The wait is nearly over. Blacken Open Air – to be held from September 19 to 22 – Australia’s most unique heavy music festival, has dropped its full line-up for 2025, featuring an electrifying mix of international icons, exclusive reunions, and homegrown heavyweights.
This is not a rehashed, derivative or template event; it is a reinvention. Organisers are building on what they’ve done in the past, while reinterpreting the reason for doing it. In 2025, they searched the globe for artists that bring the extreme, the inspiring, the outrageous and the absurd, representing the real diversity of voices in the heavy music space. Not just across Australia and New Zealand, but from America, Europe and Asia as well.
And what better way for you to know what to expect from the bands than a personal, up close Q & A session? Today, we get to know Hidden Intent.
BAND NAME: Hidden Intent
BRIEF HISTORY: The band has been around since 2011, releasing Walking through hell and cutting its teeth in the local scene.
After I joined the band, we have released 3 more albums: Fear, Prey, Demise – Dead End Destiny and Terrorform.
In amongst all of that, we have been fortunate enough to tour the world and share the stage with some of our heroes, including Testament, Sepultura, Sacred Reich, Suicidal Tendencies and many more.
Not to mention the absolute highlights of playing the holy grounds of Wacken Open Air and Bloodstock Open Air.
LATEST RELEASE: Terrorform (2025)
GENRE: Aussie Thrash Metal
WHY PEOPLE SHOULD CHECK YOU OUT AT BLACKEN OPEN AIR: Because your mum thinks we are cool 🙂
THREE THINGS PEOPLE MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT THE BAND:
- Despite our occa appearance, we drink a mixture of hoppy beers, vodka and non-alcoholic beers.
- We don’t JUST listen to thrash.
- Phil has fallen off the stage and the legendary venue Whisky Go-go in Los Angeles.
BLACKEN OPEN AIR 2025 is approaching fast. Are the nerves kicking in yet?
Yeah, we are KEEEEN! We played it back in 2015 and had a ripper of a time, so definitely amped for it.
What does it mean to you to be playing at BLACKEN?
It’s an honour to play Blacken because it’s got a great rep amongst both fans and bands, so to be asked to play is killer!
BLACKEN has been called Australia’s most unique music festival. Do you agree?
Absolutely! It’s like a European festival chucked in the outback, what else could you want?
Who are you most looking forward to playing with and why?
As usual, there’s a lot of killer bands playing, but I’d say Frenzal Rhomb (Myself and Phil are massive fans), Battlesnake (Chris is keen as), Gutalax for a laugh, our mates Alarum (tech wizards), Snake Mountain and of course the one and only BLOOD DUSTER!
It’s a long day of music. What will you be doing to make sure you will still be standing come your set time?
Drinking lots of bloody water and catching up with peeps!
Give me your Top 3 Festival survival tips.
Baby wipes, baby wipes and baby wipes!
Which band – other than yourself – do you think will get up to the most mischief on the day?
I’m sure every band has that ONE member with a Hidden Intent 😉
What song do you think the crowd would want you to play to finish your set?
We sometimes play a Slayer song, so maybe that, but everyone loves Addicted to Thrash as a last song; it’s the perfect chance to lose your shit in the pit one last time!
What song are you going to play?
We’ll see what the vibe is, but I’d say Addicted.
What one song would you tell festival goers to listen to of yours if they haven’t heard you play before?
I’d say The Ruins off of Terrorform, it’s a cracker and has a lot of the elements that our stuff has in it.
Finally, what plans does your band have for the rest of 2025?
Well, as I’m writing this, we are on tour in Europe, so that has been a big undertaking as well as the album release. We also have a few supports in the works, so keep an eye out!
