Japunga (with Headkase and Fulcrum)
Her Majesty’s Bar, Brisbane, Australia
Saturday, 26th July 2003

HMB—formerly, and informally, known as the Basement—is a rock venue, something which might make it a bit of a relic in these enlightened times. However, in a city as big as ours it is quite viable for clubs to specialise. The Basement has attempted to get a broader clientele by putting a lot of fiddy cent urban music onto its playlist, and dedicating Thursday nights as “Tha Cribb”. Humorous indeed.

Seriously though, Basement, you need to bust a cap in this half baked concept before people stop going there. If I want to hear hip hop and the like, which I sometimes do, I’m perfectly capable of walking to the Dome.

Headkase are the most original metal band I’ve seen in some time. Combining thrash metal and keyboards has been done before, but the demented circus sound of Headkase is vastly different from the poxy ‘choir’ patch used by too many black metal bands.

Six members being too big for the stage, one of the guitarists had to stand in the mosh pit. That’s how you know you’re in a relatively humble venue. After the concert, Nutty, pissed as a newt, keeps the same look on his face as when he was onstage, howling those incredible vocals. Perhaps the wind changed. Regardless, looks like these are good times for Headkase.

I’ve seen Japunga a few times before and I’ve never really ‘got’ them before now. The lyrics go within the standard metal theme of adversity and triumph over it. Their guitars are downtuned, with droning riffs which seem to only use the notes that downtuning a guitar makes available.

Despite these sonic boundaries that they have set for themselves, it is an unfriendly sound they do well, due to the overall tightness of the rhythm section and the impeccable drumming. The album, which has barely left my CD player since I got it, sounds eerily similar to Sepultura at their peak, which isn’t a shabby comparison at all.

Rating: ***½ three and a half asterisks.