3 November 2026 – Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane – words by Lucas Bell – pictures by Bec Harbour
On their first headline tour since 2017’s Alive or Just Breathing 15th Anniversary tour, Boston metalcore legends Killswitch Engage are back for another run of shows! Just over two years since seeing them open for Iron Maiden, I was so excited for their headline show, because not only were they bringing along British metal crew Sylosis, but also, Heists, who have become a big favorite in my household. The show tonight was anticipated to be a big one, and it was!
Heists rolled out first, and have been on such a tear in 2026. They have opened tours for Parkway Drive and Bury Tomorrow, as well as dropping a new banger recently called ‘Lights Out’. And funnily enough, that’s the track they opened the set on. They had the crowd moving like crazy and bouncing all over the place, and got the walls of death open early. There wasn’t much chatter from the lads, but they blasted through tracks like ‘Left to Loathe’ and ‘Terminal Unrest’. They asked for a massive circle pit on ‘Defeated’, before announcing their return to Brisbane in March for an unannounced tour, as they closed off on ‘Miles Away’. February and March is such a stacked time for tours next year, but Heists will be one I will make sure not to miss.
Heists – FMH – photos by Bec Harbour
Sylosis was up next, and before anything had even been played, vocalist Josh Middleton had the crowd amped and circle pitting as they opened with the crusher that is ‘Beneath the Surface’. The set was mostly filled with tracks from this years awesome record, ‘The New Flesh’, but they threw in some tracks from 2023’s ‘A Sign of Things to Come’, like ‘Poison for the Lost’. They blitzed through the setlist, as Brisbane were going nuts for songs like ‘Erased’, and ‘Mirror Mirror’. Middleton got the crowd chanting ‘All Glory, No Valor’ as the song of the same name started up, and with a couple more throwbacks with ‘Pariahs’ and ‘Deadwood’, they closed out on the title track for the new album, ‘The New Flesh’. This is my first time seeing these guys after being a fan for so long. I hope they come back ASAP.
Sylosis – FMH – photos by Bec Harbour
The crowd started getting restless for Killswitch, and as the lights dimmed, ‘For Those About to Rock’ by AC/DC started to play over the speakers, which is the signal that shit is about to kick off. As the band rolled out onto stage, vocalist Jesse Leach got Brisbane spinning as the band kicked off with ‘Fixation on the Darkness’. Leech did some crowdsurfing and riding the barrier as the band rocked out on stage, and Leech almost tried to give as many people memorable moments as he could. He stayed on the barrier for the first verse and chorus for ‘This Is Absolution’, and they played ‘The End of Heartache’ WAY earlier than I anticipated, as Brisbane sang it probably the loudest of any song I’ve heard inside Fortitude Music Hall.
Killswitch Engage – FMH – photos by Bec Harbour
Leech mentioned how good it was to be back in “Straya”, before going off on a tangent about the Jim Henson exhibit at GOMA that is currently running. He was nerding out about stuff like Labyrinth and other stuff Henson worked on, and dedicated ‘Aftermath’ to Jim Henson himself. As ‘Aftermath’ ends, Mike and Adam threw thumbs ups to the crowd, and they kicked off with ‘A Bid Farewell’. Not sure what happened during this track, but I saw a guy come out from crowd surfing that was quickly attended to by venue staff after both his stretchers got ripped and he was covered in blood. Crazy scenes, but awesome work from FMH staff to get him seen ASAP.
Killswitch Engage – FMH – photos by Bec Harbour
‘In Due Time’ was played next, and deep cut ‘To the Sons of Man’ was dedicated to the old school fans. It was actually pretty rad to hear this one live. Leech shouted out Heists for crushing it, and told Brisbane about how Sylosis was handpicked by Killswitch for the tour to support, because of how much they love Sylosis. ‘Unleashed’ was dedicated to those that have to cut off friends for “being giant pieces of shit”, before they blasted through an insane run of songs like ‘Hate by Design’, ‘Where It Dies’, ‘Forever Aligned’, ‘This Signal Fire’, and ‘I Believe’. ‘The Signal Fire’ got another massive singalong, and ‘I Believe’ got some huge clap-alongs on the drum beat around the halfway point.
Killswitch Engage – FMH – photos by Bec Harbour
Leech checked in with the crowd to make sure everyone was feeling good, before going into a speech about how it’s a difficult time for everyone right now, and to hold onto hope and optimism. He said it’s cheesy, but everyone can make the world a better place if we just try, which got a massive round of applause, as Leech introduced ‘Daylight Dies’. The rest of this set was 4 songs of absolute batshit cuckoo bananas, starting off with ‘Rose of Sharyn’, which had me losing my voice singing so loud, to ‘This Fire’, which had the entire crowd breaking out into a CM Punk chant, which cracked me up. With a final thanks for being here, and telling Brisbane to break out the beers, they said there was two left, as ‘My Curse’ started up. Closing out on ‘My Last Serenade’, the song had everything, including a mad dash from Adam to the bar for a beer during the song as he played guitar, before running into the mosh to play amongst the Brisbane fans. The crowd begged for more, but the night was over, and it was such a killer night.
Killswitch Engage & crowd – FMH – photos by Bec Harbour
