[Podcast] Ep. 81: [Interview] with DEZ FAFARA of DEVILDRIVER (US) Ahead of July 2026 Australian 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*
*ISC Podcast is now also available on:
Castamatic, Castro, Fountain, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Podcast Guru, Podverse and TrueFans, as well as Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Castbox, GoodPods, iHeartRadio, PocketCasts and RadioPublic.
Episode 81 - Show Notes:
Devildriver (US) - Tour Announcement & Info (with Cradle of Filth (UK))
Iron Slaught (France) - Metallic Torments: Album Info & Single
Green Lung Reveal Video For New Single 'Necropolitan Line'
Control The Sun (AUS) - ‘Pyre’ Single Media Release
Dead Sleep (Sweden) - Premiere "Leech from Čachtice" Music Video; Repulsion EP Out Now.
CRADLE OF FILTH and DEVILDRIVER Announce July 2026 Co-headline Australian Tour
When British extreme metal legends CRADLE OF FILTH and American metal titans DEVILDRIVER, two of heavy music’s most iconic and ferocious bands - each with a stellar reputation for incredible live shows - joined forces for a North American tour in 2023 the results were predictably amazing and the synergy undeniable.
"a face-grinding heavy package that lived up to the hype and left fans ecstatic" Ghost Cult Magazine
"a triumphant collision of American and British heavy metal, leaving the audience drenched in adrenaline" South Florida Insider.
Now Australia will finally experience this much lauded team-up in July of this year as the two titans bring full headline sets packed with classics, to deliver a night of unrelenting intensity, theatrical horror, and crushing grooves.
Cradle of Filth, led by the inimitable Dani Filth, continue to reign as the most influential and enduring name in extreme metal. Their reputation as a singular artistic force and as one of the most insanely entertaining live acts metal has ever produced remains unchallenged. Fresh off the success of their acclaimed 14th studio album The Screaming of the Valkyries, the band is ready to unleash their signature blend of blackened gothic metal, orchestral grandeur, and venomous lyricism on Australian fans who in turn rewarded the band with a fully sold-out tour on their last visit.
DevilDriver, spearheaded by the powerhouse Dez Fafara, bring their signature groove-laden modern metal assault. Known for their punishing riffs, ferocious energy, and anthemic songwriting, the band will deliver a career defining set from early crushers to recent heavy-hitters. DevilDriver have spent two decades forging a sound built on chaos and catharsis, with a brooding ritualistic intensity all delivered with the kind of conviction only a band at the top of their game can command.
Cradle Of Filth and DevilDriver Australian Tour Dates
Thursday 9th July BRISBANE, The Tivoli
Friday 10th July SYDNEY, The Enmore
Saturday 11th July MELBOURNE, The Forum
Tuesday 14th July ADELAIDE, Hindley Street Music Hall
Thursday 16th July PERTH, The Astor
Tickets:
Pre-sale: Thursday February 26th @ 9:00am Local
General Public On Sale: Monday March 2nd @ 9:00am Local
From:
https://thephoenix.au/cradle-of-filth-and-devildriver/ or
https://metropolistouring.com/cradle-of-filth-uk-and-devil-driver-us-2026/
DEVILDRIVER - LINKS:
(See for: Socials, Tour Tickets, Merch, Music Videos etc)
Youtube (via Napalm Records)
Iron Slaught (FRA)'s Metallic Torments, Coming July 10
Gates Of Hell Records proudly presents Metallic Torments, the second full length album from French heavy/speed metal tyrants, Iron Slaught!
On Metallic Torments, Iron Slaught inject their heavy/speed metal attack with a more extreme edge! This is an adrenaline shot of pure old school fury and passion that will surge through your veins and ignite the spirit with total metallic torment.
Formed in 2011 in Bigorra (South-West France), Iron Slaught is an old-school speed/thrash metal band with some death/black metal influences while remaining deeply rooted in traditional heavy metal. Driven by a true passion for underground metal, Iron Slaught blends different old-school metal scenes into a unique and sincere approach focused on epic songwriting, efficient riffing and dark atmospheres.
With 11 years passing since their debut LP and eight since their split with fellow French metallers Tentation, Metallic Torments is a record that many underground dwellers have been waiting for. The new album is conceived as a collection of “Metallic Torments”, each song telling its own tragic story through themes such as obsession, vengeance, witchcraft, medieval battles and devotion to metal itself.
Weaving sharp guitars and thick, heavy bass lines atop programmed but powerful drums to cast a spell of arcane metal magic; Iron Slaught manage to combine the best eras of metal’s long and diverse history into something unique and oh so potent. Soaring lead work and intricate riffs balance the epic and the intense in such a way that will keep you enthralled until the end. Harnessing the thrashing rage and fuelling the fire with touches of black and death metal while keeping the molten core of pure heavy metal mania; these French barbarians offer music only for the truest of the true.
PRE-ORDER:
CD: https://tinyurl.com/344r6kaj
Black Vinyl: https://tinyurl.com/287utrpb
T-Shirt: https://tinyurl.com/57y6w796
BC: ironslaught.bandcamp.com/album/metallic-torments
Track Listing:
1. Harbinger Of Afflictions
2. Ghastly Obsession
3. The Executioner*
4. Soldier Of Fortune*
5. Condamné pour l’Éternité
6. Charme Funeste
7. Primal Conquest
8. Fatal Retaliations
*Approved for airplay.
Metallic Torments engraved and immortalized by Sir Stéphane Hellkine, Bigorra 2025.
Aggressive logo and bloody lyrics by Steel Converter (except “Condamné pour l’Éternité” and “Primal Conquest” by Iron Jérémy).
Spellbinding front cover art by Mario Lopez.
PSYCROPTIC (AUS) – Release New Single + Video ‘No Blade Of Grass’ - New Album out July 17th
‘No Blade Of Grass’ video:
Stream:
https://psycroptic.bandcamp.com/music
Pre-order:
https://direct-merch.com/collections/psycroptic
The Pulse Of Annihilation album released in Australia via Direct Merch
Rest of the world via Metal Blade Records
For over two decades, PSYCROPTIC has operated at the vanguard of innovative death metal, defined by instrumental precision, structural intelligence and an uncompromising creative ethic. From their Tasmanian origins to commanding stages worldwide, the band have built a reputation on rhythmic complexity, exacting musicianship, and a refusal to plateau.
On July 17th, PSYCROPTIC enters a decisive new chapter with ‘The Pulse Of Annihilation’, their first full-length release for Metal Blade Records. The partnership marks a strategic alignment between one of extreme metal’s most technically formidable acts and a label whose history is intertwined with the genre’s evolution.
Across ‘The Pulse Of Annihilation’,PSYCROPTIC sounds focused, disciplined, and fully aware of their trajectory. Complexity remains foundational, but it is now guided by compositional restraint and veteran confidence. With this release, the band reaffirm their status not merely as innovative death metal stalwarts, but as architects actively shaping its future, proving that mastery, sharpened by time, only grows more lethal. There is no better representation of this, than with their new single, ‘No Blade Of Grass’.
“This one has a good blend of old-school PSYCROPTIC-style riffage and slightly sludge filled, loosey-goosey sections straight outta the classic death metal era,” remarks guitarist Joe Haley. “The whole thing is brought together with the choral/orchestral chorus. Something for everyone! Going to be a fun one to rip live!”
Bassist Todd Stern agrees, “It’s an unbelievably catchy tune! The main verse is one of my favourite bits on the whole record. Classic riffage, steam rolling the whole song forward with solid momentum all along. Badass.”
Adds vocalist Jason Peppiatt, “I had so much fun with this song as it was the first song that [vocalist Jason] Keyser had written for the band, and it was awesome to have someone bring different ideas to the table than what I normally would. Vocally it’s nice and fast and has a real sick flow and groove to vocal parts.”
The record features the dual-vocal assault of Jason Peppiatt and Jason Keyser (Origin), a partnership that debuted on PSYCROPTIC’s previous full-length, Divine Council. Peppiatt’s commanding growl intertwines with Keyser’s razor-edged articulation, creating a dynamic vocal interplay that adds dimension and contrast to the band’s dense instrumentation. This twofold approach heightens the record’s impact, featuring layered, confrontational elements that remain tightly synced with the band’s intricate foundation.
PSYCROPTIC AUSTRALIAN TOUR this August
Aug 6 – Pub Rock Diner – Devonport
Aug 7 – Royal Oak Hotel – Launceston
Aug 8 – Altar – Hobart
with Rivers Of Nihil
Aug 13 – Magnet House – Perth
Aug 14 – Lion Arts – Adelaide
Aug 15 – Max Watts – Melbourne
Aug 21 – Manning Bar – Sydney
Aug 22 – Necrosonic Festival – Brisbane
Instagram: @psycroptic_official
GREEN LUNG (UK) Reveal Video For New Single 'Necropolitan Line'
GREEN LUNG Reveal 'Necropolitan Line' A MOTÖRHEAD-MEETS-DEEP-PURPLE Homage To London's Necropolis Railway
New Album NECROPOLITAN Out 11th September 2026
PRE-ORDER
Albion's masters of folklore, riffs and legends return with another slab of tomb-shaking, crypt-kicking occult rock. Green Lung have revealed their latest track, 'Necropolitan Line', a Motorhead-meets-Deep Purple subterranean rampage across London's infamous Necropolis Railway.
'Necropolitan Line' is taken from Green Lung's forthcoming new record, Necropolitan, due out on Friday September 11th 2026. A monumental portrait of the power of nature over the dreams and dominion of humankind, Necropolitan is also a grand celebration of the occult lore and heavy music scene of the band’s birthplace, the city of London.
Green Lung stated:
"Is there a more fitting subject for a Green Lung song than the Necropolis Railway, a real-life train line that carried corpses and mourners across London in the late 19th Century? Mix in some inspiration from 1972's London Underground-set shocker Death Line, a madcap neoclassical organ/guitar duel that evokes Richie Blackmore and Jon Lord at their finger blistering best, and a record Lung BPM of 180, and you have the second single from our fourth album. We can't wait to play this one live for the first time at the Acid Bath show in Manchester on Thursday. Mind the doors!"
The video, directed by Tracy Mathewson and featuring animation from Joseph Brett, is a tribute to the early 70s German TV show Beat Club, which featured Lung antecedents such as Sabbath, Purple and Lucifer's Friend. Featuring an introduction from longtime roadie Metal Joe, we enter the band's own warped version of the show, titled Crypt Club. Will future episodes follow? Only time will tell...
Pre-order Necropolitan here:
https://greenlung.bfan.link/necropolitan
Stream ‘Necropolitan Line’ here:
https://greenlung.bfan.link/necropolitan-line
Watch the video for ‘Necropolitan Line’ here:
Necropolitan - tracklisting
OUT: September 11th 2026
01. Open the Hellmouth
02. Dance to the Grave
03. Black Magick Radio
04. Necropolitan Line
05. Evil in this House
06. Together in Death
07. Ozymandias
08. Alostrael (Be My Babalon)
09. To the Gallows Born
With producer Tom Dalgety (Opeth, Ghost) at the helm, this time handling everything from recording to mixing, the band decamped to Rockfield Studios in January 2026, following in the muddy footprints of some of their key inspirations, from Black Sabbath to Queen to Judas Priest. Sonically, they were set on capturing their megalithic live sound more accurately than ever - stripping back their usual dense, multilayered arrangements to their rawest, leanest form and recording much of the album live to capture their Sabbathian heaviness, frenzied Hammonds and haunting Mellotrons as faithfully as possible.
The result is an album that combines the soaring hookiness of This Heathen Land with an uncompromising rawness and heaviness, and takes the band’s distinctive brand of sonic storytelling to macabre new heights.
If, a year after Black Sabbath’s Back to the Beginning show and the death of Ozzy Osbourne, you had any doubts about the future of traditional British metal, Necropolitan will lay them to rest. Here is a band taking the torch from the heavy metal godfathers and running with it, bursting with all the musicianship and storytelling flair that has kept the genre’s flame burning for a half-century, and using it to temper a lyrical and sonic world that is entirely their own.
A cult band in every sense of the word, Green Lung emerged from London’s heavy rock scene with self-released debut EP Free the Witch (2018).
Drawing on a host of peculiarly British musical influences, from doomy hard rock to pastoral prog and psych to the Hammer Horror theatrics of the NWOBHM, the band have swiftly risen to the forefront of the UK metal scene.
Lyrically celebrating the folklore, myths and legends of Britain, they conjure the wild and witchy spirit of their forebears for a new generation.
Green Lung have released three critically acclaimed albums, Woodland Rites (2019), Black Harvest (2021) and This Heathen Land (2023). They have toured internationally with Clutch, Opeth and Unto Others, and performed on festival stages from Roadburn to Download. Their latest album This Heathen Land landed at #1 on the UK’s Official Rock and Metal Album Chart.
"This is heavy metal how it should be done" The Guardian
LINKS:
WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | YOUTUBE | TIKTOK | SPOTIFY
APPLE MUSIC | BANDCAMP
CONTROL THE SUN (AUS) - Adelaide Progressives Release Second Single, ‘Pyre’
Featuring veterans of the Adelaide heavy scene with members from Japam and Colibrium, Control The Sun kicked off the year with their first ever gig, opening Froth And Fury in Adelaide and dropping their epic debut single, Say It's Over.
Several months have passed and they are back, shifting things up a gear with their second single “Pyre”.
Showing more of their teeth this time around, the song is centred around a crushing riff that reinforces their mission statement of bringing polish, detail and aggression to Australian heavy music.
'Pyre' talks to the ancient burning rituals of dead royalty as a means to send them to the afterlife, drawing a metaphor of new beginnings and the cleansing of spirits.
Listen to ‘Pyre’ here:
https://sptfy.com/Qg0N
Watch the video here:
Now working with industry heavyweight Forrester Savell, Control The Sun have established their unique sound - one that, blends complex musical arrangements with catchy, singable hooks and paints an exciting picture of how their future catalogue is going to keep delivering with every release.
With a self-produced music video in tow to support this song, Control The Sun are punching above their weight for such a new act on the scene.
Catch Control The Sun next at Downpour
Sat, Aug 8: Unibar, Adelaide
Tix from Moshtix
Follow Control The Sun
https://linktr.ee/controlthesun
Swedish Thrashers DEAD SLEEP (Sweden) Premiere "Leech from Čachtice" Music Video; Repulsion EP Out Now
Swedish thrash metal band Dead Sleep have officially released their new EP, Repulsion, alongside a brand-new music video for "Leech from Čachtice", the final chapter in the band's recent string of singles.
Watch The Video Here:
”Leech from Čachtice is a mix between early hard rock riffs from the likes of Accept and Ozzy Osbourne, mixed with filthy Death metal elements. It is stripped down, relentless old school speed and Thrash metal in the best classic traditions. The text is an imagined viewpoint of Elizabeth Bathory. What was the driving force behind the terror she inflicted? We can only speculate. In the end, the name Bathory just becomes a synonym for the reductive concept ”evil”!”
Following the previously released singles "Children of the Blade", "Repulsion", and "Bring Me the Head", the complete EP is now available on all major streaming platforms.
Formed in Malmö, Dead Sleep have always done things their own way - blending punk energy, old-school thrash, and a refusal to fully belong to any one scene. Loud, raw, and unapologetic, they continue to build their identity on instinct rather than rules.
