Ramping up for their first run of Australian shows in 15 years, we were lucky to catch some time in Eric Peterson's stacked schedule to chat about the upcoming tour hitting our shores this month. We also discuss recent touring abroad, staying motivated decades into the thrash-metal gigging and writing game, and more! Many thanks to John from Nuclear Blast Australia for facilitating this great opportunity, and of course to the fine folks at Metropoli Touring for finally getting our beloved thrash veterans over once more! Show notes, including tour details, tickets, artist media/info and more at: www.innerstrengthcheckpodcast.comPeace, Love and Thrash Riffs Eternal - Brady.

This morning, I caught up with Brandon Saller, longstanding vocalist of seminal US metalcore outfit Atreyu ahead of their impending sold-out tour of Australia in July. A tour which will feature both fellow US core-employers Memphis May Fire and a setlist oriented to the 20th anniversary of landmark album 'The Curse' (20 years?! Really...?!).

Brandon and I had a great conversation surrounding not only the upcoming tour but also sharing recent successes, thoughts and reflections on Atreyu as a band, The Curse's 20th anniversary as a watershed album, the state of the metalcore scene and even some words of inspiration for staying a motivated scene-kid forever.

Show notes, including artist info/links, tour information, ticket links, additional media and more available over at www.innerstrengthcheck.com.

As Always,

Peace, Love and Grindcore (And Belting Out Atreyu Choruses Full Volume) xoxo - Brady.

Oh, cuzzie. This was an interview that seemed destined not to happen, but after being unable to review in-vivo at Brutefest 2025 in Melbourne (*cough-werevieweditonthesite-*cough*), then multiple tech SNAFU's - Chris, Daif and myself finally pulled through to get an interview!

One which was, by the way, such an extensive talk (covering everything from Stalker's touring, mental health, the New Zealand scene, some realities and benefits of modern musicianship - and more) that we broke Zoom's time-limit and had to make it a two-parter!

This was a really fun and earnest chat - we spend as much time laughing as anything else, great banter! - and one I truly appreciate.

Accompanying this interview will be additional photography, footage and more from Stalker's recent headliner set at Brutefest 2025 - this will be contained within the same post as the current video, plus audio-only version links and some Stalker goodies!

Find the full blog post with an accompanying additional photo-gallery (which is alongside our Brutefest 2025 gig review, which Stalker headlined!) at:

www.innerstrengthcheckpodcast.com

Peace, Love and ANZAC-Metal-Predator-Handshakes xoxo - Brady.

Oh, cuzzie. This was an interview that seemed destined not to happen, but after being unable to review in-vivo at Brutefest 2025 in Melbourne (*cough-werevieweditonthesite-*cough*), then multiple tech SNAFU's - Chris, Daif and myself finally pulled through to get an interview!

One which was, by the way, such an extensive talk (covering everything from Stalker's touring, mental health, the New Zealand scene, some realities and benefits of modern musicianship - and more) that we broke Zoom's time-limit and had to make it a two-parter!

This was a really fun and earnest chat - we spend as much time laughing as anything else, great banter! - and one I truly appreciate.

Accompanying this interview will be additional photography, footage and more from Stalker's recent headliner set at Brutefest 2025 - this will be contained within the same post as the current video, plus audio-only version links and some Stalker goodies!

Find the full blog post with an accompanying additional photo-gallery (which is alongside our Brutefest 2025 gig review, which Stalker headlined!) at:

www.innerstrengthcheckpodcast.com

Peace, Love and ANZAC-Metal-Predator-Handshakes xoxo - Brady.

With an Australian tour creeping up quicker than you'd think, alongside first-time Australia-enjoyers ADEMA, we caught up with drummer and longest-serving member of Latin-influenced nu-metal legends Ill Nino, Dave Chavarri! 

Dave's perennial love for Australia (and touring/playing in general) shines throughout our conversation, which includes aforementioned upcoming tour but also latest happenings in the band, some advice for up-and-coming musicians, reflections on the resurgence of the nu-metal genre in recent times and more!

See below for link to accompanying show notes, which also contain all the relevant info/links regarding the upcoming September 2025 tour, at:

www.innerstrengthcheckpodcast.com

Big thanks to October Presents for bringing these US chargers out, and huge ups to Nuclear Blast Australia for facilitating the interview!

Peace, Love & Grindcore (and Latin-Influenced Nu Metal) xoxo - Brady.

Welcome aboard, passengers!

Yet again, Australian-touring-enjoyer and enigmatic vocalist/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 below for additional podcast links, multiple recent/past music TNFO music videos, tour info, tickets, Australian dates and more at:

https://www.innerstrengthcheckpodcast.com/blog/podcast-ep-44-interview-2-w-bjorn-speed-strid-of-the-night-flight-orchestrasoilwork

Peace, Love and Getting Staunch Cross-Armed Metal-Bros To Dance xoxo - Brady.

You've cat to be kitten me. 

No, for real - how. How?!

As your humble podcast host, I'm astounded that such an opportunity as this could arise, and am grateful beyond measure for today's conversation.

Longest-standing member of easily one of the most influential bands in all of extreme metal, particularly with regards to the modern death metal scene, Kelly Shaefer is a man of almost intimidating importance as both a songwriter and vocalist.

Thankfully, as you'll clearly see through our fun, engaging but also thorough conversation, musical infamy hasn't tainted his sincerity. Kelly remains down-to-earth, candid and highly passionate about both Atheist and its' legacy but also speaks with candor, attention to detail and authority.

NOTE: Due to us having such an engaged chat (and my hyperfocus-blinkers being on), we were cut off by the Zoom Paywall-Gods. Thankfully, we were able to regroup! There's an intermission around 38:40 for about 4-5 minutes before we continue. In that time, I drop some big news about the podcast! 

More news on that to come on our website, as well as a wealth of music/arts/lifestyle/mental health content. 

Enjoy. I know I did! 

Peace, Love and Floridian Jazz-Blasting xoxo - Brady. 

Nameless (aka Dennis Mikula) of US atmospheric black metal lords Ghost Bath took some time out of our respectively busy schedules last week, to have a chat over the ol' Internet-machine.

--In this interview, we discuss recent and upcoming tours, utilising musicianship and songwriting as a mental health coping strategy, the production/songwriting process regarding upcoming album 'Rose Thorn Necklace' (out May 9th, 2025 via Nuclear Blast Records), and much more. --Thanks again to Nuclear Blast for facilitating this opportunity, as well of course to Dennis for taking the time to converse! --Head over to the blog post for this episode, where you'll also find links to recently released singles, album pre-order/pre-save links, artist/label links, additional statements and information regarding Rose Thorn Necklace and more.--LINK: www.innerstrengthcheckpodcast.com/blog--Peace, Love, Melancholy and Howling Over Blastbeats - Brady.

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, international touring and much more.

Keep a lookout for the upcoming blog post which will contain links to this version of the podcast interview, audio-only links across our streaming platforms, plus LP single music video for 'If It's All The Same To You', Australian May 2025 tour dates and tickets, artist links and more!

LINK:

www.innerstrengthcheckpodcast.com/blog.

Earlier this week, vocalist Scott Kennedy and I caught up via Zoom to discuss the latest happenings in the Bleed From Within camp. With the release of latest LP Zenith, the Glaswegian modern metal outfit have been gearing up for release with release of recent singles 'God Complex', 'A Hope In Hell' and 'In Place of Your Halo'. We had a great chat about the bands' recent ascension through the metal collective conscious, songwriting and recording, touring, the UK/Scottish metal scene, upcoming tour dates and special performances and more! Many thanks to Scott for taking the time out of some very recent fatherhood to have a chat from across the pond. Be sure to check out our blog as we'll have this episode embedded with the podcast audio-only version, clips for the aforementioned new singles, album pre-save/preorder, artist/label links and much more! LINK: www.innerstrengthcheckpodcast.comFB: facebook.com/innerstrengthcheckIG: @innerstrengthcheck_ Twitch: twitch.tv/innerstrengthcheckBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/innerstrengthcheck.bsky.socialPeace, Love and Glaswegian Riffing xoxo - Brady.