Brady Irwin 9/6/25 Brady Irwin 9/6/25

[Gig Review] ATHEIST + Supports, Leadbeater Hotel (Melb, AU), 08.06.25.

How many words/which words can be used to describe a night of musical perfection? A night 35+ years in the making, featuring one of the most important and influential bands in extreme metal via Atheist? Supported by Australian death-metal legends Alarum, Vexation and Anoxia?! No idea, but for the best-guess attempt & some stellar images by Jason Vidic (of Vidic Images), check out our gig review.

Brady Irwin 19/5/25 Brady Irwin 19/5/25

[Review] BRUTEFEST 2025 @ The Tote Hotel, Melbourne (AU), 17.05.

Brutal Truth have an album titled Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses, yeah? Well, extremely-stacked extreme-metal lineups demand extreme reviews!

Check here for our written/photographic coverage of Brutefest 2025 at The Tote in Collingwood, Melbourne (AU) 17.05, feat: Burnout, Mortuary Sickness, Black Jesus, Sufferance, Resistance, Vexation, Choof, Pizza Death and co-headliners Abigail (JP) & Stalker (NZ)!

Brady Irwin 5/5/25 Brady Irwin 5/5/25

[GIG REVIEW] From The Archive: DIRECT UNDERGROUND FEST, Max Watt’s Melb (AU) 07.09.2019.

First of several Music Mondays articles for this week is a prior review exhumed from the Overdrive Music Magazine archive (many thanks to Seb Graham for consent to do so)! It also appeared on our own now-defunct website, but it’s back again! Necromancy! Speaking of, check out Brady’s review of Direct Underground Fest 2019 - feat. Dark Funeral, Immolation, Reaper, Abramelin and Christ Dismembered. Blastbeats are eternal.

Brady Irwin 4/5/25 Brady Irwin 4/5/25

[REVIEW] MACHINE HEAD - ‘UNATØNED’ LP.

Time for our latest album review here at Inner-Strength Check! Today, we take a detour from Australian election shenanigans to bring something decidedly less chaotic/painful to your sensory organs. Pod host Brady provides thoughts on Machine Head’s 11th studio opus, UNATØNED, released April 25th via Nuclear Blast Records. Check link for review plus single streaming, album order, artist/label links and more!

Brady Irwin 21/4/25 Brady Irwin 21/4/25

[Gig Review] NERVOSA & Supports @ Northcote Social Club, Melbourne, 19.04.2025.

‘Girls Rock’, huh? Nah, man. If Saturday’s outright devastation of the Northcote Social Club Melbourne by Brazilian death-thrashers Nervosa (with breakneck local supports Resistance and Mason) is anything to go by - girls THRASH. Check out our review and photography coverage of a truly blistering, fun and frantic night of riffs via the link.

Brady Irwin 13/4/25 Brady Irwin 13/4/25

[Review] TRIA PRIMA - ‘Three Primes of Alchemy’ EP

The lost arts of alchemy foretold the ability to meld metal, matter, elements and more in a carefully-prepared concoction. We can say much the same of Ukraine’s Tria Prima, whose Three Primes of Alchemy EP is combed over by fellow ISC staffer and honestly-probably-a-wizard-IRL, Dean. Check out the review, with further artist/album links available as well! Slava Ukraini.

Brady Irwin 12/4/25 Brady Irwin 12/4/25

[Review] Drudkh - ‘Shadow Play’ LP.

Ukrainian atmospheric black metal veterans Drudkh offer their latest musical outing to the world, Shadow Play, released on March 21st via label Season of Mist. Check out ISC staffer Dean’s comprehensive review of this sojourn into their latest darkly aesthetic offering, as well as full-album and single streams, artist/label/album order links and more.

Brady Irwin 8/4/25 Brady Irwin 8/4/25

[Archive Review] Brian Campeau - ‘Old Dog, New Tricks’ LP (19.07.18)

Reposted from the sadly now-defunct Overdrive Music Magazine, with permission from owner Sebastian Graham. Check out ISC staffer Hamza’s prior review from 2018 of an interesting fork from our usual - Australian folk/indie acoustic singer-songwriter Brian Campeau’s 2018 LP Old Dogs, New Tricks! Link also contains artist/label socials, as well as a little intro preamble from your host, Brady. More treasures from the vault to be posted across 2025! Thanks again to label Art as Catharsis.

Mal Keecher 3/4/25 Mal Keecher 3/4/25

[ALBUM REVIEW] THORNHILL - ‘BODIES’ LP.

If you missed Thornhill’s recent Bodies album preview shows and can’t wait to hear the LP, here is your chance to familiarise yourself with this first-class metalcore creation, the night before its official release.

Brady Irwin 2/4/25 Brady Irwin 2/4/25

[GIG REVIEW]: GHOSTSMOKER + Supports @ The Bendigo Hotel, 29.03.25.

Brutal Truth once titled an album titled Extreme Conditions Demand Extreme Responses. I couldn’t think of a more fitting analogue to Dean’s review! Leviathan Gigs Demand Leviathan Content, and this here review is stacked floor to ceiling with the finest detail regarding Ghostsmoker’s devastating headliner show on Sat 29th March @ The Bendigo Hotel, Melbourne. No expense has been spared for supports Bentham’s Head, Mammon’s Throne or AGLO, either! [Featured Image Credit: Rajesh Kotian aka Raj of Blackened Lights Photography].

Brady Irwin 31/3/25 Brady Irwin 31/3/25

[Review] INDUSTRIAL PUKE - ‘Alive To No Avail’ LP.

What a timely little slice of Swedish death metal/crust/hardcore from Industrial Puke, eh? Having recently covered Svenska crust/d-beat on the Musolegion blog, these mind-readers provide an up-to-date addition to the crust-canon with the relentless, fun LP in Alive To No Avail. Check the link for full album review, single/album stream links, artist/label details and more! Get your grime on.

Brady Irwin 16/3/25 Brady Irwin 16/3/25

[Album Review] SPOILED - ‘Collapse’ LP.

Tearing out of the blocks like a drunken cop-chase on a scooter through the intersections and alleyways of Rome, Italian crossover-thrash unit Spoiled deliver a decidedly Americanised and fun blend of punk, hardcore and retro-revival thrash. And it’s as fun as it is snark-riddled and bruising. Check out the link for our review of latest LP Collapse, full album stream, artist media/links and more!

Brady Irwin 15/3/25 Brady Irwin 15/3/25

[Album Review] SANDS - Sands

Our esteemed writer Hamza has once more delved into the post-rock/metal depths of the Melbourne underground, and reached for aural pearls. This time, he’s fished up the self-titled act by Australian progressive math-rock/sludge act SANDS, examining the treasures contained within their self-titled LP. You can find artist Bandcamp/LP order and socials links within as well - dive in!

Brady Irwin 15/3/25 Brady Irwin 15/3/25

[Review] NOTHING - ‘The Self-Repair Manifesto’ LP.

Never deny the crushing, expansive sonic potential of a three-piece. Perfectly exemplary of this, Melbourne’s progressive/ brutal death-metal purveyors NOTHING are set to release their debut LP The Self-Repair Manifesto on March 26th. Ahead of time, ISC writer Dean has provided an in-depth, track-by-track analysis of this local extreme outfits’ savage experimentation. Check the link for the review, album preorder links, artist website/socials, LP singles and more!

Brady Irwin 13/3/25 Brady Irwin 13/3/25

[Gig Review] PALLBEARER Feat: CONAN/MAMMON’s THRONE/ GHOSTSMOKER @ Max Watt’s Melbourne, 12.03.25.

What an Earth-shattering night. A true spectacle of the full aural gamut available via the trade of doom mercantile trade, Brady and photographer Richie Black were lucky enough to witness a cosmic, tectonic performance at Max Watt’s, Melbourne (AU) on Wed, 12th March. Check the link for stellar photography, reviews of the full performance by Ghostsmoker, Mammon’s Throne, Conan and Pallbearer, as well as all related artist links, tour info and more!

Brady Irwin 7/3/25 Brady Irwin 7/3/25

[Archive - Review] of Mobile Hut's MÖRK BORG RPG Supplement, 'The Choir'.

Originally posted to our old website the day before it crashed and died (on NYE 2024 - RIP). As part of our ongoing Tabletop RPG coverage, resident artist and RPG design expert Elodie explores a 3rd-party supplement for the infamously metal-AF Mork Borg RPG - specifically, The Choir. Created by Evelyn Moreau on behalf of Mobile Hut Games, it’s yet another addition to a fantastic OSR titles’ community canon!

Brady Irwin 7/3/25 Brady Irwin 7/3/25

[Podcast] Froth and Fury 2024 Review: All-In-One/Omnibus Edition!

Get on board the Froth and Fury Omnibus, because we’ve finally resurrected this handy all-in-one multi-post collection of our extensive gig coverage/info/interviews and more for the blast that was last years’ festival - all in one convenient, accessible link! From here you’ll be able to access primers/info, our interviews with Lumen Ad Mortem and Sundowner, as well as mine and Mal’s MASSIVE two-part blog/podcast episode coverage of the whole festival!

Brady Irwin 2/3/25 Brady Irwin 2/3/25

[Review] Blackened Dred - ‘Satan Is The Law’ LP.

Not all of Canberra is as authoritative and complacent as stereotypes may have you believe. Nay, not if Blackened Dred and their blackened-thrash/trad-metal rocking debut Satan Is The Law have anything to say about it! Check out our latest review by Brady, who explores this deliciously evil (and fun) homage to everything from NWOBHM and punk to classic rock. See also for full album stream, artist links and ticket links for tour dates with Abigail and Stalker!

Brady Irwin 2/3/25 Brady Irwin 2/3/25

[Review] Abduction - ‘Existentialismus’ LP.

The UK has been gaining increasing notoriety of late when it comes to black metal, and albums such as Abduction’s Existentialismus provide solid examples of why attention should be paid. Follow ISC staffer Dean through a philosophical and comprehensive review of this equally heady and mind-bending 6-track LP via the link. Also included are artist links, music videos and more! Courtesy of Candlelight Records.

Mal Keecher 27/2/25 Mal Keecher 27/2/25

[ALBUM REVIEW] FANALO - SELF -TITLED LP.

From Bumblefoot's European lead guitarist comes Frenchman Fanalo's bold new foray into progressive rock with genre-spanning sounds. This self-produced solo album takes the listener on a journey through three instrumental tracks reminiscent of his Plug-In days and seven vocal-driven collaborative tracks.

[Gig Review] ATHEIST + Supports, Leadbeater Hotel (Melb, AU), 08.06.25.

[Review] BRUTEFEST 2025 @ The Tote Hotel, Melbourne (AU), 17.05.

[GIG REVIEW] From The Archive: DIRECT UNDERGROUND FEST, Max Watt’s Melb (AU) 07.09.2019.

[REVIEW] MACHINE HEAD - ‘UNATØNED’ LP.

[Review] TRIA PRIMA - ‘Three Primes of Alchemy’ EP

[Review] Drudkh - ‘Shadow Play’ LP.

[Archive Review] Brian Campeau - ‘Old Dog, New Tricks’ LP (19.07.18)

[ALBUM REVIEW] THORNHILL - ‘BODIES’ LP.

[GIG REVIEW]: GHOSTSMOKER + Supports @ The Bendigo Hotel, 29.03.25.

[Review] INDUSTRIAL PUKE - ‘Alive To No Avail’ LP.

[Album Review] SPOILED - ‘Collapse’ LP.

[Album Review] SANDS - Sands

[Review] NOTHING - ‘The Self-Repair Manifesto’ LP.

[Gig Review] PALLBEARER Feat: CONAN/MAMMON’s THRONE/ GHOSTSMOKER @ Max Watt’s Melbourne, 12.03.25.

[Archive - Review] of Mobile Hut's MÖRK BORG RPG Supplement, 'The Choir'.

[Podcast] Froth and Fury 2024 Review: All-In-One/Omnibus Edition!

[Review] Blackened Dred - ‘Satan Is The Law’ LP.

[Review] Abduction - ‘Existentialismus’ LP.

[ALBUM REVIEW] FANALO - SELF -TITLED LP.

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