25 July 2026 – Riverstage, Brisbane – words by Lucas Bell – pictures by Bec Harbour
It’s been 13 years since Karnivool has been out on a headline tour of Australia for a new record. So much has happened since then. A world stopping pandemic, I’ve been engaged, and had that engagement break down between records, and every person I’ve known since 2013, has gone through so much growth as human beings, that the 2026 version of themselves would not recognise the 2013 version. But we’re here, and from the band, the incredible piece of music that is In Verses, I’m so keen to see some of these tracks live I have never heard before.
New York mathcore legends [Car_Bomb] were out first, and I’ve been a fan of these lads since their debut record, Centralia, in 2007. I used to be a Relapse Records junkie, and these guys have been very high on the bucket list for nearly 20 years, and finally, I get to take them in for the first time. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any tracks from the debut record live. But the set was heavy on songs from Meta, their 2016 release. Opening with ‘Blindsides’ though, from 2025’s Tiles Whisper Dreams album was a brilliant way to start. The track has this awesome screech on the strings that sounds like someone being strangled. For most, that would horrify. I was loving every second.
[Car_Bomb] – Riverstage – photos by Bec Harbour
After blasting through the incredible track, ‘From the Dust of This Planet’, lead vocalist Michael Dafferner spoke about how tonight was special for them, because tonight was to be the last night of their first tour of Australia, and they thanked the crowd for being here with them, as well as Karnivool and TesseracT for bringing them out after so long. Outside of a comment about how Dafferner was only wearing black to “hide my big fat titties”, as he bluntly said, they smashed through tracks like ‘Scattered Sprites’, ‘Nonagon’, and the closer, ‘Secrets Within’. Hopefully the band doesn’t leave it 25 years before returning. They were absolutely unreal.
[Car_Bomb] – Riverstage – photos by Bec Harbour
After an insanely quick 20 minute changeover, British progressive metallers TesseracT were out next. Again, another band I have been a fan of for years, and never had the chance to see. So much so, that I didn’t know until literally this show, that they were British. Touring off the back of their latest record, War of Being, they dropped an insane 8 track set of bangers, with some of the most insane visuals I’ve seen on a lightboard before. TesseracT are a band known for their artistry across all spectrums, and to experience everything together at once, was both overwhelming, and incredible.
TessaracT – Riverstage – photos by Bec Harbour
Walking out, bathed in red light and fog, vocalist Daniel Tompkins asked Brisbane what the fuck is up, as the strobes went bonkers for the opening track, ‘Natural Disaster’. They didn’t do much talking, but capitalised on every second to deliver some of the most technical musicianship I’ve seen live in quite a while. We got ‘Of Mind – Nocturne’ from 2013’s Altered State, which was the oldest song in the set, and a lot of tracks from Sonder, like ‘Smile’, ‘King’, and ‘The Arrow’. The highlight of the set though, was the absolute masterpiece that is the title track from 2023’s War of Being. Experiencing the eleven minute epic live, was something I never anticipated, let alone on a support slot. But my god, if you love prog metal, this is the track you need to seek out. Closing on ‘Juno’, Tompkins teased the return of “The Vool” after them, as they got a photo with Brisbane before leaving stage.
TessaracT – Riverstage – photos by Bec Harbour
Now, before I get into the main act, I want to gripe a little bit about something that happened to me at the show, that I feel is incredibly disrespectful to both patrons who have paid a lot of money to attend live music, and the bands themselves. At the Riverstage, there is a bar at the top of the hill, with seating above it to see the stage. As I have bad knees, these seats are incredible for me to experience the show there. But next to me, all night, through [Car_Bomb] and TesseracT, and even the entire way into Karnivool themselves, two guys were sitting next to me, watching the football, with commentary on full blast so they could hear what was going on. This to me, is low key insulting, as at times, the commentary was so loud, I couldn’t hear things the bands were saying. And because the seats fill up rather quickly, I was unable to move from the spot I had gotten to watch from. Can we please normalise watching live music, and not paying $120 dollars to drink beer and watch the fucking NRL on a 7 inch screen?
Now, back to the positive vibes. And it’s all positive, because despite the bad mood I was in thanks to these two guys, the best Australia live music export was about to take to the stage. As more red light drenched the stage, and fog crept onto stage, Karnivool took to stage five minutes early, as vocalist Ian Kenny welcomed Brisbane to the show, and started off with ‘Ghost’. As this show is part of the In Verses album tour, I expected the set to feature a lot of the new record. But on a 14 song set, to have eight of the ten songs on the setlist, with only ‘Reanimation’ and ‘Remote Self Control’ missing, I was so stoked to hear most of this album live.
Karnivool – Riverstage – photos by Bec Harbour
But as amazing as it was to hear these tracks, there is something simplistic for me to hear the classics. And fittingly, ‘Simple Boy’ was the second song on the set. And much like the song, I too, am a ‘simple boy’ to please. Kenny spoke about how for the first time in a long time, and with full hearts, they are here tonight to share new music with Brisbane, as ‘Aozora’ kicked in. ‘Aozora’ is a track I’ve heard live before a while ago, but hearing it after knowing the track now, the “waiting for a great escape” line just hits so much harder. Kenny shouted out [Car_Bomb] and TesseracT, before going back to another classic, with ‘Goliath’.
Karnivool – Riverstage – photos by Bec Harbour
More new music, with ‘Drone’, as guitarist Mark Hosking ripped the solo on this like an absolute champion. Such a banger song, and one song from this record I hope never drops from the live setlist. Gets me hype every time. We got a small taste of Asymmetry, with ‘We Are’ getting some love, before ‘Conversations’ brought us back to In Verses. ‘Conversations’ is a song on the album review I did, I spoke about how bluesy it felt, and almost like a Birds of Tokyo b-side, done to sound like a Karnivool song. But my god, live, this is 1000% a Karnvool track. Brilliant live. Kenny spoke about the fans that have supported Karnivool for all these years, and how the band are only just getting started, as we got more In Verses tracks like ‘All It Takes’, and the utterly brilliant performance of ‘Animation’. Accompanied by harpist Michelle Smith, the track live is a journey. So much more than I ever got on the studio recording. But sheer brilliance live.
Karnivool – Riverstage – photos by Bec Harbour
Kenny spoke about how it’s so cool everyone is here, together, to take in live music. Kenny even laughed about how for 20 years, he’s been shaking ass and breaking necks to this next track, and it blew his mind when he realised it the night before in Melbourne, that it had in fact, been 20 years. Then, the iconic guitar riff dropped us straight into ‘Themata’. This track will forever be a live staple, and much like Kenny said, I too, shook ass and broke my neck to this track, for 20 years of love and respect. But then wish I hadn’t, because right after ‘Themata’, we got my all time favorite song, ‘Roquefort’. Now THIS is the track I’ve been shaking my ass and breaking my neck to for 20 years. It’s no secret how much I have loved this track since 2005. And just once, I beg, please get the horns live on this track. I need to hear them live before I die.
Karnivool – Riverstage – photos by Bec Harbour
Smith walked back on stage, and played with the lads on ‘New Day’, which was unreal live with the harp, before ‘Opal’, my second track from In Verses, started out the two song encore. Smith also came out for ‘Opal’ as well, and live, what an incredible song. I’ve said that a lot about a lot of songs from this record, but that’s just how incredible In Verses is. But, to close out, on one of the best songs not just of this record, but 2026, with ‘Salva’. Absolute perfection. The band even had Grant Scroggie from the Melbourne based Celtic Rock band Claymore out on bagpipes for the closing minutes of the track.
Karnivool – Riverstage – photos by Bec Harbour
Every Karnivool show I’ve seen since Sound Awake dropped, except one, ‘New Day’ has been the closing track. To see ‘Salva’ move into that position, is a chefs kiss of a choice. It’s insane to have been a fan of these guys since 2003. Picking up the Persona EP from my local Sanity store at 16 years old, and seeing this band chart this insane trajectory 20+ years later, shows me this band has zero ceiling, and long after Karnivool is gone, the bar for quality in Australian music from these four records alone, is a high bar to reach.
