Artists: The Amenta, Suldusk, Fuxache, Halo of Teeth, Burial Pit, Darkhorse, & many more!
Venue: The Baso, Canberra, Australia (Ngunnawal/Ngambri country)
Date: 2nd to 4th October 2026
Review by: Ulffe
Photos by: Ben Eldström
We travelled to Canberra to witness the third iteration of Essence Festival in October 2026 – the festival, to those who don’t know, is an ambitious two day, multistage event showcasing a wonderful collection of heavy acts predominately from this continents underground, hosted at The Baso in Canberra.
Canberra was quiet over their public holiday long weekend- but I feel it was the ideal energy to recover between the intensity of each night. To those who might be dubious to road trip or travel to Canberra for a weekend, I’d highly recommend the pilgrimage for the Essence season. Each lineup has showcased a range of incredible DIY/underground acts that are gems of the Australian music scene. Don’t just experience those you know, immerse yourself and experience new, wild and weird things. You’ll find something to appreciate and take away with you.
ESSENTIA VERMIS
Essentia Vermis triumphantly welcomes the congregation of earlybird punters with a bonus dose of crushing bands and music. As one set ends on the main stage, only a few moments will pass until the second stage begins to swell with the sound and visuals of the next act. The festival ‘formally’ begins on the Saturday, but those in attendance early have the opportunity to attend the ‘pre-fest’ show under the banner of Essentia Vermis, which this year began with extreme acts, Horrisonous, Gravier, Stellar Remains, Reekmind and Gralloch.
Gralloch open the night and round things out with atmospheric black metal; Reekmind brought the most suffocating sludge and doom set that I’ve ever witnessed from them; Horrisonous took the stage with many familiar faces from other DIY bands and bring the thrashing old-school death metal; Graveir deliver feral, riff-driven black metal; Stellar Remains blasted the room away with a cosmic, atmospheric black/death edge.
Night one felt like we were moments away from being swallowed by the world, but was energising and exhilarating.
ESSENCE FESTIVAL: Day 1 – Saturday
The second day was my personal favourite day/night. The formal opening of Essence Festival had the front end of the afternoon stacked with the likes of noise, drone and industrial tones.
To me, Saleeha & TVISB acted as the divider between the styles- broadly speaking- the afternoon was broken up with another of their transcendent sets. While appreciating every moment, standouts and highlights throughout the afternoon were the aforementioned Saleeha & TVISB warming the venue as the sun set and rain poured outside and lightening flashed nearby- Seeing Anocht’s candles shimmer to the repetitive percussion of the digital drum as smoke engulfed his person- The fun, contagious energy of Blood in the Champagne, the gorgeous playing and loops of Simeon Barholomew– PLUS seeing the members of Your Mothers Disgusting Window in another state was another wild moment.
After the intermission, Bentham’s Head fresh from their travels up to the capital blasted their sound upon an eager audience on the main stage- before Yanomamo killed the side stage- warming punters up for the next main stage set Fuxache, who brought some of the most ferocious energy of the weekend.
Finally, the ultimate highlight was seeing the unvanquished Suldusk absolutely own the stage and sharing a sample of their yet unreleased 3rd album after being faced with tech issues. Their ability to handle such unknowns that threatened their ability to play and then perform so clearly connected to their new material was admirable and wonderful.
The night ended being absolutely pummelled by Burial Pit and The Amenta. Some of the initial lineup announcements that had me pumped for the festival.
ESSENCE FESTIVAL: Day 2 – Sunday
While my physical stamina had been depleted, still was I energised by anticipation of another huge evening.
Chief Whip played with only Sean as a one piece act, due to challenges with international travel affecting Bridgette’s ability to attend- and while this was a disappointment, it was still one of the strongest sets. The day was eclectic in its variety, Rodenticide; brutal death metal based in Canberra, Emaren; progressive metal with operatic vocals and gothic piano, and Realname who was an experimental underground hip hop project.
More highlights included Narcissistic Ejaculation, labeled as noisecore, was so much fun.
For lovers of the oppressive, the live debut of Nyctalor was exceptional. They punished with tension and dissonance- an extreme, unique take on a doom/black/death set. Darkhorse really had the crowd moving with their hardcore set before we were all transported by the unexplainable (watch me try) Lucas ‘Granpa’ Abela. He pulled out his digital noise briefcase and with his mouth played a broken pane of glass before ending the set smashing it over his head – incredible immersion as he sat on the floor surrounded by punters before the closing of the festival with performers, Halo of Teeth. Their modern ‘post/black metal’ sound was huge and their performance was a fitting closer for the weekend.
The experience of Essence should be witnessed yourself, my commentary provides no justice for the incredible performances and efforts of those involved in making the weekend a success. This festival gives me hope for the future of heavy, weird, music and projects- I recognise its honest celebration and intent and admire the scale, which is large enough without losing the intimacy we come to love witnessing these bands.
I would feel disingenuous to only support this festival once and am eager to follow along as future iterations announce. Its the only festival on this continent that has matched the feeling of the more intimate European festivals I’ve loved to attend in the past.
One of the triumphs to me was seeing the professional reactions in real time as ‘things happen’ and not all things going to plan (such as acts having to pull out last minute). Communication through the festivals socials was quick, clear and compassionate.
Some of the smaller things that were planned and organised was the fact this was an all ages gig (with parental guidance), and the care when it came to ensuring there were no possible scheduling clashes as well as an ‘intermission’ for punters to rest, refuel and recover. The event ran smoothly, stall runners and merch slingers were lovely and warm and the weekend felt polished.
A huge thanks and congratulations to Dan Nahum for a wonderful festival- a recent friend of the pod (watch here) who recently chatted to us in the lead up to this wicked event!
Gig Gallery:
