This week's guest is Gatecreeper frontman Chase Mason. We discuss the band's upcoming new album, Deserted, the insane hand-drawn cover art by Brad Moore and the story behind it, his favorite tour memory with Power Trip, the bromance between Gatecreeper and Iron Reagan, and his take on pornogrind. We also talk about his love for Pauly Shore despite (or perhaps because of) not being much of a film buff, how having a short attention span is responsible for his love of music above other art forms, and his struggle to pack properly for winter touring after growing up in Arizona.

Petar, Brandon, and Jozalyn discuss Jozalyn's recent tour of the midwest and her run-in with a stranger from the past, the death of horror actor Sid Haig, Rob Zombie’s statement about horror and metal being a step above pornography, and James Hetfield checking himself back into rehab.

Songs: Gatecreeper - “Everlasting," Gatecreeper - “From The Ashes," and Dawn of Disease - “Procession of Ghosts."

Opeth mastermind Mikael Åkerfeldt is our guest this week! We delve into his search for the perfect Latin phrase to name an album, his choice to sing in two languages, King Diamond's influence on the new album, how the term “heavy” has changed throughout his career and his opinion of the phrase, writing the new record in secret without anyone knowing, his refusal to modernize his studio and using old equipment to record, using more samples on this record than all the previous Opeth records combined, the story behind bringing a lute to record on Morningrise, and an update on his possible collaboration with Mike Portnoy.

Also: Petar, Brandon, and Sylvia discuss the money pit that was Newsted and the difficulty established artists have when starting over with a new band. They also address a listener's concerns about the lack of comedy bits on the show over the last month, and Dio and Brisco throw down a new rap attacking Uncle Brandon bestowing the "C" word upon their generation.

Songs: “Heart In Hand” by Opeth, “Transcendence” by Imperimum Decadenz, and “Valediction” by Insomnium.

In this special half-episode episode we catch up with Nine Inch Nails and Angels & Airwaves drummer Ilan Rubin about his solo project, The New Regime. Ilan tells us about his choice to release the album as four EPs -- titled Heart, Mind, Body, and Soul -- how much touring he would like to do with The New Regime despite his commitments with NIN and Angels & Airwaves, the difficulty of juggling all of his projects, pulling double-duty on tours with multiple bands, and the importance of time-managing and efficiency in modern times.

Meanwhile Petar plays a few tracks he's stoked on from records coming out this fall.

Songs: The New Regime - “A Way To Feel Again," Kadaver - “The Devil’s Master," Life of Agony - “Lay Down," The Agonist - “As One We Survive”

Johannes Persson of the mighty Cult of Luna is our guest this week. We discuss the band's much lauded collaboration with Julie Christmas, Mariner -- which recently landed on our list of the 25 Best Metal Albums of 2010-2019 -- and its impact on Cult of Luna's new full-length, A Dawn to Fear, what it was like performing that album live due to popular demand, getting everybody back together and on the same page for A Dawn to Fear, the companion videos that became a nightmare project and how they ended up turning into a short film, his distaste for extensive touring, and a number of other subjects.

Petar, Brandon, and Sylvia Alvarado (filling in for Jozalyn) tackle the comments Brandon made last week about the modern generation, the drama between The Agonist vocalist Vicky Psarakis and former singer Alissa White-Gluz, and former Anthrax vocalist Dan Nelson beating up the elderly.

Songs: Cult of Luna, "The Silent Man" and "Lay Your Head To Rest"

Monolord bassist Mika Häkki is our guest this week. We talk about his musical upbringing in Finland, the gateway bands that led him into underground metal, watching the Swedish metal scene explode, the impact of bands like At the Gates and Refused had on both him and the world, the trial and error process that saw the discovery of Monolord's sound, the influence country music has on him, the journey towards signing with Relapse Records for the release of No Comfort, and the importance of artists developing naturally.

Petar and Brandon tackle the John Travolta and Fred Durst box office failure, Tool dethroning Taylor Swift for the #1 charting album, her fans' reactions to the horrible injustice, and Maynard’s lengthy clarification on the phrase #bummer with regards to Justin Bieber liking his band's music.

Songs: Monolord “The Last Leaf” and “The Bastard Son”

This week we're joined by drummer Ray Luzier, from Korn and KXM! We discuss the origin of the supergroup KXM, the chemistry between band members, the group's creative freedom, and why they've never played a live show. We also chat about Korn's new album, The Nothing, the personal tragedy vocalist Jonathan Davis suffered during the creation of the album, and why this is Ray's favorite record he has done with Korn. Finally, we get Ray's thoughts on Army of Anyone’s first and only album, learn whether or not the band completed any material for a sophomore effort, and explore the possibility of that band reforming to give fans new music.

Petar, Brandon, and Jozalyn also discuss and give their reviews of the new Tool album, Fear Inoculum. How does the album compare to Tool's other work? What does the record mean to the rock and metal world? And will this be the final Tool album???

Songs

KXM - “Lightning”
Korn - “Cold”
Army of Anyone - “It Doesn’t Seem to Matter”