Ray chats with Dan from Essence Festival, for a second time in a few days after he messed up the recording the first time around... oh well, never mind, never hurts to do it twice, right?

Essence will be held Oct 2-4 in Canberra, tickets available here with all of the following performing:

Friday 2 October - Essentia Vermis pre-fest:

Horrisonous (NSW)

Graveir (Qld)

Stellar Remains (Qld)

Reekmind (NSW)

Gralloch (Qld)

Saturday and Sunday artists:

The Amenta (NSW)

Suldusk (Vic)

Halo of Teeth (WA)

Fuxache (NT)

Burial Pit (NSW)

Darkhorse (NSW)

Yanomamo (NSW)

Isomer / Chrysalis (SA / Tas)

Abre Ojos (NSW)

Bentham’s Head (Vic)

Lucas ‘Granpa’ Abela (NSW)

Real Name (Vic)

Tempestuous Fall (Qld)

Shipyard (Vic)

Your Mothers Disgusting Window (Vic)

Chief Whip (Vic)

Anocht (Vic)

Migret (NSW)

Nyctalor (ACT)

Empty Vessel (Vic)

Blood in the Champagne (Vic)

Emaren (NSW)

Storm of Steel (ACT)

Making Out (ACT/Vic)

Udeis (Vic)

Rodenticide (ACT)

Thought Cabinet (ACT)

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A very quick conversation with Aleks and Luke from Plague Wielder Productions about their upcoming festival Call From the Grave and tour with Helleruin

September 12, Crowbar, Sydney - Call From The Grave Tickets

Lineup:

HELLERUIN

KRVNA

PESTILENTIAL SHADOWS

DESTRUKTOR

VICISSITUDE

GRAVGÖT

GROTESQUE BLISS

PETROL

BLASFEMANCIA

AKHOTH

HELLERUIN also appearing in Melbourne at Northcote Social September 11, with ORDER OF ORIAS and PETROL tickets

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Phil and Ray are joined by Dean and Dan from Melbourne's Helluloid, to talk about their newly released debut album Slash Metal, as well as some iconic albums of that have shaped their heavy metal experience.

Helluloid Slash Metal

Also some new albums:

The Veil Departures with their upcoming Melbourne show on June 27

Automaton Labyrinth

Warning Rituals of Shame

Featured albums

Dean:

Megadeth - Peace Sells

Slayer - South of Heaven

Dan:

Morbid Angel - Altars of Madness

Judas Priest - Painkiller

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Phil and Ray pay tribute to Ross 'The Boss' Friedman, by looking back on the iconic Manowar albums he played on. No need for a playlist for this episode, you know exactly what to do

Malignant Aura's new album Where All of Worth Comes to Wither is out now

https://malignant-aura.bandcamp.com/album/where-all-of-worth-comes-to-wither

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Metal Minutiae is back for season 3. It is 2026, and Phil and Ray are looking back on 1986 and which albums are turning 40 this year. A year where quite a lot happened in the world of heavy metal. The conversation was a very long one, so the episode has been split into two parts.

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Phil and Ray return after what has been a very busy second half of the year. Lots to catch up on, lots to talk about, lots of highlights from the year, but also far too much to fit in an hour or so. Please forgive us for the many things we skipped - send through your highlights if you are so inclined

No playlist for this episode. Probably safest bet is for you to just put on some Black Sabbath

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Ray 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:

Tickets

https://tickets.oztix.com.au/outlet/event/8e1e8ce6-2061-4037-8f12-285520dc45f4

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/essence_festival

Playlist

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6AiuxATeB2UGdNkk16cL6g?si=2ed3ac3ba03847b1

Full band list

Life 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

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