography, for our Brutefest 2025 Gig Reviewcoverage, here. Oh and your boy’s absolutely strewn throughout all the moshpit pics for our Gallery of Brewicide Brutefest 2025/2026 photo-galleries.
Sammy’s self-coined caption for this one?
~Sad Pizza Noises~
Typically, in the past we’ve introduced new ISC staffers to the fold via their own dedicated blog post.
There’s actually less need to do that this time around, as Mr. O’Flynn’s presence already permeates through quite a back of our own back-catalogue. Proof’s right here in the pudding!
Our newest member of the Inner-Strength Check team has been working alongside me for the past few years, as a fellow admin of the Musolegion alternative/heavy music community. Sammy showed up to the task with fierce amounts of drive, initiative and passion for both the love of music, and the growth of communities in this space. To that end, he’s been instrumental in strategising, planning and enacting some real, tangible growth of that community to a range of new platforms, as well as creating both his own journalistic content and facilitating user-led discussions, posts and the like.
I’ll invite you at your own leisure to skip any reservations about this being some LinkedIn-ass promo puff-piece; check out his works yourself via the above Musolegion website links, and also our own From The Legion Category here at ISC. (Legionnaires, do please let me know if there’s enough interest in resurrecting this for Music Mondays).
Similarly, I could easily sit here and prattle industry-specific accolades, roles and networks Sammy’s formed. That’s not the man’s style though - nope, man’s all about showing up, rolling up your goddamned sleeves, stow the pontificating and just get. into. it.
For instance, if you’ve been in any metal moshpit in Melbourne at any stage in the past 12 months, it’s statistically likely that this Donkey Kong of a mosh-lover has bowled into you at some point, and sent you careening. No crossed-arms up the back and smugly sipping red wine, whinging about the ambient AC temperature from this guy. Not when the bloke regularly travels, on a near-weekly basis (especially with all these damn tours at the moment!) all the way from regional South-West VIC. Consider that next time you’re having a whinge about a gig being in Northcote instead of Collingwood, maybe, eh?
I don’t bring on new contributors just on mosh-based merit alone, of course. Sammy’s knowledge of heavy/alternative music canon is borderline encyclopedic, and if you’re in cahoots with the guy? He’s probably the second person after the promoter themselves to let everyone know what’s happening on the live front.
Gassing up the lad as I may be, Sammy is new to the Gig Review space in terms of music journalism, this being his first formally-accredited gig. As you’ll read soon, it’s a worthy addition to our canon and reassurance of a well-picked new staffer. Stick that in your first-timer jitters pike and smoke it, Samwise! Big props to Jason Vidic (of Vidic Images) of augmenting our newest staffers’ thoughts with, very unsurprisingly, more red-hot tasty gig photography.
Love your work, lads.
Peace, Love and Sad Pizza Noises Welcome to ISC Sammy,
Brady.
ULCERATE (NZ) ‘Absolved In Perdition: Australasia MMXXVI’
fri 8th may, 2026
Writer:
Sammy O’Flynn
Photography:
Jason Vidic (Vidic Images)
Organised By:
Soundworks Touring
Location:
(Melbourne, AU)
Artists:
Ulcerate (Auckland, NZ) & Supports The Amenta + MUNT (Melbourne, AU)
Refer to end of article for relevant artist/contributor links.
There is something to be said about the weather system that took over on May 8th. A sense of cold foreboding, before the perfect storm of sonic dissonance that is the majesty on display throughout this evening. That’s right - I’m talking about the 2026 headline tour for Ulcerate titled ‘Absolved in Perdition: MMXVI’. Despite the cold and slight rain, a decent line-up of punters chatted about how exciting it was to have Ulcerate playing in Melbourne again. Not to mention The Amenta reuniting with their original frontman Mark Bevan for the first time in 20 years, but I digress.
The cold weather had the crowd stamped slightly early, to allow for quicker entry in to Max Watts. All so our minds could be blown by no doubt the perfect Ulcerate bill, stepping up the magnitude of dissonance with each band.
On doors, a quick viewing of the merch-stand was had, with most of the Ulcerate shirts being very similar aesthetically to the 2024 launch of Cutting the Throat of God. This was to be expected/a given though, as this tour falls into the back-half of this current cycle. A brief aside: Absolved In Perdition almost sounds like the title of a potential upcoming release. With the merch checked out, I headed to the bar to grab a drink and some ear-plugs… as it was about to get loud.
Max Watts is the perfect venue for a show like this. Being quite an intimate setting, I would take my spot on the stairs into the dance-floor and prepare for the upcoming sonic bombardment, the backing track before the openers started an atmospheric synth track that would build in intensity, right up to the prompt start of MUNT at 7:20PM.
Opening their set with an ambient intro called ‘I – an Epoch of Turmoil and Strife’ before the growled introduction of “we are MUNT!”from frontman Mothlord (Tim Richmond) alongside a barrage of blast-beats from Melbourne drumming institution Jared Roberts - not to mention the blackened sortie of riffs from the dual-guitar attack of Spud Robertson and Sol Laskowski. Bassist Ron Dixon brings a solid backline, which opens the procession of the evenings’ sonic dissonance and proves that MUNT are a definite force rising in the field of blackened death-grind.
Ripping through the opening tracks from their debut album The World Is Not Yours titled ‘The Lies That Bind’ and ‘What Dark Future Awaits’ had my mind blown - just before Mothlord humbly says “it’s an absolute honour two play with two of my biggest influences in Ulcerate and The Amenta!”. With that he introduces ‘Dominion’ and, to this, many necks were thrown into convulsive throes of head-banging ecstasy.
It always pays to arrive early for the openers; there is always a couple of unexpected surprises. As the next song is starting, Mothlord asks the crowd to come closer to the stage. Yours Truly did this with a sense of ravenous intent, ready for the next tasty morsel of death-grind. It was time for ‘Cruelty And The Condemned’. For this, MUNT were joined on stage by Alana K and the contrasting vocal styles were absolutely wild! It was definitely a nice surprise.
Our short time with MUNT was closed out with ‘Noosedragger’. With an introduction stating that “this song is about male un-aliving”, the energy in the room was at an all-time high and, well, Melbourne’s finest decided it was time to open this fucking pit! Was I involved? Absolutely. Did I also miss the introduction to the song? Yes. With that though, we arrived at the end of MUNT’s set.
The atmospheric synths started back up again, and that was the call to go and have a fresh-air break - Max Watts was heating up.
On the descent back into Max Watts, the suffocating, atmospheric synths were swelling to epic levels. It was time for something truly special, as The Amenta were in full set-up mode. Tonight was a special Ocassus set with original frontman Mark Bevan returning on bass and vocal duties, and Matt Wilcock joining as second guitarist. For what seemed like an eternity Max Watts was in darkness, before the feedback and samples at the opening of ‘Erebus’ began.
A brief aside, and a thought I had through The Amenta’s set: Dave Haley and Matt Wilcock are in every massive, old-school Melbourne based death metal band, and with good reason - those guys are absolute work-horses. Oh-so-many chuggy industrial death metal moments were had. After the 20 year break, Mark Bevan slid right back into the fold.
One gripe I had with The Amenta’s set was that Timothy Pope’s synths and samples were slightly lost in the mix of the blackened dissonance created by the band. However Tim was still going wild onstage, and that was evident in the crowds’ response. Another thing to add is that with Mark Bevan returning to The Amenta, the death-masks worn by the band onstage had been removed for a more streamlined, black collared business-shirt look.
At the mid-point of the set, The Amenta would play a slightly slower, doomy tune that would pivot to a ferocious blackened wall of sound. From the dual-guitar assaults of Erik Miehs and Matt Wilcock, the frenzied headbanging from Timothy Pope, wrapped up tightly with the absolutely volcanic drumming from David Haley and the howled delivery from Mark Bevan - all made this special Occasus show. A very take-no-prisoners set, and my neck is absolutely hating me for it.
The strobes were also incredibly overwhelming - in the best way possible. The lighting is just as much a part of the performance as the music itself, so props to the light guy at Max Watts for the absolutely epileptic nightmare that was the lights for the Occasus set. I will definitely be checking out The Amenta a little more thoroughly now, and you most definitely should too. Our time together was too short. I look forward to the next tour from them!
After another quick fresh-air break, it was time to head back into Max Watts a final time to see the main event: New Zealand’s avant-garde/technical death-metal juggernauts Ulcerate.
On cue, the ambient backing track rose to a thrilling crescendo. Much like the invincible title card, my mind was ready to be blown. Suddenly, darkness, to which the ethereal shadows of Jamie Saint Merat, Michael Hoggard and Paul Kelland take their places on stage, opening the procession with ‘To Flow Through Ashen Hearts’. It’s the perfect opener, with a mournful tone to the opening riff before the heaviness arrives. Melbourne was definitely in a moshing mood too, as every time a super-heavy passage would start, so too would another pit.
The strobes were definitely a problem for every pit that would open up, too. It’s hard to see where you’re going when you’re blinded by strobes; however, this didn’t stop Melbourne’s finest from giving every last drop of energy. There are plenty of nice, swaying interludes, almost like free-jazz where you sway before the fast, harsh riffage hits like an absolute motherfucker. I noticed this especially being the case with material played from Cutting The Throat of God.
The slower the band played, the more mosh-ready the crowd became. This was evident in ‘There is No Horizon’ and ‘Dissolved Orders’ from the 2020 masterpiece Stare Into Death and Be Still. Guitarist Michael Hoggard is an absolute giant, and masterfully shreds his way through 90 minutes of absolutely insane sonic dissonance, Jamie Saint Merat guiding the chaos with sheer precision, and Paul Kelland is just a beast of a bassist. Additionally, to reiterate, every band on the bill were minimal in their responses/speech between songs, focusing instead on the atmosphere.
75 minutes into a very Cutting The Throat of God-led set, Paul speaks, thanking “everyone for coming out tonight” and that this was going to be “the last song for the evening” before launching into ‘Stare into Death and Be Still’. This was met with an up-roaring cry of “hell yes”. At this point, I was chilling up the back of Max Watts as I was overheating and dehydrated; this didn’t stop me from head-banging or growling along. Then it was over… or was it?… as the band walks back out and says “we have one more!”. Ah, yes - the good old fake walk-off. A much-loved maneuver to hype the crowd up for the disgustingly-heavy ‘Everything is Fire’. Safe to say, many necks were obliterated.
90 minutes flew by. Nine Ulcerate songs obliterated minds and shattered perceptions. Also, to whomever it was who said Led Zeppelin was the heaviest thing on Earth? I raise you an Ulcerate.
A massive thanks to Soundworks and Direct Touring for putting on the ultimate and absoluetley perfect sonic-dissonance tour of the year.
LINKS:
Munt:
Recent ISC MUNTCoverage (ISC Podcast, Brutefest 2026 Gig Review, Heavy News, etc)
The Amenta:
Official Website
Bandcamp
YouTube
Soundworks Touring:
Direct Touring:
vidic images:
Enquiries: vidicimages@gmail.com
inner-strength check - links:
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Peace, Love and Grindcore - Brady & The ISC Team.