It’s all in the name: Dark Mofo. Australia’s darkest music and arts event, happening in the darkest season, and bringing together some of the world’s darkest acts.
But organisers are going all out this year, announcing Hymns to the Dead, which they’ve described as “the darkest music we could find”, which is really saying something.
With performances from Prague death metal outfit Cult of Fire, Swedish progressive black metal favourites Tribulation, and more, you’re not going to want to be the only one not in black.
To help you navigate through all the darkness, we’ve gone ahead and put together a guide to Hymns to the Dead, so that you can find your way at Australia’s darkest, heaviest, music event.
Wear black, bring earplugs, witness dark lords shaking the stage and possibly some plaster off the ceiling, at the Odeon Theatre.
Cult of Fire
Hailing from Czech Republic, and here as an Australian Exclusive for Dark Mofo, dark kings Cult of Fire have been mixing their epic brand black metal with throat singing and early Esoteric, Hinduism influenced ideologies since their formation in 2010.
With the release of their Triumvirát debut last year, the band exploded onto the scene, now armed with their second album, मृत्यु का तापसी अनुध्यान, (Ironbonehead Productions) Cult Of Fire stand poised to drag iconic old sounds into a much darker future.
Tribulation
Swedish death metal collective Tribulation are known for unleashing reverb laden guitar infused music with prog inspirations, crafting their own ‘death-prog’ metal sound.
Strangely retro in their song crafting, it’s hard to pin the four piece to a particular era. Though forming only 11 years ago, listening to their 2015 single ‘The Motherhood of God’ you’d be forgiven for believing the band travelled from the mid-late ’80s to the present day in some dark-art/witchcraft powered time machine.
Dead Congregation
12 years ago Athens, Greece gave birth to one of its darkest children to have ever lived – the one and only Dead Congregation. Coming to formation after the band’s lead guitarist and vocalist Anastasis Valtsanis left the crust punk band Nuclear Winter.
After shaking the crust punk ethos and discovering a love for – and incorporating influences from the early Swedish death metal scene, Valtsanis’ Dead Congregation was born. According to Dead Congregation themselves “creating darkness and blasphemy” is the band’s only goal.
Inverloch
Local addition to the Hymns to the Dead line up, Melbourne’s doom metal four piece Inverloch prove that here in Australia we’re as dark as the rest of them!
Since the demise of Australia’s diSEMBOWELMENT in 1993, a void has formed for that band’s epic blend of slow atmospherics and blasting brutality. Few have succeeded in channeling this legacy, until Melbourne’s INVERLOCH (featuring 2/4 of the legendary diSEMBOWELMENT) took the global stage in the late 2000s.
The band played their first-ever show at the legendary Roadburn Festival in The Netherlands, and have been lauded worldwide for their ability to challenge the boundaries of heaviness beyond breaking point.
Dark Mofo: Hymns to the Dead
Wednesday 15 June
Odeon Theatre, Hobart
Tickets and info
