Review: LANDMVRKS @ The Gov 13/05/25
French metalcore stars LANDMVRKS decimated The Gov with a thrilling live performance that left everyone wanting more.
Words Will Oakeshott // Images Justin White
Landmvrks w/Bad Juju & Fallweather @ The Gov 13/05/2025
“Savoir, penser, rêver. Tout est là.” – Victor Hugo.
Whilst an immeasurable amount of people worldwide would have knowledge of this honoured and prestigious author and playwright, as well as his renowned works such as The Hunchback Of Notre-Dame and Les Misérables, they might not be familiar with the eloquent expression above. When translated to English, the quotation reads as:
“To know, to think, to dream. That is all.”
Victor Hugo was not known for his musical ability, however, he did inspire musicians for nearly two centuries with his phenomenal written works. It is possibly a far stretch to suggest each act performing would be particularly familiar with the aforementioned six French words (nine in English), but their relevance to every outfit can become quite transparent, even in the world of heavy music. The musicians have to know their craft, to think about its potential, to dream what it can evolve into and where it could take them – that is all the components required to create memorable and astounding art.
A capacity crowd on a Tuesday evening at The Governor Hindmarsh were present and spellbound by the three bands who undertook this very aesthetic.
Melbourne’s Fallweather were presented with the outstanding opportunity of the opening role for this entire tour, and they were intent on making this dream situation their reality. The five-piece performed their first live show in 2024, and witnessing them atop the Gov’s platform for this showcase, it was practically impossible to believe.
The quintet’s chemistry is above substantial and their emotional melodic metallic hardcore formula is incredibly infectious and charismatically cathartic. The more harmony-driven ‘Need’ was poetic with its fantastic fluxes between loud and quiet and assuredly a track that New York’s Ghost Chant would have been envious of. ‘Bathe In Blood’ furthered all of these elements impeccably with a Counterparts and Until I Wake amalgamation in sounds. Then, closer ‘Tired Eyes’ propelled their alt metal-meets-hardcore coalescence to a hypnosis that inspired both the shoegazers and the ninja-moshers when the musical movements engrossed them.
Canadian-via-Melbournian vocalist Cullen Forbes was rousing with his frontman role and his bandmates fed off his energy with supreme gusto. Certainly an outfit to keep your eyes and ears on (particularly Grayscale Records).
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The tension in the atmosphere was rising rapidly as the spectators were bustling with excitement. Melbourne’s Bad Juju were quick to take advantage of the liveliness of the audience and launched into their single ‘Tired Of Running’ that blended the earlier soundscape of After The Fall with the cinematic punk of Badflower.
‘Misery Sticks To Me’ toed the line of grunge and alt-metal very intriguingly, and ‘Nothing To Give’ echoed earlier You Me At Six with a heavier edge, especially with the groove breakdown.
The five-piece then underwent a transformation of their own and presented to the onlookers, Bad Juju Version 2.0, to a degree. The outfit have been spending a significant amount of time in the studio recently and the developments are astonishing. The quintet have embarked on a heavier sound broaching near nu-metal territories, but also guided by the earlier alt-heavy-rock of Hoobastank circa 2001, Linkin Park’s metalodic rock and the post-hardcore experimentations of The Used in 2007.
Moments of Bring Me The Horizon’s poppier direction creep in, as do the post-hardcore inklings of The Here & Now by Architects; it’s a courageous shift, but one that works in favour of Bad Juju, particularly for the concertgoers on this night. A new single will be released in the coming weeks, and it will be one to know as an integral part of Juju’s setlist in the future.
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“Savoir, penser, rêver. Tout est là.”
“To know, to think, to dream. That is all.”
If Marseille’s LANDMVRKS were seeking a proverb to illuminate their integrity, Victor Hugo has arguably crafted that message flawlessly. The Frenchmen subscribe to a melodic metalcore classification to a certain extent, but they know so much more. Very rarely would one encounter a band that separates from that category to genre-switch to breathtaking hip hop in their native language, and on occasion, as a different track. For LANDMVRKS, though, they accomplish this often in the same song, and it surpasses illustriousness. Nu metal, hardcore, folk-pop, deathcore, emotional punk and more are all integral parts of the five-piece’s formula, and the shifts in soundscapes are beyond bewitching. They are explorations to think of, to dream of and undeniably the outfit are in another stratosphere of musical alchemy.
When a musical soundtrack tribute to Flashdance (Michael Sembello’s ‘She’s A Maniac’) concluded, the entirety of the Gov was shrouded in darkness. The artwork for LANDMVRKS’ recently released new LP, The Darkest Place I Have Ever Been, lit up the backdrop and the enigmatic frontman, Florent Salfati, marched out to deafening cheers. A fast-paced, familiar backbeat blasted from the speaker system, and Florent delivered a rhapsodic rap verse that signified the introduction to the second pulverising composition from their new full-length, ‘Creature’.
Before the 20 second point of the song, the remaining musicians were upon the stage and their djentcore pulsation shook the walls of the Gov as Salfati devastatingly growled, “I am the creature!” – chaos ensued.
Guitarists Nicolas Exposito, Paul Cordebard and bassist Rudy Purkart were immediately in full flight – fly kicking, air punching and spinning in sequenced circles, escalating the insanity of the exhibition. ‘Death’ maintained this magnificent madness, integrating alternative metal beauty in the vein of Deftones with the devastatingly delightful art-metalcore of Black Sheep Wall. ‘Blistering’ moved from moments of punk rock with pop sensibilities, to melodic hardcore that Comeback Kid would marvel at, and then a metallic moshcore breakdown that Hatebreed would snap their necks to. Comprehensibly, none of these bands were in attendance, but the very eager devotees engaged in these actions frantically. Not to mention the abundance of crowd surfers, mosh ninjas and resounding sing-alongs that also took place exceedingly in enthrallment.
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‘A Line In The Dust’ sensationally synthesised the musical demographics of Slipknot, Linkin Park, Architects and Alexisonfire all into one enchanting arrangement of superhuman capabilities – this is already at the status of anthem, just wait for it to be executed at an arena, it will be unquestionably thunderous. ‘Visage’ returned to the hip hop ambience with a venue-wide soul-stirring effect until the avalanche of djentcore vanquished the audience in the best way possible.
‘Sulfur’ unsettled the platonic plates below the surface, instigating an earthquake from the “metal stomping” of both the band and fans alike. ‘Say No Word’ elevated this disquiet with a death metallic rap inflexion and then ‘Scars’ eased the ruination but only slightly, to a remarkable ramification.
“You are all insane tonight, thank you! This is my favourite kind of show!” Florent Salfati expressed, bewilderingly without a bead of sweat on his body and still full of amour and vitality.
‘Suffocate’ allowed for a much-needed rest while Salfati channelled the folk-pop delights of Kevin Divine before morphing into a progressive-pop-rock ballad Boston Manor wish they wrote. ‘Tired Of It All’ followed pristinely before delivering a deathcore-driven uppercut. ‘Lost In A Wave’ was a circle-pit-athlete’s dream come true that was broken up with an emotional sing-along that seemed to resonate throughout the entirety of South Australia. This sentiment was bolstered with the guest vocal appearance of Fallweather’s Cullen Forbes, enhancing a “party aura” to the demonstration.
SPEED will probably need to consider touring with LANDMVRKS, given how moving ‘Rainfall’ is in a beatdown hardcore motif. Drummer Kévin D'Agostino shone with his terrorific tenacity and the powerhouse pummelling of his kit.
A predictable yet very appreciated encore was executed featuring the hip hop progcore single ‘Blood Red’, and ‘Self-Made Black Hole’, where the lunacy went into hyperdrive. The shout-along to “Check check mother fucker!” virtually translated into the triumph of heavy music as a chess game, but the losing players were the music aficionados who missed out on this prestigious event.
“Merci beaucoup!” Florent Salfati yelled in a thankful tone that will be remembered wholeheartedly by the hundreds present on this night. In all likelihood, the next time LANDMVRKS perform in Adelaide, the venue will be of a larger scale.
“To know, to think, to dream. That is all.”
Or, is it?
Want more pics of the gig? Check out our full photo gallery here.
