BROKEN|SILENT - GIG REVIEW - tranquility unknown
- Kaylah Chilcott
- May 9
- 5 min read
The general consensus of the people in the scene is that the last couple of years of metal in Tasmania has been a bit dry, with shows few and far between for local, national and international acts. Over the last twelve months, this tune has been changing.
The heavy scene is returning with renewed vigor and a vengeance.
I attended the final show of Tranquility Unknown's ‘BROKEN | SILENT’ album tour at the Gunner’s Arms Tavern, and the Burnie band has taken the state by storm. If there’s one thing to know about Tassie’s north-west coast, it’s that the community loves metal, and Tranquility Unknown is one of the bands redefining that scene.
The gig suffered some minor tech issues, and unfortunately being the opening band, The Labcoat Fiasco suffered the brunt of it. Hailing from Launceston, this was a band I’ve seen a few times before, and I have to say, every performance by the punk outfit is improved upon by the last. Their vocalist knows how to bring you up, pushing his range to the top of the chaotic anarchy we love to hear in punk, and kick you back down with sullen, desolate lows.
Through the distraction of the soundie, and suffering some minor timing issues, their music remained instrumentally interesting. The drums defy the usual beat you’d expect from earlier waves of punk, with a driving snare that leads you to a more interesting pattern. The bass in most of their tracks often following its own groove in the music, their tidy distortion quite bitey to the ear.
Catching up with the vocalist, Jesse Polden, after their set he mentioned how their bassist, Benjamin Prince, spearheaded their long anticipated November 2024 EP, and that we should be seeing some more studio work from The Labcoat Fiasco in the near future.
You can catch them at their next gig in Hobart at the Polish Club on May 31st.
Sanct, previously Sanctify the Serpent, followed shortly after, everyone in the three out of the four wearing white button ups and black ties. I like some theatrics in a show, and at first I thought they were here for a job interview. They opened with a sermon, not actual verses from the bible, however, before exploding into some of the toughest and eclectic sounds I’ve heard in metal. At times there were heavy elements of prog, or death, classic, black, hardcore - I’m not sure how many other bands could make it sound as cohesive as Sanct can.
Sanct were able to put everything you want to get out of a metal show, not only into one band, but one song. Both guitarists and bassist were vocalists, each with their own distinct tone, sometimes one at a time, sometimes all at once. This created a lot of depth and dimension to the overall sound, ranging from a more shrill screech, down to a classic death metal guttural. They would gallop along with thrumming blast beats, before dropping into descending grooves, or stilted licks. A chaotic adrenaline high, of every drop, chop and change so quick - it was a rollercoaster ride. At one point they fell into a momentary silence and cried “woo!” which resonated with the whole crowd as they struggled to come to grips with the absolute insanity that beheld them.
After the set, I caught up with the band and when I asked them to define their genre. i think drummer Nik Cannings said it best, that they were a sandwich - technical metal was the bread and they filled the sandwich with whatever the hell they wanted. They touched on their subject matter, the sermon and lyrics content reflecting on how technology and the online space can sow and spread negativity. There were talks of another album on the way, with only one song from the night being from their 2023 self-titled release. kEEP AN EYE ON SANCT'S SOCIAL MEDIA FOR THEIR NEXT EXCITING SHOW.
As for the outcome of their job interview: Hired.
The third band of the evening was Tidewalker, the newer of the bands across the evening, hitting the local scene in 2023. The three piece is loud and dirty in their melodic metalcore sound, making them the jumpiest band of the evening. They are currently between drummers, and their fill in did a phenomenal job, with their new drummer jumping in for the last song of their set. Her name is Sarah, and she killed it.
Tidewalker has been one of the bands to start shaking up the community, bringing together loyal fans from every corner. They build anticipation by faking out with a mini breakdown before picking the speed back out to slam into a full breakdown even harder. There was a bit of reliance on a backing track for the band, though some of this comes from a shorter than usual line up, and it filled out the rest of the sound - though samples are not unexpected from this genre of music. Guitarist Jack RoberTson maintained a super tight performance, despite already having played in his other band, The Labcoat Fiasco, earlier in the evening.
Their vocalist, Kelly Reed Wilson who also doubled as main sound engineer for the night, has a super aggressive vocal range and had fantastic crowd work. His stage presence was the kind every metalcore frontman should aspire to. In some moments, his clean vocals held an air of mystery and tension, almost like he wasn’t entirely there, contrasting against how commanding and in control his hard vocals are. It was like he was two entirely different people in those moments.
Headliner, Tranquility Unknown, is your classic metalcore outfit that we know and love. Their overall sound was really good, they were super tight and clean. They excelled at slowing their music down to build tension, before slapping you in the face with their incredibly rich tones and tough bites. At times they were certainly fighting Labcoat for the most melancholic of the bands tonight.
They played ‘The Titan Trilogy’ in full, the last three songs on their album (Titan’s Flight, Titan’s Wrath, Titan’s Fall), which was easily the highlight of their set, opening up instrumentally, showing how talented the guitarists are and how interesting they write their music (if you hadn’t already noticed). There was a super tasty guitar solo, and a killer bass solo, it was certainly a treat to hear all three songs played as one. They really use their genre as a backdrop in this song to do some more interesting stuff, with marching snare beats and accents to spice things up some more.
The last couple of songs in the set are where they really turned to a minor sound, and the sadness crept into their music a bit more. Logan Crack nails the shriller end of vocals that come into metalcore territory, and the heavier one’s are so brutal, they cut straight through to the core of you and pull you down. There was an aspect to them I can’t pinpoint that resonated with a despairing part of your soul.
We had the chance to chat after their set, and it became incredibly clear to me that Tranquility Unknown are putting their heart and souls into reviving and revolutionising the Tassie metal scene. His passion and ambition for what comes next absolutely reflects in how clean their music is, and how much work and dedication has gone into creating such a great album. He was already starting to discuss the next step for them, and the demoing of a few more songs, and it sounds like we can expect their next album to drop sometime in 2026.
fOLLOW THE LINKS BELOW TO HEAD TO SOCIAL MEDIA PAGES FOR TOUR AND ALBUM ANNOUNCEMENTS:
