LIVE FROM THE PIT: Speed, Whispers, Bodyweb and Hellbound

On the outside, SPEED became a phenomenon almost overnight. With the release of the Sydney hardcore heavyweight's gritty genre-defying single, The First Test, the raspy flute notes symbolised a lifetime of Jem Siow's two impossible worlds - hardcore vocalist and classical music teacher - being impassionately meshed together. At its core, the track demonstrated the band's commitment to freedom of expression, but halfway across the world, it ignited a kerosene-fuelled generation, throwing themselves violently against each other as the largest display of chaos this city has ever seen.  

SPEED are authentic, almost twenty years in the making, being a part of their local hardcore scene. Impassioned with their hardcore roots, where they can, they bolster their crowd in no barrier venues and feel the seamless connection between their audience. In Leeds, Project House has been kitted out for a one-off Outbreak-style show. With lights fully on, and in the Americanised glow of Wrestlemania weekend, the Aussie hardcore heavyweights can see a thousand frenzied faces hurl themselves onto the stage, and Swanton bomb themselves stratospherically back into the crowd. It’s both a pinfall and a submission to the mosh. 

Representing Scotland's hardcore and its abrasive faction Northern Unrest, is Glasgow mob HELLBOUND. Producing a fast and unruly pit, the band get the evening’s proceedings warmed up with their thrashy caveman riffs. For the many that got their early, the wide pit was met by thrashy greebos, arms flailing and spinkicking from the moment they took over the stage. Their 2025 EP, Seventh Seal, adds groove to their overcast sound, perfect for fans of GROVE STREET, NO RELIEF and DEMONSTRATION OF POWER. 

BODYWEB, muddled together with members of the likes of HIGHER POWER, PEST CONTROL, STIFF MEDS and EMPIRE STATE BASTARD, take on the Leeds crowd next. With hardcore roots, their 2025 EP Deadwire formulates this sludgy shoegaze-inspired sound that bleeds with metalcore sentimentality. In moments of total anarchy, they push a damagingly raw sound, feeling just as brutal as their hardcore counterparts on this tour. Commanding the stage with ease, they deliver a high-intensity set, complete with disarming vocals that send you straight into the pit. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJYaT7hqAEM

Self-described as “Bangkok evilcore”, WHISPERS are a brutal addition to the lineup. With their dazzling opening set at Outbreak last year, their album Yom-Ma-Lok is an inferno of aggression. The damaging riffs transcend in a live setting, punchy and dripping with malice. Their set was such an intense presence, and it did not stop the crowd from going absolutely feral. Finding a home halfway across the world, with a trip at the iconic Salford Lads Club to celebrate, they’ve found their place and been welcomed with open arms. Brutality does truly transcend, and so does the love of hardcore. 

In true SPEED fashion, the set was short, but the energy was concentrated into just over half an hour of pure aggression. This show, as vocalist Jem goes on to recall in one of his sentimental monologues, is a show seventeen years in the making, telling the audience that he became acquainted with the city and its love of hardcore after meeting a British guy at one of his shows. It’s only now that he has fulfilled his promise of taking him on tour, but the frontman understands the immense power of the city’s intense music scene and the influence of Boom next door. 

The pit is bloodthirsty and packed with Carhartt-clad moshers in a dangerous hybrid of a crowd-killing push pit. The band anticipated the ferality of the tour, but it was maestro’d by the headliner with unprecedented brutality. Cycling through hits like Real Life Love, Peace and Big Bite, they decimate with each track and prove they are one of the shining voices in the hardcore genre. Dedicating Kill Cap to the eternal Bo Leuders, they push for a damaging moment of catharsis in tow with All My Angels, before a final send off with The First Test.

It’s an important time for hardcore. An impossibly underground genre, championed by its authenticity, is dragged into the mainstream. Digitisation and mass media have given it a voice, but truly, it’s those who are in the scene who know what to say. Bands like SPEED give hardcore promise, a guiding voice. In moments that seem so far from where they came from. The genre becomes a universal language, united by equality, freedom of expression and the innate desire to lose yourself in the pit. 

Words: Amber Brooks

Photos: Libby Percival