In Hearts Wake recently released their brilliant album Arc which contains a message for us all, about water and how precious it is to our environment. So, to help spread this message they have hit the road on what is their biggest headline tour to date and if that wasn’t enough they have two international supports along for the ride, Japanese electronicore outfit Crossfaith, Bring Me The Horizon’s recent Aussie tour supports, While She Sleeps and Sydney band Polaris.
If you aren’t aware of Sydney up-and-comers Polaris then you really aren’t aware of how awesome this five piece really is. They have made a name for themselves relentlessly touring and for me catching just a brief glimpse of tonight’s show at the Enmore (the line to get in was huge) was enough to get me warmed up on this winter’s evening. The level of energy these guys put out was intense, the dual vocals are really good and sound even more so. If there was anyone in the building who weren’t already a fan, then they would be now for sure.
Okay, so the website listed While She Sleeps up next, but imagine my surprise when out burst onto the stage Japanese powerhouse Crossfaith. I have been waiting to see these guys again ever since the 2015 Soundwaves. They blew me away then and they did the same tonight, the amount of energy these guys put out could power Sydney during Vivid it is so relentless, and whilst their sound is somewhat electronic they make it come out in the most hard-core of ways. I cannot state enough how awesome these guys are, they open with System X and shit just exploded. The set had the most walls of death I have ever seen and as they pushed the crowd to the limit on tracks like Countdown to Hell, Jaegerbomb and Monolith they made it feel as though the floor was going to break any second. The masterpiece of their performance had to be on Leviathan, what a performance, can’t wait to see these guys again sometime.
Up next is While She Sleeps they had a big job ahead as the first two bands of the night had us well and truly warmed up and let me tell you they were up to the task. They erupted onto the stage with You Are We then headed straight into a rendition of the old-school anthem Seven Hills. They wasted no time in moving from one track to the next and whilst they might not have had their ‘jump about on stage antics’ the in your face, brute metal core sound burst your ears and kept your body moving. Giant circle pits were the theme of the set as punters slammed about to brutal sounding tracks like Brainwashed and Feel. At one point the guitarist tried to crowd surf on his guitar and no-one missed a beat. It was mag-freaking- nificent! That is all I can say. Look forward to seeing more of these guys.
Far out, it is Friday night and the end of a hard-working week and I am normally exhausted by now but the previous bands have amped me up. Who needs red-bull when you have live hard-core bands absolutely killing it, can the lads from Byron match what we have already seen? Does the crowd even have anything left to give? The answer to both these questions is FUCK YEA! They do and so do we.
In Hearts Wake set up of lighting blew me away, and the stage show antics really helped make their message known, but even better was their sound. It just blasted off the Enmore walls whilst opening with Passage then straight into Nomad. The set list would comprise mostly from Arc and each track sounded fantastic to me. Frequency, Watercry and Waterborne all sounded great but older tracks like Healer, Skydancer and Survival (the Chariot) all played out fabulously as well, they really have honed their guitar skills. A mix of slow and heavy breakdowns with clean and screaming vocals is what I love about this band and tonight they showcased that love. I will admit the energy died off a little with only the faithful still giving it their all, but when the encore rolled around things finished off strong with Arrow and Refuge.
All in all, it had been one hell of a showcase from all the bands on tonight’s bill that left the fans battered and bruised, their ears ringing, but still grinning from ear to ear. I really hope to see more shows of with this many quality bands on one ticket in the future. It was a night I won’t soon forget.
Review – Chad
Photo Gallery – Christian Ross