Steel Hulls and Soft Scars

ReeToxA’s HMAS CERBERUS arrives with the weight of lived experience and the raw pulse of ’90s Oz rock, sharpened by a modern edge. From the opening moments, the track feels weathered and restless, like salt-stained memories refusing to stay buried. There’s a familiar grunge grit here, but it’s not nostalgia for its own sake—it’s a vessel for something far more personal and confronting.

What makes HMAS CERBERUS stand out is its emotional honesty. The song moves through themes of alcohol abuse, mental strain, and the long shadows cast by life in the defence force without ever sounding preachy or staged. ReeToxA leans into brutal truth, letting the music carry the tension between survival and self-reckoning. The guitars are thick and driving, anchored by a rhythm section that keeps things grounded even as the emotional current pulls hard in every direction.

Despite its heavy subject, there’s an undeniable momentum running through the track. It manages that rare balancing act—deeply reflective yet strangely energising. You can feel the push and pull between darkness and release, introspection and motion. It’s the kind of song that invites you to move while your mind lingers on what’s being said beneath the surface.

HMAS CERBERUS doesn’t try to tidy up trauma or wrap it in neat conclusions. Instead, ReeToxA offers something braver: a clear-eyed look at how the past echoes into the present. It’s raw, poetic, and unflinchingly human—a powerful reminder that some stories are best told loud, distorted, and completely unfiltered.