French metalcore outfit LANDMVRKS didn’t need to bother with dramatics when they hit the stage at the sold-out Metro Theatre over the weekend. As part of their Australian debut, they simply walked on and started swinging. No build-up, no bloated intro – just volume, sweat, and riffs thick enough to cave your chest in.
The night opened with Naarm’s Fallweather, who delivered a tight, fast-paced set designed to impress a crowd already itching to move. Bad Juju followed to a now-packed room, throwing themselves headfirst into choruses, whether the crowd was with them or not. By the end of their set, they’d earned a solid sea of raised fists.
LANDMVRKS’ brand of metalcore is sharp, aggressive, and unrelenting. There’s barely a pause between tracks, and no real need for onstage banter. They’re not here to be worshipped – they’re here to play, fast and hard. Frontman Florent Salfati stormed on first, rapping in French to their opener ‘Creature’.
It wasn’t long before bodies were crawling above the crowd and toppling over the barrier into the arms of security. One of the most iconic things to witness at a metal show is the expression on people’s faces as their feet hit the ground in the photo pit. It’s usually a mix of relief, sometimes dazed, but always with the kind of grin that says it was worth it. Some look outright enraged, their fight-or-flight response kicking in mid-air. You can see it in their eyes, brows furrowed, already scanning for the quickest way back in.
LANDMVRKS’ set leaned heavily on newer material, stitched together with one goal: don’t let the crowd stop moving. Vocals stayed guttural, guitar tones sliced through the dust cloud that was slowly building across the room. A breather came with the acoustic intro to ‘Suffocate’, where the crowd took over the vocals like a gospel choir – one of those oddly tender moments in the middle of all the hecticity.
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