The Slovenian metal band return to Australia in April for shows in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane
Within Destruction’s Rok Rupnik was caught off guard the first time he came to Australia. He pictured long, endless beaches—pitch-white sand, bronzed bodies, surfboards, ice- cold beers, and a beaming sun overhead. But they missed a step.
They got here in July.
“We got there and were like, ‘Wow, it’s really cold here,’” he laughs when talking about the tour. “Apart from that, we had a really good time.”
It’s midday in Slovenia when Rupnik picks up the phone. He’s a lifetime away from Australia’s coastline, speaking from an industrial city where the sun barely makes an appearance. Within Destruction will be back in April, though, for their third tour of the country. Hopefully, this time, the weather will be on their side.
That said, I put it to Rupnik that gloomy weather might have worked in their favour creatively. Rupnik doesn’t dwell on this topic for long. “I’m so used to this weather. Our city is all factories and railroads. You can’t really write about sunshine and butterflies when you live in a place like this.”
Not that Within Destruction ever set out to write about sunshine and butterflies anyway. The band came up in Slovenia’s metal scene—a scene so small that after four or five shows, you’d virtually played to every metal fan in the country.
“It’s so small,” Rupnik says. “You can do more, but you’re playing to the same people. It’s just hard to grow within the country. You have to promote yourself online.”
After doing the rounds for “five or six years,” the band realised something had to change. “It just wasn’t going anywhere. We covered travel expenses with what we made, but we wanted to push it further and make an investment.”
So, they did. They pooled whatever money they had from their day jobs in IT and went all in.
“We invested in good artwork, good production, mastering, mixing. Then we started messaging booking agencies. We were prepared to go on any tour and pay for our own expenses.”
Through sheer persistence, they landed a tour spot opening for Brisbane’s Disentomb. They got it by paying the booking agency—what’s known as a ‘buy-on slot.’
“We just said, ‘Let’s try.’ Doing things on your own is okay, but long term, it doesn’t build much traction. We said, ‘If it works, it works.’ But it was a breaking point.”
Lucky for Within Destruction, it worked.
“It pushed us so far,” Rupnik says. “When we started [the tour], we had 900 followers. After that, we had 12,000.”
Now, a few years later, Within Destruction are global. The last time I checked, they had over 100k Instagram followers and are booking world tours like it’s nothing.
Next month, they’ll release their new album, ANIMETAL—a record shaped by anime, dystopia, and sci-fi. It reads like a Blade Runner film, but for Rupnik, it’s simpler than that. It all comes back to anime.
“I watch all kinds,” he says. “Mystery, horror, thriller, drama, romantic comedies—you name it. Out of the three of us, I’m the biggest nerd.”
At first, he was the only one in the band who watched anime. Now, it’s everywhere. People who never thought twice about it suddenly have Attack on Titan posters on their walls. That love of anime is why the album is called ANIMETAL.
“It’s influenced all over, but not in any specific way,” Rupnik says. “The album cover is anime, there are anime samples in the songs. It’s a melting pot of all our influences.” They even made a manga comic. This particular milestone caught Rupnik off guard. While it was a big moment for the rest of the band, it meant something different to him. “I think I’m just a bit more hardcore than they are,” he smirks.
As for whether anime will make it into their live show… well that’s still a work in progress. “It’s difficult bringing it onto the road, but we’re going to try and make it work” Rupnik says.
This ability to ‘make it work’ seems to be the key theme of Within Destruction’s career. Whatever hand they’re dealt, they don’t just take it as is. They push forward. After Australia, they’ll hit Japan and Asia before heading to Europe for the summer festival circuit. All while holding down their IT jobs remotely—working in tech by day, playing metal by night. If that’s not making things work, I don’t quite know what is.
Within Destruction are touring performing in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane from April 3. Tickets can be purchased here.
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