Out 14 October, 2025
Words by: dothefknreview
Tasmania doesn’t muck about when it comes to extremes, blistering cold, jagged wilderness, and a history darker than a black metal logo. Van Diemen, the island’s fiercest export, bottle all of that into Van Diemen III, their third full length album and easily their most ambitious work yet. Forget playing it safe — this is melodic death metal forged in fire, sharpened on stone, and spat back out with venom.
From the first assault of T.M.D., it’s clear these blokes have levelled up. The riffs hit like a fist wrapped in barbed wire, while the rhythm section churns with the weight of an oncoming landslide. Ethan Shaw’s drumming is a masterclass in restraint and brutality, he knows when to blast and when to let the groove breathe. Pair that with Darren Smith’s bass rumble, and you’ve got a low end that could rattle the foundations of Parliament House.
Studio vocalist Wild Eye returns to snarl, howl, and croon his way across the album, his range on A Patient Man proving that aggression and melody don’t have to sit at opposite ends of the spectrum. I’ll Die a Free Man burns with defiance, while Internal Scars and Shadows of the Dead carve deeper into blackened territory without losing the band’s melodic spine.
Where Van Diemen III shines brightest is in its sense of place. The Land of Fire and Stone and Thylacine feel soaked in Tasmanian mythology and landscape, they’re not just songs, they’re sonic postcards from the edge of the earth. Heavy music has always borrowed from folklore, but Van Diemen twist theirs into something uniquely Australian — brutal, beautiful, and just a bit unhinged.
Joe Haley’s production keeps the whole thing razor sharp. Every riff is crisp, every drum strike cuts through, and yet the record never feels sterile. It’s alive, snarling, kicking, and refusing to be ignored.
Van Diemen III isn’t just another extreme metal release, it’s a statement that Tasmanian metal deserves its seat at the global table. Wild, raw, and undeniably powerful, this is the sound of a band taking their place among the greats.
