Review: Alison Gustavson
Photography: Luke Petty
What do you get when you combine a couple of bands with Swedish frontmen and the iconic heavy Taylor Swift masterminds? The 2026 Australian Violent Nature Tour. After three electrifying nights across the land of dropbears and meat pies, Sunday night was Brisbane’s Riverstage‘s turn to become a ‘sick mother[person] with a violent nature’.
Walking into a Riverstage bursting at the seams with black shirts (and our trusty local Bananas), there was a sort of electricity and excitement that filled the air. With the sound in the trusty hands of Brisbane’s very own Jasper Webb, it was Invent Animate’s turn to start the evening’s event and welcome the crowd of eager Brisbanians to the 2026 I Prevail tour.
Donning their usual white attire, the quintet opened with their brand-new song, ‘Fall Like Rain’. It’s always interesting hearing how new tracks stack up live, but I can safely say Invent Animate knows how to deliver a kick-ass welcome. Performing ‘Shade Astray’ and ‘Heavener’, it’d be an understatement to note just a few crowdsurfers and nonstop moshing. Blowing away even the band themselves with the amount of energy Brisbane possessed on a Sunday night, the band’s powerful performance was only amplified by the crowd’s response. And if the heavier fans thought they’d been forgotten about – they were about to be sorely mistaken. Saving the heaviest for last, ‘Immolation of Night’ demanded nothing less than a wall of death and boy, did the crowd deliver.
After their highly anticipated Australian headliner last year, it’s no shocker the crowd was buzzing the moment Imminence took the stage. Kicking things off with that iconic opening lead and frontman Eddie Berg’s haunting scream, it didn’t take long for the crowd to come alive with ‘Temptation’. Hearing a sea of voices echoing back the chorus of ‘Desolation’ and ‘Erase’, it was fair to say a good portion of the crowd showed up early just to see the Swedish juggernauts. After all, who would want to miss guitarist Harald Barrett AKA the ‘Witch King’ and his unique guitar technique?
Despite only releasing ‘The Sword That Never Bends’ a couple weeks ago after signing with Sumerian Records, the crowd didn’t let that get in the way of headbanging to the stank-face worthy breakdown. While featuring a slightly different sound to their 2024 album, The Black, the nonstop moshing seemed to suggest an overwhelmingly positive Australian welcome to their new direction. But of course, it’s not an Imminence show without paying tribute to their 2019 record, Turn The Light On.
Ensuring the older fans weren’t forgotten about and throwing in a softer song amongst the likes of ‘Heaven Shall Burn’, ‘Infectious’ was the perfect lead into ‘God Fearing Man’. Before we knew it, vocalist Berg was warning us their set was drawing to a close. As I Prevail’s Eric Vanlerberghe would later say, “all things must end” and with their cinematic finale with ‘The Black’, it was almost time for I Prevail.
Three LED screens, flags draped from the rear truss, plenty of pyro, and one epic mic stand later, the stage was set. For Australia, this tour marked their first without lead vocalist Brian Burkheiser but as frontman Eric Vanlerberghe took the stage, it cemented that I Prevail is still bound to have a long successful career ahead. As the band delivered arguably their most energetic opener Brisbane has seen, there wasn’t a single person in the moshpit with two feet on the ground; the entire floor erupted in a competition of who could jump the highest and most enthusiastically while belting out ‘NWO’.
With close to 7500 people shouting back every lyric of ‘Bow Down’, the entire venue felt simply electric as Vanlerberghe and guitarist/vocalist Dylan Bowman alternated vocal duties. For a vocalist who only took over lead duties in the recent couple of years, Bowman delivered a performance nothing short of phenomenal and not only did Burkheiser’s parts justice but at times, exceeded them.
The band didn’t slow down with ‘Self Destruction’ up next – a song that saw everyone’s rap skills (or attempts) come into play, along with plenty of moshing and jumping around. After three high energy songs though, it was time for a breather with ‘There’s Fear In Letting Go’. That turned out to be the perfect opportunity for everyone to recharge their batteries before some word association games, led by Vanlerberghe. There’s nothing quite like a best friend who finishes your ‘words’. And there’s nothing quite like an Aussie crowd to have a ‘Violent Nature’ and to lose their absolute minds.
From quieter moments in ‘Into Hell’ to face-melting heaviness in ‘Choke’, there was the perfect mix of something for everyone. It’s not often you hear a crowd of metalheads singing Taylor Swift, but last night, looking around to a sea of dudes belting out ‘I’ve got a blank space baby’, I’m sure there were at least a handful of closeted Swifties among us.
Showcasing even more of their latest album with ‘God’ and ‘Rain’, the band still found time to include quite possibly one of the best Metallica covers I’ve ever heard of ‘Sad But True’. Shining a spotlight on drummer Gabe Helguera not long after, the crowd was given the chance to witness a drum solo that would give even Luke Holland a run for his money. He wasn’t the only one to get a special mention – Vanlerberghe took the time to introduce each of his fellow bandmates… except Dylan Bowman who instead got an entire song dedicated to him.
Earning the title of ‘the best crowd of the tour’, us Brisbanians were particularly persuasive at convincing the frontman to do not one but two shoeys – or should I say, booties. Equipped with his newly acquired box of Magic: The Gathering cards, a gift from someone in the audience, Vanlerberghe introduced an old fan favourite ‘Come And Get It’ before closing out the night with ‘Hurricane’ and a pyro-filled ‘Gasoline’.
Pyro, shoeys, Magic: The Gathering cards, an epic drum solo, and word association games – what more could you ask for in an I Prevail show? Be sure to catch their final show in Sydney tonight – trust us when we say you don’t want to miss out!
– GALLERY –
