[From The Legion] - Stats For Nerds/Why Music Groups Matter - And A Bunch of Musolegion Content!
It’s been a minute (several thousand, to be honest) since the last self-contained ISC update regarding sister-blog/music community Musolegion! To commemorate, as an admin of the group I dive into some analytics, discuss some research around the importance of online music communities and most importantly - provide you a bunch of links and updates from what’s cooking in our heavy/alternative music tribe!
[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.
[Heavy News] #MusicMonday New Release Roundup, 07.04.25.
Another week, another bunch of great releases you’ll no longer have to wait for! In this Music Mondays article, you’ll find a wide selection of musical treats, links, singles, album/merch order links and more for: Thornhill - Bodies, Messiah Paratroops - Legions of Tomorrow, Luna Kills - Deathmatch, Godless - Genesis of Decay EP and Chiaroscuro - Self-Titled. Everything from alt-rock, post-hardcore and old-school death metal, and then some. Eat up!
[Podcast] Ep. 41: [Interview] with ALEX TAYLOR, Vocalist of UK Metalcore Bruisers MALEVOLENCE.
Rounding out a trio of UK heavy-music interviews for the past week is Alex Taylor, enigmatic and passionate vocalist for UK's fast-rising metalcore bruisers Malevolence. We had a wide-reaching conversation, covering everything from the process of writing and recording for upcoming LP Where Only The Truth is Spoken (including recording in the infamous Studio 606, owned by Dave Grohl!) up to touring, the UK metal scene's recent string of successes, the upcoming Australian tour and much more!
[Podcast] Ep. 40: [Interview] with SCOTT KENNEDY, Vocalist of UK’s BLEED FROM WITHIN.
Episode 40 of the Inner-Strength Check Podcast is here! This week, host Brady interviews Scott Kennedy, vocalist of Glasgow’s fast-rising modern metal wrecking-crew Bleed From Within. With Zenith officially releasing as of the 4th April, we discuss the albums’ recording/songwriting process, plus BFW’s history, recent and upcoming tours and more! Check link for video version, audio-only version plus single music videos, artist and album order links and more!
[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.
[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].
[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.
[Podcast] Interview with DARREN ‘DAZ’ BROOKES of UK Death Metal Godfathers BENEDICTION.
What a venerable honour for this late end of a Friday evening. Tonight, I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to discuss upcoming LP Ravages of Empires (and so, so much more) with UK death metal godfathers Benediction’s guitarist and one of two founding members - Darren Brookes! A band that is hugely influential for much of the music we post here, as well as many bands I/we know and love. Great interview, plus the blog post also contains album order links, single music videos and more!
[Riffs] #BSAS2024: Brady’s 2024 AOTY List, Part 3.
Continuing on with a better-late-than-never endeavour to continue coverage of 2024’s Behind Screen and Speaker yearly wrap-up, your host Brady continues his exploration of favourite albums from the year just passed. Within you’ll find synopses/mini-reviews, artist/label links, full album streams and more for Gigan, Viscera Infest, Oranssi Pazuzu, Blood Incantation and Chat Pile!
[Tabletop Thursday, 27.03.25] A Nearly-Full-Monty (Python RPG) Column.
This week, I finally opened the packaging my Sensible Middle Class Edition of Monty Python’s Cocurricular Mediaeval Reenactment Programme came shipped in. In an act of divine providence akin to counting to five (three, sir!), Exalted Funeral have now brought the beautiful menagerie of TTRPG, coconut dice-roller, cow-flinging board game and more to all of you! Peek within to find more details, links and info on another upcoming campaign in The Job.
[Dicey News] The ‘Evolved Edition’ Kickstarter For ‘Alien: The Roleplaying Game’ Has Begun!
A HUGE day for Tabletop RPG’s - the long-awaited Evolved Edition Kickstarter for Alien: The Roleplaying Game has launched! Featuring new and modified rulesets, multiple core and supplemental boxes, physical minis, maps, a new solo mode and more. This is a jam-packed campaign, one of Free League Publishing’s biggest yet.
[Riff] Eulogy for Vizier
Ever one to be promoting the local talents of the underground music scene, particularly in Melbourne, resident post-rock/drumming expert Hamza provides us a funny, sentimental and sincere send-off to local institution Vizier, who unfortunately called it quits in 2019. There’s also reflections on the Melbourne post-rock scene, links to Vizier’s legacy, gig footage and more. Check it out!
[#MusicMondays] 24.03.25: Release Round-Up
Why stop at one band when you can have a whole bunch? Why also wait for albums impatiently when we can serve you up a nice platter of progressive/experimental metal (Dissocia), Italian stoner/sludge/hard rock (Drunken Crocodiles), hook-laden rock from Michigan, US (Pop Evil) and Australian-baked blackened sludge-doom (Ghostsmoker)? Do away with such questions by clicking the link!
[Heavy News] Avant-garde Death/Black Band FELGRAVE Premiere New Song at No Clean Singing.
M.J Lupe, otherwise known in this auspice as Felgrave, has unleashed an absolute monster of dizzying, crushing avant-garde death/black metal with release of the 18-minute beast that is title track from upcoming LP Otherlike Darkness, out April 25th. A crushing sample of extreme metal’s exploratory periphery, you can check full details of the album, preorder link, artist links and more alongside the music video in this post!
[Heavy News] SABATON Animated Film “THE WAR TO END ALL WARS - THE MOVIE” Now Available On Major Video Streaming Platforms!
For Heavy News on Music Monday at ISC, something completely different! Swedish metallers Sabaton have launched an epic initiative in the upcoming release of animated historical film The War To End All Wars. This 67-minute-long animated musical motion picture takes viewers on a captivating journey through the harrowing and heroic stories of World War 1, aka The Great War.
[Heavy News] Australian Modern-Jazz Outfit COAST Return With New Album; New Single ‘Ember’ Out Now
[Heavy News] - Art as Catharsis just recently announced COAST’s upcoming third album, Ember - a highly anticipated return to form from one of Australia’s most daring jazz acts. To celebrate, peep the link for streaming link and direct .mp3 download link for title track, pre-order links, additional album/artist info and links, as well as where to find AaC online. Smooth and breezy.
[Heavy News] 2nd LP ‘Erasure Of Color’ From Boston Prog/Death Metallers AVERSED Out Now!
Heavy News: Having sourced a full line-up, Boston-based progressive death-metal unit Aversed have launched back onto the metal scene with 2nd LP Erasure of Color. Check the link for album order link, artist bio/links, latest single 'Lucid Decapition’ and more!
[RIFFS/TABLETOP]: Dice Pool versus D20+Modifier: who will steal my heart?
Resident dice-roller Èlodie pines for polyhedrals… But which die will she choose? Indeed, the life of a tabletop gaming blogger is just like a trashy romance novel.
[#TabletopThursday] ‘It’s Already Thursday AGAIN?!’ Edition, 20.03.25.
It’s been another incredibly busy week in the tabletop industry - we could'n’t hope to cover half of the latest goings-on, but consarnit have we tried! In today’ Tabletop Thursday: A wrap-up of multiple new releases, news items and more from the week in Dicey News; exploring the massive quadruple-release via Bundle of Holding; a crowdfunding campaign stacked with goodies for Edinburgh Indie Gamers and much more!