[Podcast] Inner-Strength Check Content Update, May 2025.
How Ya G’arn? A Check-In.
ISC Content - May 2025.
Stay tuned for a Content Roadmap update, but I’ve added some pretty big news at the end of this article. Please go peep my team’s fantastic works below before you do so, though! Fair and valid if you want to skip past my ditherings. Cheers! - Brady.
SO. HOW YA-G’ARN?*
*(Australian to English Translation: How are you going?)
So, here’s the thing. This is a blog, right? I run a podcast as well, right? Well, insofar as the audience is concerned, there’s not much chance for two-way communication to happen via that medium. Parasocial relationships blah-blah-blah aside, by virtue of what these mediums are, you’re receiving communications.
Not to sound narky, as it’s the state of AI-slop, agogo, algorithmic tweaks that favour shovelling shitloads of sponsored-content and keep-the-kid-occupied-style reels, etc, but - we don’t hear much from the ISC community on socials!
Fair - you’re not compelled to comment or engage. Or, for that matter, even like our stuff. It’s cool if some of you do, but as far as I’m concerned I’m driven so hard at this from a values-base that our small din in the crowded, loud, neon-coloured marketplace of attention bothers me very, very little. Truly! There’s no way I would’ve resurrected an entire website manually, post-by-post, from scratch. This article wouldn’t be happening and ISC would cease to exist tomorrow, if the focus was socials-metrics.
All that aside, I genuinely would love to know - how are you?
Like, really? How are ya?
I say this because, and here’s a broken-record take of mine ever since lockdown finished - the more time relentlessly marches on, the more it seems we’re expected to pretend it’s the Before Times. And, for that matter, during times I’d argue almost more unprecedented than the pandemic itself.
No one could’ve expected the devastation, chaos, loss and upheaval that COVID-19 wrought upon society. I’m not denying that.
Equally, though, I don’t think any of us were expecting to live in such a fractured, high-cost-of-living, occupationally-insecure and downright insane world. More information, more apps, more short-form content, a lot of it about how fucking melted the powers-that-be are, or some tech billionaire’s latest ketamine-induced gaffes.
The unsaid and underlying norm in 2025 really does feel like we are supposed to drop the whole ‘unprecedented times/uncertain times’ rhetoric that was so willingly thrown around whilst we were all inside - mainly by corporations and employers in the most cringe, twee and transparent social-responsibility ploy ever.
It’s valid for you to feel uncertain, constantly a little uneasy, right through to depressed, burnt-out, addicted. We are in a unique situation; the entire world is languishing, falling apart, in every domain from logistics and supply-chain management, down to retail, the music industry and gaming.
The lack of a unified, societal clarion-call such as that during the pandemic means that if you’re languishing today, it can feel how it did in said Before Times - something to be hushed, forgotten about while things are gotten on-with.
We learnt a lot of lessons about prioritising what is truly most important during our enforced isolation. I, for one, don’t think those lessons need to be discarded just because the grinding wheels of capitalism have us stuck back in the same shitty, life-destroying commutes of the Before Times.
Lessons like staying in touch, taking time away from screens such as these, connecting with others/checking in, some quiet and reflective introspection, re-evaluation of your goals (it is mid-year; goals aren’t just for January 1st, sorry), etc.
It can be easy, as we’ve re-emerged back outside blinking at that unfamiliar Sun above, to feel like we need to reflexively re-engage in hustle, grindset, masking, camouflaging, pushing ourselves etc.
This is a wordy little thing, but it’s also just a genuine and sincere reminder to you. Hell, this entire podcast and blog are predicated on such a reminder - take some time, slow it down if needed. Don’t devalue the importance of formal and social supports - but also don’t diminish the powerfully therapeutic benefits of your hobbies, interests and passions.
As well, while I’ve got you - floating an idea. Some resource-sharing and mental health tools, tips etc here and on socials mid-week. Wellbeing Wednesday or something pithy like that, but I’d really like to start putting ‘and mental health’ into our slogan ‘hobbies. riffs. mental health’ a bit more, y’know?
Let us know on socials/this post, via email. Particularly if you have any desire for specific resources, e.g. for ADHD, planning, mental health, accessing supports/free/accessible online or local supports, etc. Happy to get the word out, and I’d love to make the whole a little less top-down.
If you’re doing well or even just average, that’s great to hear. If not, I hope things are better for you soon, and I know they eventually shall be. Hang in there; it’s a weird world, and we’ll get through this together by punching up, not down, and giving one another the stoke and support we all need ‘In ThESe UnCeRtAiN TiMeS’ [vomits directly onto webcam during corporate wellbeing-seminar on Zoom].
Me?
Honestly, let’s not go there. Well okay, I have no shame and part of this whole project is around mental health, I’ll bite. Mine’s been completely and utterly fucked. Until yeesh, even about a week ago, I’ve been experiencing some of the most heinous and severe depression/anxiety one-two punch I think I’ve ever had. And I say that as someone who’s average baseline amounts to roughly ‘slightly shittier than the average person, I guess?’ on a good week.
As someone who’s mental-illness onset was easily 20+yrs ago and, having been through more episodes of this-and-that than the entire boxset of IDK, Friends (dry-heave) - yeah, every episode of depression/generalised anxiety on overdrive always feels like the worst at the point of occurrence. But this one categorically was - bad. Really, really bad. I’ve never experienced anything like it, and that’s as someone with depression more chronic than the bud Snoop has tucked into various pockets at any given time.
BUT(T)!
I’m happy to say that despite taking major, major hits to every life-domain (name one, it’s gone arse-up, aside from ISC) and coming damn close to financial/psychological/emotional/everything-destitution, things feel are a little on the improve. An immeasurably-small increment, but a good one. With that comes an onus on me to work on nourishing, protecting and growing that little window of opportunity, as opposed to being tempted by self-pity, mood, the cruel and uncaring RNG involved with being alive, etc, and falling headlong into mid-year blues even moreso.
On that note…I’ve made a conscious decision to make winter, my summer. My summer was terrible mental-health-wise, so no, I’m not drinking the it’s-Winter Kool Aid in 2025, thanks. Not the mid-year Siberian-coded (‘least in Victoria, anyway, as an ex NSW-er moved down from QLD in 2017) too-hard-basket, and the warm inviting embrace of resting on laurels cause it’s cold.
Dude, fine example? I didn’t surf enough in summer or autumn. As an example of one of many things I’ll be doing to kick my health and wellbeing back into gear - being an idiot and surfing in winter (it’s damn cold) is one of many plans. It’s atypical, flies in the face of logic on face-value(uwu is cwold swenpai), but like any good creative or life endeavour, there’s benefits aplenty under a blanket of surface hardship.
I’m not subscribing to the absolutely on-it’s-way seasonal-affective-disorder, nor will I be subsuming others’ winter woes. I’m finally regaining some form of esteem and composure (a very, VERY fractional amount), and will be capitalising on that, weather be damned.
Let this second part be a less comforting, there-there-Dear for my readers as well. You might have some goals, ideas or behaviours that need looking at, and with the cold months in the Southern Hemisphere comes a hibernation-mindset. Fair and valid, but we’re also thinking beings (animalistic more than we’d like to admit, but thinking-beings nonetheless).
So, as the weather moves into the ‘most depressing’ phase of the year, and the excuse to whinge about depressing weather being a PERFECT buddy-ol’-pal for mental illness and neurodivergence’s many inviting, tempting rationales - you do you, but I’m putting those fucks on notice.
Nuff about me.
Here’s a recap of our last month, a massive one content-wise, and then some exciting news + forecasting things in the works for ISC this month.
Take care of yourselves and each other, irrespective of the meteorological conditions outside.
Peace, Love and Year-Long Grindcore-Influenced Stoke, Brain-Maggots Be Damned xoxo - Brady.
THIS IS WOT WE MAY-ED THIS MONTH (We WORDS A-GOOD! GOOD WRITE!):
Gig Reviews/Gallery of Brewicide (Photo Galleries):
May saw some massive gig opportunities which we are very, very thankful for! One of the most pinch-yourself aspects of doing this on a voluntary basis is being provided opportunities to cover written and photographic media for some of the many great tours coming through Australia.
Sneaking in this late-April gig review of Nervosa (BR)’s 15 Years of Nervosa Australian Tour Melbourne show @ Northcote Social with local supports Resistance and Mason. Not just because the photography is top-freaking-notch (cheers Richie, you beast), but because any opportunity to extol the virtues of thrash like the cultist I am, I’ll take. Take it rabidly and thrash the internet with it. Why? Because THRASH.
Sample Pic, care of Richie Black Photography:
Shortly afterward, on the 3rd of May, we posted up Mr. Black’s Gallery of Brewicide coverage of the Metal United: Down Under mini-fest at the Bendigo Hotel. If you rate the above image, there’s plenty more there + relevant artist links for: Kniver, Kuntsquad, Vexation, Monoliyth and Alarum. Solid lineup of absolute-units!
Another yummy snack from the link:
When the Alarum riff hits so hard it causes spiritually-painful gurn. #imagesyoucanfeel (Metal United Down Under, Richie Black Photography).
With thank to Sebastian Graham of the mighty but now-defunct (Rest in Peace) Overdrive Music Magazine of which Hamza and I were both contributors, editors etc - one of my previous gig reviews from an extreme-metal night still held in dear memory, six (!!) years later.
The night in question?
Direct Underground Festival, which featured Dark Funeral (SWE) as headliners and supports Immolation (US), Reaper (AU), Christ Dismembered (AU) and Abramelin (AU).
Read about those fond memories right here!
p.s., Not going to forget crediting the photographer, irrespective of time past - Anne-Laure Marie (IG: @alauremarie) is responsible for this baller shot! Unfortunately wasn’t able to extract more from the old site’s back-end, but what a shot!:
“I’ll fucking kill you Grimaaaaaaaaaaace!”
Fast-forwarding through a pandemic and some serious late-stage capitalism decay, this month, Richie and myself covered Your Mate Booking’s insanely-stacked, heavy-as-shit bill for Brutefest 2025 at The Tote! An exhaustingly good time, a meat-grinder of endless headbanging and riffery. Link to the review right here.
So good that we’ve got a separate Gallery of Brewicide for this event out as well - see further below for the full link, but here’s another sample:
Now, I love you guys buuuuut…. One gig review I feel should’ve set way more buzz than what it got on release was Dean’s incredibly thorough, stacked review of Ragnarok Festival 2025! I mean people, the man’s meant to be on annual leave and enjoying his time off, and yet our doomin’ DM/death-metal-aficionado correspondent took three days straight of writing to bring you one-man coverage of almost the entire bloody event! For an idea of how much that involves [read the article], check out just the lineup poster below for an idea.
Valorise this man’s valiant and well-written coverage of a firestorm of metal-brutality in Lichtenfels (doubling as our first-ever overseas gig review too, by the way) over at this link.
Dean… massive effort! And I hope you’re enjoying the last vestiges of your holiday instead of sending me (much-appreciated and loved) festival reviews! We don’t have a HR department, so I’ll just repeat some pithy tropes about work-life balance and let you get back to travelling.
I’ll get out some thoughts on prior Arctangent experiences in future, but our metal-mayhem correspondent deserves some praise for such an extensive writeup, all off his own volition!
I look forward to my fuck-around player-characters experiencing your NPCs’ finding-out once the DnD campaign picks up back again (oh yeah - I’m his writing boss, but on alternate Sundays? He’s the man driving the narrative. So is Mark. Hi Mark! Loving the swamp-adventure dude, bang-up job!).
Props to both those guys for making a system that usually causes me to loudly nasally exhale a lot (ah, 5e huh? Not my favourite tabletop-engine, but fun in the hands of the right campaign and group) more palatable to this dyscalculic smooth-brain.
Hey, you did see the by-line above, right? Shut up, nerd (Signed Me, A Nerd).
Anyway, back to more music stuff:
Yet another Gallery of Brewicide from one of our Melbourne-based photography-fiends, once again Mr. Richie Black. This time around, he was able to chance attending the Burning Witches (Switzerland) headliner show at The Croxton, alongside the now-gearing-up-again Mason!
Link to the tasty gallery in full right here; pic above is but a sample!
Oh, and if it sounds like Old Mate is hogging the limelight, it’s only happenstance and availability at the time!
If you’re a Melbourne/Vic-based gig photographer and want to promote your wares via attending fun gigs, hit me up. I’ve also put callouts on our socials and abroad for some Geelong/regional-based photographers. Get in touch you lot, I plan on upping that ante whilst I am currently residing regionally!
Shoutouts as well to locals Dan McKay, Jason Vidic, Rajesh and of course our interstate friends in Jai Anderson, Samuel Phillips and many more.
Lots of great photographers out there in the scene - a reminder that they’re the ones bringing a lot of richness and sensory depth to the written word.
Supporting the scene means supporting these fine folks, too!
Final entrant into our lineup of writeups about lineups, is my very-recent coverage of Alpha Wolf’s Terrible Days Across Australia 2025 tour, with UK metalcore risers Malevolence and Aussie supports Melting + Zuko! Now for this one, we weren’t able to wrangle an assigned photographer, but I’ve dropped a bunch of pit-antics footage action into said review. It’s fairly unhinged in tone and has a bit of a preamble about regional gigging, but I back both as reflective of the (insane, energetic, wild) gig itself! Link to the review here.
One of the few images taken off my smartphone from ahead of the barrier, before I felt like a nonce for being in the photographer-pit with an S25 (Melting):
A busy month for gig reviews, and we’ve got some big ones lined up for June too!
2. INTERVIEWS:
May was also a busy month where interviews were concerned! Shoutouts to John Howarth from Nuclear Blast Australia (also referred to as ‘The One-Man Army’ - and rightfully so) and Anthony Blayney from Your Mate Bookings for facilitating these fantastic conversations on our podcast:
Gratitude and luckiness abounds, here! My first interview with a tabletop-RPG publisher was none less than Ivan Sorensen, tireless purveyor of incredible RPG/skirmish hybridised titles via Nordic Weasel Games. Check here for the interview.
My second time interviewing Bjorn ‘Speed’ Strid of Soilwork/The Night Flight Orchestra, and third overall! As usual, man’s a great interviewee and a chill guy. We caught up to discuss a tour happening as we speak for TNFO, plus a bunch more - link to video/podcast interview (Episode 44) here.
More humble-pie requiring a modest serving via chatting to another music-industry titan: Dave Chavarri, guitarist and longest-serving member of nu-metallers Ill Nino! Similar to Bjorn’s chat, we talked shop about the upcoming Australian tour and more - link to video/podcast interview (Episode 45) here.
I mentioned there being a Gallery of Brewicide post for Brutefest 2025, yeah? Well, that’s been included with one of the funniest/fun and sincere interviews yet, i.e. our extensive chat with metal-maniacs Chris and Daif of New Zealands’ Stalker! Circumstances almost thwarted the interview, but we damn well made it happen - check out the end-results here for Episode 46.
And yet another titanic opportunity for this humble writer/talk-too-much-er - no less than Brandon Saller of US metalcore giants Atreyu! We talked shop about the upcoming 20th anniversary tour for The Curse, a landmark 2005 LP for the band and the scene, and more! Link to podcast interview (Ep. 47) here.
Be sure to follow the podcast on our plethora of available platforms - you’ll find links to each of those within the articles.
3. REVIEWS:
We’ve had a couple of album reviews out this month, one from myself and one from Mal. From Yours Truly, we have the latest offering by Machine Head, UNATØNED - check here for the review.
Mal, meanwhile has opted for some good ol’-fashioned metalcore all the way from Germany with Senna’s latest, Stranger to Love. Link to review right here!
Finally - given we get such an influx of new releases on a regular basis (definitely not complaining), I decided to veer from the usual single-album review format. Something I may well do soon for May releases! Check this link for a review round-robin, featuring:
Slung’s Limassol LP (UK sludge-pop/alt-rock), Felgrave’s Otherlike Darkness LP (one-man Norwegian avant-blackened death-doom), Tigerleech’s Bicephalous LP (French noise-rock/hardcore), Ancestral Sin’s Next of Sin EP (Dutch deathgrind/hardcore), and both Vyr Muk’s dungeon-synth EP Dreadmarch Of The Hollow Knight + crushing black metal LP Crimson Fields of Sorrow (Slava Ukraini!).
4. RIFFS:
Are our moniker for articles and miscellaneous other features which might not fit into other categories. Ya get it? Like, riffing on something… yeah, I know lol.
Anyway, in addition to a bunch of Heavy News releases (thanks again Mal for your help getting a few up onsite this month!), we also have:
A melding of the worlds of Warframe and technical death metal, in this Riff on what viking-coded shield-tanking ‘Frame Hildryn Prime might dig slaying Techrot to. Confused? That’s fair - just check out the link and experience some sick technical death metal from 1999, friends!
Our first unboxing content in a while (since the Deep Rock Galactic board-game vid way back when on our channel) in the form of me going through the finally-received Battletech: Mercenaries Kickstarter campaign gear! Stompy mechs for geeks right here at this link.
5. COVERS:
New covers for the month of May available on our ISC Music and Covers Playlist over on our Youtube Channel (playlist link):
#99: Skeletonwitch - This Horrifying Force (Fretless Bass, E Std)
#100 (WOO!): A Tribe Called Quest - Definition Of A Fool (Fretless Bass, E Std)
#101: Slipknot - The Virus of Life (Fretless Bass, Drop D)
#102: Marduk - Baptism By Fire (Fretless Bass, Eb Std)
#103: Necrophagist - Fermented Offal Discharge (Fretless Bass, D Standard)
#104: Between The Buried And Me - Prequel To The Sequel (Fretless Bass, C# Standard)
#105: Bonus for Tech Tuesdays - Death’s Human LP, in full! (Fretless Bass, D Standard)
#106: Der Weg Einer Freiheit - Ewigkeit (Fretless Bass, E Std)
#107: Between The Buried And Me - Prequel To The Sequel (Fretless Bass, C# Standard)
#108: Between The Buried And Me - Sun of Nothing (Fretless Bass, C# Standard)
#109: Between The Buried And Me - Obfuscation (Fretless Bass, C# Standard)
Note: If you’d ever like covers you’ve created featured (with credits and links, of course!), please feel free to get in touch about adding to here/our socials/YT channel! It’s a space for the community as well, not just my dinky fretless covers.
And there you have it! In the next couple of days, I’ll have out a Content Roadmap looking at what’s ahead for the podcast.
Now, I wanted to raise that I’ve got something pretty big in the works right here on the website, too!
I’ve been sneakily working in the background on a suite of professional services that I’ll be offering to the community in the near future. Without giving away too much to begin with, I’ll say there’ll be some consulting/coaching/counselling services which will be evidence-based but also tailored towards artists, creatives, hobbyists and the neurodivergent community.
Stay tuned for more developments in that space! It’s something that will meld my professional clinical background with the passion and values Inner-Strength Check stands for around empowering creatives and fans alike. Watch this space!
Til Next Time,
Peace, Love and Grindcore xoxo - Brady.
ISC SOCIALS:
Want to support our madcap antics? ISC is advertisement and sponsorship-free, and myself and the team work hard on our creative craft.
You’re under no obligation (and I honestly hate being a shill), but if you want to support the work group-chat being less ADHD-ified, artists and creative professionals promoted ongoing, plus help out with keeping the lights on around here - consider dropping in to our Ko-Fi page! No ongoing subs, just whatever you feel’s worth it and/or have capacity for.
Even if you aren’t able to, myself and the team welcome your presence here. Thanks :) - Brady.