The MetalSucks Podcast

Periphery guitarist Mark Holcomb guests this week on the eve of the release of their new album Juggernaut. We talk about the recording process, guitar nerds asking too many questions, and how producing the record themselves was a liberating experience.

We take a listener call about Slayer entering into the Bonnaroo mix; what does that mean for the band and for metal in general? Does it signal metal's acceptance into the mainstream? Is the festival seeing the writing on the wall that metal fans will buy tickets? Will this expand Slayer’s fanbase, or is it just a nice, fat check? All this and a new Storytime With Stavros brings you Metallica in a continuation of his infamous New Orleans stories.

Songs:
Periphery – "Rainbow Gravity"
Venom – "The Death or Rock and Roll"

Direct download: METALSucks20Podcast20Ep0083.mp3
Category:The MetalSucks Podcast -- posted at: 8:05am PDT

Jean Paul Gaster, drummer for the mighty Clutch, joins the podcast as the band heads into the studio to record their new album. He discusses how Clutch have been able to retain the same lineup for over two decades, keeping family and band separate, the band's experience with records labels (and launching their own) and the two things every band needs to know to be successful.

Chuck and Godless also ponder why bands would make an entire record of cover songs, inspired by Prong's announcement of their own covers album. Do bands not have any new ideas? Is it to fulfill contractual obligations? Or something more simple like getting back the inspiration that may have been lost from years of touring and writing?

Songs:
Clutch - "The Face"
Psycroptic - "The World Discarded"

Direct download: METALSucks20Podcast20Ep0082.mp3
Category:The MetalSucks Podcast -- posted at: 7:37pm PDT

Josh Middleton, guitarist and vocalist for British metal band Sylosis, guests this week on the podcast. Chuck and Godless chat with him about the local metal scene in England, their bad luck with touring and vehicle wrecks, and they grill him on why he hasn't asked his girlfriend to marry him yet. New album Dormant Heart comes out on the 13th of January, so we play a song from that as well.

Chuck and Godless dissect a recent announcement that Nuclear Blast made with the label's 2015 release slate, and they use that a springboard to try to figure out where labels are going nowadays. Is it better for labels to stick with bands who are well-known and will sell lots of albums? Have the days of big labels taking chances on bands gone by the wayside? What does it take to make it on a label these days? They also get suckered in by an unsigned band's Tweet, and are pleasantly surprised by their music.

Songs:
Sylosis - "Mercy"
Napalm Death - "Cesspits"

Direct download: METALSucks20Podcast20Ep0081.mp3
Category:The MetalSucks Podcast -- posted at: 6:17am PDT

Chuck and Godless enlist drummer Alex "Rudy" Rudinger (ex-The Faceless, ex-The Haarp Machine, Conquering Dystopia, Monuments) to ring in the New Year with the first MS Podcast of 2015. They chat about his work with Jeff Loomis and Alex Webster in Conquering Dystopia, his take on drum-programming software, and his reasons for leaving The Faceless. Rudy also announces another band he will be subbing for in February after getting off the road with Monuments back in December.

Songs:
Conquering Dystopia - "Ashes of Lesser Men"
Call of the Void - "Cold Hands"

Direct download: METALSucks20Podcast20Ep0080.mp3
Category:The MetalSucks Podcast -- posted at: 6:37am PDT

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