Brady Irwin 14/5/25 Brady Irwin 14/5/25

SOILWORK!

Welcome aboard, passengers! Yet again, Australian-touring-enjoyer and enigmatic frontman of both Soilwork and The Night Flight Orchestra, Sweden’s Bjorn ‘Speed’ Strid, joined ISC for the second time this evening. We discussed past and recent/upcoming tours (such as the Australian tour happening VERY soon!), the experience of fronting both bands in a live setting, TNFO influences and much more! Check the link for full tour info as well as video and podcast interview links.

Brady Irwin 14/5/25 Brady Irwin 14/5/25

[Heavy News] THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN Announce 2nd and Final Melbourne Show - On Sale Now!

Melbourne heavy music fans? THIS IS NOT A DRILL. I repeat, this is not a drill. The Dillinger Escape Plan have announced a second and final Melbourne show on the 14th August at Northcote Theatre! Tickets onsale from midday - get onto this one straight away, as it’ll likely sell out just as fast! Courtesy of ThePhoenix, this is one not to miss!

Brady Irwin 11/5/25 Brady Irwin 11/5/25

[Heavy News] #MusicMonday 12.05.25 - 8 Gr8’s, M8!

It’s Monday, ugh. But that means it’s also Music Mondays-time here at ISC mate, that’s great! To celebrate, we have Heavy News to a total of eight. Don’t be late, or even hesitate! Featuring: Skaphos (FR), Metal Charm (TUR), Labyrinthus Stellarum (UKR), Master Charger (UK), Executionist (US), EchoSoul (US), Greengoat (SPN) and All Against (POR)!

Brady Irwin 7/5/25 Brady Irwin 7/5/25

[RIFFS] Goreframe, aka: Big Mumma Hildryn’s Tech-Tunes For Killin’ Techrot To - Part I.

At this rate, I’m just leaning into the chimeric amalgamation that the blog has become - by design. Speaking of, I’ve written a little Riff (article) about the most select technical-death metal tunes from 1999, best suited to slashing up tech-human zombie abominations. Slashing conducted by a Viking-coded exosuit Viking beefcake, Hildryn, in Warframe’s 1999 content, care of devs Digital Extremes.

Brady Irwin 6/5/25 Brady Irwin 6/5/25

[RIFFS] #BehindScreenandSpeaker April 2025: Album Mini-Review Round-Robin.

I do what I want over here at ISC. That’s the beauty of running your own blog and podcast. With that freedom of thought in action, rather than simply pump out a listicle, I decided to give some lesser-known bands from around the globe a slew of mini-reviews in this Riff (article). Featuring April releases from: Slung (UK, power-pop/psych-rock), Felgrave (Norway, avant-garde blackened death-doom), Tigerleech (France, noise-rock/hardcore/stoner), Ancestral Sin (Netherlands, crossover/hxc/deathgrind) and Vyr Muk (Ukraine, dungeon-synth/dark ambient/blackened death metal)!

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 3/5/25 Brady Irwin 3/5/25

[GALLERY] Of Brewicide II: Metal United Down Under @ The Bendigo Hotel (MELB, AU) 26.04.25.

Need a distraction from election shenanigans tonight? Avert your eyes from there for a moment and enjoy the second addition to our Gallery of Brewicide gig-photography/footage series on the blog! This time, we’re joined again by Richie Black Photography. Enjoy the quality shots from Metal United Down Under at The Bendigo Hotel, Melbourne, 26th April , as well as artist links for the bands - Alarum, Vexation, Monoliyth Kuntsquad and Kniver!

Brady Irwin 1/5/25 Brady Irwin 1/5/25

[Tabletop Thursday/Interview] with Solo RPG/Wargame Designer IVAN SORENSEN of NORDIC WEASEL GAMES.

A massive, massive honour, to interview one of my favourite independent solo/co-op RPG/wargame designers in the industry. Ivan Sorensen of Nordic Weasel Games is a tireless, prolific, creative and engaged publisher, with too many fantastic titles under the belt to name in an excerpt. Check out the link for our discussion on game design, music, mechanics, community and more!

Brady Irwin 29/4/25 Brady Irwin 29/4/25

[Heavy News] Five Diverse Singles: BEAST IN BLACK, AGE OF RUIN, BRIAN CAMPEAU, LENAX and SLUNG!

After a bit brief lull in the Heavy News cycle, we’re back - this time, with something a little different. It is hump-day for a lot of you out there. I’d like to ease that whatever-2025-is overarching sensation of dystopia with a nice spread of music singles to nibble on. Check out the picnic basket (actually a link) for: Gaming-OSTs-Go-Metal (Beast in Black/Activision Blizzard), Modern Metal/Hardcore (Age of Ruin), Artsy psych-pop from the UK (Slung), progressive Australiana singer-songwriter Brian Campeau and finally, US black metal outfit Lenax. Bon appetit! Don’t overdo it - plenty more coming soon!

Brady Irwin 28/4/25 Brady Irwin 28/4/25

[Riffs] New Series - ‘Gallery Of Brewicide’ I: CONAN/PALLBEARER 12.03.25.

I’m a man of few talents as podcast host/blog chief here at ISC. But two I can certainly point to - bad music puns and new thematic series! Presenting the first Gallery of Brewicide, featuring some preamble words of support for music photographers out there, plus additional pics from our prior Conan/Pallbearer headline gig review, courtesy of Blackened Lights Photography/ Richie Black Photography !

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 17/4/25 Brady Irwin 17/4/25

[Podcast] Ep. 43: [Interview] with KELLY SHAEFER of Florida (US) Death-Metal Gods ATHEIST.

As host of this humble podcast/blog, I am incredibly humbled and awed beyond measure for this opportunity! See the link for an extensive, fun and thought-provoking interview with Kelly Shaefer of US death-metal godfathers Atheist, ahead of their upcoming first-ever Australian tour, care of YourMateBookings.com. You’ll also be able to access tickets, tour info, artist bio, additional album info, album/merch order links and more!

Brady Irwin 14/4/25 Brady Irwin 14/4/25

[Podcast] EP. 42: Interview with NAMELESS, a.k.a. DENNIS MIKULA of GHOST BATH.

Atmospheric black metal (aka blackgaze, post-black metal) has experienced rapid growth - to the point of oversaturation. One artist who retains a strongly unique musical aesthetic is, of course Nameless (aka Dennis Mikula) of US black metal unit Ghost Bath. See link for Youtube video interview, audio-only version, recent singles, artist/album preorder links, an extensive artist release statement and more!

Featured Image: via Ghost Bath’s official Facebook profile.

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 10/4/25 Brady Irwin 10/4/25

[Tabletop Thursday] Of Dice and Men, A.K.A. RNGEsus Saves.

Come, my nerdy flock. Gather thyselves around, for I hath news. News regarding some future content for Dicey News in the future but, most importantly, a theological sermon. A treatise, an educational devotion to the god of chance, of mathematics, of triumph and despair. I’m talking, of course, about RNGesus. Happy Tabletop Thursday from us nerds at ISC!

Brady Irwin 9/4/25 Brady Irwin 9/4/25

[Heavy News] Past, Present, Future - TRIA PRIMA (UA) & WARRIOR POPE (UK)!

Featured Image Credit: Warrior Pope - @Skywinophotography. Recently, we had a couple of musicians reach out to us directly via email, and we love that! Presenting Ukraine’s Tria Prima and January 2025 EP release Three Primes of Alchemy, an alchemical discourse in death metal/dungeon-synth & doom. Also featuring - Bristol (UK) based doom-metal outfit Warrior Pope, who are independently releasing 4th LP A Morbid Parody of Justice late May, 2025. Support independent artists!

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

[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!

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.

[PODCAST] EP. 44: Interview #2 w/ BJORN ‘SPEED’ STRID of THE NIGHT FLIGHT OrCHESTRA/SOILWORK!

[Heavy News] THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN Announce 2nd and Final Melbourne Show - On Sale Now!

[Heavy News] #MusicMonday 12.05.25 - 8 Gr8’s, M8!

[RIFFS] Goreframe, aka: Big Mumma Hildryn’s Tech-Tunes For Killin’ Techrot To - Part I.

[RIFFS] #BehindScreenandSpeaker April 2025: Album Mini-Review Round-Robin.

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

[REVIEW] MACHINE HEAD - ‘UNATØNED’ LP.

[GALLERY] Of Brewicide II: Metal United Down Under @ The Bendigo Hotel (MELB, AU) 26.04.25.

[Tabletop Thursday/Interview] with Solo RPG/Wargame Designer IVAN SORENSEN of NORDIC WEASEL GAMES.

[Heavy News] Five Diverse Singles: BEAST IN BLACK, AGE OF RUIN, BRIAN CAMPEAU, LENAX and SLUNG!

[Riffs] New Series - ‘Gallery Of Brewicide’ I: CONAN/PALLBEARER 12.03.25.

[Podcast] Ep. 43: [Interview] with KELLY SHAEFER of Florida (US) Death-Metal Gods ATHEIST.

[Podcast] EP. 42: Interview with NAMELESS, a.k.a. DENNIS MIKULA of GHOST BATH.

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

[Review] Drudkh - ‘Shadow Play’ LP.

[Tabletop Thursday] Of Dice and Men, A.K.A. RNGEsus Saves.

[Heavy News] Past, Present, Future - TRIA PRIMA (UA) & WARRIOR POPE (UK)!

[From The Legion] - Stats For Nerds/Why Music Groups Matter - And A Bunch of Musolegion Content!

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

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