[Podcast] Ep. 87: [Interview] w/ NAGASH of THE KOVENANT (NOR) Re: ‘Nexus Polaris’ Aus Tour.
VIDEO INTERVIEW LINK:
(via the official ISC Youtube Channel)
Podcast/Audio-Only Version:
via the Podcast category on our Youtube Channel + podcast app platforms*
*Castamatic, Castro, Fountain, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Podcast Guru, Podverse and TrueFans, as well asAmazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Castbox, GoodPods, iHeartRadio, PocketCasts and RadioPublic.
KOVENANT - LINKS:
Youtube
TikTok
SOUNDWORKS TOURING:
Agency Website
Photograve Management:
www.photograve.net
EPISODE 87 - SHOW NOTES:
See information regarding each of the EPs/LPs and other releases from this weeks’ Featured Artists below!
INNER-STRENGTH CHECK RADIO - FEATURED ARTISTS:
PETROSA (ITA): ‘Viper’
(Roadburn Chronicles LP out now, via Octopus Rising):
Following the release of their first single "Revenant" and the announcement of their signing with Octopus Rising, Italian stoner/doom outfit PETROSA are back to unveil "Viper", the second single taken from their upcoming debut album Roadburn Chronicles, set for release on August 28th, 2026 in CD and Digital format via Octopus Rising, the Argonauta Records imprint dedicated to emerging heavy acts.
"Viper" is available now:
https://tidal.com/album/544988885/u
Speaking about the new single, the band comment:
"'Viper' embodies one of the darkest sides of the album. It's about the poisonous relationships and destructive instincts that slowly infiltrate our lives, often without us even realizing it. Musically, we wanted the song to feel relentless yet hypnotic, balancing crushing heaviness with an atmosphere that gradually pulls the listener deeper into its world."
With Roadburn Chronicles, PETROSA deliver the definitive statement of the band's identity. Produced by Carlo Altobelli at Toxic Basement Studio in Carate Brianza, the album was recorded during an intense eight-day session between November 2024 and January 2025, preserving the raw energy and uncompromising spirit that have become central to the band's sound.
The record unfolds as an introspective journey through the human condition, exploring themes of sin, self-destruction, personal conflict, disillusionment and the constant tension between darkness and redemption. While deeply rooted in heavy, riff-driven landscapes, Roadburn Chronicles also leaves room for hope, freedom and fleeting moments of light, reflected in the album's evocative "open road" atmosphere.
Faithful to their self-defined philosophy of "Doom Carved in Stone(r)", PETROSA merge the expansive groove of stoner rock with the crushing weight of classic doom, crafting songs that are equally immersive, emotional and powerful.
Fans with a keen eye will also discover a hidden detail within the album artwork: the license plate of the blue van featured on the cover bears the exact date of the band's final day in the recording studio, a subtle tribute to the completion of this important chapter.
For fans of: Kyuss, Black Sabbath, Orange Goblin, The Sword, Dozer
Tracklist:
S.U.R.E.
The Sinner
Turning Point
I For An I
Rusty Blues
Viper
Revenant
Dreamer's Sunsets
Monsters' Conceal
An Old Van And A Couple Of Beers
SLAUGHTERCULT (AUS): ‘Menstrual Marinade’ (Devoured by Perversion LP out now, via Vicious Instinct Records):
In just a few years, Slaughtercult has gone from Sydney underground upstarts to one of Australia's most promising new forces in brutal death metal. Built around cavernous riffs, relentless blast beats, and an unapologetically savage approach to songwriting, the three piece has steadily earned its place through sheer intensity, both on record and on stage.
Since forming in 2022, the band has become a fixture of the Australian extreme metal circuit, delivering chaotic live performances alongside international heavyweights including Nile, Undeath, Gutalax, Rivers of Nihil, and Cytotoxin. Their debut album, Meat Head, established Slaughtercult as a rising name in the global underground and continue to build their fan base.
Now the band enters a new chapter with Devoured By Perversion, their sophomore full-length album, arriving September 24, 2026 via Vicious Instinct Records. Expanding on the unfiltered brutality of its predecessor, the record delivers Slaughtercult's most focused and devastating material to date, fusing brutal death metal with flashes of grind and hardcore to create a sound that is both crushing and unmistakably Australian.
The album arrives alongside an ambitious touring schedule that reflects the group's growing international profile. Throughout 2026, Slaughtercult will tour Australia with Psycroptic and Rivers of Nihil before embarking on their first overseas run through Japan, Taiwan, and Europe, sharing stages with the likes of Gutalax, Brutal Sphincter, and more.
With Devoured By Perversion, a growing international fanbase, and a relentless touring schedule ahead, Slaughtercult is proving that Australia's brutal death metal scene is stronger than ever.
Links:
Slaughtercult:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SlaughtercultBand
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/slaughtercultofficial
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@slaughtercultband
Vicious Instinct Records:
Official Store: https://www.viciousinstinctrecords.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/viciousinstinctrecords
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/viciousinstinct
Bandcamp: https://viciousinstinctrecords.bandcamp.com
SARCOMA (ECU): ‘Sucio Carbón’ (Ponzoña out now, via Valley Of The Death)
Brutal deathcore act SARCOMA explore a plethora of extreme styles across the forthcoming full length Ponzoña. Scheduled for release on August 24, 2026, via Valley of the Death, Ponzoña marks the latest ferocious chapter from the Ecuador-based ensemble whose career began two decades ago.
"Frente Al Abismo" (in English, "Facing the Abyss") powers into life delivering a fast-paced onslaught of classic thrash and death metal riffs. Across the new album SARCOMA seek to balance between old school and modern metal trends. The choruses of "Frente Al Abismo" lean into metallic hardcore, closing with a progressive passage. On the lyrical theme, the band explain, "The main theme of the song comes from analyzing a couple of ayahuasca ceremony experiences. During these, came the understanding that the only way to correct course in our lives is to look face to face at the abyss/darkness that seeks to bring us down, and analyze the facts dispassionately, fearlessly and absolutely engulfed in resolve."
The album's opener is followed by "Ahora Voy Yo" ("Now I Go"). The "song is a critique of long term procrastination caused by the unbalanced ego of certain artists living off past glories, confronted by the urge to prove oneself and grow as long as we live." Musically the track brings in catchy elements through an angry, modern metal sound.
"Jungla Insaciable" ("Insatiable Jungle") is about "the never-ending struggle of everyday life in third world countries, where turmoil, violence and scarcity rule the fate of many lifespans with little or no change at all". Musically, the track sits in the realms of metallic hardcore with progressive aspects to the arrangement as the song develops. The lyrics explore "themes of contempt, entrapment and feeling cheated are ever present through the song, all of which have become normalized in Latin American societies."
"En Llamas" (which translates to "on fire, or in flames") is a brutal and ferocious offering designed for the mosh pit. The song's lyrics "refer to exhaustion, laceration and the burning sensation of a deadly circle pit. [...] It's all about avoiding being crushed by this deadly vortex while the band keeps feeding it with a fiery beat." The track also contains a sample of dialogue from Pinhead in the Hellraiser franchise.
A sense of foreboding is found in "Vacío Funeral" ("Funeral Void"). This song is a slow burner, in which death metal meets groove and progressive to achieve an ominous, deep heaviness. It provides a moment of pause from the intensity found earlier and later in Ponzoña's track list. Personal strength is a prominent theme of the album, in this track SARCOMA explore the opposite: "that we are all at risk of falling back into old “poisonous” and ultimately deadly lifestyles."
The thrash infused "Sucio Carbón" ("Filthy Coal") explores the band's extreme side through death and grind before the track reaches its obliterating end. "Sucio Carbón" addresses the destructive and damaging impact of consumerism in Latin America. The lyrics of the song address "how millions of lives are turned hollow by the intoxicating effect of materialism and greed, and how they cast a veil of fog on our reason, in favor of collecting junk and soon to be junk. There’s metaphorical instances of drowning in a sandglass and being willfully thrown into slave labor in an office, painting a tumultuous picture of consumerism delirium."
"Reinos Fallidos" carries a ferocious assault of heaviness. Meaning "Failed Kingdoms" in English, "Reinos Fallidos" takes an introspective view of the band's own resilience through their hiatus taken in 2016 and the changes they encountered in their local scene at their return in 2023. Discordant harmonics and backing synth layers manifest a dark atmosphere to this powerful modern metallic hardcore track.
"Vuelve a Creer" ("Believe Again") follows the narrative of a character who is taken advantage of across all aspects of their life through fear of conflict and establishing boundaries. Musically, "Vuelve a Creer" begins with a moody acoustic guitar before arriving at a verse inspired by old-school black metal. The tone shifts yet again as the chorus brings a modern, progressive sound before reaching a NILE/GOJIRA-esque heavy descent. Finally, "Vuelve a Creer" moves into an eerie end. The solo performed by guest pianist Michel Ferré (Lauryn Hill, Diego Luna) is haunting as the notes are woven together in a spiderweb, spiral-like manner.
Recorded at Valley of the Death Studios in Quito, Ponzoña was mixed and mastered by Juan Pablo Rivas and produced by Juan Pablo Flores. Keyboards and the solo performance on "Vuelve a Creer" were performed by Michel Ferré. The album's cover artwork was created by artist Andrés Jaramo.
About SARCOMA:
SARCOMA is the first Spanish-language deathcore band in the world. Formed in Quito, Ecuador, in 2006, the quartet launched their debut EP Silenciosa Tortura independently that same year. 2016 brought a hiatus until seven years later, in 2023, original members Santiago Romero and Juan Pablo Flores returned to write new music, now joined by Andrés Jaramo (drums) and Andrés Éguez (bass).
During SARCOMA's first incarnation, following the first EP, the band released the debut, self-titled full-length album in 2008 with the Esclavitud del Siglo XXI EP arriving in 2013. The band embarked on a heavy national and international touring schedule in neighboring countries.
SARCOMA's unmistakable style, technical precision, and impressive live performances led them to be considered, by the media and the public alike, as the undisputed "fathers of deathcore" in South America. In early-mid noughties, the band's unique mix of hardcore and death metal elements was something unheard of in the country at the time.
The band's sound draws influence from the likes of DECAPITATED, DYING FETUS, KNOCKED LOOSE, SEPULTURA, DESPISED ICON, GOJIRA, with the addition of progressive elements and a thematic focus on their life experiences and environment of Latin America.
2023 saw the band return with renewed vigor and intent unleashing the EP Mesak, the live releases Al Rojo Vivo and En Vivo En Quito in 2024, and "Divino Poder" single in 2025, all via Valley of the Death. SARCOMA wasted no time returning to the live stage in 2023 venturing on the Mesak Ecuador National Tour, along with performances at Mechanimal Fest and Quitofest.
Connect With SARCOMA:
Bandcamp: https://sarcomaec.bandcamp.com/music
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarcomaecuador
Instagram: https://www.Instagram.com/sarcomaecuador
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SARCOMAEC
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3w5oB1ujWelLK4xPXR4fEZ?si=vj-DZzOZS2e0HkUHjUrpjw
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/ca/artist/sarcoma/1655035683
Twitter/X: https://x.com/sarcomaec
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sarcoma.ec
Ponzoña Tracklist:
1. Frente Al Abismo
2. Ahora Voy Yo
3. Jungla Insaciable
4. En Llamas
5. Vacío Funeral
6. Sucio Carbón
7. Reinos Fallidos
8. Vuelve A Creer
SUBMASQ (ISR): ‘Monument’ (Spirit Animal LP released 18th Sept via Willowtip Records)
SEE HERE for Spirit Animal Full-Album stream (via Willowtip Records on Youtube):
Spirit Animal - Bandcamp LP Link
Israeli progressive metal and ethno-rock band, SUBMASQ (formerly known as Subterranean Masquerade) will make its Willowtip debut with the September 18 release of its seventh full-length album, Spirit Animal.
Recorded across several studios, including the renowned Fascination Street Studios in Örebro, Sweden, Spirit Animal was mixed by Adam Noble (Paul McCartney, Biffy Clyro, Nothing But Thieves) and mastered by Grammy-nominated engineer Robin Schmidt.
SUBMASQ's new album is an autobiographical journey through trauma, addiction, bipolar disorder, and collective memory. At its core lies a constant search for identity and belonging, expressed through nine new songs that embrace bold, accessible songwriting while seamlessly blending ethnic instruments with forward-thinking progressive rock. The album also features a special guest appearance by Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal.
This release marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for the band through its partnership with American label Willowtip Records, opening the door to a broader international audience. Alongside the album, SUBMASQ is actively expanding its global presence with festival appearances and touring across Europe, North America, and beyond, continuing to establish itself as one of progressive rock's most compelling and unpredictable live acts.
To date, SUBMASQ has released six full-length albums. Spirit Animal stands as the band's most ambitious and personal work to date, serving as a defining statement as they enter this new era.
In January 2027, SUBMASQ will embark on a European tour alongside Rhapsody of Fire in support of Spirit Animal, with additional international tour dates and festival appearances to be announced.
Track Listing:
1. Cardamom (Feat Bumblefoot)
2. Monuments*
3. Mechanical Prayers
4. Calypso
5. Anger
6. Sanctified
7. Uman Inshallah
8. The Unlucky
9. Trust
Spirit Animal Pre-orders:
Order via Willowtip: https://bit.ly/spirit-animal-willowtip
Order via Bandcamp: https://bit.ly/spirit-animal-bandcamp
Album Credits:
SUBMASQ are:
Davidavi “Vidi” Dolev - Vocals
Golan Farhi - Bass
Tomer Pink - Guitars
Yalon Schori - Drums
Or Shalev - Guitars
Shai Yallin - Keyboards, electronics, handpan
Dima Kogan - Guitars (live)
Guest musicians:
Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal - Guitar solo (1).
Yatziv Caspi - Tablas (1).
Matan Shmueli - Percussions (1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9).
Idan Amsalem - Oud and bouzouki (1, 3, 4, 5).
Oren Tsor - Violin.
Noa Ayali - Cello.
Roni Fishbein - Backing vocals (6, 9).
Produced by Tomer Pink.
All music by Tomer Pink except 4, 5 by Or Shalev.
All lyrics by Davidavi Dolev.
String arrangements by Shai Yallin (1, 2, 5, 9) and Idan Amsalem (3).
Editing, guitar therapy and general support by Arie Aranovich.
Drums recorded by Alexander Backlund at Fascination Street Studios.
Vocals, lead guitars and cello recorded by Arie Aranovich at Polar Studio.
Oud, Bouzouki & percussion recorded by Idan Amsalem at Black Knob Studio.
Keyboards and handpan recorded by Shai Yallin at Synth-O-Rama Studio.
Art by Yalon Schori and Shay Darvish.
Mask by Moran Gross.
ONLY ECHOES (US): ‘Steps Ahead of Drowning’ (Born Adrift available now via Independent Release)
SEE HERE For Born Adrift Full-Album Stream, via Youtube:
Denver instrumental post-metal band ONLY ECHOES return with Born Adrift, a six-song, 35-minute journey through survival, uncertainty, and the strange momentum that keeps a person moving through hostile waters. Out August 14, 2026 via Braeburn Records, the album expands the band’s heavy, cinematic language into something vast and immersive, balancing crushing riffs, patient atmosphere, and wordless storytelling.
Written and refined over years of live performance, the songs on Born Adrift feel road-tested in the truest sense. Several pieces have been part of ONLY ECHOES’ live set for more than two years, giving the band time to shape each movement until it carried the right weight both on stage and in the studio. Recorded at All Aces Studio with Austin Minney producing, engineering, and mixing, the album captures a band following an internal narrative without relying on lyrics to explain it.
That narrative begins in the open water. The title track, “Born Adrift,” opens the record with immediate force, setting the tone for an album that feels caught between desperation and resolve. It is the sound of being lost, but still fighting. The track’s heaviest moments suggest a struggle already underway, while its scale points toward the larger emotional terrain of the album: endurance, fear, motion, and the choice to keep going.
From there, “Tempest” widens the horizon. The longest song on the record, it moves like a storm system, shifting between difficult passages, moments of release, and towering peaks. It serves as one of the album’s clearest statements of purpose, showing ONLY ECHOES pushing their songwriting into more expansive territory while still keeping the emotional thread intact. “So Tightly Bound” follows with a darker, more anxious energy, building a sense of capture and escape before arriving at a triumphant final stretch.
At the center of the album, “Inter” opens the second side with a synth-driven passage that pulls motifs from “Tempest” into a more mournful space. Its pulsing Moog textures and guitar solo act as a breath before “Steps Ahead of Drowning,” the album’s most reflective track. Released as the first single on May 13, 2026 with an accompanying music video, “Steps Ahead of Drowning” turns the album’s central image toward survival. It moves from calm to weight, from atmosphere to impact, carrying the feeling of staying afloat even when the pull beneath the surface feels impossible to resist.
The closing track, “Shimmering Death,” brings the journey to its most volatile point. Rather than circling back to familiar sections, the song keeps moving forward, building from layered beauty into the fastest passage on the album before ending in one of its heaviest moments. It closes Born Adrift with a final confrontation, a battle at sea where calm gives way to something monstrous and inescapable.
Across Born Adrift, ONLY ECHOES use the tools of metal to tell a story without words. The album asks questions about perseverance, meaning, and the instinct to continue through uncertainty. Its six tracks form a sequence of scenes and emotions, inviting listeners to build their own version of the voyage. Heavy but open, cinematic but physical, Born Adrift is an album about rough seas, human endurance, and the fragile hope that keeps the body moving.
About ONLY ECHOES:
ONLY ECHOES are an instrumental post-metal band from Denver, Colorado, creating heavy, cinematic music built on monumental riffs, layered guitars, clean ambience, and wordless melody. Formed in 2018, the band has spent the years since carving out a sound that feels vast without losing its shape, emotional without needing vocals, and heavy without abandoning atmosphere.
The band began with the expectation that vocals might eventually enter the picture, but when the time came to decide who would sing, no one raised a hand. The absence quickly became part of the identity. ONLY ECHOES found that their songs could carry weight, tension, and narrative on their own, using guitars, bass, and drums to build the kind of arcs more often associated with film scores than traditional metal songs.
Their self-titled debut EP, Only Echoes, arrived in September 2018 and introduced the foundation of the band’s approach: longform instrumental songwriting rooted in melody, atmosphere, and heaviness. In April 2022, ONLY ECHOES released their first full-length album, Sunsickness, a self-released concept album centered on the search for truth.
Since then, ONLY ECHOES have continued to grow through relentless live work and a DIY ethic. The band has played more than 75 shows in spaces ranging from bookstores and backyards to Denver’s Bluebird Theater, where they opened for PALLBEARER in 2023. Their touring history includes multiple self-booked West Coast runs in 2022, 2023, and 2025, along with a Midwest tour in 2026. They have also appeared at the inaugural Ghost Canyon Fest alongside BIGBRAVE and have opened for STRAWBERRY GIRLS and THE ONGOING CONCEPT.
The current lineup, Austin Minney on guitar, Dustin Yourishin on guitar, Ben Rosenberg on bass, and Zach Sirotkin on drums, brings together musicians also connected to Denver heavy music projects OREYN and VICTIM OF FIRE. Together, they push toward a form of post-metal that is both expansive and accessible, carrying the influence of RUSSIAN CIRCLES, PELICAN, ISIS, DEAFHEAVEN, and GOD IS AN ASTRONAUT while pursuing something distinctly their own.
ONLY ECHOES write songs that move like journeys. Their music often stretches into six, seven, or eight-minute forms, but the band’s focus remains on momentum and emotional clarity. Clean passages drift into towering riffs, melodic leads rise out of dense arrangements, and atmospheric sections give way to crushing rhythmic force. The result is instrumental post-metal that feels immersive and memorable, built for listeners who want weight, texture, and a sense of narrative movement.
Their second full-length album, Born Adrift, arrives August 14, 2026 via Braeburn Records. Where Sunsickness explored the search for truth, Born Adrift turns toward the search for meaning. Its visual world draws from Gustave Doré’s 1876 engraving for Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, later colored and illustrated by Denver artist Celeste Hayes. That imagery mirrors the album’s emotional landscape: open water, uncertainty, perseverance, and the instinct to keep moving even when the shore is nowhere in sight.
Through Born Adrift, ONLY ECHOES continue to define themselves as one of the few newer American bands carrying forward the tradition of heavy instrumental post-metal. Their music reaches for the scale of the genre’s landmark names while remaining grounded in melody, grit, and the kind of handmade dedication that has shaped the band from the beginning. Even their merch reflects that approach, with Austin Minney screen printing most of the band’s shirts at home, sometimes just hours before a show or tour.
For ONLY ECHOES, the absence of vocals does not leave a blank space. It opens one. Their songs invite listeners into vast, riff-driven landscapes where the story is felt before it is explained, and where every movement pushes toward something just beyond the horizon.
ONLY ECHOES is:
Austin Minney, guitar
Dustin Yourishin, guitar
Ben Rosenberg, bass
Zach Sirotkin, drums
Taken from the bands’ official Instagram profile (see below) - Photo Credit: @spookymady via Instagram.
Connect with ONLY ECHOES:
Official Website: https://www.onlyechoesmusic.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/only_echoes_denver/?hl=en
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3dRWQve9w41F9eUAwlHP4A?si=vjHVbz3VTWy1CapE7sq3og
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/only-echoes/1437048557
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