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Melbourne metalcore outfit Alpha Wolf dropped their second LP today, their first with vocalist Lochie Keogh. A thorough evolution of their sound, A Quiet Place to Die picks up where their previous release, the EP Fault, left off and goes bigger, harder and more bone shattering. With this release, Alpha Wolf arguably moves to the forefront of the nu-metalcore movement, combining elements of hardcore with nu-metal. The result is very down-tuned guitars chugging like crazy that occasionally make way for crushing breakdowns and on the fly harmonics. Keogh's vocals are raw and unflinching, as he barks out some dark themes and has come great pit calls. While there is mostly just non-stop chunky riffs, the band shows they can write ballads, in their own way, with tracks Bleed 4 You and Don't Ask.

For fans of Architects, Fit For a King, Stray From the Path and anyone that thought even the heaviest nu-metal bands weren't heavy enough.

Here's an article about one of the recent Grammy winners: "Billie Eilish's Grammy hit features a surprising Australian sound"

The story about how Eilish and her brother sampled a pedestrian crossing signal is interesting enough - but you have to watch the embedded video, where the SMH people use the same signal to make their own backing track to an Aussie classic!

In honour of Australia Day, here's my favourite Australia-themed song.

About 40 years ago, the Australian government ran competitions and surveys to decide what our national anthem should be. It was a 10-year process, in fits and starts, but in 1984 they finally announced "Advance Australia Fair" as the new anthem to replace "God Save The Queen" (which is now used only as the royal anthem).

"I Am Australian" hadn't been written back then. It was written in 1987, just prior to our Bicentennial celebrations in 1988. If a similar competition/survey was run now, "I Am Australian" would be one of the top contenders for our new national anthem. It's a very popular song.

I don't relate to "Advance Australia Fair" at all. But "I Am Australian" makes me emotional every time I hear it. It might not be our official national anthem, but it's my anthem for this country.

Here's:

• A studio recorded version, complete with lyrics.

• A live performance, performed in 2000.

I am, you are, we are Australian.