13 July 2024 – The Triffid, Brisbane – words and pictures by Cody-James Henderson
Brisbane. Saturday the 13th of July 2024. Temperature currently; 15 degrees. A slight chill in the breeze. A fitting approach for today. The Triffid is home to a new (ish) heavy festival, A Cold Day in Brisbane. A gathering of some of Australia’s finest in the heavy music scene, from icons that have stood the test of time to the new school hoping to follow.
In a decaying scene that is music festivals in Australia, there is an outcry as to what more can be done to keep our music scene flourishing. For what it’s worth, we need to strip it right back and find where the passion is. And what better place than right at the roots. A town with a booming hardcore scene and 17 acts that span the ranges of the East Coast; coming together to celebrate what the real focus of hosting these events are; THE MUSIC.
Dream, Inertia
As the crowd shuffles in from the Brisbane chill, Dream, Inertia brings their noise infused hardcore to the Triffid. The constant appeal of impending doom is an echoed sentiment through a kick drum to the chest. It’s loud, it’s abrasive, it’s absolutely how you want a day like this started.
L-R MUD and line up – photos by Cody-James Henderson
MUD
Mud immediately gives off the thought that they should be bigger than what they are. It’s your atypical two stepping hardcore straight from the 2000s that just gets you moving. Mud is the next big sensation to come from the 614 BCHC scene, mark my words.
Cold Blood
“This one goes out to my brother. Rest In Peace” is a sombre way to start a set, but when the riffs get to chugging, emotions fly (and so do limbs) As the pit parts into a sea of frenzy, it’s no wonder that Cold Blood are titans of not just the Gold Coast, but the QLD HC scene. No banter required as each song goes one by one into a never-ending intensity with only the truest intention of the music at hand doing the talking. It’s up to the audience to fill in the blanks.
Burn In Hell
The name is no metaphor. Burn In Hell brings agony and suffering to Cold Day and when I tell you this room got warm, I mean it. A dual bass player combo shook the room as the band triumphed. Being openly vocal against violence/sexual assault and blasting its perpetrators on such a large stage, Burn In Hell have found themselves straight into my daily rotation. And if they’re not in yours, I suggest you change that.
L-R Burn In Hell – Cold Blood – Scorn – photos by Cody-James Henderson
Skorn
Steel City Terror is no joke. The Newcastle hardcore quintet Skorn dedicated this set to their best friend Alex Arthur (Rest In Power) and the crowd would have done him proud. An energy unmatched both on and off the stage, Skorn is slowly becoming a household name in a scene that is thriving and they deserve every little bit of popularity they gain. With a large number of bands to go, the bar is already incredibly high.
The Matador
From Hardcore, to an eerie soundscape of prog-influenced post metal, The Matador are back after an almost 10-year hiatus. As I see members of family watching intently, it shows just how important heavy music can be to generations, and being witness to this epic reunion testifies it. Whilst not being as “in your face” as bands prior, The Matador still bring a level of heaviness to a room that may have no clue who they are but will get heads bobbing, leaving an everlasting impression.
Hope Drone
Black Metal is one of those genres that you either really enjoy or don’t. There isn’t really an in between. But when Hope Drone stepped up to the plate, the crowd was there to watch the swing. Keeping the tempo low at times, but the grit high, Hope Drone brought a nice change in genre to their predecessors this evening, but still satisfied the heaviest of music lovers.
Resintomb
A Resintomb set is the epitome of a bull out of a gate. You better hold on tight, because you’re about to go for one hell of a ride. Only this bull is mechanical and isn’t harmful to animal life, just to those thrashing themselves around in the mosh. Their fluidity in genre hopping between thrash, hardcore and death metal is only upstaged by their intensity as musicians. You honestly couldn’t have a heavy festival in Brisbane without them at this point.
L-R The Matador – Hope Drone – Resintomb – photos by Cody-James Henderson
RUN
Through pain, comes beauty. That’s what RUN is all about. As front man Lochlan Watt put it himself; “Life is meaningless and beautiful”. Through his own personal struggles and pain (including 2 major brain surgeries and chemotherapy for cancer) the likes of which would slow down the average Joe, Watt and RUN played a truly emphatic and endearing set. Through every blistering beat, you could hear the emotion poor out 10-fold. A true testament to what soldiering on is, being able to see RUN was a privilege.
AGLO
“In space they tell you one thing, and that’s to drink a lot of piss” is one of the many interesting things I’ve heard at metal shows, but I’ve not seen a set quite like AGLO. Thematic space lyrics infused with the sludgiest, doom impending riffs and low tempo destruction is one hell of a mix, and AGLO brings the war (or warheads if you will) to the forefront. It’s methodical, and diabolical, it’s a sore neck from banging your head through long winded tunes, it’s a curveball that’s hit for a home run on a day like today.
Burial Pit
As we return to regular scheduled programming, Burial Pit brings the sludge from the graves they’ve dug and slams their way into the tightly squeezed Triffid. Not afraid to get things underway early, this short set was nothing short of violent, hostile mayhem leaving the most disgusted yet impressed faces with the sorest necks.
If slow, beatdown-esque metal is what you crave, then look no further than Burial Pit.
L-R Run – Burial Pit – photos by Cody-James Henderson
SHITGRINDER
If you’re unaware of SHITGRINDER, well I think their name will give you an idea of just how intense this band is. Arguably the most intense band of the evening SHITGRINDER was accurate way to describe the mosh pit scenes that unfolded. The bands unrelenting aggression of all things Grindcore was a sight to behold as the trio decimated the room. As the pit was opened to a patron in a wheelchair to get into the mosh, this is by far one of the most accepting sets I have seen a long while.
Phantoms
Stretch out your calves, crack out the mesh shorts and grab your Nikes; it’s old school hardcore time. Phantoms bring the new school pain with the old school influence. There was no ghosting from the audience, as bodies flew from side to side, spinning and rolling like the human Beyblades we’ve been called before. For the first time today, Phantoms took the mic to the crowd to get the scene involved and boy did they fight for it. This was as HC as HC could be, and I was living for it and more.
Threshold
Whilst you could argue it would be a much Colder Day in Melbourne, Threshold have travelled far to turn Cold Day into absolute hell. Gathering a crowd prepared to jump the barricade to assist vocalist Tenaya who is pushing through with a damaged voice after an intense show the night before, Threshold are no strangers to the Brisbane Hardcore scene that it’s no surprise to see the almost full room go berserk. Watching the barricade sway as bodies launched from there, the intensity brought here was second to none as the band fires like artillery. For a band that has only been doing this for around 18months, Threshold are a top of the game band who have every ability to be a leading force for Australian Hardcore.
L-R Shitgrinder – Phantoms – Threshold – photos by Cody-James Henderson
Diploid
If you’re familiar with your local hardcore/noise scene, chances are you’ve probably seen Diploid in your town once or twice before. The extreme harsh sounding trio have been ongoing for almost 15 years now, and are no strangers to the rest of the bands on this line up. Donning Palestinian flags and an empowering speech about the ongoing genocide taking place, the band busted into extremities making whatever noise they possibly could. Having just released a new EP Mantra there was no shortage of conceptualism mixed within their performance.
Even with tech issues that could’ve been avoided like cables being yanked out the amp, there was no stopping the force that was Diploid as they played on through. Not a lot of bands can hit with the same intensity after doing this for so long, but try telling Diploid to slow down. Chances are they will kick you in the face before slaughtering another venue with their genre warping abilities. Destruction occurred at the end of the set as the noise took over. Whether they were throwing instruments or screaming into them making punters wince at potential breaks, you have to admire the dedication to the craft.
Justice For The Damned
From playing small PCYC & House shows almost a decade ago, to being a part of huge international tours in the UK/EU & US, Justice for the Damned are at the forefront of representing Australian Hardcore and everything that comes with it. In their first and so far, only QLD show of 2024, the band was out to show just why they’ve been all over the world.
With the like of ‘The House You Built is Burning’ and ‘Dragged Through The Dirt’ the pit is expanded even further back, as bodies become more game to be thrown around, sometimes nearly going over the barricade. As Bobak commands the crowd into commit chaos for ‘Guidance From The Pain’ the bands cohesion is intensified, as drummer Chas Levi has returned from a scary health battle with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia that saw him sidelined for a few months. The driving backbone of the band ensures the entity of the set goes without a singular hiccup.
Through violence comes appreciation. At times the band stops to acknowledge just what it means to see so many faces (many whom have travelled from interstate) that are here tonight. Australian Hardcore is one gigantic family, and JFTD are right at home on a stage like this.
L-R Diploid – Justice for the Damned – Punters – photos by Cody-James Henderson
50 Lions
I’m new to Hardcore. I’m not going to sit here and pretend I saw all the icons of local scenes over the years. But if there was a name I was always told about, especially when it comes to being a staple up in Queensland, it’s 50 Lions. Hailing from Byron Bay, the band had been on hiatus for almost 6 years before the promoters for Cold Day came knocking, and with them came the hardcore scene of QLD.
Having played a return show in Southport the night before, a band who’d been out of action for so long could’ve dialled it in until getting back into the swing of things. Not 50 Lions however. A visceral trip down memory lane with the intentions of tearing down barricades, the Lions crew had years of unreleased power to give and did they ever deliver it. Members of the bands in support were forced back by security as vocalist Oscar McCall gave the crowd reasons to take the microphone and own the moment.
It’s hard to believe this set was any longer than 35 minutes, as there was just no giving in from the crowd. Even after 10 hours of all things heavy and waiting for this moment, there was just no stopping for anyone. Even after all this time not a single best could be skipped by the band. You could honestly tell me they hadn’t stopped playing over the years and I’d believe you in a heartbeat. You could tell that a set like this meant the world to the 5 piece, and that it’s only reason for happening was for all things Hardcore stands for.
Members of Mud and Cold Blood helped the band knock out ‘Locrian’ to close out the night. These resounding features felt like a passing of the torch for the next generation of Hardcore. I felt privileged to have seen it.
Seeing a monumental set like this unfold in person really shows just what Hardcore and an event really means. It’s unifying. It’s resilience. It’s an opportunity for an outcast to find a home. Not a fault to be found, not a soul out of place, not an opportunity wasted; A Cold Day in Brisbane was a resounding success. When the intent is to run something from the heart and not for the dollar, you know you’re in the right place.
