Review: PERSEFONE @ Lion Arts Factory 12/10/25
Progressive death metal masters PERSEFONE put on one hell of a show when they played Adelaide for the very first time with support from Aussie melodic metal giants Orpheus Omega.
Words Will Oakeshott // Images Danny Wallace
PERSEFONE w/Orpheus Omega, Storm The Crown and Impetus @ Lion Arts Factory 12/10/25
“Making art is the most relaxing, joyous, therapeutic stimulating way to spend your time, as you unleash the part of your brain that's been itching to get at it.” - Harley Brown.
Isn’t the statement above, provided by the multi-Award-winning Canadian artist and author, remarkably accurate and idyllic?
The quote superbly captures that practically addictive emotional attachment to being creative. Where the dopamine and adrenaline combine in a synthesis of exuberance, enhancing a craving to repeat the process, or to experience more of the art form in some way, shape or form.
Each heavy music act that performed on this wintry Spring night unquestionably broadcast this motif. Although their exhibitions expanded beyond “making” as announced above, it actually elevated to “sharing”.
The intimate Adelaide audience at this event experienced each artist’s creativity and consequently revelled in their demonstrations. “Joyous” nearly underrepresents how elating this showcase was, as Prof. Dr Min Tang of the University Institute of Schaffhausen states: “Creativity has long been recognised as a powerful force for promoting psychological well-being.”
The crowd and performers alike were left in a state of being VERY well, art is indeed a splendid therapy.
Local openers and extreme thrash metallers Impetus embraced Mr Brown’s aforementioned articulation flawlessly. The quartet clearly relish the opportunity to perform live and unleash their art in delightful devastation. ‘Burial In The Eyes’ displayed a tech death metal design that instantly grabbed the growing audience’s attention, especially with the quirky actions guitarist/vocalist Aidan DeMaria put on display, such as pointing to his ear to escalate the cheers from his spectators.
‘Black Out The Sun’ was a righteous, robust ruination of blackened progressive thrash, where DeMaria’s demonic bark enthralled the onlookers. New song ‘Monolith’ channelled The Human Abstract with its progressive heaviness and jazzy interludes, the guitar solo by guest musician Charlie Slee from Agnoxis was beyond inspiring.
Closer ‘The Fatal Error In I’ was an eruption of prog-metalcore-thrash, with a colossal breakdown that recalled earlier Between The Buried And Me. This was drummer Jean Michael Herradua’s shining anthem, where his thunderous drumming radiated shockwaves throughout the venue. This was to be his last show with Impetus, with the four-piece also taking some time off until 2026. However, they assuredly went out on a high and had an infectious joyousness throughout their set.
Throwback metalcore quintet Storm The Crown were determined to maintain this positivity with their pummelling breakdowns, and ‘Maxpower’ was their intense initiation into this heavy royal typhoon. Elements of All That Remains are identifiable, but STC incorporated more dynamic death metal nuances masterfully.
‘Neon’ was a metallic onslaught that Caliban would have certainly revered, then ‘Ritual’ would have had The Autumn Offering considering a proper reunion.
‘Oceans’ was brutifully bolstered by guest vocalist, Double Dragon’s Lee Gardiner, who exchanged growls and screams with frontman Chris Causby in a dazzling duet of devastation. ‘Run’ crept into more haunting territories that were perfected by It Dies Today; Mr Causby roused his monster within, bellowing without his microphone over the blasting breakdowns.
‘Bones’ blended Still Remains with local heroes I Killed The Prom Queen in a metalcore marvel that left the witnesses engrossed excellently. The five-piece are heading into the studio again very soon, so keep your eyes and ears out for what Storm The Crown unleash next.
READ MORE: Review: I Killed the Prom Queen @ Hindley Street Music Hall 09/10/25
Imagine an Unidentified Flying Object landing within the walls of Lion Arts Factory, with five alien humanoids emerging from the spacecraft, but walking in reverse with their backs facing their onlookers. Envisage a sudden burst of lights and intergalactic keytar-driven progressive death metal, with the quintet of Extra TerristriMetal beings turning in glee to face their audience, and displaying a seductive euphoria and blissfulness that is above contagious.
Visualise contracting this charismatic infection, and forgetting all the woes and worries of one’s existence.
This sounds like a case for Agent Fox Mulder and Dana Scully with the FBI – better known as The X-Files, doesn’t it?
By the very depths of imagination, it could be, but more accurately, this is the Melbourne band known as Orpheus Omega.
There is no denying the five-piece’s showmanship; it is electrifying and almost too eccentric. Yet, it is practically impossible not to enjoy oneself (see opening quote to this article). ‘Kharon’ was a djent-driven fantastical adventure, ‘Beacons’ was more of a synth-metal-opera journey that referenced a modernised Cynic soundscape, but from a different galaxy again. ‘Marionette’ is a track The Contortionist wish they had sculptured due to its extreme theatrics. ‘Exist To Observe’ had the hyper-coloured film clip put on display via the stage’s backdrop and explored many faces of heavy metal sensationally (unfortunately Soilwork’s Björn Strid did not make the space flight with Orpheus to perform on the single).
‘In Time’ somehow augmented every aspect of ‘Omega into another universe of intergalactic metal. Campbell Hill showed his superhuman talents by closing the track with the keytar played behind his head.
The five-piece then decided to make the evening a very special event for a nine-year-old devotee by having a circle-pit happen around the young metalhead, which even bassist Leon Monaco and Campbell Hill joined in on for the song ‘Sealed In Fate’. Final track ‘The Tangle’ brought guitarist Luke Ashley off the stage for their heaviest artistic tune that Winds Of Plague would have been beyond envious of.
It must be stated that Orpheus Omega do more than perform; they enchantingly emanate from their art. They commit their entirety into their production – for their spectators, it is all encompassing and sincerely, above enjoyable. Until the next brainwash, many in the crowd will still be smiling in reflection of these out-of-space musicians.
“Music is the language of the spirit. It opens the secret of life, bringing peace, abolishing strife.” - Kahlil Gibran.
The use of another quote in this article is because these 17 words actually epitomise Andorra’s PERSEFONE faultlessly. The band’s sonic landscape is undoubtedly oriented around the progressive death metal subgenre, but there is excessively more to their art than what a “genre” can define.
Reduced to a four-piece for this ritual, there was an understandable reliance on a backing track to ensure the vivacious volume of PERSEFONE was felt. It is important to take note of the reference “felt”, as the outfit’s music is not just seen and heard, it transcends those senses. It is more aligned with an enlightenment.
“I keep dreaming of the one word that cannot be named...”
An explosion of djent soulful death metal powerfully perplexed and enchanted Adelaide. ‘Sounds And Vessels’ was the introduction; the spiritual odyssey had begun.
‘One Word’ enriched the severity of the heavy aspects of the quartet, but in a rapturous counteraction, also incorporated heavenly harmonies that seemed beyond this dimension.
“I keep dreaming of the one word that cannot be named...” vocalist Daniel R. Flys screamed in defiant authority, but with a compelling zeal and passion, while guitarists Filipe Baldaia and Carlos Lozano Quintanilla body-rocked and headbanged in divine seizures of magnificence.
This was PERSEFONE’s first time in Australia, and they were going to show boundless thanks by transporting the attendees to their higher vital force through their music. ‘Stillness Is Timeless’ captured this enigmatic essence wholeheartedly; it was hypnotic, and an artistic venture into a vaster djent-metal dimension.
‘Living Waves’ was the auditory version of Miller’s Planet from the film Interstellar – chaotic, terrifying, yet also somehow tranquil. Frontman (and cult leader) Flys decided to join his followers offstage in a unification of souls and music.
“Now that’s how I like it, my friends, thank you so much!” he expressed in mystical merriment.
‘Mind As Universe’ was an all-encompassing musical fascination, a cinematic pièce de resistance, the adventurous anthem irrefutably: “…opens the secret of life bringing peace, abolishing strife.”
Guitarist Filipe Baldaia joined the crowd in a rockin’ rampage, Carlos Lozano Quintanilla transformed his guitar into a weapon of destruction, both in murderous swinging and prodigious playing, and Flys simply glowed as a leader of this musical spiritual voyage.
Sharing “art is the most relaxing, joyous, therapeutic, stimulating way to spend your time, as you unleash the part of your brain that's been itching to get at it.”
Therapy concluded, joy beyond reached.
Want more pics of the gig? Check out our full photo gallery here.
