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Paleface Swiss
Northcote Theatre
Melbourne welcomed Paleface Swiss back into its chilly arms last night at the iconic Northcote
Theatre. Following on from their debut Australian appearance supporting In Hearts Wake in
2023, the Swiss quartet are back and doing another lap of our country celebrating their new
album CURSED.
Our openers for this evening were Lune, who are unashamedly my favorite Melbourne band.
Their signature mix of groovy riffs and thunderous breakdowns was the perfect way to warm up
the 1400-person sold out room. Vocalist Nathaniel Smith soared from high pitched wails down
to demonic growls while keeping the crowd engaged, commanding erratic headbanging in time
with bassist David Freeland and a wall of death during Exit (Inward). The band tore through
singles Progeny and Manipulator, as well as treating patrons to an unreleased track filled to the
brim with technical drums from Harrison Mills and chugging guitars from Krys Smith. It’s a
warming feeling to see Lune play bigger and bigger shows and get the recognition they
deserve.
Traveling alongside our headliners from Europe, Nasty were the main support act. This is the
band I knew least about tonight, but I left thoroughly impressed. Boasting a sound that is
quintessentially beat-down hardcore, complete with pinched guitars from Paddy Gajdzik and
rumbling bass lines from Tom Huschka, the quartet had heads banging from their first note as
fists and crowdsurfers went flying.
Tracks Total Domination and Shokka were met with a rowdy
mosh pit and an undulating wave of patrons pushing forward as vocalist Matthi Tarnath
dropped down to the barrier to offer his mic to grab, while drummer Nash Anderson stood up
from his stool to engage with the crowd between crashing cymbal hits and double kicks.
With a career spanning two decades yet never having toured Australia until now, Nasty have
amassed quite the growing fan base that eagerly await their return.
With the lights dimmed, the four band members that make up Paleface emerged onto the stage
and looked out upon the cheering crowd, taking a moment to soak in the excitement and
passion emanating from the room. Launching into track Hatred, the energy on stage matched
that of the crowd, with vocalist Marc “Zelli” Zellweger jumping across the space and putting his
whole body into each headbang in time to the hard hits of drummer Cassi Toma. While their
music is aggressive and angry, the band themselves couldn’t be further from that.
When Zelliand guitarist Yannick Lehmann spoke between songs, they were especially thankful for the
patrons for being here, humbled that they were on the other side of the world playing one of
their largest ever headline shows to “probably the best crowd we ever had” according to their
Instagram immediately following the set.
Closing with Love Burns and a semi-impromptu encore of Deathtouch, bassist Tommy Lee leapt across the barrier to crowd surf during the final moments of their set, and Zelli gave high-fives and fist bumps to the entire front row, proving once again that their gratitude and thankfulness for their fans are of most importance for
Paleface Swiss.
Behind the lens Aimee Rixon
