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Absinthe Betrayed
New regular all-ages metal event Northern Metal Madness will soon be returning to Elizabeth venue Northern Sound System with another killer lineup of bands. One of those bands will be a new extreme metal outfit called Absinthe Betrayed who hail from the Barossa, a region that seems to have been cultivating a healthy metal scene of late.
"There are a few bands coming out of the Barossa now," affirms guitarist and vocalist Korno. "Groups like Oilseed, Plug and ourselves to give a few names. Plenty of people from around here like their metal, while the local radio station, Triple BFM, has been promoting it very well too. We recently played a show in Angaston with Oilseed, Splyne and Neuroaxis which attracted 160 people. Gigs don't happen as often as we'd like, but there are more in the pipeline. Fortunately, living in the Barossa hasn't affected any of the bands' outreach to the scene. We come from all over the area ourselves, though I'd have to say Nuriootpa's our home."
Before starting Absinthe Betrayed with fellow guitarist and vocalist Rhayne, Korno was involved with a group called UCD, which he tells me stood for "Uncertainty, Chaos and Destruction". "That band ended late last year as two of the members moved interstate for work," he informs me. "It was definitely good while it lasted, though. We all still speak to one another, and maybe we'll play again one day. UCD was more hardcore influenced, though, whereas Absinthe Betrayed is much more of a metal band. While UCD was together, we recorded two demos, each with five tracks. The first is very rare; I don't even have a copy!"
"Getting back to Absinthe Betrayed," he continues, "the music there is definitely a lot more technical than the stuff UCD did, and also notably heavier. The style is a cross between thrash, grunge and death metal. It's very strange, actually - we have songs with blast beats, yet acoustic songs as well. Our influences include Devildriver, Mastodon, Slipknot and Slayer, and a whole lot of other stuff as well."
Absinthe Betrayed have done only two shows to date, each of which, it turns out, had its share of dramas. "The first show, which was the one we did in Angaston, was memorable due to two broken noses, a broken finger, and a split lip in the pit. The boys from the Barossa love to mosh and do death circles, but everyone generally looks after one another, which is good. The second show we did was at Pooraka and was pretty forgettable as my knuckle popped out of place during the first song. That was due to an old injury which I thought had gone away."
In addition to playing at the next Northern Metal Madness, the band will soon be releasing a three-track demo. "We recorded that at the Salisbury TAFE," Korno states. "We did it there because my father's down there; also, I recorded stuff with UCD there, and it ended up sounding pretty cool. We had Shane from Goggzilla Sound Solutions working with us, and he knows what he's doing. Betrayed was written a while ago, and refers to a friend I had an argument with; it's meant to say sorry to her. Entrails is very death metal orientated, while Immortal Demons is a song Rhayne and I did the lyrics for; it's basically me and him battling it out. His vocals are amazing on that song, as are the bass and drums."
On the subject of bass, Korno reveals that the group's bass player, Tom, is only fifteen years old. "He became involved as a result of knowing Rhayne at school," Korno says. "He then started coming to radio at Triple BFM (I help a friend out with a show on that); we spoke more and things progressed from there. He's fifteen while Rhayne and Jake, our drummer, are seventeen. I'm the old man of the band at twenty-five!"
James Brazel
Absinthe Betrayed play at Northern Sound System on Sat 8 Sep with Stigmartyr, Splyne, Forget All This and Neuroaxis.
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