Musical Musings | Australian metal makes a mark

“I think with any Ne Obliviscaris album, the expectation is to be taken on a journey through a lot of places musically, stylistically and emotionally,” the group’s clean vocalist and violinist Tim Charles told this column about what fans could expect from the new album.

“Exul explores new sounds and areas we have never gone to before, whilst still remaining connected to the lineage of what has come before it.”

Unlike run-of-the-mill metal bands, Ne Obliviscaris have always adhered to an ethos of never being afraid of using non-traditional ‘heavy metal’ instruments such as the violin when making music.

“It’s definitely become an important aspect, for sure,” Charles said.

“I think as a violinist and someone who loves so many different types of music, the way I approach writing metal is quite different to most.

“Many bands have a genre box they get stuck in when writing after a while.

“For us, we’re quite aware of exploring different ideas and not rejecting something because it’s not ‘metal’ enough, but instead asking simply if it makes the song better.

“I think that courage to take chances and combine genres that are quite rare to hear mixed together is one of the things that has helped us stand out as a band over the years.”

The group has toured extensively both nationally and internationally, and regionally — something the members are particularly fond of.

“One of the great things about performing in a regional area is that the fans are often even more excited and appreciative for you to be there, seeing not every tour comes through their town,” Charles said.

“This generally means a high-energy and fun experience for us, and the crowd as well.”

As a homegrown act, Ne Obliviscaris are part of a thriving Australian metal scene.

“There are a lot of Australian metal bands, us included, where the biggest crowds we draw anywhere in the world is right here in Australia,” Charles said.

“Whilst we do tour places like the US and Europe, our biggest headline shows are still right here in Oz.

“We have one of the best heavy music scenes in the world here in Australia and so it’s a great thing to see fans flock to see Australian artists in such big numbers here as well as abroad these days.”

Music news

According to an investigation conducted by online music site The Music, album reviews may soon be a thing of the past, with a review of a bottle of wine more likely to be featured in a publication than an album.

It seems album reviews in many of the nation’s major daily newspapers have been ever less frequent of late.

While this may sadly be the current state of play in Australia, magazines overseas such as UK’s MOJO and Record Collector continue to prominently feature album reviews in each issue.

• Australia’s latest supergroup is The Barnestormers, a group featuring Jimmy Barnes, Chris Cheney (The Living End), Slim Jim Phantom (Stray Cats) and UK TV host and musician Jools Holland.

• Pop superstar Ed Sheeran’s recent shows at the MCG saw him smash attendance records. Over two nights, he performed to more than 215,000 fans, officially securing his place in the history books.

Behind the song: Holy Grail — Hunters & Collectors (1993)

Former Hunters & Collectors lead guitarist Barry Palmer shared the following story with me in 2006 about the making of the Aussie anthem Holy Grail.

“Mark Seymour, as always, was full of ideas,’’ he said.

“One of Mark’s moments, amongst others, was what was to become Holy Grail; however, there was considerable input by band members into the breakdown section and as always, the horn players wrote and arranged their parts for that song, as they did for all of the others that they played on.

“The lyrics were always Mark’s domain.

“You might cop a ‘whaddya think of this?’ but that was about all the input he ever needed.

“We had no idea at the time that the song would go on to become such a loved Australian anthem.

“In fact, it was one of the songs that producer Don Gehman didn’t want to record, but Mark put his foot down and Australian sport can now thank him for ever.”

Fun fact

Did you know British band The Tourists, who had a huge top 10 hit in Australia in 1980 with I Only Want To Be With You, played Shepparton’s GV Hotel at the tail end of 1980 as part of an Australian tour?

Yet once the tour reached Wagga Wagga, the band imploded and members Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox decided there and then to form The Eurythmics.

Readers can send feedback, suggestions, share their music-related stories and more to: MusicalMusings@mmg.com.au

Until next time.

•Joe Matera is a local singer/songwriter, recording artist, guitarist and music journalist providing readers with all the latest music news