Latest episode
6. Guest Episode - Essence Festival 2025
26:46||Season 2, Ep. 6Ray chats with Dan Nahum, the organiser of Essence Festival in Canberra, set to be held October 3-5 at The Baso. We discuss what went well last year, what will be different this year, and what some of the highlights might be for the 2025 iteration. There is also a brief guest appearance from Dan from Irreparable who wandered by while we recorded in The Tote beer garden. Essence:In the traditions of Canberra's Metal for the Brain and SoundOut, as well as Dark Mofo, Essence is a diverse underground music festival, taking in various metal subgenres (death, black, doom, sludge, and more) as well as other genres: noise, post-punk and post-rock, experimental, industrial, ambient, improvised, and even dark and contemporary takes on traditional music. The bill is from across the Australia and features a mix of impressive live stalwarts, cult artists that perform only rarely, and new and exciting acts. Many have never performed in Canberra before. This year Essence is co-presented by NSW/Qld label Gutter Prince Cabal, and has also added an explicitly visual element in the form of NSW visual artist Greallach.Links:Ticketshttps://tickets.oztix.com.au/outlet/event/8e1e8ce6-2061-4037-8f12-285520dc45f4 Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/essence_festivalPlaylisthttps://open.spotify.com/playlist/6AiuxATeB2UGdNkk16cL6g?si=2ed3ac3ba03847b1Full band listLife Cult Pod People Diploid Contaminated Convulsing Tir Growth Teeth Dreams Golgothan Remains Mammon’s Throne raven ZCluster Nontinuum Bacchus Harsh Burden Man Živa Shay Doe and Jack Napier Josh Shipton Oar Lithik Bruxist Knife Marlēné Claudine Radice Fukno Canary Bones Atavus Infectum External Organ Futility Essentia Vermis Friday night pre-fest: Destruktor Aglo Hebephrenique Grotesque Bliss Leaker
More episodes
View all episodes
5. Guest Episode - Aardvark with Ed Vaark
57:45||Season 2, Ep. 5Phil and Ray sit down with Ed from Aardvark to talk about what Aardvark have been up to and also discuss three classic albums important to EdAardvark's coming Sydney show with Bengal Tigershttps://www.factorytheatre.com.au/event/bengal-tigers/and Flitcraft with Bengal Tigers in Melbournehttps://theleadbeaterhotel.oztix.com.au/outlet/event/c2ae7bdb-3062-410f-bd46-99bef5801c70?Event=219393No playlist for this episode but be sure to listen toAccept - Metal HeartThin Lizzy - ChinatownJudas Priest - Screaming for Vengeance4. EPICS
01:04:28||Season 2, Ep. 4Phil and Ray tackle one of their favourite song types - the heavy metal Epic. Whether it be 7 minutes, or 8 minutes as the cut off, there is nothing small and or lacking in these songsEpisode Playlisthttps://open.spotify.com/playlist/1DBN0O41gq1MbpAnjZvhvM?si=d72c992502f94ed33. The Secrets of Steel - Part 2!
01:17:10||Season 2, Ep. 3Phil and Ray are back after a bit of a break with even more Secrets of Steel. Finally actually creating a part 2 episode to go along with all those part 1s from last year. Strap yourself in for some classic heavy metal ingredients and be sure to let us know about any excellent examples we missed, because we always want more!The gigs Ray mentioned are:Spectral Wounds, with Pestilential Shadows and Golgothan Remains June 13 at Metro Social in Sydney tickets hereThe Veil, Lithik, Irreparable, Futility at The Tote July 26 in Melbourne tickets hereEpisode playlist here2. Wondering what could have been, or having more than you'll ever want?
01:07:09||Season 2, Ep. 2Phil and Ray discuss a wide range of bands that either maybe should have stopped, or they are grateful only had a brief period of being productive and grapple with the question, does not wanting more of a band you like make any sense? No, of course not. But we aren't always rational beings. Upcoming gigs that were mentionedHobart March 8 Pestilential Shadows, Permafog, Midnight Odyssey, Portcullis https://tickets.oztix.com.au/outlet/event/a3feb1c4-9aec-4f6c-a347-6c63fa52042cMelbourne Dethfest March 9 https://tickets.cornerhotel.com/outlet/event/3db93de4-eab1-4c18-84fc-6f7821922a84Sydney April 12 Destruktor, Pestilential Shadows, AftermatH, Petrol https://allevents.in/marrickville/destruktor-%7C-factory-floor-sydney/200027790152024#Black Sabbath tickets on sale Feb 14 https://www.livenation.co.uk/show/1561056/back-to-the-beginning/birmingham/2025-07-05 Lots of other things mentioned, I'll try and get a playlist done when I can, but there is a lot covered in this one!1. Guest Episode: Stu McGill from Silent Knight
42:22||Season 2, Ep. 1Phil and Ray are back in 2025 chatting with Stu from Silent Knight, while they are in town as the national support on Hammerfall's Australian tour. Stu was crashing on Ray's floor while he was in town, so we thought we might as well record an episode. This episode did require significant editing as Ray and Stu are brothers, and apparently like to bicker at each other, which is no fun to listen to - just ask Phil.We cover Iron Saviour, Atlantean Kodex, Dragonland and more. Playlist for the episode is here https://open.spotify.com/playlist/02yzXsb4c2M6DMSnG04WbD?si=b8e2b0d14fe24c81 Check out Silent Knight https://silentknightband.bandcamp.com/10. 2024, an excellent year of heavy metal
01:10:52||Season 1, Ep. 10We cover a lot of things in this one. And it is quite a long episode. It has been a while between episodes and a fair bit has happened in between with Nicko's retirement, Paul Dianno's passing, Solstafir, Opeth and Tribulation all with new albums that have elicited a range of opinions. Ray mentions that Tarot are playing more shows as part of the album launch tour, but it appears that he may well have made that up. Follow Tarot on socials to stay in the loop though https://www.instagram.com/tarottasmania/ Episode playlist https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1WgRLFi1JQDGefBRW5fKWA?si=cbe4d31705434916