Windwaker Tear The Roof Off 170 Russell On Their HYPERVIOLENCE Tour

It’s no secret that Melbourne is home to some of the best live music venues and over the years has seen some of the biggest shows and tours to date, but the HYPERVIOLENCE tour from Melbourne’s very own, homegrown metalcore wizards Windwaker on Friday night was probably one of the most hardcore fast paced shows I've seen.

Of course all this madness was to celebrate their most recent Album released in 2024 ‘’HYPERVIOLENCE’’ the album features a mix of a darker and heavier sound from the band but it also showcases their evolution into a more mature path, the album blends a variety of genres. They are a band well known for mixing genres and they do it oh so effortlessly EVERY SINGLE TIME, HYPERVIOLENCE features a mix of rock, metal, hip-hop and edm.

The Lineup for this tour was CRAZY, we had the legends from California, Thousand Below. Sydney's Diamond Construct and the lads from Brisbane, Headwreck supporting and bringing the heat to every single show.

While I missed Headwrecks set this time around (damn public transport) I've listened to these lads since 2021, they have always been one of my all time favourites. Their ability to so easily mix heavy with the melodic side of music, they are the kings of combining HEAVY AND FUN together, with catchy melodies, both harsh and clean vocals and distorted guitar riffs, i suggest if you get the chance to see them near you, don't pull a me and miss out on them.

Next to grace the stage were the boys in Diamond Construct known best for their aggressive heavy riffs and breakdowns, seeing all that LIVE was insane, I felt empowered, like I could punch and break a brick wall with one hit, I had such a rush of adrenaline getting to watch this. The fast tempo’s and heavy rhythms had me feeling so damn excited and alive with energy, their stage presence was filled with lots of movements. Their vocalist Kynan Groundwater delivered one HELL of a vocal performance, letting that mix I was talking about before really shine, safe to say that Diamond Construct are going on my daily spinners list.

Speaking of my daily spinners list the third and final opener for the night is a band that I've listened to for as long as i can remember; and a band that I've cried to more than most of the others on my list of bands. Thousand Below known for their post-hardcore style and coming ALL the way from San Diego, California blessed us with their presence on the stage at 170 Russell, and they bought all their well known tricks, the emotionally charged lyrics, the melodic riffs and heavy breakdowns; they played two of my all time favourite songs.

Those being ‘’Silent Season’’ and ‘’Sabotage’’ (yes I'm a sad boy i know) James Deberg the frontman/vocalist is a perfect choice for these type of songs, his vocal range just helps deliver that soul crushing blow (in the best kinda way). That paired with the double trouble of the Joshes, with Josh Thomas on guitar and Josh Billimoria on bass this pair help the delivery of the Melodic riffs with Max Santoro on drums contributing the final touches of the songs, these guys were the perfect touch to open for a band like Windwaker.

And finally the main event of the evening, time for the homegrown team to take the stage right from Melbourne itself, WindWaker are a force to be reckoned with. Every time they tour they just prove it more and more why they deserve a spot up with some of the metalcore greats, their concerts are always full of energy and adrenaline, this show was no different.

As vocalist Liam Guinane and the rest of the band took the stage and the lights turned on, the crowd erupted in such a roar that you just knew the roof of 170 Russel was about to come off the place, people were coming over the barrier crowd surfing immediately, the pit was split several times as fans of all bands united in one giant mosh, all the openers had already warmed up the room and Windwaker was just the cherry on the top of it all, playing songs like Tabula Rasa, Arcane and Venom, and ending their encore with SIRENS, this was by far one of the most energetic shows I've been to this year, this tour further cemented Windwaker as one of the top bands to keep an eye on.