Artists: Pig Destroyer, Wormrot, Tongue Scum
Venue: Max Watt’s, Melbourne, Australia (Naarm, Woiwurrung country)
Date: 5th September 2025
Review by: Jess JRoc
Photos by: Ben Eldström
I can’t believe I am here to tell the tale, after the most brutal night in international grind. For the first time in a fucking long time, which is around 18 years, the incomparable Pig Destroyer are finally back to obliterate Melbourne’s Max Watt’s and everyone in it, all with the help of the Singaporean legends Wormrot, and our very own locals Tongue Scum.
With a big SOLD OUT sign on the door, a line to the stage from the merch desk, and like a game of Naarm Where’s Wally? of the heavy scene. This was one of those gigs you tell your grandkids about, everyone was there. A liquorice all-sorts of mates, musicians, punters, photographers, radio hoons, folks who don’t go out much anymore, the guy you see in every pit. Your ex, my ex, and of course Poodle, and it was absolutely packed from the start.
Tongue Scum
Melbourne trio Tongue Scum open up this enormous grind feast, they hold space on the Max Watt’s stage like they were made for it, vocalist Frank has a permanent grin on his face from the start, calling out mates in the crowd, the ultimate fuel to deliver a pummelling display. They rip off the lid with their slaughtering track Prestige Or Parasite from their 2023 release Callously Formed which boasts a force hard to imagine is just from 3 people, slicing guitar riffs, painfully sharp vocals and drum blasts my neck can’t keep up with.
They hit us with another new one, a track called Throb, it’s brutal, with this thick chunky groove mid-way that has every part of your body moving out of control more than it was before. Playing songs so far unreleased, Turbulence gives exactly that, the pit erupts and the room is jam packed, I hope we all stretched beforehand, those in this pit means business.
Wormrot are no strangers to our shores, and we’re stoked to have them back. Their line up is slightly different to their last Australian shows with Napalm Death back in 2023, they’ve reformed their classic line up for this tour, and this was one of my favourite sets of theirs I’ve seen.
How many songs do you need to fill out a 40 minute grindcore set is the age old question, their tracklist is over 20 songs long, their sound is abrasive, fast, with elements of hardcore that keep your firsts firmly in the air and your body moving whether you like it or not.
Vocalist Arif taunts the crowd, “we’re going to play a slow one” it’s their perfectly named track Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Grind, I’m stood on the edge of the pit and slowly gravitated towards the never ending circle of bodies thrashing around the venue, it’s fast moving. Left to Rot isn’t really even a minute long and it punches through you like a sledgehammer so quickly you don’t get a chance to catch a breath, and that’s how it should be.
Pig Destroyer hit the stage just after 10pm, somehow we’ve gotta scrape ourselves together to be throttled once more. They treat us to an opening track from Terrifyer with Gravedancer hailing deafening screams from JR, it’s one of the best grindcore albums that most of us have been dying to see live on home turf if we missed out on the last run.
Early on in the set, while everyone is losing their bananas screaming out how happy they are to see these noise-fathers of grind, someone throws a copy of The New Testament on stage. Well received with a scoff, JR throws it back into the crowd, and like payback for that gesture, he completely ruins us while tearing into the rest of the set.
I knew the moment I had completely lost it was when The Diplomat began, from the 2012 release Book Burner, at 10 seconds in holding a 1 second break that feels like you’ve been held underwater for eternity, the twangy riffs along with thudding bass that strangles you like an umbilical cord around your throat.
We see how this 5 piece works so well together with this line up touring since late 2023, Alex on samples/noise joins for vocals through the track, We never, ever change. We make, the same mistakes, these words echo through the swarm of bodies in the basement of Max Watts.
As the show goes on, every ounce of momentum only intensifies. Bodies are flung through the crowd and over the front barrier, everyone looking out for one another while this sonic massacre continues. We hit the tracks everyone knows, whether you’ve seen Pig Destroyer or not. The haunting buzzing sample plays that is familiar to most, from Prowler in the Yard, the unmistakable Jennifer and Cheerleading Corpses “this is beautiful, this is ART” the line you can’t help but scream as you let every ounce of air out in one breath. Their set comes towards the end, they leave the stage for a moment, but we know what we want, they know what we want, ending with Junkyard God, we’re left absolutely exhausted, and happier than pigs in shit.
Who’s to say there’s no smiling in music like grindcore, I was grinning from ear to ear, hell, I still am.
I do wish I got a butt plug at the merch desk now, my birthday is in December if anyone comes across one, I was having the time of my fucking life, and now I’ve lost my voice.
Gig Gallery:
