30/12/2025

Schkeuditzer Kreuz – Swan Grinding Aotearoa 2026

Industrial Synth Crust artist Schkeuditzer Kreuz (Kieren Hills) wraps up exhaustive international tour, returning for Auckland and Wellington shows, January 2026.

Fresh from extensive touring across Europe (Sept-Oct 2025) and Australia (Nov-Dec 2025), New Zealand-born / Australian-based Industrial Synth Crust artist Schkeuditzer Kreuz, a.k.a. Kieren Hills, is about to wrap up the international Swan Grinding Tour with two Aotearoa shows in Auckland and Wellington. On tour in support of the third studio LP, Swan Grinder, on Friday, 23 January 2026, Schkeuditzer Kreuz plays at Dead Witch, Ding Dong Lounge in Tāmaki Makaurau, joined by Waiheke Island post-punk outfit TRAUMA PARTY; Whangārei hardcore thrash mongers DEATH PORTAL; and Tāmaki dark experimental electronic project CREASSAULT. The following night, Saturday, 24 January 2026, Schkeuditzer Kreuz hits Pōneke’s Underworld Tavern, alongside industrial noise-rock legends LUNG; shiny new emo-core band EURYDICE; post-punk duo BREACHES; and goth DJ VIRAGO (Dark Entries, ex-Dark Eighties).

Reflecting on the recent 30+ date tour across Europe, Kieren says the best thing was the sense of community everywhere he went:

“I played gigs across the continent from Armenia to Sweden, from Poland to Spain, and everywhere I went there were these amazing communities of people – putting on shows, being involved in their local squat or bar, or just turning up to have a great time and support touring artists. I felt so welcome and wanted everywhere I went, and that is such a huge part of what we do.”

On the upcoming New Zealand shows, Kieren says:

“It’s been two years since I was last there, and they have been two extremely busy years: I’ve toured a fair bit of the world, released this new album, and worked to get myself, my performance where I want it. So to bring that back to NZ, to my home country, and to my friends there, means a lot to me.”

Variously termed “Industrial Synth Crust”, “D-beat Raw Synth Punk”, “Trans-Positive Anti-Fascist Synth Crust” and “One human and some machines making noise, in the face of it all”, Schkeuditzer Kreuz is a mutant post-apocalyptic hybrid: an intersection between harsh, confronting, mechanical noise and the comparatively raw, organic materials of hardcore, crust, and d-beat punk. It is a noise wrought from the anguish and despair of Antipodean punk veteran Kieren Hills from a cabin that he built in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia.

Since 2020, Schkeuditzer Kreuz has released three full-length studio albums: Isolated and Alone (2021), No Life Left (2023), and latest offering Swan Grinder (2025); alongside a raft of singles, videos, EPs, split-releases, compilation tracks, and remix collaborations. Swan Grinder has quickly become the most widely acclaimed Schkeuditzer Kreuz release yet, praised by the likes of Louder Than War (UK), CVLT Nation (USA), Orkus! (Germany), Discipline Mag (Australia), Side-Line (Belgium), Vive Le Rock (UK), The Big Takeover (USA), Industrial Complexx (Spain), Humans vs. Robots (Italy), SLAM Magazine (Austria), and many more. As a live act, Schkeuditzer Kreuz remains in constant live demand worldwide, while Kieren has also become a touring live member of pioneering UK industrial legends, ATTRITION.

Swan Grinder is the third full-length Schkeuditzer Kreuz album, mastered at The Cage by ATTRITION‘s Martin Bowes, released 30 August 2025, and available from Bandcamp now in vinyl LP and digital download formats. The LP released has been followed recently (November 2025) by the Double CD edition, which includes the brand-new bonus remix CD, Schkeuditzer Kreuz is Reinventing Axel F – Swan Grinder Remixed.

Full ticketing and event info for both New Zealand shows follows below.