Last semester, I began a series in which I would spin a wheel containing every country in the world. The wheel would pick a country for me, and I would listen to music from that country and report on my findings. The musical selections come from the music streaming service Bandcamp. I have decided to renew that series, as I had a lot of fun exploring music from all over the world. In this September edition of the Underground Sound, I will be reporting on music from Australia.
#1: Slash Ketchum
First, I want to talk about how fun the name Slash Ketchum is – it is not often you see a Pokémon reference in the world of metal music. Slash Ketchum describes themselves as a melodic post black metal band and they hail from Brisbane. From their Bandcamp page, their self-titled release came out on September 18th of this year, and I am glad it popped up on my radar. Slash Ketchum is right up my alley in terms of style – it is a mixture of black metal music with shoegaze. Shoegaze refers to the use of lots of pedals and effects in the music to achieve a more psychedelic atmosphere. This self-titled release is not a long listen at only five tracks, but it is a great mix of aggressive extreme metal mixed with segments of atmospheric ambience that is soothing. The track XY Evolutions was my favorite listen. I recommend Slash Ketchum if you are a fan of such bands as Deafheaven or Panopticon.
Listen here: https://slashketchum.bandcamp.com/album/slash-ketchum
#2: The Wretched Creatures
The Wretched Creatures introduce themselves as a heavy stoner rock trio from Brisbane, Australia. The description is very on point, as that is exactly how I would describe their sound. The band only had two tracks from their upcoming album titled Underneath Our Midnight Sun available for streaming, but I found some enjoyment in checking them out. The track titled Nebuchadnezzar was a fun listen that had that class doom/heavy metal sound, such as bands like The Sword. While this is not something that has a lot of replayability for me personally, I do think I have a little anticipation to hear the rest of the album, which drops on October 25th.
Listen here: https://thewretchedcreatures.bandcamp.com/album/underneath-our-midnight-sun
#3: Fitch
I try my best to go out of my way to explore music from all sorts of genres when I write this monthly column. It would be easy for me to only write about extreme metal, as that is my background as a musician. Stepping out of my comfort zone introduced me to Fitch, a drum and bass artist from Queensland. Electronic music is usually not my forte, but I found enjoyment listening to the track Close Enough. This song has a melancholy vibe created by the beat and effects, as compared to the other tracks on the Always EP. The rest of the EP is what you would expect from electronic music – poppy synth lines, hard-hitting electronic drumbeats, and a vibe that gets you wanting to jump up and down.
Listen here: https://onesevenfour.bandcamp.com/album/always-ep
#4: Ed Reed
Ed Reed describes himself as independent musician based in Melbourne, Australia. This single titled It’s Time released as a promo for their album Enjoy The Madness which came out in March of 2025. Ed Reed has all the right vibes for those looking for indie music that pays great homage to what one might consider the old school rock and roll scene. As I listened to this track, it reminded me of artists such as REM and Radiohead. Even though this music is not old, I felt a sense of nostalgia by listening to it, which I think has a significant impact on replayability for me, personally. I really enjoyed this single.
Listen here: https://edreedmusic.bandcamp.com/album/its-time
#5: Orbyssmal
Orbyssmal (that name is a real tongue twister) has one of the most interesting descriptions on their Bandcamp pages. According to their Bandcamp, it states, “Evolved from the humid grounds of Brisbane Australia, Orbyssmal blends the essence of black noise, death metal and dark noise to craft a sound purposely designed to induce nightmares by using disorientated sounds to break under your skin and crawl through you while forcing a pitch-black abyss of pain, hate and complete terror”. Now, I can tell you that listening to this music did not induce any pain or nightmares for me, but it was exactly what I was expecting to hear after reading the description. This is knuckle dragging, heavy, and noisy death metal with that grindcore edge. When I think of the term “caveman metal,” this is a band that comes to mind, alongside such bands as Saprogenous and Sanguisugabogg. Honestly, for what it is, it is a decent release, but I would check some of their newer releases on Bandcamp for a better experience in terms of production.
Listen here: https://orbyssmal.bandcamp.com/album/execration
