Paleface Swiss, Nasty, Hammer 618 @ Lion Arts Factory, Adelaide 3/9/2025
The hum of the speakers fade and as people leave the venue, drenched in sweat – not just their own either – having just witnessed a nuclear performance from Paleface Swiss, they sharp turn around and rush back in as the Swiss band come back out for a double encore.
‘A year ago we played Australia and the craziest crowd was Adelaide (and Brisbane), and tonight you crazy f*ckers, you were the first to sell out this headline tour’. Everything they say and do tonight makes the crowd purr.
A little over an hour, with eighteen songs full of fire, molten lava and apocalyptic madness, Paleface Swiss turn Adelaide into a pool of blood, sweat and beers. Epic.
Along for the ride are locals Hammer 618 who play like terrorists. They drop bombs and then disappear, over in little over ten minutes of heavy riffs, brutal vocals and inflatable giant hammers.
This leads into Belgium’s Nasty, who even before they’ve started, a circle pit forms in honour of our guests. At War With Love opens with frantic drum rolls and doom-tastic riffs. I don’t know if you’ve ever been hit in the face by Mike Tyson at his peak however this is how I imagine it feels.
Frontman Matthias is equally a madman of masochist tendencies driving the pit to brink of chaos while cordially being humble and thankful for the support shown to his crew.
To me, the term heavy is for riffs that rip your guts out of your stomach and onto the floor, and Nasty have them in droves. Hell Of A Show may be a song title, however it aptly describes Nasty tonight.
While Sabaton around the corner promised to bring their big guns to the show, those who came to the sold-out Paleface Swiss show were greeted with a different kind of heavy artillery. Arriving on stage in darkness, some time lapses and then they detonate into Hatred and Suppressing Times.
Vocalist Marc Zellweger is an amalgamation of previous metal heroes , taking the best from them in the way he engages the crowd, directing them like a general, roaring lyrics and getting everyone to release their inhibitions.
Paleface Swiss are a bit of everything yet very much metal. While deathcore and hardcore are prominent, throw in rap during Enough?, power metal solos and hell yes, there is even a ballad in River Of Sorrows which had people on mass sitting on shoulders.
Talking of the visuals, watching arguably this venues biggest ever pit open up with a lad waving a giant inflatable hammer while sitting on his mates shoulders before a wall of death is pretty insane. The combination of Adelaide crowds and Paleface Swiss, the greatest example of this place being Australia’s representative at the World’s Mosh Pitting Games.
Fist pumping, singing, crowd surfers, the crowd spill out into the other room and the band just keep delivering, soaking and loving being here.
The riffs are loud and Nail To The Tooth, Gallow and Pain are earthquake like in their heaviness.
For Love Burns, Zellweger implores a female only pit and there are plenty who oblige before the show finishes. Yet it doesn’t, after a few minutes, the band are back stating they rarely do encores and tear into Deathtouch sparking the mad and frantic scramble for those who already left.
Having flown in from Perth that day on two hours sleep, these guys put on one of the best shows of the year. Imagine what they would be like with a good night’s sleep? Well, the East Coast will soon find out.
Live Review By Iain McCallum