Necrosonic Festival returns to the Mansfield Tavern on Saturday, August 22 2026, and the full lineup has been revealed to the masses! With dual headliners Rivers of Nihil (USA) and our very own Psycroptic, alongside exclusive reunions, one-off performances and long-awaited resurrections ~ this year’s ritual is the most formidable yet.
With a massive deference to Australian talent, this year’s line-up is: The Bezerker, Rivers of Nihil, Psycroptic, Gravemind, Lynchmada (Exclusive ‘One Last Time’), Segression (30 Year Reunion), Minus Life (Resurrected – Exclusive), Pestilential Shadows, Five Star Prison Cell (Resurrected), Wxrldfxcker, Witchskull, Dreamkillers (Special EP Set), Helm (Resurrected – One-Off Show), M.S.B.I. (Resurrected – One-Off Show), Barriers, Meth Leppard, Permafog, Destruktor, Gutless, F.U.C, RUN, John Lee Spider, The Matador, Body Prison, Growth, Grotesque Bliss, Vyrion, Neomantra, Nembutolik, Slaughtercult and Bruxa.
HEAVY has thrown down the challenge and sent a Q & A sheet out to all bands, with any that don’t return one completed having to buy us a beer at Necrosonic. So while we are quietly hoping we get minimal replies, a couple have gotten back to us already, and today we feature DESTRUKTOR.
HEAVY: NECROSONIC 2026 is almost upon us. How far out from August 22 will you allow yourself to get excited?
DESTRUKTOR: We are already excited, but we’ll save our true excitement when it gets close to hit the stage time. It probably starts building properly when we get to the airport. We’ll save most of the energy for kicking your fucking arses with our brutal desecrations when we get on the stage. We have a big second half of 2026 ahead of us, in fact, the biggest 6 months of our 30-odd years of existence. It will be ongoing excitement for an extended period!
H: What does it mean to your band to be playing NECROSONIC?
D: It is more justification of the work I/we have put into Destruktor over the years. We have played the Hell’s Headbash Fest in the States, been to NZ twice, but Necrosonic will be the biggest gig we have played in Australia.
It means promoter Kent has his eyes on the scene as a whole, not just flavour of the month stuff, as our brand is generally a bit on the harsher side to appeal to a larger audience, but it seems Australia finally had no choice but to jump on board after the release of Indomitable. We’ve had support from all corners of the globe, but over the years have lurked in the shadows, stuck to our lane, honed our craft year by year, but more people are now along for the ride.
Unless in the right place, right time, who you know, or gimmicks and the like, most bands in our realm do not really get placed on the bigger bills, such as Necrosonic. I did not know Kent until we were approached for this gig. Reacharounds, searching for glory, whoring and the like are not part of Destruktor’s DNA. Our music is not just for “fun”. Credit to him for putting quality and integrity before trend. It gives me faith that some people involved in such events have genuine integrity.
It is the next step on our path to Kiss level status.
H: How important are festivals like NECROSONIC for the Australian music scene?
D: They are equally important to the small gigs at your local pub in your local suburb/town.
Those smaller gigs we did over the years, as did many other bands playing this fest, still do, including us, bring us to where we are now. What I don’t like is that all these metal maniacs come to these events, but can’t get their arse down to the local for 3 or 4 decent bands for $20. It is equally important.
What I do love about these events is meeting new people from all over the place, seeing old friends, seeing bands I would never have seen, being in a new place, hearing stories, discovering some killer fucking bands, drinking, partying, seeing the scene is strong, gathering new hordes, new bands, new fans, keeping the flame of metal burning strong!!
I must emphasise, a festival like this also exposes us to a lot of people that would not fucking bother going out of their way to see us. If you like it harder, faster and nastier than most, then come join the ritual!!
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?
D: I’ll be having just a casual lunch, slow, casual beverage or two and smoke a bit of weed to prime myself for some high octane extreme metal come stage time. I’ll probably be crapping on to an old mate or five, and being generally chill. I think we are mid-set, so can unwind post-performance and take in a band or 5 and the like. Hopefully I’ll be able to take in the Pestilential Shadows set, as we as a band are looking forward to seeing them hit the stage and crucify those that dare join the ceremony. I’ll be getting primed for the show, and probably sit backstage mostly in the last hour before we play, then probably rage for a bit, I guess. If anyone wants to do something fun on the side, yell out, I’m up for it, and the other lads are not shy either. Happy to flog you at pool or pinball, drink whatever whiskey you put in front of me, eat spicy food, show me your hidden talent, tell me a fucked up story, ask for an opinion, couldn’t give a fuck really. I’ll still be standing.
H: Give me your Top 3 Festival survival tips.
D: I have barely been to festivals, this is not ill-advised I think. Should lead to a killer day.
- Uncomfortable footwear makes the day longer
– Bring more weed than you think you need
– Alcohol equals hydration
Number 4 is necessary- Don’t take your meds. Unless it’s weed.
H: Which band – other than yourself – do you think will get up to the most mischief on the day?
D: Well, I can’t say I know that many of the people and bands playing, as I do not keep up with the current scene, and invested most of my interest in the more extreme end of things.
I think some bands might be serious and sober, and straight edge, and don’t get up to mischief. I don’t know. Pestilential Shadows, I can confirm, caused a little bit of shit in the past, and are to be admired for such heathen ways.
Based on my lack of knowledge, Meth Leppard look like they are up for a good time, and Dreamkillers, due to my very old-school Hot Metal days, I remember them as being potentially hard, bad, fun. Maybe that is the case still? Maybe I won’t get a chance to discover this. Lots of people, lots of bands, limited time in the scheme of things.
I’d love to see if Dave Haley wants to do something stupid with me. Chris speaks highly of him, but I have not had much to do with him. I wonder if I can find a way to distract him whilst he is playing, considering I have access to backstage, and might be able to do something. They will be applying late, so I don’t expect them to join in on shenanigans. I don’t really know the Psycroptic lads, but part of me wonders if I can distract them from the clinical performance they deliver. Funny, we have been in the scene for years, but we have never played a gig together. I might make them remember me.
H: What one song would you tell festival goers to listen to of yours if they haven’t heard you play before?
D: Well, we have not got a set list yet, but we anticipate playing Better off Aborted, which is yet to be played live, and seems to have struck a chord with those thirsting for the wilder side. A good chance we will play another favourite, the more epic Forever the Blood Shall Flow, but we’ll play shit from all releases, so go buy all of them from bandcamp, or buy shit from the band for the slosh fund, get ya’selves familiar and go wild.
H: Will you be taking requests on the day?
D: No chance
H: Run us through your typical live show and what punters can expect.
D: Basically, we do not fuck around. No gimmick, no big stage show, no big dress-ups, no click track, no asking the crowd to do circles (as we’d prefer you to bang your fist and smash your brain), no breakdowns, no light, a touch of arrogance, plenty of conviction.
3 people, passionate about music, playing extreme metal, faster, harder and nastier than most. No click track, 1 guitarist, 1 bass player, 1 drummer, playing it real, playing it hard.
H: What’s your latest release?
D: Our 3rd full-length, Indomitable, through Hells Headbangers, released late 2024. It has done us well, smashes skulls and is yet another stepping stone to the Kiss status I mentioned earlier.
H: Finally, what plans does your band have for the rest of 2026 into 2027?
D: We have the biggest 6 months as a band ahead of us with firstly, more “local’ gigs, with a Melbourne gig locked in on the 31st July, then Geelong on the 1st August. Then we venture to Brisbane for Necrosonic in August, then Call from the Grave Fest in Sydney in September.
We then have a break in October before we head to Japan for the Asakusa Deathfest, which we are playing two shows, then we are off to explore a little more of Japan outside of Tokyo with another 3 gigs in the works. We should then look towards more new material, but if the offers continue to come through, that might be stalled as we are primed to spread our seed further than ever before….
NECROSONIC tickets and more information https://necrosonicfestival.com/
