LIVE REVIEW: PALEFACE SWISS + NASTY + VIRTUES @ THE PRINCESS THEATRE 10/09/25

Photo Charlyn Cameron

Words by Cecilia Pattison-Levi. Photos Charlyn Cameron

The metal community came out in force last night and sold-out The Princess Theatre in support of metalcore, beatdown, and deathcore bands: local Brisbane support act Virtues along with the Belgium’s Nasty and Switzerland’s Paleface Swiss. It was an astounding heavy triple bill that left the crowd sweaty, battered, and buzzing. You could see the merch line which was huge. You could feel the heat in the venue and anticipation brewing as it was the last gig of the tour. The expected shoeys occurred. And every band delivered a full-on energetic performance and left nothing in the tank.

The night started with a wall of sound from one of Brisbane's most exciting metal acts, Virtues. The young band brought the heavy sound and got the pit circle up and running. Their set focused on tracks from their recent EP ‘ODE’. They got stuck into tearing up stage and turning heads with a sound that's both brutal and beautiful.

Photo Charlyn Cameron

Virtues comprises of Wade Felsch (vocals), Alex Miller (guitar), Daniel Devitt (guitar), Zeke Zizek (bass) and Joseph Welch (drums) and their metalcore sound was played with their bodies as well as their instruments as they slammed down the guitar riffs, basslines and drums. The sound bounced off the front man Wade Felsch (complete with headphone fashion) as he encouraged the crowd to spin and run. When the crowd had acted on his commands “to move Brisbane” and then he declared: “gold stars for everybody”. It was an impressive start!

After a short break – and I have to say this gig delivered really fast change over times – which was appreciated by the crowd. The next wall of heavy sound was delivered by Nasty as they were up next, traveling with Paleface Swiss and delivering some of the biggest and heaviest beatdowns I have heard.

The song ‘Army of Hardcore’ blared over the speakers as the Belgium band Nasty got ready to hit the stage. And, hit it they did, with a full-frontal assault as they launched into ‘At War With Love’. The frenetic drum rolls, and heavy guitar riffs ripped across the venue like a punch in the chest. Nasty brought the drama and the immediate crowd surfing which had security on its toes. The people at the barrier were either ducking for cover or getting a work-out from the headbanging smash.

Photo Charlyn Cameron

Nasty described their music as ‘fucked up music for a fucked-up world’. Their thumping rhythm and sound is brimming with power, violence, aggression and unforgiveness but it has the most positive message for fans. The juxtaposition between the sound and the messaging is truly astonishing. Nasty had the place jumping in between waves of headbanging that looked extraordinary from the front of the venue.

One of Nasty’s songs ‘Hell Of A Show’ really described them well as they delivered ‘Ultimate’, ‘666’, ‘Shokka’ and closed out the set with ‘Total Domination’. The band that comprises of Matthias ‘Matthi’ Tarnath (vocals), Patrick ‘Paddy’ Gajdzik (guitar), Christian ‘Nash’ Fritz (drums) and Tom Huschka (bass) left the fans feeling their music in their bones. The front man Matthias Tarnath drove the crowd and the pit to brink of chaos while at the same time being thankful and grateful for the support shown to the band.

It was great to finally see Nasty in Australia after a 21 year wait, and their performance did not disappoint. They commanded the stage with energy and hardcore style (way to rock those camos). The crowd loved them, and you could see it as they headbanged in time and moved as one, as they were swept up in the force of the music.

After another short break as equipment was changed over. It was the calm before the storm. As it was over to Paleface Swiss, and they came out swinging and the crowd fired back, punch for punch.

Photo Charlyn Cameron

It was Paleface Swiss’ first ever headline tour of Australia, and this was the last show of that tour – it was “tour blow out time”! The band had played in Brisbane before in a supporting role for In Hearts Wake’s tour last year. This return performance marked a significant milestone for Paleface Swiss as they have risen through the heavy metal and deathcore space. The band kicking off their set with ‘Hatred’. It was high-octane ‘oomph’ right from the first chord as their sound delivered a sonic wave of heaviness. The band and the crowd fed off each other’s energy and enthusiasm for the rest of the night.

The song choices delivered by Paleface Swiss such as ‘Supressing Times’, ‘My Blood On Your Hands’, ‘Youth Decay’ and ‘I Am A Cursed One’ where outstanding and the set flowed really well. The crowd surfing kicked off immediately and the crowd were kept in a trance of head banging and chanting. Paleface Swiss loved the circle pit, and the Brisbane crowd was happy to oblige it.

Photo Charlyn Cameron

Front man Marc “Zelli” Zellweger’s vocal performance was outstanding. His band (Yannick Lehmann (guitar), Tommy Lee (bass) and Cassiano Toma (drums) were just on form driving the rhythm. The band kept swapping sides to show fans their technical skills and to enjoy the moment with the whole of Paleface Swiss.

What is fascinating about Paleface Swiss is their ability to blend in different genres of music into their metal soundscape. They even threw in rap during ‘Enough’ with their power metal and it was great. The standout song they delivered though was the ballad ‘River Of Sorrows’ which was just fantastic and shows just how far the band has come as performers and song writers.

There was the “shoey” moment when Paleface Swiss invited all the bands back out onto the stage. Shoes were delivered to band members from the crowd. The shoey was performed ‘en masse’ and then shoes flew back to owners from around the venue. They also had fans come out on stage to sing with them. It was a really organic and heartfelt gig with fist pumping, singing, crowd surfers, and the band just kept delivering with earthquake-rattling tracks like ‘Nail To The Tooth’, ‘The Gallow’ and ‘Please End Me’. The love in the room for Paleface Swiss was huge and they soaked it up. They looked like they loved being here in Brisbane.

Paleface Swiss closed out their seventy-five-minute set with tracks ‘666’, ‘Pain’ and ‘Love Burns’. Then, they delivered a final blast of deathcore as they ripped into a fiery performance of ‘Deathtouch’. It was obvious that they band have firmly taken their place within the metal community in Australia. I was wondering why they were not coming to Good Things or Park Waves as they are the right fit. In fact, all the bands on tonight were the right fit!

It was an extraordinary night of metal music. Virtue, Nasty and Paleface Swiss delivered a heavy concert that won’t be forgotten. It demonstrated the vibrancy of the scene here in Brisbane and the fans willingness to get out and support both local and international metal bands.