Words by Sam Wolstenholme
Noisecore heavy-hitters Diamond Construct are enjoying a real moment in the Australian core scene spotlight lately. After exploding to prominence seemingly out of nowhere, the quartet are now a hot topic in regular rotation after throwing down at Cvltfest earlier this year, signing with Pale Chord Records and releasing their sophomore album ‘Angel Killer Zero’ via Greyscale Records. The album, which is striking for its bold, aggressive and darkly dystopian take on metalcore, is setting the Taree-born outfit’s star firmly on the rise. The quartet have been dominating stages across Australia on a seven-date album tour along with Japanese label compadres Prompts and Sydney’s Deficit to add fuel and fury to the fire. Tonight is the final show of the tour at The Brightside Outdoors with local boys Shokan jumping on board as Brisbane support, and judging by the line that stretches almost around the corner, Diamond Construct have already amassed something of a cult following here in Brissie.
You’ve got to admire Shokan’s commitment to mosh culture, with each member proudly sporting mosh shorts and leg tats as they crash into dirty, downtuned chugs. They’re the picture of Aussie hardcore brutality. Initially they have to contend with a fairly muted live mix and audible feedback, but fortunately this is smoothed over as the set goes on. They dedicate a cover of The Acacia Strain’s Beast to their guitarist, who was unable to play this show as he is currently recovering from spinal injuries. This motivates a few punters to start swinging right out the gate. Numbers such as their recent single Constrict stir up more movement in the pit, especially when frontman Keenan orders us to “move this shit”, and a flurry of fists are fuelled by the monster snare tone and savage guitars. Wrapping up with a circle pit, it’s a suitably gutsy opening set for tonight’s barrage of heavies.
Nu-core quartet Deficit swagger into their set with the kind of brash attitude usually reserved for MMA fighters. In fact, their Limp Bizkit meets ten56. throwdowns would make for the perfect soundtrack to some of the more nail-biting matches. It’s beginning to get choppy in the pit as punters throw fists to guitar chugs and white-hot screeches, along with thunderous blasts and double kicks during the frequent deathcore breakdowns. Partway through the set, a police siren resounds from the backing tracks while a fight pit rages on, which I feel is thematically on point for this band. Token and a new track Original Criminal are hits with the crowd, and frontman Nathan Newman completely embraces the rebellious, hyper-masculine hardcore persona as he eggs on the mosh by literally dog barking at them. Those crazy kids in the pit are lapping it up though – maybe that’s the secret sauce the rest of us have been missing.
Tokyo’s Prompts immediately level things up with their EDM-driven deathcore that’s slick and polished as obsidian, yet as unhinged and chaotic as a hurricane. Clad in stylish black techwear, the quintet rip right into their aggressive grooves and blistering blast beats. The mix is a little boomy but the crowd is too riled up to care as circle pits swirl and surge to gratuitous guitar whammy squeals and unholy harshes from frontman PK. Bassist Piguri offers a few spots of clean singing – the first glimmer of melody we’ve had all night so far – and the frequent alternating passages of deathcore breakdowns and hip hop synths are an interesting feature from a compositional perspective.
PK’s calls for a two-step in the pit are answered with something more akin to a frenzied rage dance, and when he, too, dog barks at the mosh during an EDM rave break, the resulting effect is pretty hilarious. The entire band demonstrates the utmost commitment to their performance, never letting the energy drop for a moment. Asphyxia earns a deranged wall of death from the mosh, who then drop into a row pit for the closing number. Classic ‘Straya. This is the second time this year that Prompts have graced Australian shores, but with live performances of this quality, I’m sure overwhelming demand will bring them back again before long.
After a Limp Bizkit intro and some dark synths, Diamond Construct emerge on stage to an already very rowdy crowd, and frontman Kynan Groundwater orders us to “open this pit up right now”. What follows is complete noisecore carnage, with guitar scratch chugs and a colossal booming bass tone dominating the courtyard. Kynan is an incredibly charismatic frontman, and he darts around the stage like a rocket as he makes sure to rile up all four corners of the mosh. The pit explodes for the dark trap swagger of Hit It Back, and the quartet then barrel through a catalogue of feral bangers old and new, all imbued with an AI-driven, dystopian quality – I’m reminded of that Netflix show “Love, Death and Robots”. As circle pits seethe to the trap-core aggression, I’m struck by drummer Liam Newman’s impressive jazzy fills that break through the relentlessly heavy sonic texture. It’s a classy touch.
Kynan gets to flex his velvety, pure clean vocals during Faded, and he nails the transition between clean crooning and canine harshes. His cleans are so smooth and sweet that I find myself wishing they featured more in this set. They make a reappearance in Clickbait, which is anthemic and inspires a crowd-wide singalong. Older tracks such as Submerged and Attitude deliver aural anarchy and inspire the same in the mosh. As they reach the tail end of the set, Kynan announces that the person who moshes the hardest will receive a free merch item – again, not like this mosh needs encouragement. And when this is followed with Switchblade OST, chaos reigns and rages in the pit, which is mirrored by the band themselves who are throwing down so hard that I can only hope their instruments are super-glued to their personages.
Finally, being the last show of the tour, we are treated to a very special encore of Hit It Back reprised, but with a twist. The sound guy jumps on drums, Liam takes the bass, and after this instrumental switcheroo, all the members of the supporting bands barrel on stage, completely shirtless, for quite an unforgettable ensemble mosh experience. It’s a pleasantly fun and heartfelt way to wrap up a night of mercilessly heavy throwdowns, and certainly a wonderful end to what has clearly been a very successful milestone tour for Diamond Construct.
With thanks to Bigmouth PR