Review: Ocean Sleeper at Magnet House

Ocean Sleeper at Magnet House
w/ Nevertel, Vana, Outloved
Thursday, September 10, 2026

There was nothing sleepy about the compendium of metalcore talent supporting Ocean Sleeper last week at Magnet House. Hailing from Gippsland (Victoria), their WA show was a long way from home. It was likely, however, that this gig could be heard over east as they brought the sold-out Peace When I’m Dead Australian headline tour to Perth. This was no ordinary Thursday night; by 11pm, the crowd had laughed, cried, moshed, barked, screamed, and thrown down as they enjoyed a night of absolute metal carnage.

Gippsland neighbours Outloved introduced the night, wasting no time in setting the standard for the evening’s energy. Massive choruses quickly captured the crowd’s focus and turned the nightclub into a frenzy of throw-downs. The sing-to-scream exchange from vocalist Jaydon Colvin added to the growing energy, with the crowd establishing quickly that—at least for their mosh pit—there were no rules. 

Next up, with her cyberpunk red hair glowing beneath the matching red stage lights, Vana (alongside bandmates Niles Gibbs, Harlan Allen-Jones and Mathieux Davis) brought a fiery visual presence to Magnet House. A red Vana motif pulsed on the stage’s screen, red lighting lasered across the ceiling, and the flicker of fans in the pits below all lit up the set from the moment frontwoman Yvonne Winckel stepped on stage—and kept it burning right through to the end.

Vana had the room eating from the palm of her fiery red hand, effortlessly switching between moments of light pop-punk charm and raw, unclean vocals with the song Beg, earning her the right to command the crowd. During the song Bite Back, things took a quirky turn, with Vana having the entire assembly barking like dogs and meowing like cats—which the room happily obeyed.

A highlight outside of the music was Winckel’s enthusiastic brother, who was on-deck selling Vana-signed Pokémon cards. As a nod to the artists’ more nerdy interests, such as her Twitch account, it gave fans an opportunity to take home a unique souvenir from the night.

Then came a switch-up in energy: Florida group Nevertel arrived with a sound that sat somewhere between Blink-182-style pop-punk and the rap-style vocals of Limp Bizkit, bringing a distinctly different flavour to the evening. Dressed in black and silver chains, the band worked the full breadth of Magnet House, regularly turning their attention to different levels of the audience.

Guitar-heavy sections provided plenty of punch, whilst the occasional rap-inflected vocal moments gave their set a distinctly early-2000s alternative-rock flavour. Their song Break the Silence proved a particular standout, transforming the steadier atmosphere into something considerably more chaotic. Circle pits opened, throwdowns erupted, and stage divers made their way into the action, with Nevertel clearly enjoying the sudden escalation as much as the crowd.

It was a set built around movement between extremes: from clean vocalist Jeremy Michael’s punky, melodic sounds to rap-inflected vocals from Raul Lopez in one beat, then throwing the room headfirst into the pit the next—and Perth seemed happy to follow wherever Nevertel decided to lead.

Ocean Sleeper wasted little time reminding Perth why this was a metalcore show, opening with Every Part of Me before launching into the recently released Break the Cycle. Blue lighting washed across Magnet House as a circle pit emerged almost immediately, the breakdown landing with enough force to turn the floor into a moving mass before the band’s huge vocals took over again.

Yet for all the heaviness, Ocean Sleeper were just as interested in what was happening on the other side of the barricade. Hands were held high, lyrics were handed back to the audience, and the band repeatedly encouraged Perth to sing, move and participate. The enthusiasm wasn’t restricted to those in the pit either, with even the upper levels and back walls of the venue encouraged to get involved.

With great metal comes great responsibility, and Ocean Sleeper unclean vocalist Karl Spiessl ensured they put safety first when he announced to the crowd, “I’ve got two rules,” he said. “If someone falls, pick them up… And have the best fucking night that you can in Perth.” The crowd was more than willing to oblige.

The 2023 track Heaven and the title song from their latest album, Peace When I’m Dead, maintained the set’s momentum while showcasing the striking contrast between Ionei Heckenberg’s clean vocals and Karl Spiessl’s unclean delivery—a dynamic the band performs expertly. This was followed by another new release, the emotionally charged Someone Better, before launching into the heavy-hitting Skin Deep. There’s an indescribable power in feeling every guitar strum and drumbeat physically during a live performance, and Skin Deep truly brought that tangibility to life, much to the crowd’s appreciation.

The energy remained high as the group welcomed Vana vocalist Yvonne Winckel back to the stage for a powerful duet of the intense, unclean vocal-driven track Punishment. The audience devoured every heavy, charged moment of guitar, drums and screams.

The band then gave the audience a moment to breathe with an acoustic rendition of Light in My Dark from their debut album. This quieter interlude offered a more restrained contrast, allowing the crowd to immerse themselves in the emotion of this beloved fan favourite. After so much energetic movement, the sudden hush, illuminated by the flickering phone torches of attendees, created a captivating performance in its own right.

After a sprinkle of older fan-favourite tracks, the band returned to songs from their new album Take Me to the Grave and My Forever Drug, the latter accompanied by graphics of bright blue and pink pills scattered on the electronic pillars around the venue. The visuals, perfectly harmonised with the melodies of the clean vocals and the powerful heaviness of the instrumentals, created a truly immersive experience.

King of Nothing—their number one streamed song on Spotify—introduced the last portion of the night. It was an absolute crowd anthem and an echoing sing-along, which was likely one of the more memorable moments for many attendees – myself included.

Maybe Death Is All I Need closed the set, and with arms raised throughout the room, the audience seemed to anticipate exactly what was coming: one last heavy drop, one final chance to fully lose themselves in the music, and one last piercing scream from Spiessl to echo through the venue.

It was the perfect way to end a set that had spent the previous hour proving that heavy music and community go hand in hand. Ocean Sleeper gave Perth the breakdowns, screams and circle pits it had come for, but they also gave a performance in which everyone—from the middle of the pit to the far walls of Magnet House—could feel they had shared together.

NEVE PEARCE

Photos by Mikaela James