Slime Trail Of Destruction

Saturday 29th August 2026

Written and Photographed by: Rashid AlKamraikhi

SLUGFEST II promised ten bands over five and a half hours at Greaser for just 10 bucks, which, especially in this economy, was one hell of a deal!

First stop was inside at Greaser’s traditional ‘galley kitchen’ stage for A CALL BEYOND. Named after a notoriously dangerous Hunter’s Tool from the game Bloodborne, A CALL BEYOND's music was as appropriately aggressive as their namesake. Ripping out a barrage of grunty Deathcore tracks, including a cover of SLIPKNOT’s People = Shit, they set the destructive tone for SLUGFEST II.

Now to find the Greaser Garage for act two of the night, TOWERS BELOW. Heading back out towards Greaser’s alleyway entrance, the sound of low-tuned guitars firing up led me to the second stage. The grim aesthetics of the cinderblocks with the ominous red lighting gave torture chamber ambience, which was the perfect setting for TOWERS BELOW’s brutalistic modern Deathmetal. Their drummer stayed busy on the kit throughout their set with impressive cymbal and double kick work, as the band created a grooving cacophony around him.

Inside, NEVERGONE kicked up the party vibes with a cover of LMFAO’s Party Rock Anthem for an intro before breaking into their own crushing ‘Nümetalcore’ riffage. Unfortunately, Greasers PA’s couldn’t quite handle the combined frequencies of their 8-string guitars and gut punching bass drop heavy backing tracks, resulting in a mix that was struggeling for clarity, but it didn’t stop them from losing their minds, and having a good time.

Back in the Garage, SHELL OF ME launched into their set of North Queensland Metalcore. I grew up in Cairns, and know well the struggles of trying to exist as a band in that part of the world were there are very few venues that support live independent music, and long distances between the ones that do. That said, special things can grow under these circumstances, and this is certainly the case for SHELL OF ME. Heavy and emotive, keep an eye out for this crew for the next time they’re back down here.

Riding the high of having recently released their Final Girl single, AEON NEXUS were ready to go on the inside stage. Vocalist Sam literally roared to life with guttural growls that then morphed into sweetly sung melodies. Every member of the band is proficient on their instruments, but bassist Travis takes the cake with his spider-like fingers tap-dancing patterns across the neck of his fretless 7-string bass. Impressive.

LOTUS BORN offered up a slightly less dense sound than the preceding bands, with melodies and rhythms that at times reminded me of bands like CANCER BATS and EVERY TIME I DIE, but with enough original flair to truly make it their own. The band recently supported GAEREA in Sydney, and with a sound like this, I’m sure we’ll be seeing them playing more big shows in the future.

Ezz’s vocals in SPACEGOAT were next level, and she hit soaring highs before plunging deep into the bowels of hell for demonic growls. They were more rock-centric than any of the other acts on SLUGFEST II’s bill, but not by much, and the audience had plenty of filthy riffs to bang their heads to. Ezz announced that they would not be playing their recent single, Croquette, for reasons she did not disclose, but that just left us with something else to look forward to the next time they come back.

There was a buzz going around for INSECT with their reputation for being one of the most brutally crushing bands in SEQ, and they did not disappoint. Slamming beat down riffs interspersed with shrill quitar squeals had the denizens of Greaser Garage two stepping away as they tore through their set.

I first saw PYROKINESIS some 7 years ago on the Gold Coast, and this is a band that has clearly been honing its skill all the while. Performing tonight as a three-piece, they deliver banger after banger, and hold the crowd’s attention even while working through some sound issues. Fire by name, fire by nature.

One last trip back to the Garage for the final act, and SLUGFEST masterminds, WAR BEAR. The crowd haven’t fully migrated across from the inside stage yet, but as much as the boys have no doubt enjoyed watching the previous nine bands they have hosted, they have been hanging to get on stage themselves and launch headfirst into their set. Having just released their new EP, Hachi Machi, they are also keen to pummel the audience as it steadily grows throughout their first few songs. Soon the Garage is packed out, and to make some extra room vocalist Ravi clings to the roof like Spiderman (spiderwarbear?) as the rest of the band pogos on stage like they're competing in a high jump competition and no one’s going to settle for the silver medal.