metal

Thornhill

3 festivals played

Melbourne five-piece who traded straight metalcore for something sleeker and more atmospheric — riffs built around croon-to-scream dynamics.

Thornhill formed in Melbourne in 2015 and became one of the more widely followed bands in the Australian heavy scene, releasing through the local label UNFD. Their debut album, The Dark Pool, arrived in 2019 and set out the template: metalcore structures loosened by atmosphere, clean singing carrying much of the melodic weight, and guitars that lean as often on texture as on chugging.

The follow-up, Heroine, pushed further from the genre's usual reference points, drawing in alternative rock and a moodier, more cinematic production. Vocalist Jacob Charlton's shifts between crooning and screaming remain the band's most identifiable feature, and their material is usually described as progressive metalcore for want of a tidier label.