The volume was high and the guitars were even higher at Whammy Bar on Tuesday night as Shred Fest 2026 brought its Auckland stop to the city. GasMask Bunny was there to capture it all!
Obscura
Germany’s Obscura have spent more than two decades carving out their own place within the technical and progressive side of death metal.
Led by founding guitarist and vocalist Steffen Kummerer, the band are known for intricate guitar arrangements, complex rhythms and a level of musicianship that demands close attention. Their latest album, A Sonication, released in 2025, is the second instalment in a planned trilogy and forms the centrepiece of their current world tour.
For Auckland, Shred Fest provided the opportunity to see a band whose music can be every bit as demanding to perform as it is to listen to — and whose live show puts those musicianship skills firmly in the spotlight.
Obscura
FVKVSHIMA
From Wellington came FVKVSHIMA, bringing a very different flavour of heaviness to the Whammy stage.
Their sound combines progressive metal with enormous low-end riffs and darker, atmospheric passages, creating music that can shift from restrained and expansive to genuinely punishing.
FVKVSHIMA have built their reputation within New Zealand’s heavy-music community through musicians with experience across a number of local metal projects. Their Shred Fest appearance put that distinctly New Zealand strain of progressive heaviness alongside an international act at the forefront of the genre.
Conspyre
Opening the Auckland show were local act Conspyre, bringing their combination of melodic death metal and thrash to the bill.
As the hometown band, Conspyre had the job of kicking the night into motion — and their inclusion also ensured that the Auckland edition of Shred Fest wasn’t simply an international touring package, but a showcase that included the local heavy-music scene.
Three bands, three approaches to extreme metal, and one very heavy night at Whammy Bar.
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