Thirty years is a long time in heavy music.
Scenes change, trends come and go, venues disappear, bands form, implode, reform and sometimes disappear all over again. Somehow, through all of that, Segression are still here.
Formed in Wollongong in 1996, Segression have spent three decades carving out their own place in Australian heavy music. Across six albums, countless shows and stages shared with Ozzy Osbourne, Slipknot, Pantera, Machine Head, Soulfly, Fear Factory, Strapping Young Lad and plenty more, they have built a legacy that stretches well beyond their hometown.
But if there was one thing that came through loud and clear when I sat down with Chris Rand earlier this year for CRANNK, it was that this anniversary was never meant to be about spending too much time staring backwards.
Chris and I went right through the history of Segression, from those early Wollongong days and a fifty dollar graveyard shift that unexpectedly helped open doors, through Metal For The Brain, Slipknot, Pantera, Ozzy, America, Smile, Never Dead, The Best Of Segression and everything that comes with surviving thirty years in Australian heavy music.
What stood out most was how fired up Chris sounded about what comes next.
During that conversation he revealed that the first two songs for the next Segression album already exist, the demos are underway, and that next record already has a name.
We Are Deathless.
So yeah, Segression are celebrating thirty years, but they are doing it with one eye very firmly on the future.
Read my full CRANNK feature with Chris Rand here:
https://crannk.com/segression-chris-rand-30-years-we-are-deathless-interview/
Watch the full CRANNK interview with Chris Rand:
https://youtu.be/0CVP_QolMRk
And now that thirty year celebration is getting even bigger.
SEG FEST Brings It All Back Home
To mark three decades of Segression, the band are bringing things back to where their story began with the inaugural SEG FEST, an all day heavy music festival taking over Waves in Wollongong on Saturday, May 15, 2027.
Rather than simply throwing themselves an anniversary show, Segression have built something much broader.
SEG FEST is a celebration of Australian heavy music, past, present and future, in the city where Segression’s own story started.
That idea lines up perfectly with something Chris spoke about during our interview. He was genuinely excited about the state of Australian heavy music right now, the support bands are showing one another, promoters doing the hard yards and another generation of heavy artists carrying the flag forward.
He compared some of that feeling to the Metal For The Brain era, when people would travel across the country to see Australian heavy bands simply because Australian heavy music itself was the draw.
SEG FEST feels like another piece of that same idea.
Thirty Years And The Music Still Hits
One of the best things about reaching this point is seeing that the music never really got old.
A new generation is digging through Australian metal history, discovering bands, records and scenes that existed before they did, while longtime fans are finding that the music which mattered to them decades ago can still hit just as hard now.
That is not nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake. It is staying power, and Segression have plenty of it.
After periods of activity and hiatus, the band enter their fourth decade at a time when parts of Australian heavy music’s old guard are finding fresh life again. Not because someone decided it was time for a forced retro revival, but because great riffs, great songs and killer live bands have a habit of surviving whatever trends come and go around them.
Segression’s own recent anniversary run has already shown that connection is still there. Their hometown support has been strong, old faces have returned, new listeners are finding the band and Chris has spoken openly about how much that means after all these years.
SEG FEST takes that energy and opens it up to the wider scene.
Australian Heavy Music Across Generations
Joining Segression for the inaugural festival are some genuine heavy hitters from across the Australian landscape.
Representing some of the long-standing names are Toe To Toe and Mortality, two acts with serious history of their own.
Holding down the middle ground and continuing to deliver killer live sets are Our Last Enemy, Deprivation and Topnovil.
Then comes the newer guard, with PistonFist, Backhand, The Witching Hour and Skarmekal helping prove once again that Australian heavy music is not running out of blood anytime soon.
That mix is what makes the bill work.
This is not one narrow style being repeated all day. It is different generations, sounds and corners of the heavy scene sharing the same stage.
Nine hours. One stage. No clashes. Just Australian heavy music from 1pm through to 10pm.
More Than An Anniversary Show
For Segression, there would have been plenty of easier ways to mark thirty years.
Book a room. Play the classics. Put an anniversary logo on the poster. Job done.
SEG FEST feels more meaningful because it turns the milestone outward.
It celebrates the bands that helped build the scene, those who kept working through the quieter periods, and the newer artists making sure the whole thing keeps moving.
That also feels very Segression.
Going back through their history with Chris, one thing kept surfacing again and again. This band has never really fitted neatly anywhere. They have been labelled thrash, groove, nu metal, rap metal, death metal and plenty in between, while Segression themselves have always seemed happiest with the simplest answer possible.
They are a metal band.
Thirty years later, they are still here, still writing new music and still looking for the next thing rather than trying to live permanently inside the past.
And now they are building a festival around that same spirit.
As a proud partner of the event, CRANNK is stoked to be supporting the inaugural SEG FEST and helping spread the word about what is shaping up to be one hell of a day for Australian heavy music.
There is also something pretty bloody cool about seeing the CRANNK name sitting there on the official poster alongside an event built around a band whose story I have been following for decades.
From first discovering Segression as a teenager, to finally meeting them during their twentieth anniversary year, sitting down with Chris for the thirty year interview, and now seeing CRANNK involved with SEG FEST, there is a nice bit of full circle energy in this one for me personally.
SEG FEST 2027
Saturday, May 15, 2027
Waves, Wollongong
18+ Event
1pm – 10pm
Lineup
Segression
Toe To Toe
PistonFist
Mortality
Deprivation
Topnovil
Backhand
Our Last Enemy
The Witching Hour
Skarmekal
Tickets
Early Bird: $55.50 + booking fee
General Admission: $65.50 + booking fee
Tickets available here:
https://us.list-manage.com/_Uc9xzcA_b1?e=f1c14f43b0&c2id=ed45401229f626a5a12c5063801bd2c4
Go Deeper Into 30 Years Of Segression
If you want the full story behind the anniversary, the albums, the Australian scene, the Slipknot and Pantera years, America, The Best Of Segression and what comes next with We Are Deathless, check out my full conversation with Chris Rand.
CRANNK Feature:
https://crannk.com/segression-chris-rand-30-years-we-are-deathless-interview/
Full YouTube Interview:
https://youtu.be/0CVP_QolMRk
Thirty years in, Segression are not slowing down.
They are building something bigger around the scene that helped build them.
SEG FEST 2027. Wollongong. May 15. Let’s fucking go.
