Show Notes
When it comes to bands that leave every single shred of their sanity, soul, and vocal cords on the studio floor, Michigan metalcore powerhouses Of Virtue sit right at the top of the pile. They’ve never been a band to do things by halves, but what they have unleashed with their massive new album, Death Of The Altar, is an entirely different beast altogether. This isn't just another collection of breakdowns and heavy riffs to nod your head to; this is an emotional, spiritual, and visceral exorcism. It is a record born out of pure, unadulterated chaos, and it might just be the most brutally honest thing you will hear all year. Originally tracking under the working title Death At The Altar—a nod to the agonizing moment love gets right to the finish line only to drop dead—the band eventually flipped the script to deliver a far more scathing critique on the very concept of devotion. To unpack the sheer madness, heartbreak, and absolute triumph behind the heaviest record of their career, HEAVY sat down for a chat with the absolute legends themselves, vocalist Tyler Ennis and guitarist/vocalist Damon Tate. According to the boys, the road to bringing this monster to life was anything but smooth sailing. In fact, they openly admit it was the hardest record they have ever had to endure emotionally, spiritually, and mentally. But as any true heavy music fan knows, it’s exactly that kind of real-world torment that fuels the absolute best art. From the haunting, gothic undertones of tracks like Divinity to the suffocating weight of their latest single Too Late, Of Virtue have crafted a sonic landscape that confronts regret head-on and tears down anyone who ever tried to hold power over them. In this unfiltered chat, Tyler and Damon pull back the curtain on the creative warfare that shaped the new album. They dive deep into the agonizing arguments over track names, the catharsis of turning personal trauma into mosh-pit anthems, and why they refuse to let the industry dictate how they express their pain. Grab a cold one, crank the volume up to eleven, and check out the full video interview below to see how the boys survived the alter and came out the other side stronger, heavier, and more dangerous than ever before.
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More from HEAVY Music Interviews
Few bands can claim to have completely rewritten the rulebook of modern heavy metal, but then again, Killswitch Engage aren't your average band. For over two decades, the Massachusetts powerhouses have stood as the undisputed kings of metalcore, blending crushing, groove-laden riffs with soaring, anthemic melodies that have defined a generation of heavy music. They are a band that has survived lineup changes, shifting musical trends, and the brutal grind of the road, only to emerge every single time looking stronger, heavier, and more vital than ever. Now, the standard-bearers of the scene are packing their bags and heading back down under for a massive Australian tour that promises to tear the roof off venues across the country. Australia has always held a special, chaotic place in the hearts of Killswitch Engage, and the feeling is entirely mutual. From their legendary, sweaty club shows in the early 2000s to dominant festival slots that left main stages in absolute ruins, the bond between the Aussie metal faithful and these New England titans is forged in pure, unadulterated steel. There is an unspoken rule at a Killswitch show in Australia: you give everything you've got in the pit, and the boys on stage will match that energy tenfold, usually with a side serving of Adam D’Antonio’s signature, unfiltered onstage madness. This upcoming run isn't just another standard lap of the map, either. It feels like a celebration of a legacy that continues to inspire countless younger bands, yet one that Killswitch still sits comfortably atop. Armed with a back catalogue that boasts stone-cold masterpieces like Alive or Just Breathing and The End of Heartache, alongside their savage recent material, the band is firing on all cylinders. Jesse Leach’s dual-assault of visceral, gut-wrenching screams and deeply emotional clean vocals remains unmatched, while the guitar tandem of Adam Dutkiewicz and Joel Stroetzel continues to deliver a clinic in precision riffing and unforgettable hooks. Backed by the relentless, thumping rhythm section of Mike D'Antonio and Justin Foley, they remain an absolute machine live. Ahead of what is bound to be one of the loudest, most chaotic tours of the year, we sat down with the band to talk about their enduring love affair with Australian crowds, the secret to maintaining their ferocious live energy after all these years, and what fans can expect when they unleash hell on our shores once again. Grab a beer, turn the volume up to eleven, and get ready, because Killswitch Engage are coming back to show us exactly how it's done.
Australians, brace yourselves. There is a sonic prehistoric storm brewing in the underground, and it’s about to stomp its way straight through your speakers. If you think you’ve heard everything the heavy music landscape has to offer, think again. Enter Mapel’s Pet Dinosaur, a towering, genre-bending anomaly that has been steadily mutating in the shadows, ready to unleash their monstrous debut EP Childs Play upon an unsuspecting world. This isn't just another generic release dropping into an oversaturated market; this is a calculated sonic assault that fuses bone-crushing riffs, Jurassic-sized grooves, and an unpredictable, wild energy that feels both prehistoric and dangerously ahead of its time. It’s heavy, it’s unhinged, and it’s exactly what the alternative scene needs right now. In less than 12 months, Maple's Pet Dinosaur have gone from uploading DIY videos online to becoming one of the country’s most talked-about emerging artists. Blending heavy ’90s alt-metal riffs, soaring emotive vocals, razor-sharp lyricism and a warped VHS-horror aesthetic, Maple has carved out a sound and identity entirely her own. Her breakthrough arrived in August 2025 when a zero-budget music video for debut single lego, filmed on a Ring doorbell camera, exploded across social media. The clip became the most-viewed Instagram music video reel ever by an Australian-born artist, generating more than 60 million views on the platform, alongside over 1 million TikTok likes and millions more views across YouTube. Building on the success of lego, Maple used her follow-up single chorus to secure live opportunities, quickly establishing herself as a formidable new talent on stage. With Child's Play out on October 30, we sat down for a no-holds-barred chat for HEAVY to pull back the curtain on the madness. Check it out.
Dust off the leather, fire up the hairspray, and brace your ear canals, Australia—because real rock ’n’ roll is heading our way, and it’s coming in hot! Next month the legends from XMusic and MR Touring are unleashing a dual-headlining masterclass in unapologetic rock excess with the RU PRETTY ENUFF Australian Tour '26. We’re talking about a massive, high-octane double bill featuring power-pop royalty Enuff Z’Nuff alongside Sunset Strip sleaze icons Pretty Boy Floyd. For those of us who grew up with our speakers cranked to eleven, MTV glued to the screen after dark, and cassette tapes worn down to the magnetic ribbon, this isn't just a tour—it’s a time-machine trip straight back to the glorious days of massive hooks, big choruses, and no mobile devices to use as evidence. Now, if you know anything about how we do things at HEAVY, you know we live and breathe this stuff. Chatting with Enuff Z Nuff frontman Chip is always a masterclass in survival, passion, and keeping the flame of pure rock 'n' roll burning bright. While a lot of their late-80s contemporaries crashed, burned, or dissolved into the history books, Enuff Z’Nuff have stood the test of time, weathering line-up shifts and tragic heartbreaks with absolute class. Decades later, anthems like Fly High Michelle and New Thing still possess that undeniable, swaggering magic that proves why their melodic hard rock influence stretches far beyond the typical glam metal boundaries. But they aren’t coming alone. Sharing the stage are the infamous Sunset Strip bad boys Pretty Boy Floyd, who are celebrating the 37th anniversary of their cult-classic debut Leather Boyz with Electric Toyz. Armed with a brand-new record and frontman Steve Summers leading the charge, they are ready to show Aussie audiences exactly how they used to set the Hollywood night on fire. Throw in an absolutely stacked rotating roster of stellar homegrown Aussie supports like Karly Jewell, RUNT, Snakebite Whisky and Poizon'Us, and you’ve got a recipe for absolute live chaos. HEAVY had the pleasure of chatting with Chip ahead of the tour where he opens up about what it takes to keep a band firing globally into 2026/2027, the intricate art of crafting timeless power-pop melodies, and why Australian rock fans hold a completely sacred place in his heart. He also takes us behind the scenes of what to expect from these high-energy live sets, the legendary backstage camaraderie sharing a bus with the Pretty Boy Floyd crew, why this particular run of shows is going to be something truly special and more. So, crack open a cold one, turn your volume up, and dive in. Here is my full, unfiltered conversation with the one and only Chip Z’Nuff!
Iron Maiden are bringing their massive 50th Anniversary Run For Your Lives World Tour to Australia in November, with a setlist tailor made for diehard fans drawing predominantly from their first nine studio albums up to Fear Of The Dark. On the eve of their arrival, guitarist Adrian Smith sat down with HEAVY to break down what this historic milestone means for the heavy metal pioneers. In a high-energy conversation packed with rock-and-roll nostalgia, Smith details the daunting task of building a setlist that spans five decades of legendary metal anthems. He shares insight into how the band plans to tackle their first-ever outdoor stadium headline shows in Melbourne and Sydney, promising a production scale unlike anything Aussie fans have witnessed before. The chat highlights Iron Maiden's deep, unbreakable connection with the Australian Maiden England faithful, a bond forged during their debut tour back in 1982. Smith reflects on the demands and expectations of being an international touring band, speaking on the creative adrenaline that keeps the band pushing forward after fifty years on the road and emphasizing that they are treating this run not as a look backward, but as an absolute celebration of heavy metal longevity. Adding immense value to this monumental tour, Smith voices his excitement about having thrash metal royalty Megadeth on board as very special guests. He chats about the mutual respect between the two camps and how adding Dave Mustaine's crew to the bill transforms this tour from a standard concert line-up into an unmissable, full-throttle heavy metal festival experience. For the final verdict, Adrian promises that the Run For Your Lives production will be a visually spectacular, decibel-shattering event designed to leave an unforgettable mark on the Australian music landscape. Check out the full interview for more.
If - like HEAVY - you like your tunes dark, theatrical, and packed with an absolute mountain of sonic intensity, then you have no doubt heard of Pyrefly. HEAVY had the pleasure of sitting down with the band, one of the most mesmerizing and devastating acts currently tearing up the Australian underground scene. If you haven't caught their live ritual yet, you are seriously missing out on some of the finest heavy music this country has to offer. The countdown is officially on for the ultimate night of entertainment this Halloween: Hollowfest 2026. This absolute monster of a festival is gearing up to completely take over the Mansfield Tavern on Saturday, October 31 and with 20 heavy acts spread across two stages and unleashing 12 hours of sheer carnage, it is shaping up to be a legendary night. Having Pyrefly thrown directly into that mix is like pouring absolute rocket fuel straight onto a raging bonfire. In this chat, the band and I dive deep into their preparation for the festival, how they intend to elevate their jaw-dropping performance for the rabid Hollowfest crowd, and what it feels like to share the stage with massive local legends like We The Hollow and Where The Devil. We also get a bit of a cheeky look into what else they have cooking behind the scenes and why the local heavy scene is currently kicking more goals than ever before. So, grab yourself a cold one, crank this up to eleven, and check out the full chat below.