Review: Thornhill @ The Gov 26/02/26
Aussie alt-metal masters Thornhill were joined by Ocean Grove, Paledusk and Heavensgate for a night of cathartic heavy music at The Gov, and we were there to catch all the action.
Words Will Oakeshott // Images Thomas Jackson
Thornhill w/Ocean Grove, Paledusk & Heavensgate @ The Gov 16/02/26
“The colours, they move like dancers.” – ‘Joy’, Butterfly, Jacob Charlton, Thornhill (2018).
Although the track ‘Joy’ was not included in Melbourne’s progressive alt-metalcore-pop quartet Thornhill’s setlist on this evening (nor was any other track from the Butterfly EP), the six poetic words stated above carry with them a significant conception for every outfit that performed at The Governor Hindmarsh.
Potentially, their music was an artform of radiant colour.
At this event, the “dancers” were also prominent in numerous different expressions of the movement, whether aeronautical through jumping or climbing atop fellow crowd members. Or the hardcore dancers, windmilling, kicking, flipping and two-stepping in energised outbursts. However, “dancers” more often than not require rhythm, conversely music, to engage in this magnificent artistic movement. Therefore, why can’t music be involved with colour?
If the argument becomes that music is solely an auditory response, there is profound scientific evidence that suggests this isn’t entirely correct.
As Professor Michael Schutz of McMaster University states: “Music is inherently an auditory art form, rooted in sound and generally analysed in terms of its acoustic properties. However, as the process of hearing is affected by seeing, visual information does in fact play an important role in the musical experience.”
Renowned metal musician Devin Townsend has chromesthesia, which means he sees colour when hearing sounds. With these details in mind, this writer implores the observers of this fine publication to undertake a journey into sound, through colour, to relive this remarkable event.
After a rather calming introductory jazz composition, which provided the soundtrack for Melbourne’s nu melodeathcore quartet Heavensgate to ascend to the stage, the relaxing atmosphere quickly became riotous: “What the fuck, Adelaide? I said MOVE! Standing around doing nothing? If you want to get violent, OPEN IT UP!”
These were the callous commands of frontman Nazareth Tharatt as the four-piece savagely stalked the stage in a prolific predatory fashion. Heavensgate were animalistic in their aggression. Befittingly, the colour of their musical dance was assigned red.
“Red often signals aggression in animals,” Professor Rob Barton, Durham University.
‘Rain’ was above aggressive, it was marvellously malevolent, and the four-piece were thunderous in their deathened nu metalcore sound and powerful presence. ‘Oblivion’ featured a groove-and-bounce that echoed off the walls, ceiling and floor below from cacophonous breakdowns. The ninja-mosh-dancers began their lunacy accordingly and adoringly, while bassist Aki Vicneswaran undertook some charismatic crabcore movements of his own. ‘Ginsick’ was a haunting venture into blast-beat-spurred metallic hardcore that went beyond torrential. A melodic interlude alleviated the anarchy momentarily, darkening to a shade of wondrous rosewood, before exploding in lava red for its momentous conclusion.
‘Petrichor’ found Heavensgate navigating through an almost different identity altogether, a prog-shoegaze-grunge-metal number that bonded Whirr with Vexes’ scintillating soundscapes together sublimely. ‘Ratking’ was a maleficent monstrosity of metal to follow, then closer ‘A Fawn Flayed’ magically moved between masterful moments of progressive-metalcore instructed by Misery Signals, with djentcore derangement.
Adelaide was irrefutably seeing red in the best way possible.
READ MORE: Review: Lacuna Coil @ The Gov 17/02/26
Japan’s Paledusk could arguably be the most difficult band to assign only one colour to, worldwide, for their magical musical movements. The aforementioned lyrical excerpt did matter-of-factly declare a plural form, “colours”, though. So, a “juste milieu” can be deciphered for this article’s objective. For Paledusk, the assignment will be magenta.
Magenta is a vibrant colour, mixing red, green and blue, which embodies creativity and innovation. That exact embodiment is Paledusk’s artistic approach.
After an array of technical difficulties, the quintet charged onto The Gov’s platform in matching ADIDAS inscribed jackets to a breakbeat dance track which switched to metalcore magically in a heartbeat. This introduction was entitled ‘Paledusk Theme Song #1’ and was momentous.
“Are you fucking ready, Adelaide?” vocalist Kaito screamed at the sold-out audience. Simultaneously, South Australia was and wasn’t ready for this brilliant bombardment of musical ecstasy.
What excellently ensued was an amazing amalgamation of nu metallic-hardcore-dance-jazz-rap-pop that, as this “sub-genre” classification attempt fails to decipher, was in fact, impossible to describe. Though in this perplexity, there is an irrefutable elegance. Fly-kicks, spins and near acrobatics were executed to Olympic athlete levels by Paledusk, while the crazed compositions wowed the witnesses into colourful wonderment.
‘Slay’ was some parts mathrock of fellow Japanese brethren LITE, with video game soundtracks, jazz, groove metal, rap, dance-pop and hardcore. ‘Super Natural High’ was a grungey-electronic-breakbeat-metal-rapcore onslaught. ‘Pale Horse’ showcased pop-punk moments, but amongst the heavy mayhem, there were glimmers of Disney soundtrack elegance.
The five-piece was overjoyed with the full-house attendance, and the crowd was above responsive to their requests. Circle-pit encouRAGEment, the “get down to jump up” venue-wide exploit and general live music madness was fantastically promoted and partaken in.
“Next time we will come back for a headline tour!” Kaito joyfully expressed. This is unquestionably a necessity. Paledusk are not only “Magenta” for their musical dance movement colour allocation, they realistically surpass magnetic.
This was going to be a very hard act to follow, but Melbourne’s Britpopping nu metalcore magicians Ocean Grove, well, ‘These Boys Light Fires’ – to an elite standard.
After American goth-nu metal act Amira Elfeky sadly cancelled her appearance for this tour, the majestic Melburnians dived in to help out their best friends and headliners Thornhill. Considering that their name involves the sea itself, Ocean Grove would have to be designated the colour blue.
According to Professor Diane Dreher, the colour “blue affects people both cognitively and affectively, making them feel more comfortable.”
Fortunately for this writer, after numerous experiences of seeing the OG ‘Shimmer’ live many times, “comfort” was to be an undeniable outcome for the hundreds present in the venue.
‘OG FOREVER’ was to be the quartet’s walk-on track, provoking an aura of excitement throughout the capacity crowd.
“Wassup, Adelaide?” vocalist and bassist Dale Tanner leisurely yet illustriously greeted the spectators. “It’s the rhythm, it’s the sound, of the Oddworld underground.”
BOOM!
The nu metal groove incited an instantaneous tranquil turmoil. Understandably, the final two words of that sentence are conflicting, but if one were to think of the ocean, that beautiful, vast, continuous body of salt water, it can host both of those essences exquisitely. Essentially, that is Ocean Grove with their astounding artistic output.
‘Superstar’ was a wonderfully weird wave of musical ambition; whirlpools of London’s Blur, with ripples of Limp Bizkit, clashed in a terrific tidal soundscape coalescence. ‘Ask For The Anthem’ brought the delectable drop, the famous funk and the infectious jumps, which the four-piece and the majority of the witnesses within The Gov trounced the ground to superlatively.
‘Intimate Alien’ was intergalactically incredible with its throwback acknowledgement to nearly 10-years ago. Amazingly, the single is still so astonishingly advanced with its transcendental nu metal ambience. ‘Last Dance’ was a shoegaze ballad committed to “telling people you love them every chance you get”, and incited a venue-wide oceanic sway illuminated by phone flashlights.
Mr Tanner then exchanged roles with bassist Brent “Twiggy” Hunter, who demanded “The biggest fucking circle pit of the night!” The four-piece then launched into ‘Raindrop’, and Dale defied gravity with an athletic hardcore jump, spurring the audience further to “dance” more relentlessly.
Tanner returned to the vocalist role for ‘Stratosphere Love’, which was titanic in multiple volumes, transforming himself practically into Ian Curtis with a seizure dance of ferocity.
‘JUNKIE$’ bolstered the entirety of the exhibition superbly, with an eager crowd surfer making his way over the barrier. Security grabbed the concertgoer and attempted to end his night early with a swift removal from the venue. The stage crew, band and management were quick to halt this procedure, to which the aficionado was able to repeat the adrenalised process, in a rather mischievous way, which even Ocean Grove themselves appreciated wholeheartedly.
‘Fly Away’ was a flawless concoction of nu metal and rapcore, with an immensely crisp sound. The demonstration put the “lit” in the “volatility” characteristic and rounded out the performance superbly.
“We’ve been Ocean Grove. Don’t forget the name. Peace!”
Assuredly, not one of the hundreds of music enthusiasts present will forget that name anytime soon – it is embedded deep into their souls now (if it wasn’t already).
READ MORE: Review: Better Lovers @ Lion Arts Factory 30/01/26
As an all-ages show, time was of the essence. Within minutes, the stage setup was transformed, and a dubtronica introduction caught the attention of the capacity crowd, erupting in resounding cheers that would have worked exceedingly well on the Blade soundtrack – even in the film itself.
Melbourne’s Thornhill soon appeared and were quick to launch into ‘Diesel’, the first track from the very full-length this tour was celebrating, entitled BODIES (and its remix sibling LP BODIES X), and pandemonium shadowed the band’s energy idyllically.
Blending the electropunk metal of Loathe with prog rock sprinklings of Muse, it is an above-engaging formula of electrifying heavy music (especially in a live setting) that frontman Jacob Charlton soars with in his entrancing presentation. This was heightened by his microphone swinging trickery and snazzy sunglasses that left his onlookers beyond captivated.
‘Revolver’ followed with divine Deftones’ instruction, but still, undoubtedly, this was a luminous Thornhill spectacle. The crowd sing-along to “You are, you are, you are, you’re everything I want” was heart-rendering and awesomely arresting.
New single ‘Mercia’ monumentally displayed the four-piece’s immaculate growth, especially since their stadium sold-out venture overseas with the UK’s progressive metallic soul-pop rock cult icons Sleep Token. The magical movements between delicacy and devastation were beautifully enhanced through the five-and-a-half minutes. ‘Nurture’ was a siren-song of exhilaration, recalling the criminally underrated Secret & Whisper.
“Shake this room, Adelaide!” Mr Charlton instructed his capacity gathering.
‘Lily & The Moon’ was a clear favourite, with an abundance of crowd surfers, resounding sing-alongs and a sense of romance boosting the theatricality of the exhibition; this was delightfully deranged by a djent metal pummelling poetically. ‘Hollywood’ had drummer Ben Maida parading his powerful percussive talents exceptionally, while guitarist Ethan McCann and bassist Nick Sjogren whirled in musical majesty around the stage. Jacob was pushing his enigmatic vocals to career-defining trajectories (his amplification is virtuous), and if there is ever another version of the Twilight franchise, this single should be shown to the production and soundtrack team imperatively.
Charlton equipped himself with a guitar for ‘Only Ever You’ that synthesised the prog-post hardcore soundscape moulded by Saosin, but with elements of folk-pop-punk in its interludes, and the djenty bounce Thornies have been cherished for since their humble beginnings some 11-years ago. ‘Under The Knife’ followed with an electronica enhancement and a musical integrity that A Lot Like Birds would be envious of. Then ‘Arkangel’ escalated into an alt-metal monsoon that (the improperly overlooked) Islander would have sincerely treasured. JC collapsed to the ground in the midst of this track, hypnotised by its severity. He then punched the floor repeatedly in a haze of impassioned artistry while Nick Sjogren heroically hunched over, embracing the striking nu-metal dance moves of yesteryear.
‘Blue Velvet’ channelled the remarkable The Receiving End Of Sirens, but with tantalising trickles of Muse. ‘Silver Swarm’ followed a riveting Deftones blueprint, yet elements of earlier Chiodos charmingly crept in, enhancing the exhibition radiantly. ‘TONGUES’ followed and expertly enriched all of this as well as the atmosphere immeasurably – “Are you with us?” Charlton inquired. A “high five” from a crazed crowd surfer answered that question, obviously and elatedly.
“Did you hate this song when it came out?” Jacob then asked.
The roaring sing-along to the adventurous ‘Casanova’ supplied an absolute affirmation that this was certainly not the case - it was adored. So much so that a wall of death became essential to articulate this borderline infatuation. ‘For Now’ offered a sense of relief with its dreamy sonic landscape. ‘Obsession’ then faultlessly followed this motif, but with a captivating crunch that was nearly erotic in its transmission.
“Adelaide! Last song, there will not be an encore!” JC stated enticingly.
‘nerv’ was the closing composition of insanity that danced between moments of Linkin Park, Nothing But Thieves and Northlane’s djentcore. Without doubt, this was still a Thornhill production - it was above thrilling and honestly, conquering. The “drop down, jump up” audience participation was undertaken and added an illustrious element to the performance, even though it was repeated.
“The colours they move like dancers.” – So, which colour did Thornhill achieve?
Jacob Charlton can answer this with his own artistic poetry: “Paint the silver gold.”
‘All The Light We Don’t See’, The Dark Pool, 2019.
Want more pics of the gig? Check out our full photo gallery here.
