Past Student Spotlight 

Thornhill are an Australian heavy metal band from Melbourne, formed in 2015. The band currently consists of vocalist Jacob Charlton, guitarist Ethan McCann, drummer Ben Maida, and bass guitarist Nick Sjogren. 

Jacob, Ethan and Ben are all ex-students of Vermont Secondary College, graduating in 2015 and 2016. 

Each were heavily involved in the music program and began performing in Battle of the Bands competitions whilst at high school.

The band received a critical reception to their first EPs “13” and “Butterfly” before releasing their first studio album “The Dark Pool” in 2019. “The Dark Pool” is often considered influential in modern metalcore because it helped push the genre toward a more atmospheric, melodic, and experimental direction.

Since then, Thornhill have released two more studio albums “Heroine” in 2022 and “Bodies” in 2025, being nominated for and winning various music awards over the years. 

In their early years, Thornhill supported bands such as Void of Vision, Hellions, Northlane, Alpha Wolf, Parkway Drive, Ocean Grove, Make Them Suffer and In Hearts Wake. Since then, they have gone on to tour with other bands such as The Butterfly Effect, Silent Planet and Polaris. Recently they have supported Sleep Token on a sold-out U.S. arena tour and headlined shows across Europe and the UK. 

In 2026 Thornhill completed a major Australian headline tour supporting their album Bodies and a large North American headline tour, their biggest in the region so far. 

At Vermont Secondary College we are extremely proud of the many accomplishments that Thornhill have achieved so far in their music career. A collection of merchandise and memorabilia from the band is currently on display in the music centre. We wish them the best of luck for the future and look forward to seeing them tour live in Australia again soon!