Inner-Strength Check Podcast

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Hot off the back of a run of successful shows, Joshua Middleton (Vocalist/Guitarist) of legendary modern-metallers Sylosis returns to ISC for a chat about their latest opus in The New Flesh, which released 20th Feb 2026 via Nuclear Blast Records.

It's an album that really does have something for everyone - anthemic, broad melodic moments, breakneck thrash metal, dizzying shred and memorable tunes. Josh and I discuss the album, stylistic shifts, songwriting, production and more, for both the current LP and across the bands' storied career.

Full show notes inc. additional media, album info, order links and more at: www.innerstrengthcheckpodcast.com/blog.

If you like what we do and want to further support the show, receive access to bonus episodes/community chat/giveaways and prizes etc, for just $5AUD/month you can sign up to our brand-spankin' new Patreon over at:

https://www.patreon.com/cw/innerstrengthcheck

Peace, Love and Grindcore - Brady.

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

First of all, congratulations and thanks in order to Elissa Jewell for not only being a fantastic co-host in yesterday's cross-disciplinary Q & A style chat here - but also for officially being our first-ever Member (a Riff Nerd) on our brand new Patreon site!

Elissa and I previously spoke at her old leased space in Preston in 2023.

We now return for another intense, thorough and fun conversation within the walls of her recently setup private gym space in Melbourne!

We touch base on quite a lot of intersecting professional/lived-experience thoughts/issues - from music culture, metal culture and neurodivergence, to mental health, strength training/programming and nutrition.

Now, you'll notice towards the end there's a bit of a sudden cutoff - we talked so long that the battery died! Stay tuned though, as I also have an announcement about Part 2, which will be exclusive to Riff Nerds over at Patreon.

Full show notes incoming via our blog at:

www.innerstrengthcheckpodcast.com/blog.

LINKS:

ISC Patreon:

www.patreon.com/ innerstrengthcheck

DLNDM:

www.deadliftsanddeathmetal.com

www.facebook.com/deadliftsanddeathmetal

www.instagram.com/deadlifts.n.deathmetal/

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

G'day! Mornin'. 'Eve. Wherever you hail in the world, we're currently reaching the final few hours of #MusicMondays over here at ISC.

Rather than just flatten out all the incredible tracks and recent Heavy News (music news) engorging our very strained inbox, I thought it best to take a different tack for our second broadcast.

Show notes soon available over at www.innerstrengthcheckpodcast.com/blog with further details of all releases, tour announcements and other news discussed.

Format:

(0:00) Intro

(02:38) ISC Patreon announcement (WOO!)

(08:01) Heavy News - 'Satanic Panic as Turkish Government Cancels Behemoth Tour' + Aus Tour Dates

(12:44) Info & Featured Tracks: Forcefed Horsehead - 'Cryptids' & Shaving The Werewolf 'Smoking The Crack of Dawn' (from the From Horrid To Worse split/EP, released 13.02.26)

(22:24) RANDOM GRATUITOUS PETER GRIFFIN BOOGEY-TIME!

(22:40) Electric Six - Dick Valentine Interview spiel (ISC Podcast)

(23:54) Info & Featured Track: Necronomicon Ex Mortis - 'Hungry for Brains' (from the Zombie Blood Nightmare EP, releasing 20/02/26)

(30:28) Heavy News - 'The Animals: Greatest Hits Australian Tour 2026' + Tour Dates

(34:45) Info & Featured Track: Dissentience - 'Kaiju' (Title Track from Kaiju EP, releasing 20.02.26)

(41:03) Heavy News - Nevermore Sign To Reigning Phoenix Music, Produce Documentary & Announce New Lineup Members

(45:16) RANDOM GRATUITOUS FIFTH ELEMENT CLIP TO REFLECT HOW OBVIOUS IT IS I'M EXCITED FOR NEVERMORE TO TOUR HERE AGAIN!

(45:33) an AWFUL dad-joke, Outro & Final Featured Track/Info - Phasma - 'I' (from upcoming LP Purgatory, out 20.02.26 via Transcending Obscurity Records)

As Always,

Peace, Love and Grindcore xoxo - Brady.

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

Time to put on your dancing shoes, Australia!

Electric Six can't get enough of the place, with next months' Greatest Hits Tour as their third arrival on our shores since 2023.

I was joined on the podcast this morning to chat with the bands' mainstay frontman Dick Valentine to discuss thoughts on the upcoming tour, recent international tours, what to expect from an Electric Six show and more.

Show notes, including ticket links, venue/date/other tour info, additional artist media and more available shortly over at: www.innerstrengthcheckpodcast.com/blog.

If you'd prefer to consoooooom this episode in audio-only format, the interview will also be available here on our channel's Podcast tab, plus a host of other streaming apps.

Peace, Love and Querying Why They Keep Starting Fires - Brady.

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

Genre tags are a funny thing - you'll often see bands lumped in with the 'atmospheric' and 'post-XYZ' tags, who play it safe within those domains. Not Denmark's MØL, however.

Dreamcrush releases in a week's time, and it sees significant stylistic shifts which, in this writers' opinion, they landed. Here to talk about the album and give us extra insights into influences, style, taste, recording and musicianship is talented guitarist Nicolai Busse! A man proud of his craft and the new directions the band are taking together organically.

Check out our awesome conversation here, then head over to the blog link below for 'Young' single music video, additional Dreamcrush album info/preorder links, artist links and more.

Available in the show notes at:

www.innerstrengthcheckpodcast.com/blog

Dreamcrush arrives Jan 30th, 2026 via Nuclear Blast Records.

Peace, Love and Dane-core - Brady.

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

(Ignore the gaffe from me on the thumbnail/intro image - that's Tim Richmond, not Richardson! D'oh!)

For show notes, including recent press release/album order links etc, check out the accompanying blog post at: www.innerstrengthcheckpodcast.com/blog.

Our second interview out for today is a longer one, but it's certainly worthwhile listening in! Tim 'Mothlord' Richmond helms the mic for local Melbourne blackened-deathgrind outfit Munt, and is back today with the same for a podcast chat.

Having exploded onto the scene as part of a storied lineup comprising years of experience in the heavy music scene, the band received high praise for initial EP Towards Extinction (2023), a split with heavyweights Cordell (2023) and finally, the earth-shaking debut LP The World Is Not Yours in 2025.

Munt are heavy. Heavy on record, but phenomenally heavy live. A band who've incorporated elements of sludge, hardcore, post-metal, doom and more to concoct something truly nasty. And delicious.

Naturally, we discuss happenings such as said album release and the public/critical response, as well as their upcoming tour alongside Nembutolik (AU) et al. Tim went a level deeper, though, and provides a lot of reflections, strategies and advice about extreme metal vocal performance, practice routines, using a vocal coach and more. Biggest of thanks to Tim, Munt and Cult Etiquette PR for providing an opportunity for a rich, in-depth discussion about Australian extreme metal, musicianship and what's in store for a fast-rising troupe of fast-riffers.

Show notes contain our recent Heavy News release, which contains The World Is Not Yours streaming/order links, music videos, singles, artist info/links and more.

Peace, Love and Blackened Grindcore - Brady.

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

(HED) P.E. return to shake Australia to its very foundations and they are bringing NONPOINT with them, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their landmark album Broke!

To celebrate this landmark in nu-metal canon, discuss thoughts about prior tours, the realities of making it as a musician in modern times and much more, I was joined late last week on the podcast by none other than bar-spittin' vocalist and chill dude Jahred Gomes. Jahred and I had a conversation that was funny, candid and sincere - even if my webcam decided to switch off until around the 14-minute mark!

Keep an eye out on the ISC blog for show notes, also containing additional artist media, links, tour information and more at:

www.innerstrengthcheckpodcast.com/blog.

Peace, Love and Nu-Metal-Nostalgia Double Hitters - Brady.

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

It's #MusicMonday. Our last before Christmas and second-last of 2025. What a year it's been!

Much like the slew of international and local tours pouring out of every nook and cranny, latest interviewee Ben Green has shown no signs of slowing up just 'cause we're in December. Hot off a recent successful first-ever show with the newly formed and very blackened metalcore act Grimlock (on lead guitar duties), Ben's also been involved with a Melbourne emo/post-hardcore act known as Gypsy Road as a bassist. Topping that off, Ben also puts out some shredtastic riffery across Youtube and socials under the muso-moniker @iplayguitars0metimes.

We have a chat that's casual and friendly in nature but very broad in scope and content! Given Ben's position across two disparate styles, getting into more live musicianship and employing long-held songwriting, as well as finishing a Cert IV in Audio Production, these topics and much more are on the table.

We also discuss the respective state of the above genres in context of the local and broader scene, engaging in both production and songwriting and more.

Links to all of Ben's musical projects will be available on the accompanying show notes for Episode 63 over at www.innerstrengthcheckpodcast.com/blog.

For the video version of this interview, head on over to our channel at: https://www.youtube.com/@innerstrengthcheck.

This may or may not be our last episode for 2025.

Irregardless, from myself and the ISC Team we wish all our listeners/readers a happy holidays.

And, as always:

Peace, Love and Grindcore - Brady.

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

Last Friday, whilst headed to a gig in Melbourne, I received word of a once-in-a-lifetime interview opportunity which required some last-minute intervention! In a first for the Inner-Strength Check Podcast, we used the power of the smartphone to have a roadside chat from somewhere in regional Victoria to converse with a living thrash-metal god: Miland 'Mille' Petrozza of German thrash titans Kreator. A man I have looked up to for decades.

We push through my starry-eyed fanboying to discuss upcoming album Krushers of The World (out Jan 16th via Nuclear Blast Records), the songwriting process and key elements of the upcoming album in that respect, Mille's upcoming film and biography work, and more.

The full video interview version will be available shortly on our Youtube channel at:

https://www.youtube.com/@innerstrengthcheck.

Full show notes, including press release with artist statement, artist/album bio, link to latest single 'Satanic Anarchy' as well as album preorder, artist links and more. For these, head on over to:

https://innerstrengthcheckpodcast.com/blog.

Peace, Love and World-Crushing Teutonic Thrash - Brady.

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

For additional background information on the show/my plans ongoing as discussed in the Outro section, refer to:

https://www.innerstrengthcheckpodcast.com/blog/podcast-inner-strength-check-radio-some-ideas-your-input-wanted

Stay tuned for the blog post accompanying this episode, where you'll be able to access artist links and additional media for all bands featured on the show! You're watching recording of the incredibly brutal and addicting indie hit game Kenshi, from LoFi Games.

This game has been a massive hyperfixation of mine all year, and rightfully so.

Consider following the above link to check out more from the developer!

As they say in Rimworld - losing is fun. :)

Time-Stamps:

Intro - (0:00)

Redivider - 'Sounds of Malice' (05:20) - Title-track from the upcoming LP Sounds of Malice, out 9th Jan 2026 via independent release (Death Metal),

Deadwood - 'Tales of Massacre' (08:28) - Opening track from upcoming EP Rituals Of A Dying Light, out Jan 6th, 2026 via Inner Strength Records (Deathcore),

AndrewKN - 'Abstract World' (11:16) - Ambient backing track by Freesound/Soundcloud independent artist Andrew KN,

Phobocosm - 'Sempiternal Penance' (14:33) - First single from upcoming LP Gateway, out 28th Nov via Dark Descent Records (Experimental Black/Death Metal),

A random sub-space transmission received from TOTALLY-Not-Text-To-Speech C-3PO (24:50),

HyperioN - 'Rewire, Rebirth' (25:09) - First single from upcoming LP Cybergenesis, out Jan 15th, 2026 via Fighter Records (Trad/Heavy Metal, Concept Album),

Reverya - 'Asphodel' (29:54) - from the concept album Affliction In Bloom, released independently on Oct 24th, 2025 (Alt/Progressive Metal),

El Muerto - 'Enthroned in the Tower of Shadows (The Witch)' (01:37:00) - First track/single from recently-released solo-project LP Lost and Amsterdamned (Nov 21st, 2025), available now via independent release (Blackened Death Metal), and

(good GOD I am sure I butchered the pronunciation, Europe will have me guts for garters):

Kostnatění - (01:41:46) - From recently-released LP Přílišnost (Excess), out now via Willowtip Records (Experimental/Progressive Black/Death Metal).

Outro/ ISC Radio Feature Plan:

Proposed Features - General discussion (01:49:00)

Heavy News - Heavy/Alternative music news, differentiating from blog/podcast news (01:53:52)

Dicey News - Tabletop/Hobby/Video Gaming news, discussions, etc (01:55:55)

Interviews - (01:57:50) - By the way, the show I alluded to in this episode is The Ex-Man with Doc Coyle (ex God Forbid) - go check out his show, it's great!

Team Updates (01:59:00) - Some ideas around sharing straight up fun stuff!

THE MOST IMPORTANT BIT - YOUR INPUT WANTED, AUDIENCE! (02:02:00)

* Mental Health/Wellbeing - Thoughts about including resources, strategies, apps, etc shared between us and the ISC community. Final Note - Future Episodes (2:01:00).

Thanks so much for listening/watching.

If you are keen on the idea of the show as a concept and/or would like to have your music, footage, written work or other media included, please check out our website for contact details and send us a message/email.

As Always: Peace, Love and Grindcore - Brady.