Brisbane’s premier heavy music and dark arts event, the Dead of Winter Festival, is officially rising from the ashes. Dubbed The Resurrection, the festival is locked in for Saturday, 27 June 2026, marking its first return since 2019. Originally launched in 2009, the iconic gathering was forced into a multi-year hiatus following the pandemic.
For its grand comeback, the festival is shifting away from its former home at the Jubilee Hotel to a brand-new venue: the Mansfield Tavern in Brisbane’s southern suburbs.The highly anticipated 2026 edition promises a massive celebration of alternative culture, packing 34 live acts across multiple stages alongside performance art, horror cosplay, visual installations, and dark market stalls. Organisers have unleashed a diverse, genre-spanning lineup headlined by dance-punk and noise-rock heroes DZ Deathrays, alongside heavy hitters like Mammal, Toe To Toe, Beanflipper, and Slim Krusty. Tickets are available now via Oztix and the official Dead of Winter Festival Website.
With the festival fast approaching, HEAVY sent out some questions to all of the bands in order to get to know them better. Today we chat with Sydonia.
Sydonia is an Australian alternative metal band. They originally formed in Noosa Heads, Queensland, in 1998, before later relocating to Melbourne. Founded by Dana Roskvist (vocals/guitar) and Adam Murray (bass/vocals), the band carved out a unique space in the heavy music scene. They successfully blended cinematic depth, heavy riffs, and hook-driven melodies.
The band spent years honing their sound through independent EPs. They achieved a major breakthrough with their 2006 debut album, Given to Destroyers. Their striking sound and dynamic live energy caught the attention of major global acts. This recognition earned them highly coveted national and international touring slots alongside industry heavyweights like Slipknot, Machine Head, Lamb of God, and Korn.
Sydonia followed up their initial success with their highly acclaimed sophomore record, Reality Kicks, in 2014. The album showcased a more evolved and intricate approach to songwriting. They received steady rotation on radio platforms like triple j. However, after another brief period of touring and line-up adjustments, the band quietly hung up their instruments around 2019.
Fans were thrilled when Sydonia’s Official Facebook Page announced a full return to the stage. Following a ten-year hiatus from live performing, they roared back with a sold-out reunion show. With fresh creative momentum, the band released their New Low EP. They have also teased the arrival of a highly anticipated third studio album. And now, they are back for Dead Of Winter!
HEAVY: DEAD OF WINTER FESTIVAL returns in 2026 after a seven year hiatus. Why do you think DOW just HAD to return?
SYDONIA: Well, we’ve just had a ten year break ourselves, so I imagine it’s for similar reasons, one, it’s about time, and two the world is a better place with more music in it.
H: What does it mean to your band to be playing DOW?
S: It’s an incredible first gig back in Brisbane, like, wow, we are so grateful that we get to be a part such a wonderful institution.
H: Have you ever been to DOW as a punter or playing?
S: No, looking forward to it.
H: It’s a long day of music. What will you be doing to make sure you will still be standing come your set time?
S: Lucky for us, we’re on pretty early, so it’s more a case of making sure my pipes are warmed up that early in the day. It will be obvious which band member is me, cause I’ll have a straw sticking out of my mouth as I do semi-occluded vocal training haha!
H: Give me your Top 3 Festival survival tips.
S: Don’t peak too early, electrolytes; wherever you get them, plan your day out and have a meeting spot in case you get strays.
H: Which band – other than yourself – do you think will get up to the most mischief on the day?
S: Knowing Zeke, Mammal!
H: Run us through your typical live show and what punters can expect.
S: We are pretty all over the place, quite heavy but also very melodic, we have the odd track that is basically a pop song, and then others that are flat out and charging, we also have percussion setups, so it get’s primal at times.
H: If you could get one band on the line-up to cover one of your songs, who would it be and what song would they cover?
S: Oh, that would have to be Witchgrinder, I’d love to hear them to a thrashy industrial version of one of our new songs 7 Billion Megalomaniacs.
H: What’s your latest release?
S: An ep called New Low.
H: Finally, what plans does your band have for the rest of 2026 into 2027?
S: We’re just back onto the scene, we have another big gig coming up in Melbs that I can’t really talk about yet, and aside from that we are hoping to get back up to Sydney soon as well. The main thing we’ll be focusing on is doing an album with Chris Themelco, we’re very excited to share all these new tracks we’ve been writing.
