Gravemind - Gig Review & Photo Gallery 5th September @ The Chippo Hotel, SYD NSW

Gravemind 
‍The Chippo Hotel, Sydney NSW
September 5th, 2025
Supports: Body Prison, Melting, iocaste 

Merely two nights before this gig, the Chippo Hotel was hosting a tumultuous screening of The Summer I Turned Pretty. Little did this venue know, the yearning aches of Conrad would cease to compare to the aching necks and thrashing skulls that arose from Friday night’s brutal endeavours, seeing Gravemind host a barrage of all-Australian talent that truly solidified the prominence of metal that dwells from the underground and beyond. With a tag-team that saw iocaste, Melting, and Body Prison assert their hellish presence, the stage was set for Gravemind to celebrate Introsphere in full - paying homage to the 2024 album with clarity and grungy grace. In a room that felt like community over crowd, this tour was a showcase of artistry upholding others and the foundation these chunky bass lines hold sturdy. 

The night was shrouded in a beautiful nonchalantness that saw first performers, iocaste, share their final goodbyes to friends and family in the crowd, take one step forward, and assume their position upon the marginally raised platform. With a self-assured, “Fuck it, let’s do it” frontman, Ethan Karpathy quickly disowned his charming politeness, instead reconstructing his figure to that of a hellish harbinger of powerful emotional vulnerability and gutturally grotesque screams. With a catalogue that, on paper, demands more, the iocaste live show challenges the band to pull out every trick in the book- and boy do they deliver. Delving into the unheard and yet to be released, the band flaunts their allure, teasing with intense tempo changes, jaw-dropping tone and monstrous feats of screams. However, it is within the songs released this year that iocaste really find their footing. Demanding attention with their latest releases, ‘ENVY’ and ‘GORE’, a solid homegrown fanbase has quickly mutated in a live setting, and creates movement- a feat that unfortunately was challenged within the evening. It is the synchronous nature of iocaste that, within the ominous lighting and overbearing mugginess, maintains your attention. If all of this wasn’t enough, their set includes perhaps one of the most outstanding covers I’ve seen to date; a refined, booty-shake inducing cover of ‘Roots Bloody Roots’ by Sepultura, soaked in so much individuality, they have all but made it their own. With a passion that seeps from the first scream to the last strum, iocaste projects a passion and unwavering dedication to the live scene that makes them impossible to overlook. 

All the way from Melbourne, Melting followed. In tow with them, some of the longest jorts I have ever seen- but when styled with such spunk, can you really not be a fan? Melting has had a triumphant year, releasing an EP in which Wall Of Sound rated a smoking 9/10, and also signing to the beloved Greyscale Records. The accolades have been coming thick and fast, meaning adding more live shows to the repertoire is utterly necessary. In just their second visit to Sydney, there was an eagerness that buzzed within the room, with many punters hoping to catch one of the scene’s most dazzling new prospects in the flesh. With a sense of pride oozing from their sound, Melting eradicated any doubts in the room, filling their set with unfiltered and palpable feelings of pure aggression and rage. The band’s sentiments translate almost flawlessly beyond their recorded work, but this time, with a direct call to arms. The evening was unfortunately struck with maybe the worst case of Sydneyitis I have seen within recent months, and vocalist Xavier Morris was NOT having it. Warnings quickly rose to demands, and with my full permission, I was ready to see him throw himself into the crowd and start throwing some people. Despite this speedbump, it was almost as if this matter of confrontation fuelled the fire even more. From the moment they walked on stage, Melting radiated a confidence and self-assuredness that begged no answers. Unphased, they played up this notion tenfold, almost mic-dropping with the sheer relentlessness they unleashed, almost like Sydney couldn’t handle them. They have definitely grown on me even more. 

Next up were the most charismatic artists in the scene, Body Prison. Despite their brutal musings and daunting exterior, there is possibly no more approachable band than the Melbourne four-piece. This strangely translates to the stage, too. As the other members bask in foreboding lighting and use their stature to conjure visions of ultimate defeat and overpoweringness, bassist NJ VanVidler frolics. Prancing on the table-sized stage, galloping through the crowd, pointing his guitar at the roof and playing with photographers, he almost becomes another spectacle in himself. Unintentionally perhaps, there has always been this hilarious dichotomy at Body Prison shows that now makes me associate them with big grins and happy bodies- there is something to be said for making people feel so warm when some of the harshest sounds are churning from the drums. I also found myself entranced by the vocals and presence of DMAC, and was wholeheartedly blown away by his conviction. Positioning himself upon the small pillar at the front, he roared ferociously, with the veins in his neck channelling each node of feeling to his mouth, the microphone an unnecessary tool to project outward at this point. At times, deeper than hell itself, the essence of it all remained effortless. Full-bodied and seeped in swagger, he commanded the room with a thunderous unleashing upon the floor below. As his bun slowly fell out, revealing a mass of curls surrounding his face, he was clearly lost in the moment, for a moment becoming the monolithic entity the band’s music commands him to be. From the drum kit to the microphone, Body Prison finds its identity intertwined through every element of the stage. There is no false character or person, but merely individuals projecting themselves outward for the room to see (and hear). 

After what seemed like an eternity waiting for the crew to fix up some technical issues, the room finally darkened to welcome the night’s headliners, Gravemind. The band was the first to employ a few theatrics, aiding in making them stand out in this headliner slot. With projections on either side that synced to the themes of tracks channelling through, there was an industrial nature added to the band’s staggeringly elusive image. As the band took to the stage, now with fog filling up every orifice, there was a hauntingness that floated throughout the basement. I found myself immersing in this set from the back of the room, taking in the visuals as best as I could. One thing became strikingly clear, and that was the impact that the band's 2024 album, Introsphere, had on individuals around the room. It was one of those moments where you truly believe every small thing in this world is created to be someone's favourite thing. Gravemind would begin to play one of the most eclectic songs from the album, and someone on my side would shriek, letting out a small sentiment of how this song grew with them over the past year or so. It was truly heartwarming to witness, and I believe instances like this highlight the excruciating importance of intimate live shows and intimate art in itself. These sobering realities, however, did not stop Gravemind from chanting at the crowd, telling them to move and repeating the same pleas as many of the bands before. 

In a purple haze and enveloped in the remaining fog, vocalist Bailey Schembri became a spectre of chaos. Contorting his body and sculpting his frame to the demanding dual duties of screams and cleans, there were times you could only see his limbs grabbing at you, his face masked. Among the angles of performance and theatrics, there was a sense of pride that beamed from every member on stage, with a chance to give flowers to an album they truly believed in, in full. As most songs demanded, it was the drums of Karl Steller that boasted a hefty foundation to the night, thumping through the venue and shaking the unsuspecting tables upstairs. As a whole, the band conjured a sound that was dense and deep- loud, heavy, unforgiving, and penetrating. It was a sound weighed down in the feelings of the album, ones that remained poignant during the performance, more so than ever. 

Gravemind’s Introsphere tour was a celebration in many ways. Of course, it was a celebration of an album in full, a testament that is growing in favour, but is undoubtedly one of the most rewarding offerings you can give back to a body of work that shaped your identity in this present time. Beyond this, it was a celebration of the heavy music scene as it stands today. Fostering some of the freshest and most invigorated new talent from across Australia, the night was nothing short of a showcase of the sounds of now, and how lucky we were to witness it. Primal and passionate, the scene is currently thriving, and these four bands cherish it carefully among the smoke and mirrors, reminding us of the very heart this music thrives off. 

Review by Georgia Haskins @ghaskins2002

Photo Gallery by Jackson Saunders @jsaundersfilm. Please credit Wall Of Sound and Jackson Saunders if you repost photos.