Review: Windwaker @ UniBar Adelaide 06/02/25
Adelaide played witness to the Hyperviolence Tour, a night of brutal breakdowns, skull-crushing riffs and fiery vocal displays that left everybody spellbound.
Words by Belinda Quick // Photos by Justin White
Windwaker, Thousand Below, Diamond Construct & Headwreck @ UniBar Adelaide 6/2/2025
When the toil is over, the efforts pay their dues; for those whose love has laboured, comes time to ‘Break the Rules’ ✨
Let mortal senses not deceive you - finding fame and fortune is no easy feat. It takes every ounce of being and endless measures of fortitude, as the ebbs and flows of success test the strength of spirit of those who seek it.
Upon experiencing the euphoria of ‘Tabula Rasa’, it is all too easy to be hypnotised by the ‘SIRENS’ song; sweet but specious. Only those with scrying ability will resist the ‘Superstitious Fantasy’ and see that this is only the beginning, an allusion of what’s to come; only with dedication to Craft can the Windwakers’s ‘Beautiful’ magic be cast.
Headwreck is the first to ‘Fade In’ and fill the ‘Empty Space’ of Adelaide’s shapeshifting UniBar. From first ‘LOW BLOW!’ to their final eponymous track, the Brisbane outfit blends into their incantations elements of hardcore and hip hop, breakdowns and bounce with the sharpness of a ‘Buzzsaw’. ‘In the Club’ classics reinvented for metal contexts, Headwreck play “a few old ones, a couple of new ones,” treating us to the unreleased ‘Fillet of Fish’, in a performance that only begins to satiate appetites tonight.
The Hyperviolence tour is a celebration of the headliner's latest ascension, the coven who accompany them across the country are alchemic in their own right. Headwreck establishes the pattern, and with the Power of 3 (tours together) behind them, Diamond Construct emulates it even further.
A band “commit[ed] to dreams of something greater,” vocalist Kynan Groundwater speaks post-performance of the magic in the air - “This year seems like a fresh start in some ways, we’re ready and are taking it very seriously” - an aura which radiates on stage, along with his crystal encrusted sports-jacket and grappling gloves. Demonic breakdowns yin-yang with Divine serenades, far from ‘Faded’, the diamonds in the rough are beginning to glow. One of hundreds who feel the same, ‘I Don’t’ want the set to end, yet the abrupt final chord of the brutally bouncy ‘Switchblade OST’ plays and Diamond Construct wishes us goodnight.
Hail to the Guardians of the earthly North, from faraway may you now come forth. As above and Thousand Below, protect us from ‘The Love You Let Too Close’ ✨
Californian post-hardcorists, Thousand Below, are “about tradition.” Celebrating their decennial year in 2025, there exists some symmetry between this and their previous Australia visit. Supporting another of our nation’s greatest genre-bending acts, Thornhill, on album tours that preceded propulsion onto the global stage, Thousand Below seems to be a lucky charm.
Possessing a penchant for communicating vulnerabilities, without ‘Venenosa’ intent the San Diegons emit healing power. ‘Silence Season’ generating a converse reaction, the movement in the crowd, from pit to far corner, was ‘Never Here’ until this moment. Vocalist James Deberg, the hierophant, reassures that while ‘Hell Finds You Everywhere’, hope can ‘Sabotage’ any misfortune that comes our way. As phone lights pointed to the Heavens flicker and worshippers stand with eyes closed, those closer grasp as Deberg reaches out across them in farewell.
A blue haze ‘Haunting Me’, eerie synths give way to a cacophony of strobes that launch tonight's headliners into ‘Infinity’ and beyond. ‘Get Out’ exemplifies the sorcery Windwaker embody, broken beats are interwoven into ballistic breakdowns, sending subjects’ ‘Dopamine Freestyle’. Each ‘Fractured State of Mind’ spun by ‘Vertigo’, keeping the pace of Liam Guinane is exhausting, as he careers between styles and songs like a ‘Villain’.
The temperature soaring, Connor Robins conducts a drum/synth solo, as (it's assumed) the band takes breath. Rather, Guinane returns masked like the late supervillain MF DOOM, who’s connection may be abstract but effigy shares the hyperpop-metallists’ Legend(ary) origin story. Whispering in ‘Love Language', both ‘Arcane’ prophecies beyond ‘Hyperviolence’ demonstrate ‘Apathy’ is not always a cold body, but occasionally a raging inferno.
Charming then striking with the ‘Venom’ of a snake, Windwaker’s newest member, guitarist Justin Keurntjes, has quickly established synonymy. His instrument aglow, rising and falling with the confidence and charisma of a more experienced member, the music produced defies convention. Heady heaviness is counterbalanced by lush melodies, Guinane’s dedication to “Jacob, who transitioned to the spirit world” exhibiting even further emotion.
Met first by ‘The Wall’ of fairy lights, the heartfelt moment explodes to end and into the encore. Already redefining the state of play in Australia’s metalcore scene, there’s but one more surprise for Adelaide tonight, as the stage suddenly falls silent. Breaking from tradition one final time, Windwaker neither waits nor exits early but binds with their brethren in acapella.
The energy palpable, tonight’s ending encapsulating, this is but the start of something special - already a supernatural force, Windwaker are just coming into their power.
Want more pics of the gig? Check out our full photo gallery here.
