Minorarc: Inclusions

Metal, Melancholy, and Mastery: Minorarc’s Inclusions Hits Hard

by Jack Rush

For over two decades, Ivan Bullock has been a quiet force in Australia’s underground music scene—promoter, multi-instrumentalist, and tireless supporter of experimental artists. A classically trained violinist, his journey began in Tokyo with the project Mystral Tide, blending dark electronica with gothic atmospheres. After returning to Australia in 2003, he launched Enzyme, a ten-year live event series that showcased dozens of emerging acts and helped foster a community around experimental music through platforms like DEMUS and Darkstereo.

His more recent creative output has come through Minorarc, a project that trades synth-heavy soundscapes for rawer terrain—progressive metal, post-rock, and ambient classical fusion. The latest album, Inclusions, is Minorarc’s fourth full-length release, and perhaps its most refined.

Entirely instrumental, Inclusions weaves cinematic textures with aggressive undercurrents. Classical piano and orchestral pads lend warmth and depth, while jagged riffs and djent-inspired rhythms provide emotional turbulence. Tracks like Seven Times Burnt and Three Times move between delicacy and intensity with a seasoned hand, while Bleeding Facet and Meet the Blade highlight Bullock’s talent for balancing chaos and control.

More than just a solo record, Inclusions also marks a return to collaboration, with live performances planned alongside violinist Eric Shek and bassist Brendan Henriques. As Bullock joins Melbourne gothic act Chiron and gears up for a reissue of Mystral Tide’s debut, it’s clear that his commitment to music—his own and others’—remains undiminished.

Inclusions is a challenging, genre-defying listen, and proof that Bullock’s underground legacy is still evolving.

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