Artists: Transience, Seas of Titan, All Is Violent, Verona Lights, Counting Silence
Venue: The Leadbeater Hotel, Melbourne, Australia (Naarm, Woiwurrung country)
Date: 15th August 2025
Review by: Faye Pettinella
Photos by: Ben Eldström
We’re starting off the gloomy winter night at The Leadbeater strong with Counting Silence. The bandroom was already packed with early birds, eager for a night of tunes to distract us from the bitter cold outside and Counting Silence certainly delivered.
The four piece wasted no time in kicking off the night and launched into hard hitting rock grooves, moody progressive sounding breaks and vocals that switched up between clean and harsh, full of a wide array of emotion.
Counting Silence captivated the audience from the start with a tremendous stage presence and high energy, they hit super hard with cascading emotions in their songs going from highs and lows. Delicate melodies paired with heavy rhythm sections amplified these moods and had heads banging early in their set. What a way to start an evening.
If you want to have a good time, go to a Verona Lights show. From the get go the Melbourne based four piece commanded the stage with charm and turbo charged infectious energy as they delivered an onslaught of groove drenched heaviness with their alternative metal stylings.
Verona Lights announced that they like to get funky, and they weren’t wrong. Gritty groove drenched riffs, funky bass lines and high energy drum patterns, all topped off with incredible vocals from a versatile frontman who was a force to be reckoned with made for an absolute blast of a set. Crushing alternative grooves mixed in with charm and humour from the front man made this set outrageously good fun. The crowd were clearly enjoying what they were hearing, and a surprise addition of Korn’s Freak On A Leash mixed in seamlessly with their set and got the crowd riled up even more, with the vocalist absolutely nailing the unique style.
The banter and energy shared by the band members onstage was infectious, all of them clearly having the time of their lives onstage as they ripped through their set, and made a point to thank the crowd for coming out and supporting local live music. If you want to have a fun time, give Verona Lights a listen here and catch them live.
It was time in the line up for an instrumental change of pace as All Is Violent brought waves of post metal crashing through The Leadbeater.
The three pieces are no strangers to me, I’ve been lucky to catch them a few times over the past year or so, and each time gets better and better. All Is Violent knows how to build wonderful atmospheres of whirring riffs, menacing basslines and hard hitting, staggering drums that tie everything together – only to tear it all apart with monstrously captivating crescendos of aural chaos.
All Is Violent played a tight set, with the three of them in a triangle formation on the stage often facing each other as they unleashed their instrumental heaviness, the crowd swayed along to the compositions in an almost meditative like trance.
Check out their new EP Monolith of Becoming and chuck them some support on bandcamp here, and to repeat their sentiments from the night that received cheers from the crowd – fuck Spotify.
A big ambient celestial opening track engulfs the room as Seas Of Titan emerge, ready to take us on a voyage through the progressive realms.
A solid drum intro kicks off as we’re launched into their set, guitars chime in with rocking melodies, a thunderous bass line weaves underneath as the vocalist Les soars over the top with some impressive vocals. And then out of nowhere the drummer Jon lays down some gorgeous vocal harmonies, working with Les to create a transcendental atmosphere.
Seas Of Titan tore through their set with pure infectious joy as they explored a wide range of genres in their tunes. You could clearly hear the progressive metal influences shining through in their compositions, vocals with grit reminiscent of post hardcore and elements of gentle, ambient post rock drift through on occasion.
We were treated to new material and a stellar performance of their latest single Through No Fault, an absolute banger that showcases their unique sound as they sent heads banging in the audience.
Check out the video for Through No Fault here (shot by the one and only Lord Rob Satan) and keep an eye out for future tunes.
This was my third time seeing Transience over the past few months, and holy hell, I am glad they decided to dust off their instruments and make a return to the stage after a lengthy hiatus.
If there’s one thing you should do, it’s experience Transience live. Their massive progressive metal tunes will absolutely destroy you, and the light show (orchestrated by powerhouse vocalist Rob Cuzens – also known as Lord Rob Satan – one of the best live music photographers around at the moment) will leave you dazzled as they shift from pulsating pillars of white lights to violent strobes to gentle hues that sweep across the crowd. It’s the cherry on top of this tremendously beautiful, immersive live music experience.
The five piece prog outfit ripped through their set, revisiting past tracks and previewing some new tracks to excited cheers, giving the clearly eager audience a taste of what’s in store. There was something for everyone throughout their stacked setlist, from hard hitting grooves to ethereal vocal melodies, soaring atmospheres full of delicate emotion juxtaposed with brutal moments of raw, heavy aggression. Whatever takes your fancy in the progressive realm, Transience will have you covered.
Tracks like Endless Change and People’s Temple provide the Transience experience as they shift seamlessly between infectious grooves, wild time signatures, pummelling riffs, wall shaking rhythm section moments and vocals that switch up from an otherworldly beauty to downright aggression. You could tell the Transience members were having a blast as they shredded through their compositions, and to change things up Transience welcomed Seas Of Titan vocalist Les to the stage to lay down some super heavy vocals, and they absolutely crushed it. I love moments like these as an audience goer, the friendships and sense of community when bands share the stage like this together to amplify each other’s talents is so bloody wholesome and supportive.
Then we have the new tracks that really tap into the heavier side of things (which certainly has me excited), the riffs feel more heavier and filled with delicious prog anger, the bass lines are like a punch to the gut, the drums are an avalanche of meticulous complex rhythms, the vocals hit dizzying angelic highs and rage filled harsh growls lows – everything just feels like it got dialled up to eleven.
All I can say is for the love of Prog, I am glad Transience are gracing the stage again. Incredible band. Incredible tunes. Incredible people.
Gig Gallery:
Massive thank you to Transience for having us, Seas Of Titan, All Is Violent, Verona Lights and Counting Silence for a sick night of tunes, The Leadbeater and everyone behind the scenes who had a hand in this gig.