THORNHILL + DAYSEEKER + GRAVEMIND + BANKS ARCADE
Live @ The Triffid - Brisbane

Written by: Tom Wilson - Sense Music Media | Friday 15th July 2022

Melbourne Goth Rockers Destroy The Triffid

It might seem a bit strange to start with a song called Don’t Start, but that just might be a sign of BANKS ARCADE’s sense of humour. Pulsing, malevolent synths throb from The Triffid’s P.A. as Joshua O’Donnell throws shapes with the mic stand, and the pounding djent pummel that follows is almost low enough to make you shit your pants. Showcasing their upcoming album Future Lovers, Josh would later tell me that they have no qualms about being the first band up, because they bring the energy regardless, and it shows. It’s a rare sight to see mosh pits break out for the opening band, but BANKS ARCADE are a rare band. They chew up genres and spit them out like sunflower seeds, and their performance tonight veers from crushing to anthemic on a whim. Stunning stuff.

GRAVEMIND vocalist Bailey Schembri, who only joined the band this year, opens his set by apologising for the quality of his voice, but reassuring us that he will be pushing through to give people a good show. What follows is an exercise in brutality, and the death growls and snarls are of such a high quality that it was two songs in before I realised the drum kit was empty. It turns out that drummer Karl Stellar’s flight was cancelled, so his drum tracks are coming to us via laptop. Bailey introduces Phantom Pain by dedicating it to those of us who were let down by someone who was supposed to care for us, and the track is as musically stunning as it is lyrically heartbreaking.

Next up is post-hardcore crew DAYSEEKER all the way from Los Angeles, California. The mood in the room is elated. For some, this is the first international band they’ve seen since the pandemic. There is a lot to like about their performance tonight, but the clear standout is Rory Rodriguez’s voice. It is stunningly powerful, and with every massive note, he pulls the mic away from his face, seemingly as a favour to those who aren’t wearing earplugs tonight. “The worst is yet to come,” he screams on set highlight Sleeptalk, barely able (or willing) to hide how excited he is to be back out touring. Rory asks to kill the house lights and has everyone in the audience raise their mobile phones, and the hundred combined flashlights wash across the punters and the stage. It’s glorious. In thanking the other bands on the lineup, Rory describes the members of THORNHILL as “all looking like Robert Pattinson at different stages of his life,” and now I can’t unsee it. Cheers for that, dude. An emotional speech about how much he misses his father who passed away last year segues into Drunk, and there is nary a dry eye in the house.

The lights go down, and the serene, playful notes of Something Terrible Came with the Rain plays over the P.A. Dark, well-dressed figures emerge onstage, one by one, and Melbourne’s THORNHILL launch into the ultra-low, fuzzed out riff of The Hellfire Club. Ethan McCann looks like a goth poster boy with ragged patches sown onto his suit jacket, and Matt van Duppen’s six-string is tuned so low, the tone would give DEFTONES guitarist Stefan Carpenter goosebumps. Jacob Charlton appears on a platform beside the drummer, throwing shapes against the tall brick wall. Drummer Ben Maida went to the John Stanier School of Drum Punishment. He’s hitting his kit like it owes him money, and the snare sounds like a cannon, firing off under Nick Sjogren’s bass.

Combining thick djent riffs with crooning vocals and dreamy soundscapes, comparisons to latter-day DEFTONES are unavoidable when talking about THORNHILL, particularly their phenomenal new album Heroine, but it’s also as obvious as saying metal bands wouldn’t exist without BLACK SABBATH. There are, no doubt, other bands that sound like THORNHILL, but it’s what they’re doing with that sound that makes them remarkable. From the strength of their material to their presence on stage tonight, THORNHILL have what it takes to be Australia’s answer to MUSE. Leather Wings and Hollywood are breathtaking, and the pit is rapturous, but it’s when they burst into Arkangel that their true power is revealed. The riffs are so massive they threaten to level The Triffid, and Jacob’s voice soars over them like a phoenix. As Arkangel draws to a close, we soon realise that it’s not just our ears that are ringing. It’s a phone. Our attention is brought to an old-school rotary telephone on a table on the stage. Jacob scoops it up and puts the handset to his ear. The band launch into Valentine, and Jacob slinks around the stage, breathily crooning into the phone’s built-in microphone.

The showmanship tonight is top tier. Jets of foam spout from the rafters, creating snowdrifts across the stage. It’s a good thing that Heroine is a great album, because we get a lot of it tonight, balanced out with a selection from The Dark Pool and a good serving of banter with the crowd. After orchestrating a wall of death in the pit, they close out with Where We Go When We Die and the title track Heroine. As they leave the stage, I’m left with two things – a small crush on Jacob Charlton, and a giddy excitement at what this band is going to do next.

All photos by: Tracy McLaughlin - Kaotic Images

The Setlist