Review: NOWHERE FESTIVAL 2025
Grimdark Fantasies
Saturday 14th June 2025
Written and Photographed by: Rashid AlKamraikhi
NOWHERE FESTIVAL is in its 3rd year, and true to form, it has once again unearthed some of the darkest, savage bands that the Australian underground has to offer.
Arriving late to the party, I had already missed over half the acts, but I endeavoured to make the most of the remaining roster. Black Metal misanthropes, SERPENTUM were already midway through their set on the BLACKENED Stage, and the crowd had gathered close to soak up all the trilled riffage, and bestial growls they had to offer. Following them over on the SCHEMA Stage are OCEANS & OMENS. They didn’t have to cross any oceans to get here, but the 4000 Km journey from WA hadn’t slowed them down one bit either. Their vocalist got up in the audience's faces, jumped off bar stools, and set sail for some rowing action, while the rest of the band incited their own carnage behind him.
Image: SERPENTUM
Image: SERPENTUM
Image: OCEANS & OMENS
Image: OCEANS & OMENS
The unholy ensemble that is MIRUTHAN assembled back over on the BLACKENED Stage and proceeded to blast the crowd with blackened death metal abandon. Multiple vocal layers created both harmony and discordance within the swirling dirge of their music. PLAGUE DWELLER fired up over on the SCHEMA side, and it was immediately apparent that, just like a plague, they had mercilessly come for us all. They shred their riffs from the cosmic abyss, as their vocalist locked eyes intensely with the void worshipping crowd.
Image: MIRUTHAN
Image: MIRUTHAN
Image: PLAGUE DWELLER
Image: PLAGUE DWELLER
Don’t let GLORA’s fresh faces fool you, for they create seasoned metal that belies their years. They also benefited from a group of enthusiastic friends who have yet to become jaded with going out to see their mates’ band. Snark aside, it is promising to see a younger generation becoming invested in metal, and there may just be some lifers among them that will go on to join the ranks of the veterans in the crowd. Juxtapositionly over on the SCHEMA Stage, DARK ORDER looked like they’ve definitley seen some shit, and blasted out tunes with an old school thrash flavour. Galloping drums and guitar wizardry propelled their set forward as they proved why the classics never go out of style.
Image: GLORA
Image: GLORA
Image: DARK ORDER
Image: DARK ORDER
NOWHERE FESTIVAL’s final battle was to be waged by DARKLORE. Clad in ebony armour that gave them a +5 to kick arse riffs, and advantage on performance checks, they slammed into their tunes harder than a babarian dual weilding war hammers. Even with a technical hiccup that caused their backing tracks to shift planes, they faced the adversity like true warriors and did what they do best.
Slayed.
Image: DARKLORE
Image: DARKLORE
Image: DARKLORE
Image: DARKLORE
NOWHERE FESTIVAL 2025 was an amazing display of Australian metal bands, and even though I was only there for 35% of it, my blackened, thrashed, extreme metal heart was 100% filled.
Photos by: Rashid AlKamraikhi
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