In Hearts Wake @ Metropolis Fremantle, Perth

In the shadows of local heroes Parkway Drive, Byron Bay metalcore outfit In Hearts Wake embarked on their biggest Australian tour to date, making a cheeky stop in Perth. The UNFD signed band brought along some international and local friends as well to join the party, namely We Came as Romans, Beartooth, and Storm The Sky.

The surely sold out venue experienced the highly recognised and talented Aussies Storm the Sky who opened the evening’s proceedings. Playing hits off ‘Permanence’, the Melbournians received a great reception from the energised crowd.

Punters were embracing the extremely high calibre of the evening when just the second band reigned all the way from Ohio in the United States. Beartooth, led by vocalist Caleb Shomo (ex-Attack Attack!) brought an infectiously excitable aurora that boasted mosh pits and circle pits within seconds of ‘Relapsing’. After colloquially greeting the crowd with a g’day to “Freo”, the band ripped through hits off their début album ‘Disgusting’ like ‘Body Bag’ and ‘Dead’. Shomo repeatedly reminded the Western Aussies that they were at a metal show and he expected them to ‘move’. Punters responded and delivered the energetic movement as requested, creating a vortex of bouncing heads.

Shortly after fans recovered, We Came as Romans entered the stage with a heavy bundle of tracks that bellowed through the lending acoustics of the venue. Clean vocalist Kyle Pavone engaged with the crowd perpetually and even jumped in to increase involvement. But it was really the metalcore band’s cover of Taylor Swift’s ‘Trouble’ that had the crowd singing along euphorically. The band’s set certainly served its purpose of warming the crowd up ahead of releasing their brand self-titled new album in July.

It was time for the headliner to make their long awaited appearance and blow the minds of fans corner to corner. In Hearts Wake on stage with opener ‘Aether’ and ‘Skydancer’ which really set the standard for the upcoming set. Jake Taylor truly embraced the role of a front man as he discussed philosophical values with the crowd and constantly encouraged participation.

Circle pits erupted throughout the set, with one even preceded by a Lion King inspired theme intro, where a toy lion was thrown into the crowd; this was a reminder of the band’s easy-going and fun Byron Bay attitude.

Breakdowns were delivered crisply and monstrously heavy in tracks like ‘Cottonmouth’ and other heavy contenders from ‘Earthwalker’. In Hearts Wake definitely showed Fremantle their impressive resume of achievements and potential for selling out stadiums in the coming years.