Words – @rixoncaptures
Photos – @djsedick
The weather may have been surprisingly cool for a summer Thursday, but the vibes were heating up tonight in Melbourne for Fit For An Autopsy. Celebrating newly released single It Comes For You along with their seventh studio album, 2024’s The Nothing That Is, the tour was rolling through beloved basement venue Max Watts to a sold out crowd. This deathcore explosion, with support from Bodysnatcher, Volatile Ways, and Pain Body, marked FFAA’s fifth tour around Australia.
Our opening band for this evening was Pain Body. This was the first time I’ve seen the Newcastle band with a bass player AND a vocalist. Formerly an instrumental three-piece band, the now quintet (or quartet with touring bassist, yet to be determined) set the pace for the evening with vocalist Daniel Macavelli immediately calling for chaos during their opening track. While the room was still filling up, this left sizable space in the pit for the aggressive movement one can always rely on from a Melbourne crowd, set to the sound of their highly skilled, technical deathcore EP Hymns of Melancholy released in 2025. Guitarists Harrison Mills and Chris Benson traded sweeping solos and pinched squeals with each other from either side of the stage all while maintaining their low squat stances and constant headbanging. Macavelli captivated the crowd with his gut-punching low screams in tracks Downward Spiral and Tainted Blood, as the venue shook with the force of David Freeland’s bass riffs mirroring the intricacy of the guitars. The biggest snare bomb to defeat all snare bombs recaptured any wavering attention as drummer Jesse Beahler switched between straight snare-driven beats and intricate polyrhythms that proved his incredible ability.
With the release of their debut EP, signing to Human Warfare (joining the likes of Thy Art Is Murder, Great American Ghost, and Fit For An Autopsy), and playing a national tour all within six months of their rebranding, the future looks bright for Pain Body and I am eager to watch it unfold.
As Volatile Ways began warming up on stage before their set, the crowd got a taste of what we were in for with nothing but guitars squealing and drum blast beats calling patrons to attention. The venue had filled in considerably in between bands, and from the moment the Newcastle quartet took to the stage, the pit was alive. The eerie, cinematic bells of their intro music was reminiscent of a suspenseful boss fight in a Souls-like game such as Dark Souls or Elden Ring, from which I know the band take inspiration in track Goddess of Rot. Emilly Beekmans’ guttural vocals reverberated through the venue set against a backdrop video of cats fighting. Bassist Lewy Glass aimed his instrument at the crowd like a weapon, threatening us to keep up the energy they matched on stage with Beekmans headbanging deep enough to touch the floor and Glass kicking and stomping enthusiastically across his side of the stage. The pair were both calling for more energy from the crowd which meant there was twice the pressure to deliver, with every song an opportunity to two-step and mosh. Brock King coaxed his guitar through high pitched squeals that mimicked the sound of sirens wailing; a warning for the destruction occurring in the pit as his breakdowns chugged slower and slower. Drummer Jonah Sheehan thundered through perpetual double kicks and heavy snare hits while 2024 single Televised Suicide saw guest vocalist Bec Thorwesten of Terminal Sleep joining the band on stage for her feature, with her high pitched banshee shrieks complimenting Beekmans’ low screams as the pair joined hands in a show of badassery. With their current trajectory, Volatile Ways are on track to become a household name of deathcore in Australia and continents beyond in 2026.
I had the pleasure of reviewing Bodysnatcher on their previous visit to Australia with Lorna Shore, and I can confirm that they crushed it tonight just as they did in January 2025. Before their opening track Behind The Crowd, drummer Chris Whited remarked that the band are from Melbourne, Florida, and their love for playing the other Melbourne, here. As his bandmates followed onto the stage, he finished with “We like violence, and we like fun. So let’s see a lot of both,” and the crowd delivered on both counts. The tiered levels of the venue floor became a coliseum of chaos, with vocalist Kyle Medina watching over his pit of gladiators fighting as his guttural screams filled the room. Dissonant chugging guitars from Kyle Carter on tracks Murder8 and Blade Between the Teeth became the soundtrack to a sea of movement, alternating between a cyclonic circle pit, moshing, and jumping during each song.
Despite having only toured Australia once before, their appreciation for our home grown music runs deep, as numerous tracks throughout their set were dedicated to heavyweights Thy Art Is Murder, Terminal Sleep, The Red Shore, and Boris the Blade. The backdrop and stage lights flickered in time with Whited’s double kicks to emphasise each hit while Kyle Shope’s rumbling bass lines shook the venue, both creating a rhythm that was impossible not to headbang along to. Closing with fan favourite King of the Rats, the number of pointed fingers and raised fists was equal to the amount of phones recording opening lyrics “What’s up bitch? Fuck you,” as the already animated crowd found a reserve of energy to take their display of carnage to another level.
Having toured Australia two years in a row, both in January, I hope Bodysnatcher continues this trend and that we get to witness their destruction in early 2027 as well.
When it was time for our headliners Fit For An Autopsy to take to the stage, the entire room was packed shoulder to shoulder in anticipation. As the New Jersey quintet slowly walked out, silhouetted against their white logo as the only light in the room, the crowd erupted in cheer before Lower Purpose could even begin. Having been 3 years since the band has returned to Australia, with the release of 2024 album The Nothing That Is along with new single It Comes For You both falling between visits to this country, the room was filled with a melting pot of long-time fans seeing an old favourite band, and new fans eager to witness the devastation for the first time. Joe Badolato’s vocals powered through Absolute Hope Absolute Hell, his impressive screams holding on longer than the phrases would expect, with arms raised to the sides as he looked out upon the crowd with pride. Juxtaposing his devilish low screams was the infectious grin he wore at playing what he announced was his favourite city. Guitarist Pat Sheridan’s picking during Black Mammoth and Hostage was near impossible to focus on as he ripped through incredibly fast riffs too rapid for my eyes to capture. Complimenting him on the opposite side of the stage, Tim Howley manoeuvred his guitar through similarly unrelenting rhythms while steam emanated from his shoulders; a testament to the skill these musicians put into their craft and their determination to deliver on a performance to remember.
Only one word can truly describe the feeling in that venue: dedication. Every mouth shouting the lyrics back to the band and every horn raised in time with bassist Peter “Blue” Spinazola’s booming riffs. The lowest level of the tiered pit became impossible for me to view through the solid wall of bodies along the sides, save for errant arms (and some legs) flying wildly above the crowd. Set to an array of lights flickering from white strobes to a solid red glow, drummer Josean Orta commanded the room with the furious tom hits in closing track Far From Heaven, rounding out the set with no encore but the ultimate breakdown to reinforce that Fit For An Autopsy aren’t here to fuck around.
For myself and I’m sure many others in the room, this show was our first gig of the year, and what a way to kick off 2026. The rest of the year is going to have a hard time competing against tonight’s lineup of internationally beloved deathcore names Fit For An Autopsy and Bodysnatcher, and upcoming Australian talent Volatile Ways and Pain Body. The passion for heavy music pulsing through Max Watts was demonstration once again that the heavy music community is rampant in Melbourne, and proof that we will continue to show up for the bands that mean the most to us.
A huge thanks goes out to the Max Watts crew, Fit For An Autopsy, Bodysnatcher, Volatile Ways, Pain Body and of course Deathproof for having us!
