French metalcore act LANDMVRKS are at the tail-end of their debut headline Australian tour.
It's their penultimate show Adelaide's The Gov (Tuesday 13 May) with support from Bad Juju and Fallweather.It's the beginning of a new chapter for LANDMVRKS. Last month they released their best album yet, 'The Darkest Place I've Ever Been'. It's a strong contender for album of the year and this tour makes Australia the first country to experience songs from the album live – since its release.
Before we get to that, we're treated to Melbourne's Fallweather, a five-piece melodic hardcore band. Fallweather immediately fit right in with 'Seconds Of Life' and 'Need' highlighting their early 2000s post hardcore influences.
Their closing number 'Tired Eyes' encapsulates the melodic vocals, breakdowns and screams that makes everyone in the room take note of them as a band to keep an eye on.
Fallweather - image © Thomas Jackson
Up next were Melbourne emo grunge act, Bad Juju. The band have had all eyes on them since their 2023 EP release 'Blue Heaven' and notable tours with Touché Amoré, Movements and Boston Manor.
Many people in the room were already familiar with the band, singing along with them. By the time they're a few songs deep it feels like it's Bad Juju's own show with vocalist Russell Holland conducting the room.
They give a sneak peak of new music that will come out in a couple of weeks. Although it's the first time the audience hears it, the reaction is large enough you know it's going to be a hit once it's out in the world.
They end with 'The Other Side', which leans more towards the rapping vocals and giant clean choruses the LANDMVRKS crowd are familiar with.
Bad Juju - image © Thomas Jackson
LANDMVRKS blast onto the stage with 'Creature'. Vocalist Florent Salfati has the range of both Linkin Park vocalists Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda, changing from rapping, clean signing and screaming seamlessly.
Some of the loudest reactions in the set come from Florent singing and rapping in French. Despite the vast majority of the audience probably not understanding a word, it's an impressive feat to see him flip languages without missing a beat.
The set predominantly focuses on their earlier work, with the majority being from their 2021 album 'Lost In The Waves'. However, highlights of the set come in the form of new songs like 'Sulfur', 'Creature' and 'A Line In The Dust'.
The duality of the set list is a joy to experience. They go from rapping to screaming with songs like 'Say No Word' getting the whole floor into a circle pit. Then shortly after, Florent performs solo onstage with a guitar in hand to begin 'Suffocate' before the rest of the band join him.
LANDMVRKS - image © Thomas Jackson
Their final two songs begin with Blood Red' from the new album. The song is a perfect example of the versatility of the band, rapping in French, the synth-pad techno sounds all combined with a clean, gigantic chorus and subsequent heavy breakdown. 'Self-Made Black Hole' ends the night keeping the chaos in the room until the last note.
Tonight was one of those gigs you'll hopefully be able to look back on and say 'I saw LANDMVRKS at The Gov' before they were launched into the stratosphere.
More photos from the concert.
