Review: I Prevail at Metro City

I Prevail at Metro City
w/ Imminence, Invent Animate
Sunday, June 14, 2026

Rain lashed Northbridge and temperatures plunged on Sunday, but it did little to deter fans who descended on Metro City for the first leg of I Prevail’s Australian tour.

The queue stretched from inside a James St car park all the way to the front door of the venue with some still waiting to get inside after opening act Invent Animate had taken the stage.

While some may have missed the start, it was unlikely those stuck outside had any trouble hearing the band as they launched into the aptly named Fall Like Rain.

Their unique mix of melody and mayhem had onlookers instantly hooked. Atmospheric guitar passages slowly built tension before the band lurched into crushing breakdowns, while frontman Marcus Vik’s vocals carried equal amounts of power and emotion.

Like all things from Texas, Invent Animate’s performance felt enormous.

Vik twirled and spun across the stage throughout the set. Behind him, the rest of the band matched his intensity and the energy proved contagious as they turned Metro City into a sea of movement almost instantly.

The set closed with Immolation of Night, introduced by the band as being ‘heavy as dog shit’, which proved an accurate description. The track hit like a freight train as the crowd threw themselves into the chaos.

By the time they left the stage, Invent Animate accomplished the difficult task of making an opening slot feel like the main event.

Following them was never going to be an easy task. Fortunately for those inside Metro City, Sweden’s Imminence were more than up to the challenge.

Imminence burst onto the stage and wasted little time making their presence felt, launching into Temptation.

Frontman Eddie Berg proved impossible to look away from. Armed with a violin and an extraordinary stage presence, he twisted and contorted his way across the stage, frequently bending himself into seemingly impossible positions while shifting between haunting string passages, soaring vocals and ferocious screams.

Imminence’s fusion of violin and metalcore gave them a sound unlike anything else on the bill. Beneath the orchestral flourishes lurked a distinctly Scandinavian darkness, while cinematic string arrangements and soaring choruses sat comfortably alongside heavier, more aggressive passages, creating a performance that felt both elegant and menacing.

Tracks including Heaven Shall Burn, Desolation, Erase and Death by a Thousand Cuts were met with huge reactions from a crowd hanging on every note, while new track The Sword That Never Bends slotted seamlessly into the set.

The Black brought the set to a close, but not before Berg delivered one final unforgettable moment. Screaming directly into his violin, he produced an eerie, almost otherworldly sound that echoed throughout the venue like a distant siren before allowing the instrument’s final notes to linger.

For a genre built on breakdowns and blast beats, a venue full of metalheads cheering violin-led ending felt like the perfect summary of what makes Imminence so unique.

A lengthy wait followed as the stage underwent a dramatic transformation.

A large, raised platform was constructed across the back of the stage, placing the drumkit and keyboard high above the rest of the band, while a massive rectangular panel stretched across the front and doubled as a screen throughout the set for animations, visuals and lyrics.

The elaborate setup hinted at the scale of what was to come.

Gorillaz classic Clint Eastwood echoed throughout Metro City, providing a welcome distraction for a crowd growing increasingly restless.

The song faded, the lights dropped and the crowd erupted as I Prevail took the stage and tore straight into NWO.

If there were any concerns about how I Prevail would sound without co-founding vocalist Brian Burkheiser, they were quickly put to rest.

Frontman Eric Vanlerberghe sounded completely at home in the role, effortlessly handling both the band’s trademark aggression and choruses that have helped turn I Prevail into one of modern metalcore’s biggest success stories.

Bow Down, Self-Destruction and There’s Fear in Letting Go sent fans into a frenzy, with circle pits regularly opening and a steady stream of crowdsurfers making their way to the barricades.

A brief interruption came as the inevitable and sometimes dreaded chant of ‘shoey, shoey, shoey’ began.

A fan selflessly provided their own shoe, and the tradition was finally out of the way with Vanlerberghe chugging a beer and drawing one of the loudest cheers of the night.

Any pause in the action was short-lived as I Prevail wasted little time reigniting the energy with Violent Nature before following it up with their cover of Taylor Swift’s Blank Space, which proved a crowd favourite.

A short cover of Metallica’s Sad but True and a drum solo over Benny Benassi’s Satisfaction followed, the unlikely combination reflecting the same genre-hopping approach that has become a defining feature of the band’s sound.

Later in the set, Vanlerberghe described Australia as a second home and thanked fans for their continued support, reflecting on how each visit seemed to bring bigger shows, crowds and louder singalongs than the last.

He had a point. Between the towering stage setup, animated visuals, impressive lighting production and a crowd that showed little sign of slowing despite the show stretching well past midnight, it was obvious to see their connection to Australian audiences continues to strengthen.

Gasoline brought the evening to a fittingly explosive conclusion, bringing an end to a performance that left little doubt I Prevail remain one of modern metalcore’s most formidable live acts.

TAHNEE GRAHAM

Photos by Stu McKay