Speaker 1: Hello everybody, and welcome to That's not Matt. We are
here to rock your socks off, because we are here
with a rock and heavy metal podcast, and this is
an edition of Hyperblasts where we let you know every
single week in as speedy fashion as we can, what
you need to know that been going on in the
world of rock and metal this week. My name is
Parnheyish with me across from me today, as I said
he would be, it's Mark Sanderson.
Speaker 2: Hi Mark, ohoy me al charm. How are you doing?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm doing very very well. This is a kind
of a classic case of a catch up episode, really
just getting back up to speed, catching up with each
other with all the crazy stuff that's been going in
the last couple of weeks. Because I mentioned on the
last week's show I did with Sam that I was
gonna get you on here and we were going to
go all in on just a mad little period that
we've had over the past you know, ten days, two
weeks or so whatever. I mean, just you know, for
a start, I have spent the last few days since
what we actually did together in Budapest. I was there
the same night that arch enemy Elevati Amorphus and Gatecreeper played.
But the most t and M relevant stuff that I
got up to was I went to a big castle
where there's a secret bust of Bella Lagosi that an
architect apparently sort of hid around the side. So I
went and found Bella Lagosi and there's a hidden tiny
Dracula statue on like a ledge where there's a tiny
Dracula reading a book. And I looked around this castle
and I found tiny Dracula. I went to if you
are in Budapest and an interesting kind of like rock
and metal bars and stuff like that. That's the kind of
thing that people often ask for recommendations for. I went
to one called Liquid Rock, which was pretty cool because
they were playing Powwolf in there and they had that
was when I showed you They had an annotations of
an autopsy poster like on the roof, and I was like,
how am I in Hungary and annotations of an autopsy?
Are all bands are getting major representation here? But they
also had like all of the rock and metal kind
of branded beverages. You know. So if you find yourself
in Budapest and you going, I just can't go on.
I can't function until I've had a sip of Volebeat,
seal the deal and let boogie liquor, then Liquid Rock
is the place you've got to go to. But the
best one that I would definitely recommend is a place
called the blast Beat Bar, which I obviously had to
seek out, and that was like a proper dinge hole,
you know, like it's a real hidden away down down
an alley, down a weird basement door. But the place
is just kitted out with everything, like every wall is
covered in like all flow and stuff. And I sat
underneath the giant Master's Hammer flag.
Speaker 2: Which is pretty legit.
Speaker 1: And when we were playing in there, they when we were,
you know, sitting in there drinking, they were mainly playing
dis sphere all night, hopefully out of some kind of
you know, mark of respect for the great Thomas Limberg,
of course. So those were my TNM adjacent as said,
the little places I went to while I was in Budapest.
But me and you are here Mark, because last week,
just before that, we had a few days where we
were hanging out and in that time through the city
of Manchester, where we both were two of the year's
biggest most I would say unmissible heavy tours of twenty
twenty five. Both came through in a period of about
seventy two hours. I am talking about Parkway Drives twenty
is a twenty fifth anniversary or twenty twenty fifth anniversary
I or twentie anniversary of their first record maybe, but
the big twentieth anniversary, you know, big anniversary Partway Drive tour,
which has been much hyped before its arrival in the
UK because of the production and whatnot. And then a
little bit after that was Blood Incantations Absolutely Else Tour,
bringing along a wonderful package of underground bands and playing
their new record Absolutely elsewhere as they did do in
London earlyer this year, but playing it across Europe and
a few other cities around the UK as well. So
we went to both of those and by golly, what
a absolutely crazy couple of days for spectacular shows that
was by.
Speaker 3: Duvald beIN, You're right, I mean, oh my god. The
obviously I'm more of a Parkway fan, so obviously that's
going to have more on an impact on me. But
it's like I haven't felt this way since I was
like a teenager going to shows, where I go to
a show and then all I listened to for the
next week is Parkway and I'm just like live music
is so good, you know, like just giddy with excitement.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so Parkway Drive came first, and as said, this
has been a tour that has been the talk of
the town for a number of weeks now, so let's
start with this one. For one thing, you know, they
made a point of saying from the stage that it
was a bill of all Australian bands and in terms
of maybe where that scene was twenty years ago and
trying to break out to other places around the world
from their local scene. That made a point of just
saying kind of how notable and how good that was
for them that they could bring along. You know, three bands,
you know, include themselves from Australia who have all carved
out a major international status and reputation. The Anni Affliction
were the opening band. Maybe the less said about them
the better, but you know they were there as part
of this bill. Viata's Murder were second on and I
have realized I never saw VIA's murder with CJ at
mine like it was there was something universe was doing
something to me. It was trying to shelter me from
something because I saw That Is Murder in that weird
little year when CJ was at briefly out of the band,
actually with Parkway Drive the last time, and then I
went a whole fucking period of I seen them again
and then now with the current guy whose name I've
not yet learned, but seeing that as Murder for a
long time away and uh, you know, the the drama
that unfolded and everything. Consider it the last record did,
at least for me, you know, it got majorly overshadowed
by everything that happened. Then it's the first Viaus Murder
album that hasn't had like a big song that really
stuck with me, you know, considering that this set was
a great reminder of why there are there. I've been
periods where I've really loved this band and they have
been a really really kind of hot property, and particularly
you know, Amity were first then come on via as
Murder as you know, the main support band, as the
the you know, the death metal adjacent one of the three,
and whipping up a storm with a combination of you know,
their newer stuff which did sound strong in this environment,
but then also the shit from ten plus years ago
when they were dropping the purestrain of hate or like
Holy War into the purestrain of hate and that little
filters that peistrain of hate when we'd already been like
really round up with Holy War. This was a bruising time.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and just to speak to sort of the Australian
build thing, three very different bands, like they're all metal bands,
they're all sort of core e bands, but you've got
the clean singing, you know, the traditional metal core remity
affliction and then basically a death metal band on after them,
insane like within seconds of Thy Art being on stage,
it was like, oh no, then this is these are
boys who main business. I'm like, not that I've drifted
away from th Art, like I've always enjoyed the records,
but I'm definitely more of a like hate guy, you know,
the twenty thirteen, the really greedy death course stuff. That's
what I'm here for. I'm one of my just like,
my favorite gig going memories in the last few years
was when the purest staying to hate started and You
and I looked at each other, grabbed each other and
we were like, oh my god, he's gonna do it.
Speaker 2: He's like you.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean I feel like, maybe it's just because.
Speaker 4: Of our age and the people we were talking to
at the time, but that pure strying to hate breakdown
feels so iconic, as iconic as fucking bottom.
Speaker 3: Feeder or you know, the place erupted, Like the crowd
were really going hard for them. It was really heartening
seeing a death metal band in an arena go down
like that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and they're dropping actual songs like Death Squad Anthem
and Slaves Beyond Death and Poppet Master and stuff that
just you know, they made their impact for sure.
Speaker 2: But Parkway Drive This.
Speaker 1: And Bloody Caantation together as two you know shows that
we're talking about here, very different obviously in many ways,
but as a kind of combined experience that we had.
I was just thinking about how they were both examples
of just like where genuinely bold outside the box thinking,
you know, not following a particular way of how you're
supposed to do it or whatever, a particular you know,
peg in a hole, but just genuinely creative thinking can
get you. Because these both felt like, you know, things
that were almost bigger than we could have anticipated than
being you know, as well as with both bands a
healthy love and championing of genuine heavy metal and its
spirits and its principles. But Parkway this was we can't
I knew it would be, even though I hadn't seen
Parkway Drive since February of twenty sixteen, which was the
I think it was the first UK tour after Aya.
It's the one where they headlined venues like Bricks and
Academy and the Apollo in Manchester, these type venues for
the first time, and it was big.
Speaker 2: You know, in.
Speaker 1: Those nearly ten years, they have become you know, a
certified arena band. They have become a festival headliner in
certain areas, like they've headlined Vacan Festival and stuff like that.
They have you know, their own documentaries and kind of
movie events and all this stuff that's going on. So
Parkway Drive have been a very big band for a
long time of that now, but finally actually getting to
see it at the point where everyone also seems to
agree that even the Parkway Drive Live Spectacular that has
been going for five plus years now, the version that
is this tour was the most like upgraded, fully realized
version of that yet and that jump of seeing them
ten years ago when they were going into the biggest
venues they ever played at that point to then this
this is a case of every other band of their level,
that being twenty first century metal bands who have entered
arenas in the last kind of five to ten years
or so, all vying maybe for that kind of you know,
future festival headline here in the UK type position whatever.
This shows all of them up, Like this is undeniably
of that level, the most absurd, spectacular bang for your
buckh that exists in metal.
Speaker 4: Mate.
Speaker 2: It was fuck.
Speaker 3: Like I never say I've never seen Parkway Drive. I'm
a big Parkway Drive fan obviously, but mostly like my
perspective is like the Parkway Drive live experience, I know
is watching the video of them playing their school and
like watching some on the sphere when they're like one
that was in the.
Speaker 2: Wheelchair and stuff with the dinghies. Yeah yeah.
Speaker 3: So like to go from the idea of Parkway Drive
in my head, which is five young guys in a
school hall motion and being faced with I mean, it's
fucking it's I was so you can attest to this.
I was giddy. I was vibrating in my like I
just couldn't believe what was happening. At any giving second.
And it wasn't even just like it didn't even need
to be a production thing. It could be just like
all the spotlights on Jeff and he's doing a guitar
lead and I'm like.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, that's a wrong start.
Speaker 3: Like like I'm saying, Kirk Hammett for the first time,
they put real thought into sort of the showmanship of
it and the heavy metalness of it, where they do
showcase their members like the rock stars and give them
their wrong moments to shine, you know, amidst all the
flames and the chaos. That's what I really appreciate about
it is every member gets a moment to be like
the coolest guy on stage.
Speaker 1: I agree, But and part of that is the genuine
detail in terms of like structuring a set and the
you know this this staging that goes along with it.
There are many many you know, arena type bands that we
coun talk about a week and say, oh, yeah, this
was their production. They had X big thing on the
stage or behind the whatever. They played these songs, But
the show doesn't necessarily evolve, you know. There's not that
kind of push and pull of dynamics within the flow
of a set, and this is like one of those
shows where you've got to really kind of if you're
going to convey what it is, you have to break
down the different aspects of it. Because to start with,
for all that is said about Parkway Drive as this,
the kind of the stock thing is they're the fire
band now right, It's like, you know, it's the most
fire since Ramstein. It's that the clip that always goes
viral is the crush clip, which is right at the
end of the show, and it's when there is the
most fire all of that stuff. But they they didn't
starff like that. The very beginning of the show. The
first bunch of songs did not have that, And it
wasn't a case of like, oh, it's that, you know,
it's cheap. They're holding all of their fire for later on,
which maybe it is part of that, you know, maybe
there is some smart budgeting going on, but it's not
a case of like you're waiting for it to ramp up,
because when they start on the kind of B stage
in the middle is where they begin with, and the
first couple of songs on that B stage where there's
no other production around them, basically it's just the five
guys in the middle ramping people up around them, and
the first two songs they play are Carrying into Prey.
I mean, there's there was no nothing more Ne did
beyond that point, right. It's great that the stuff came later,
but at that exact point, the pure the connection of
them being right there in front of people comparatively very close,
you know, for an arena show, and starting with such
an old favorite in Carrying, which this is a meeting
at people sell onside, and then fucking Pray, which I
again because of the time, which I hadn't seen that
this was my first time seeing material from either of
the last two albums, and I remember your Reverence came
out the first year I was doing TNM, and I
was really big on it. I really loved it, and
this was my first time seeing it. And Pray in
particular is a song that I have been just like
absolutely giddy about in all of those years, like it's
one of those perfect pieces of like this is exactly
what I love in heavy metal songwriting, and finally getting
to see it live. I remember when you Know Reverence
was coming out and some people were like, oh, it's
not as good as I or it's not the good
of briefing material whatever. There's too many interludes or whatever it
might be. And I was just there thinking, motherfucker, have
you heard Pray, Like have you heard the Void? Or
you know Chronos, which I yeah, you know Kronos, which
IVE sort of forgotten about a little bit. But when
they did it here and had that massive instrumental outro
with with you know, Jeff and the strings players and stuff,
is incredible. But that beginning of the set, when it
was no gimmicks, maybe the only gibbick is Winston wearing
a massive like looking like he's in a doojo with
this kind of like massive white, kind of puffy rope thing,
which looked great because he could move around and really
kind of control the motion of it in a very
deliberate kind of, you know, expanding his silhouette kind of way.
But I love the balls of being known now as
a big pyro spectacle band and not coming out fucking
you know, Inferno streaming, but just starting out here. We are,
we're going to play Carrying, and you're going to be
with us from second one.
Speaker 3: And I think you touched on this, and I think
you're sort of the It feels very purposeful that the
first song they played was a like all you old
school mashers, all the people like, we're closer to the crowd,
all you guys close to us, you're gonna be on
site for this, And then within a second they snap
into arena metal Parkway Drive when Pray starts. Unbelievable and considering,
like you say, nothing was happening. It was just the
five dudes. It was like on a tiny, little square stage,
just the momentum and the power of prey. That's one
of the best like songs I've seen live in ages.
Just that moment is so special. It's up there with
your square hammers and whatever. Is like one of the
great heavy metal songs of the last decade.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you could say that's not their only one
because also, like a couple songs later they're playing Vice Grip, right,
and these songs are you know, some of these songs
are ten years old now and maybe were of like,
oh my god, what's this at the time. They're now
so canonized. But I kept thinking the way they kept
going back and forth, how cool it was that they
were able to kind of maintain the kind of intimacy
of Parkway Drive being you know, a heavier band for
an arena, band who have come up playing legendary smaller
shows in places like the Underworld or like you know,
in Manchester. Winston shouted out Satan's Hollow, like they have
this history of playing these more sweatbox type shows and
to maintain some of that energy in a big arena,
Yeah where Winston, you know, he said at one point
he was like, this is a particularly I think our
date was a particularly rowdy. You know, the energy was
kind of rickety, which it really added something you know,
cool to it, maintaining that while also bringing as much
spectacle as you like. At kind of different points of
the set where it went sort of like I said,
back and forth. There were songs that were total like
look at these fucking you know, like heavy metal gods
standing on these huge podiums or platforms or whatever. That
there were really really theatrical parts. But the fact that
it was also this kind of anniversary tour and they
threw in you know a lot of older stuff. It
was a celebration of everything, you know, like actually every
kind of era of the band near enough, like you know,
not shutting some kind of early bit off because you
think you're too cool for it. Now you're like, my
one complaint is there was no Deep Blue because I
was on a lot of horizons and you know the
medley bit which is gonna get onto No Deep Blue unfortunately.
But when they were playing like Boneyards and stuff like that, yeah,
so so extreme like for that kind of setting. The
blast part in that song really really like cut through
in a violent way, and they're like, all these bands
out there are going, oh no, we can't play our
old stuff. It won't go off well in arena. We
have to only play stuff that has been exclusively mixed
to be on radio. Parkway are they're doing it, and
they've got a bigger, c easier, more you know, bombastic
show than a lot of you.
Speaker 3: I think that's what makes Parkway so special is that
they do have the ability to be like you say,
like marbled rock heavy metal gods, you know, doing all
the correct poses, looking cool as fuck on stage. But
also when they rip into an old song and especially
a medley, which we're going to touch on, there's a
self awareness to them. They're like they're still mashers and
they're like yeah, yeah, yeah, we know that you guys
like the marsh stuff, and so do we. It's there's
a real, I don't know, authenticness to them, even though
there is like this big, grand show and there's tons
of spectacle and there's a lot of artifice in that.
Deep down, there's something so authentic about Parkway Drive where
it's like, oh, yeah, you're just us. You love heavy metal,
you love hardcore the same way we do the Crow
and they're really self aware about that. Yeah, there's no
sort of posing, you.
Speaker 1: Know, absolutely, the way they spread it across the stage,
even where you know, I think it was aisles and anchors.
Winston was like in the crowd, you know, like standing
kind of I don't know what actually just sanding on,
but he must be saying some little podium with like
you know, the people circlepit going around me. He brought
some girl up and kind of she stood with him
and he had his arm around her in his part.
And I liked almost doing the panoramic view of what
was actually going on at the moment because obviously all
our eyes around Winston and the circle pit around him,
But if you look in the middle of the stage
on the B stage, Winster's gone, right. Jeff is just
there on that Bee stage just like, you know, stomping
about there entirely as this like he has his own
fucking podium essentially. And then if you were to look
at the back of the stage, not only have they
got the big drum caage which eventually is gonna you know,
spin around and be on fire and all this stuff,
but there was that great moment where Winston was starting
that circle pit around him, and we just looked at
the stage at the back and the two guitarists who
were there remaining on the main stage just started running
around each other doing their own lights. It was like excitable,
like punkish kind of energy. The medley, right, the killing
with a Medley mash up with a smile. Mark did
not know this was coming, because I think I think
a lot of people here did know this was coming,
because there was like a pro shot video from them
playing the Australian dates of this tour where this this
killing with a Smile like five or six song, ten
minute long medley was showcased in all its force, so
I knew it was coming. Mark had somehow retracted so
much that you didn't know this was coming, and you
said something to be at one point in the lead
up you were like, Oh, if they play like Romance
is Dead or something, I'm gonna I'm gonna have the
best time. And I just looked at it and I
was like, mate, you do not know how much more
than that.
Speaker 2: You are going to be getting.
Speaker 1: How are you feeling when they ripped through ten minutes
of glued together mosh parts of two thousand and five
two thousand and six style, well cool?
Speaker 3: Oh? I was levitating. I was, I mean, your test
to this, I was going insane. I was like I
couldn't keep still. I was so like when you said that, like, oh, buddy,
you don't know what's coming. I thought, Oh, they're gonna
boy smoke them or something like that. Oh oh that's nice.
They'll they go a deep, a deeper cut. But and
that's again, what's so great about Parkway is it's so gnoying.
It's so self aware of like, I know, you guys
love them mosh stuff. Here's all the hardest bits from
the album.
Speaker 1: My favorite thing was near where we were sitting just
for this song, a guy wearing an archangel appeared and
we never saw him like before or since, Like just
that moment, our Angel shirt.
Speaker 2: Appears smile Medley.
Speaker 1: That was sensational, and it was just you know, dizzying
building up to that, you know, climactic point of romance
is dead and if like people behind us in the
seats practically diving off, falling over the seats nearly to
go crabby your fucking river. But at the same time,
the theatrics in the show, like maybe my favorite bit
of staging aside from the big crushed finale bit, was
they did a little run of reverence songs in the
middle and you know, Winston kind of rose up with
this microphone stand that looked like it was made out
of like dead wood or something like a real gnulled,
gothic looking mic stand, and uh it was it like
cemetery bloom. They had like you know, the kind of
like four sort of like cultest people around him. And
you know, again that stuff when it was on the
record was kind of divisive at the time, but it
was really in enrapturing seeing it live and seeing it
presented in that way. Winston really you know, holding kind
of attention with that you know, kind of dramatic spoken
word kind of part and then into the void, and
particularly for me, wishing Wells, which was again Winston on
his own on the B stage with this huge fucking
like leather trench coat on that made me want to
dress like I'm in an underworld movie all over again.
And that was the song where he had like the
rain effect, like the isolated rain sort of spotlight over him,
and just the way he would like control his his
you know, gestures and his movements, like he would like
place his hand over his head and kind of peel
his eyes back almost in this way exactly what you're saying,
like the these are the old school wash kids that
we've all known them to be if you, you know,
if you were a Parkway fan in the early days
and you saw them on the album. But the genuine
love and know how and passion for these like operatic
theatrics as well a song like wishing Wells and how
it was kind of realized on the stage was fucking phenomenal.
And that, by the way, on the setlist is literally
right before the Killing with the smile medlane.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and this the stuff as well that I've never
really seen metal bands do, Like there's arena like arena
show stuff like having dancers though, was it for glitch.
There was like interpretive or like breakdancers on the stage
as another metal band done that. I don't know, like
that feels so like Lady Gaga, like pop star Star.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there are a few bands who have started incorporating
you know, different looks and different styles of dancers like that,
And I'm not I'm not usually actually the biggest fan
of it, but my favorite point of it during the
Parkway show was during the encore when they started coming
out again and the dancers appeared and literally set the
bits of the stage on fire that were going to
be on fire for the next song. So because they appear,
they've run out and like they'd have like a Molotov
cocktail and they throw a cocktail at the fucking drum
cage with you know, the drummer they're in there now
like physically strapped in because we know he's about to
start spinning, and like the that was a cool incorporation
of like having these extra you know, kind of actors
and whatnot when they come out and are lighting up
the different bits of the stage, which then leads into
as everybody now knows at the point, as we've said,
the real kind of Pieza resistant of the Parkway set,
which is crushed at the end, which is when Winston
is suspended on a platform in the air that is
on fire. He's shirtless, probably just because it's really hot
up there, imagine, because he's having fire literally just blast
all the way around him. And you look around the
stage and there's huge like pyrotechnicalans coming out of the stage.
The drum cage, I said, is spinning around on fire.
And this is an indoor show, right, I know that Again,
bands like Ramstein who have been really influential to Parkway,
I know in terms of giving them, you know, kind
of the the impetus to be like, we want to
try and kind of you know, be our generation's version
of something like that basically.
Speaker 2: But again, this is.
Speaker 1: An indoor show, you know. This is a band who
haven't yet fully ascended to the status of huge outdoor
festival headliner here in the UK stadium, whatever it might be.
I don't know if I've ever seen a indoor show
with this much like Oh I I Am like surrounded
by the fires of Hell, only Watine compares in a
very different way of being in a really small indoor
venue and having you be a bit more dangerous, but
that kind of uh, like just just the orange glow
on everyone in that room. It's undeniable in terms of
looking at a stage and being like, this is what
heavy metal is about.
Speaker 3: I've shown something like I've shown my parents that bit
because it is just so like undeniably holy shit. What
like like obviously your eye is drawn to the platform
and the flame's coming out of it, but then you're like,
oh wait, oh yeah, the drummer's upside down. I forgot
about that. Also, the cage in which is in iss
also on fire. It's like so much has going on.
But one of my favorites sort of like you watch
videos of this now, as I have done, when when
Winston is up on the platform and sort of after
the post chorus, he's just punching the air and just
like going crazy there, and that's like, that's my guy,
you know, that's so fucking hard.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And even when when he's kind of being lowered
down and the song is finished, I noticed he was
just kind of he was he was smiling what I
can only describe as a sort of smile of like
exhalation and relief of like we've done it. Because it's
it's a sort of superhuman thing of just going and
doing that, but then having the come down and be
like another night we've done it, you know, and having
all of that, you know, kind of dissipate a little bit.
It's just it's in a weird way, as you saying
it is kind of relatable, and as even the way
the stage itself had like you know, almost like a
construction site or something in a cool kind of deliberate
way with the podiums and the hanging bits of metal
and all this kind of stuff like it it goes
beyond I said, sticking something on a big screen, having
some big lights whatever, or even just having some fire.
It was really so carefully looked at every detail. You
can tell that every single thing from the way the again,
the way once we're moving songs, what they would wear,
it's all very like the attention to detail, it's all
been so mulled over. Is the kind of thing that
I mean, I mean, everybody's saying it. You know, it's
the kind of show that should see them at the
very very top of our genre and kind of what
it is sort of you know, what we showcase to
the world, what it puts out.
Speaker 3: There, I'd love nothing more like and they put real
thought into sort of the scale of it, because to
go back to the start of the show, after they
do the two songs on the b st stage where
it's super small, super intimate, and then they turn around
to where the main stage is and just sort of
patiently wait for the bridge to be lowered, there's a
real like sense of occasion and sense of like, now
then what's about to be revealed? Like what are we
about to walk into? And the five guys of like
the gother arms around each other or there's just like
watching it patiently in a like I don't know, it
just feels so like exciting and like what is to come?
We've already had so much hype with Prey on that
little stage, where is this bridge taking us sort of thing?
Speaker 1: Yeah, And then later on that bridge has the strings
players there and they're playing Darker still, right, which again
what we're just getting to that but what one moment
that is and again genuine heavy metal of their own making.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 1: The songs aren't dime a dozen, they're not beyond just
what the staging of the show is. The music they're
conveying with the setlers they're able to put together and
the different uh, not only there's different sides of their
personality in the kind of band that they have been,
but how individual and unique their own songs the present
day sound around everyone else, and they have that spirit
of the past with them. And I was just looking
at me, like, you guys get it, you know, like
you guys get what emotions heavy metal is meant to
inspire in a way that you know, it's no secret
I do find lacking in a lot of kind of
contemporary stuff that's aiming to be punching the way that
park Way Drither punching. And I don't think it's a
it's a coincidence that Parkway drives stand out so much
and feel so vital when that's in there. But it's
completely of their own making as well, and it's such
a natural meld of their own influences. Like we were saying,
you know, it really the peak of what a metal
arena show, certainly a heavy metal arena show should sort
of be like, particularly for a band of you know,
the modern era at the twenty first century. This is
absolutely what it should be represented by.
Speaker 3: It's just a really really special, really exciting thing to
get to witness. I love heavy metal, I have done
basically my whole life. But it's so rare that like
you get to be there for the metal moments. You know,
you're watching cunning stunts by Metallica decades after, you know,
like the big spectacular things you're not usually therefore but
see watching, especially like the song Darker Still I think
is so special. I think that song is really just
like stirring an incredible and the string players are going
off and Jeff is in the corner having a proper
like guitar he room moment. It's like, oh, this is
these are metal gods, you know, I really I just
loved every second of it. They're I mean, they're a
good band, aren't they.
Speaker 1: Yeah. And on that subject of seeing things as they
are happening and catching moments, right blood incantations absolutely else too,
which in terms of you know, we're doing it here
with the Parkway show, one of these shows is so
much more in terms of visuals and production and whatnot
than the other one. And in a way it kind
of it makes Blowing Contation look a little bit smaller
than they are, because the Block Pantation show itself is impressive,
but this is mental.
Speaker 2: We saw Blowing.
Speaker 1: Plantation in the Albert Hall in Manchester, which Paul did
make a little QUIPI was like, they asked if you
want to play the Albert Hall, and this one is
not the Albert Hall. I thought we were going to
be playing in the UK, but the Albert Hall in Manchester,
and I know they play. I think it might be
Shepherd's Bush in London. Someone could correct me if I'm
wrong there. But they are playing impressive venues for a
band who ten years ago. We're releasing The Interdimensional Extinction
EPH and I am not used to, like, you know,
death metal shows and black metal shows and whatnot are
my favorite type of shows to go to, at least
on a regular basis. It's just it's where I live.
I'm not used to seeing them blow up and reach
you know, the kind of bands who I mean, we'll
get into this when we talk about a support bill.
The kind of bands of Blowingctation have been surrounded with
in the underground and the kind of bands that excite me.
You don't see them here and I saw Bloingcatation doing
absolutely elsewhere for it's you know, for the first time
on British Soil when they played Incineration at this year
and they played the Roundhouse right, which obviously that was
part of the festival bill, but that was an incredible
setting for this. Seeing blowing actation on their own legs,
you know, their own headline tour venture into some similarly
grand venues. This is also seeing something special as it's happening,
because it certainly helps that they're doing it showcasing material
like absolute elsewhere, just as.
Speaker 3: Speak on the venue. This is because I'm not from Manchester.
I've not been to lots of gigs in Manchester. I
had no sort of context for how big the venue was.
It was when I walked in and I saw our
poster saying that kids in glasshouses were pointing there. That was, okay,
this is big stuff.
Speaker 2: The big guns.
Speaker 1: Yeah. And then you saw the fucking like awesome looking
church squ kind of glass windows that are on the side.
It's really like it's for just a vibe of like
a grand venue. It's the best one in Manchester I
think they could have done.
Speaker 3: At one point during the show, you turned to me
and said, I'm not used to seeing riffs like this
in a building that has stained glass.
Speaker 1: Windows, Yeah, because the first band was Sigeon, you know.
And this is the thing with Bland Contation's tour. Not
only is it them going up to these venues, but
also the package they brought along with them is the
exact kind of bands Blandcantation would always have this kind
of long standing kinship with, you know. In the case
of Sigeons specifically, you may if you heard our review
of that album earlier this year, you may remember details
like the fact that the front man in that band
was in a definite band for a long time called
Necros Christos and they're a band from again the real
depth of the death underground, that is the kind of
place where bands are Blood Incantation started, you know. So
they've not as soon as they've started to get some
like you know, transcending their scene level of hype or
or you know a Claid getting into fucking Forbe magazine
or whatever they did with with absolutely elsewhere, they've not
started to suddenly tour with acts who have nothing spiritually
to do with them. You know, they brought along Sigein
to open the fucking Albert Hall in Manchester, Sigein, who
on their own would play to fucking one hundred people
maybe in that city, and the main support at was Aranzipazuzu.
That as a bill is without a doubt. I think
the tour of the year for like forward thinking extreme
metal music like that is just unbelievable. Not only is
every single band incredible in their own way and really
distinct in their own way. There isn't a Diamer doesn't
band in there, and sidge In as the most sort
of straightforwardly metal band of the three of them are
a quite odd identifiable band. But the fact that the
three were so different and really collectively they represented such
spectrum of what you can do in extreme metal music
and still all play under the same ruth as part
of the same bill because you've got the same mission
in mind, was really amazing. So sidge In the first
band on put out that record of this year, which
is great. The fact that it was in this amazingly
grand setting and there's it's a three piece it's a
kind of eighty style death metal power trio is essentially
what it is. You've got the frontman there, who is
also the bassist in a motorhead shirt obviously channeling that
thing he's wearing like huge like Thrasher style high tops
as well. You've got a lead guitarist who's just headbanging
the whole way. He's got a big spiked bracers and
stuff on his wrists. And for everything that we'll say
about the the Bloinkotation Show being so you know, progressive
and kind of wild in its imagination and what not
on Reaching for the Cosmos, I thought it was so
cool to have this sort of refresher at the very
beginning of just the most fucking metal thing that you
were going to hear that night, the first thing of like,
you want riffs, you want speed metal, you want early
style death metal, you want, as I said, a power
trio fucking pommeling you and just rocking and looking cool
as shit as they do it in this amazing venue
as part of this absurd kind of touring package that's
going out. I just thought, again, it spoke volumes about
kind of the occasion itself that a band like Sidgeon
were there to you know, really just set you straight
on your way before the event kind of you know,
evolved out from there.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it felt really like Bill in particular the fact
that it's so underground like and blood Incantation now are
sort of on the precipice of I don't want to
say like I'm not going to be one of those
guys as hipster, but like an audience that might not
be too familiar.
Speaker 2: With for sure.
Speaker 1: Yeah bo I've had that for a while actually, but
there will certainly be more so now ll than ever.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah, So to consciously be like, here's sign this like
burrely just ravenous thrash metal, death metal, like powder Keg.
It was fucking it was so good.
Speaker 1: Yeah, his his religious insanity denying slavery. I've so, I've
spoken about Blood Cantation and a number of times a
Rancy Perzuzu live before, So I want to ask you
what you thought of a Rancy Perzuzu and then Blood
Cantation Live. Rancy Perzuzu is the main supporter for this.
There are something, aren't they?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm not you know, a big fan of a
Rancy Perzuzu on record, You'll be familiar with this. They
just too many noises for me? Cannd it scary? You know,
I'm a Panzy live. What the fucking matter is?
Speaker 1: Like?
Speaker 5: Somehow more intense they are the non records, so absurdly
heavy life, so intense. There are so many parts where
it just feels like the world underneath you is dropping
away as you are being consumed by the more of
fucking the abyss. It is nightmarishly heavy.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's an industrial nightmare, and from uh, lots of
it is there's just an unrelated noise going. They're just
not gnarring throughout. It's just like it's so loud, it's
so oppressive. And also something I forgot about their material
is they have jump scares.
Speaker 2: They do so every once in a while.
Speaker 3: I was separated from you at that point. I was
sat with our mutual friend Mail and after every five minutes,
Mail with giggle because I would literally jump because they
just random and go mad whatever I mean.
Speaker 1: They ended on the song from the latest album that
has the kind of extended harsh noise drop at.
Speaker 2: The very end of it.
Speaker 1: And I've seen that song. I've seen him about three
times on this particular album cycle, so I'm sort of,
you know, I'm accustomed to it, but that bit will
just make me before in disbelief every time they do it.
And the fact that that was what they ended on
this time just sort of let like completely wrecked everything.
I mean, the one guitarist who's not the vocalist, who
genuinely looks like he like his his eyes are somewhere else,
you know, like he's not there on that stage, like
he is absolutely beaming out somewhere else, and you can
tell and how he's moving, just destroying things sonically.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I want to make it clear I did enjoy it.
I really admire how brazenly extremely.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I just wanted you to say it as I
kind of like, watch this almost like a just a
testament that what I've been saying all these years is
not bullshit.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: I just wanted to kind of have the evidence that
they're crazy.
Speaker 3: You're right, You've had to put up with almost a
decade of May being like, Nope, poo poop band for
stinky silly heads. This is a band for silly billies.
But no, you're right. They're fucking so heavy, so extreme,
And there was what I liked about it is there
songs that start almost danceable. Yeah they have, they get
a bit of a groove, they get a bit of
a flow, and I'm like, yeah, I'm vibing with this.
I'm nodding my head and then suddenly suddenly it's Goblin
time again and I'm jumping out my skin.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And the fact that they were so like they
had the heavy band of the night right like sandwiched
in between Sidgeon and Blood and Tantation, but only one
of those bands is as again like mind gnawingly devastating
when they fully commit to it as a rented zuzu.
But Blood Cantation have different things going on. Like I said,
I spoke about the you know, sort of live premiere
in the UK of Absolutely Elsewhere Incineration festival a number
of months ago, so everything about how the material translates
to the stage and whatnot, as well as the staging
with the kind of the light show and the big
monoliths on either side and all that stuff I have
spoken about before. But once again, Mark, you enjoyed Absolutely
Elsewhere because it is I mean not many people didn't
enjoy it, but as a big, clear progressive landmark for
heavy music for the last few years, I think it
was up your ally. How did you find seeing it
in the live environment?
Speaker 3: It is mad because like I've known about Blood Incantation
over ten years because of the company I keep, and
similar to the Parkway thing where like my image of
Blood Incantation is that EP with the black and white
cover with the planet in the sky. Yeah, I obviously
I know they've changed, and I love absolutely elsewhere. I've
heard all the material and stuff, but actually just sort
of contending in my own brain that that's the same
band is so mad. It's a really accomplished show. It's
really quite like, considering the level of band they are,
it's quite spectacular when they have the really bright, like
you know, really bright lights just sort of cutting between
their legs and like going crazy. It felt like watching
Pink Floyd or something, especially when they have the two
like pillars next to them. They have such a keen
eye for who they are and like what they want
to bring to them. They had like a guy playing
keys and stuff. It was a really impressive show.
Speaker 2: I really loved it.
Speaker 1: I mean, a guy playing keys who you know in
the first song Elsewhere pretty early on gets a dramatic
since solo, and that's the point where you got a
we're in good company here, you know the night is
gonna go well with a cinser like that is being
peeled out, and then you know, not long after that
the I think already quite legendary, big early Morris guitar
solo in the first song absolutely elsewhere is everyone is
just like all eyes on Morris the lead guitarist. When
he's doing that solo, it's just impeccable. But again, I've
spoken about all of this before, but all of the
ins and outs of when they will move down into
that incredible pink Floydian passage in the middle of the message,
only for the full on, galloping, legit heavy metal charge
to kind of push through the back of it once again.
The massive crescendo part the ends the album. Just I
cannot help myself from like fully ecstatically throwing my fists
in the air and punching along with it, because it
is one of the most euphoric live heavy metal musical
moments of to you know, be kind of put out
there in the last few years. It was fucking just unbelievable.
I think again, the show I saw Incineration had the
wow factor of seeing all kind of put up there
beyond your sort of wildest dreams almost. But I'm really
happy that they've been able to you know, kind of
take it around. I mean, they've been going across America,
They've be across Europe. I'm sure they're going to go
to probably Japan and places like that, and they kind
of taking it around the world as much as they
can do. And it does feel like the Absolute else
tour is kind of a bit of a it's leaving
a real trail. You know. What was novel for me
this time is because in the last sort of ten
years or so they Blanck Consation never actually made it
up north in the UK and they'd never come to
Manchester before. So this was my first time once they
finished the album, getting to see anything prior to Absolute Elsewhere.
Speaker 2: And I have I have been a blan Condition fan.
Speaker 1: For ten years, but this was my first time getting
to see anything from Hidden History of the Human Race, Starsporn,
the Intimate Extinction EP, which when they went from you
know that the album and then they didn't leave the
stage or anythingt Firth just went, Okay, now we're going
to play something from Hidden History record.
Speaker 2: This is the Geezer power.
Speaker 1: Plant and that song is I mean, now it's almost
more for I compared to Absolutely Elsewhere, but.
Speaker 2: Fucking hell, incredible song.
Speaker 1: That record is a death metal classic of the modern
era as much as anything else, and the moment of
disbelief this equivalent here of Parkway doing their killing with
a smile Medley being in a venue like the one
we were in and they play the Fifth Tablet from
the Interdimensional Extinction EP, which I think Paul even induced.
It's like, this is a song from the demo and
that is the buying station that I was introduced to,
and it is I can see the through line, I
very much. I see them as the same bands, and
the band who had a kind of almost a game
plan of what they were doing from day one, but
to jump back in time sonically and recognize in real
time there how much denser and how much more heavy
going even and how much more suffocating. Something like that
first EP is when they're playing the fifth Tablet in
this incredible venue after playing absolutely elsewhere, was like getting
kind of delirious, like five minutes of just being beaten
to a pulp and not knowing from which direction the
fifth are flying.
Speaker 3: No, Yeah, similar to Parkway really in the sort of
Parkways contemporaries. I guess I did sort of go into
this thinking, well, they'll play you know, hidden history songs.
I don't know how far back to I'll go. And
when he was talking about this is a song from
the demo, I was like that mister Crabs were the
world swirling around him, that little black and white del
And I imagine.
Speaker 1: There's probably a lot of people who have heard Absolutely Elsewhere,
who have you know, jumped a ball with that record,
been like Wow, this record so amazing and so progressive
when they've come to the show to check it out.
But they might not have gone back and heard that record, and.
Speaker 2: That that would be that would be the jump scare
of like, oh.
Speaker 1: God, what is this.
Speaker 2: So I love? That's the.
Speaker 3: Maybe it's just because the band they are now and
that band is performing those songs, you can still you
can see a little bit. Yeah, maybe not Absolute Elsewhere,
but at least hidden history of the human race. You
can see like there's a little tales of riffs and
stuff done a bit. You can see where they're gonna
go sort of.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Really, like I said, for its World and Its realm,
basically the tour of the year, and you know, if
Absolute Elsewhere comes back around again, or if it reaches
wherever you may be listening, it's you've got to catch it.
Just as much as you've got to catch what what
Parkway have been doing two unbelievable events, and we have
spent about forty five minutes or something just talking about those.
Speaker 2: So we've got really quick here.
Speaker 1: But Mark, you also very very recently saw a to
all that I wasn't able to make, but the big
kill Switch Engage Hate Breeding Co extravaganza. Like I said,
very quick, kill Switch was good. I imagine, wasn't it.
Speaker 3: Ah, they the best. They're just such a well oiled,
just melt corn machine. I've seen pill Switch a bunch.
I love them every time. They're the best.
Speaker 1: Yeah before Oh yeah, the.
Speaker 3: New stuff is pretty good, like it's slots in well
you can there's a noticeable dip in enthusiasm for it.
But like I saw them in twenty sixteen and then
there was that dip of enthusiasm for like Hate by
Design and stuff, and now Hate by Design absolutely goes off.
So I'm sure, like I don't know, they're an old band.
People are always like this with new songs. I'm sure
like songs like I believe will stick around and really.
Speaker 2: Like grow on people.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know again, we're quite a number of that
came a sort of February didn't it that record, So
we're like almost the whole year later now, and it's
not one that I think is going to go down
as one of the finest in metal records of the year,
but I still like it well enough, and songs like
Forever Aligned are still you know, I can still sing
that song, so I'm sure that those songs will you know,
stick around in their place as much. You say you've
never seen hate Prey before, so that was a bonus, right.
Speaker 3: Oh So, like I've been coming on stage and immediately
bloying I will be heard fucking behave oh my god,
guys that I knew it was coming, and I was
still like, they can't be that as insane, that's stupid,
and like to the threshold I fucking love like this
is not. Oh my god. The crud was going bat shit.
Everyone was going crazy for Hatbrid. I don't think Hatbrid
had played to Scotland and ages like oh best band
just oh an amazing night.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I know that they played that Starr and
Garters show in the last couple of days as well,
and I think I thought I saw someone online side
They open with empty promises at that show, So I
really want to see something from that. But yeah, that
would be fucking crazy as well, wouldn't it. But yeah,
what a what a what a crazy week of stuff.
We haven't even mentioned the fact they saw on Newfound
Glory as well, which, to quote you earlier, I don't
need a lot of time to say I enjoyed a
New Glory show.
Speaker 3: They're one of my favorite bands.
Speaker 2: I loved it.
Speaker 3: I was a giddy little teen. I was boning up
and down the whole show. I did notice you didn't
know you didn't cover that there and know it's the
new record, very exciting, We're all excited. It's going to
be the record of the twenty sixteen. Twenty sixteen fuck me.
Speaker 2: I mean, there's a Friday and slip about far in
the past.
Speaker 3: It's called me new record makes me sick. It's going
to be the best record you've ever heard.
Speaker 1: Mainly just because I talked to you and Sam a lot,
but I'm sure i've heard you talking about how good
actually the new songs are.
Speaker 2: So we might have mentioned it.
Speaker 3: Oh they're really good.
Speaker 2: Yeah, at some point I loved it.
Speaker 1: Yeah there you go. Yeah, okay, good, Like we said,
what a spectacular couple of weeks for shows. That is
the bulk of today's episodes, which got a little bit
of news here to go through. We are going to
skip over the big story of the last week or
so in rock and metal of you know, certain people
who have been involved with it, because what is there
more to offer? You know, the vultures are out there
having their fun. I'm just struck by what a bleak,
pointless end to such a waste of a life.
Speaker 2: But there you go.
Speaker 1: That's that's you know, that's out there from everyone else.
We can talk like some new music instead. First up,
we're going to talk about Mole, who are releasing what
I guess is a pretty long awaited album at this
point has been out four years now since their last record,
Dire Arma, which was very well liked at the time.
I have wandered a couple times. I was like, where
are Mole? What a what a Mole up to? But
they've got a new album called dream Crush that's coming
out in January of twenty six, January the thirtieth, and
there's a song that they've released called Garland And it's
nice that this has come out the week that you're here.
Mark on the show because I think out of out
of all of us who are involved with T and M,
I think you're probably the biggest Mole fan because they
make the kind of black metal that is so you,
which is black metal that is so bright and flowery.
It's arguably barely black belt. But do you excite I
for a new Mole? I'm sure, Particularly when I played
this song and it begins, it's just it's an indie song.
There's there's barely any metal in the guitar. At first,
the guy is just singing a nice clean melody. Eventually
you get a bit of you know, screech screechy. But
this is continuing their trajectory that has gone album one
album I think of getting ever brighter and you know,
less sharp edged.
Speaker 2: I suppose.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 3: It does start immediately sounding like when the sun hits
by slow Dive, which I appreciate. It's funny like when
I press play and it was immediately clean vocal, I
was like, oh shit, is this infinite granite? Is this shelter?
Speaker 1: I thought about infinite granite as well. I think there
probably might be some even though I said that a
black vocal and a bit of you know, a slight
bit of heaviness does come in. I'm I think there
might be some similarities.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I hope. So what I really like about More
is Well is that they've popified black gaze. They've written
pop songs. And what I like about this is is
the verses that are clean and the choruses that are
black metally is the chorus that is screeched, and the
rest of it is quite clean and nindie rock, like
you say, you know, they're following our formula, but it's
fun that little switch of like, yeah, usually it's the
verses that are the screamed ones and then the chorus
is clean, and all have switched that. And I really
like the bridge where they have a really quite circular,
like whittling guitar lead. That's really lovely. I love the
more they're just like my lovely little boys.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I liked the I suppose again during the sort
of the slightly heavier chorus, I did like the guitar
melody that kind of comes through and spiral through.
Speaker 2: It's good. Yeah they are.
Speaker 1: They're they're soft and fuzzy black metal rather than you know,
but you know, it's nice, maybe a little lightweight, but
it is nice, and I am curious to see how
much kind of the rest of the record might because
the dire Arma felt like a bit of a you know,
certainly an evolution, if not a departure from the first
record yored, and I wonder if you know, this record
might suggest a similar kind of you know, elaboration in that.
So I'm curious about that. We've also got new Rob Zombie, who,
speaking of I guess the inverse of someone who doesn't
really elaborate or evolve that much. But I really I'm
always down for Rob Zombie. Like I generally, I like
every single record he is released as a solo artist
to some degree or another, and whenever they turn up,
I'm always happy to have them. I'm always happy to
have ten more, fifteen more whatever industrial dance metal tunes
with the guy going yeah and singing about you know,
devils and gremlins and all this stuff. So, considering it's
been a few years, I was quite pleased by this announcement.
The record is called The Great Satan. It's gonna be
out in February, and there's a song that's out called
Punks and Demons, and it is two and a half
minutes long, and it sounds kind of like ministry this one,
like it's a really it's an old school nineties quite
tight and terse industrial, you know, punk metal kind of song,
which might as well have Rob Zombie doing that in
twenty twenty six as it will be sure yeah fun.
Speaker 3: Yeah, That's what I like about robs On is he's
Rob Zombie. He doesn't really change, except he will sort
of lean into different sides of his persona, like you'll
be a little bit more like rockabilly cow boy on
one record, and on this one it sounds like he's
going proper industrial.
Speaker 2: I can't remember.
Speaker 3: I remember really liking the last Rob Zombie album, yeah,
but I don't remember it being that heavy. And then
press and play on this and being like, oh yeah,
he's really fucking going for it.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, Like I said, it does have that kind
of you know, ministry style nineties industrial, like harsh, grinding
kind of metal, which is a cool flavor to hear.
I imagine there probably will be some silly high jinks
on the record and him singing about ghost trains and
that kind of shit, which I fully endorse and welcome
as they come. But yeah, a hard little Rob zombie
song and a new album's coming out in February No Doubt.
If you find yourself curious about what's been going on
with a No Doubt reunion, that's kind of appeared in
the last sort of year or so, haven't they, With
them performing some high profile US states. They're currently slotted
to do twelve dates at the Las Vegas Sphere, which
I feel like is I don't know, maybe the perfect
environment for No Doubt to play. Whether it will venture
out and I don't know, come anywhere else or go
bigger than that, I don't know, but twelve dates in
Las Vegas sound like a No Doubt in twenty twenty
six thing to be doing here in the UK, Incineration Festival,
speaking of it earlier, have added a couple more names
to their lineup for next year. They have added none
other than Dragged into Sunlight onto next year's bill. It's
the first time they're playing Incineration Festival. It's the first
time they're playing London since twenty seventeen, I think, which
would have been the time that I saw them supporting Mayhem.
What a mad little tour that was. But Dragon to
Sunlight returning to the capital for the first time in
nearly a decade, and Dragged to Sunlight Live. We've spoken
a lot about it, particularly a Damnation a couple of
years ago. If you have a chance to see it
over here, there is absolutely nothing like them. The other
announcement on this which has kind of slipped out, you know,
slightly more seen because maybe the band aren't as currently
revered as I Dragged into Sunlight, But they also added
a Feather and Bone to the Incineration lineup, and I
had kind of been hoping that Incineration Festival next year
could be maybe missible just because you know, you know
what it's like, there's a lot of stuff on you
figure out what you're doing.
Speaker 2: Whatever.
Speaker 1: The stuff that's added to Incinerations so far is great,
but a lot of it is stuff that I've seen before,
seen regularly whatever. This is the first thing that they've
added to maybe go. Oh, for fuck's sake, because a
feather and Bone. I mean, I have a horrible personal
mishap in terms of me being supposed to see a
Feather and Bone live. That did not happen the way
it was planned to do. They have been kind of
silent for a few years, but they think they are
working on a new record that might surface next year
and this. If you don't know Feather and Bone, they
are one of the most violent, absolutely devastating death metal
bands of the modern era. I'm really excited that they're
coming back in general, but a UK Datingcineration Festival next year.
For me, so far as sort of deeper polls on
it is the thing that's made me most go oh,
I could do.
Speaker 2: I didn't know.
Speaker 3: I didn't know they were even though now it's like
I like a feather and Bull and I love you know,
it's like an extreme metal fall part but it's so
cavernous in cave many.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's like.
Speaker 3: Getting fucked over the head with the log over and over.
It's so heavy. That's exciting that they're coming back out
no idea.
Speaker 1: Yeah, devastating stuff. If you don't know, I Feather and
Bow because they have been about five years since our
last record and you're interested in you know, you've been
been peaked by the Incineration lineup so far. Definitely don't
miss them. Go and check out their records because they
are something that is awesome. Sun this week surprise kind
of resurfaced. I guess being on a bit of a
bit of a downtime for a little while, but they
have an outs. They signed to sub Pop, bizarrely considering
one of their members owns Southern Lord Records that they've
usually put out their stuff through, where they signed a
sub Pop you know, legendary in the indie alternative label.
And they released a surprise EP this week as well,
which is called Eternity's Pillars and Raised the Chalice and Reverential.
So it's basically just the songs that are on the
record mark you asked me for this. You were like,
do I have to listen to a surprise Sun EP?
And I was like, don't worry, it's okay. It is.
It's drone, you know, it's as Actually it's really like
stripped back, almost like old school Son, just pure guitar
feedback kind of stuff. But Son are back and maybe
we'll see some more activity from them soon as well.
And news I guess came as we were kind of
finishing up last week's episode my Dyne Bride have announced
that Aaron Stainthorpe is officially out of the band. This
has been a really weird saga where Aaron, who has
been made Bride's only vocalist since their early days in
the you know, the beginning of the nineteen nineties. They've
never changed singers at all. They're just seemed to be
this bizarre disconnect between the band and him, where he
was out doing this other band. He's got high parasite
my dayne Bride started doing show with another singer who
wasn't Aaron, and if you followed interviews between them, it
just seems to be a weird miscommunication, Like both sides
are saying, we haven't heard from him, we haven't heard
from them, like they're just I don't know why they
haven't just spoken to each other and sorted it out.
It's fucking weird. I'm not surprised to see this announcement
officially happen, which is you know, Aaron basically being you know,
kind of removed from the band. More officially, I said,
not surprised by it, but it is a real shame
because my damn Bride, the band of thirty five years
or so, unavoidably are now no lot going to really
be that same band to quite that degree. Like Aaron
is so central to what that band had been for
thirty five years, and I'm sure the current Madame Bride
shows are at least good, you know, they're at least
well well done, tasteful, perhaps even I don't know, I
haven't seen it, and maybe there is room for them
to at some point in a couple year, once they've
sort of their shit out, I don't know, fix it
and get and get it together. So I don't really
know what's happened here, but certainly major news that my
din Bride unavoidably will not be the same entity that
they had been for their entire career.
Speaker 2: And if you ask me, my Dayne Bride I.
Speaker 1: One of extreme music's great bands of their world, of
that whole time. So yeah, like I said, not surprise,
but confirmation of what seemed kind of obvious I suppose. Yeah,
So that is our news this week. I will mention
that over on the That's Not Metal Patreon this week
patron of the com slash That's notun Metal we did
just before I went out to Budapest, so it's been
up there for a few days now.
Speaker 2: We put out the.
Speaker 1: Nola Sludge special that we have been working on for
quite a while. We being myself, Sam and Elliott getting
together and we essentially the aim of It was to
kind of give you a guided tour of that scene,
that genre, where came from. What is its kind of
distinct local character. What do we mean when we talk
about Nola sludge in comparison to any other thing from
any other area of the world, whether it may be,
And particularly if you are kind of curious about that sound,
if you know maybe the biggest records, but you don't
know everything about it, you haven't gone dived into some
of these legendary bands, whether it be I Hate God
or Crowbar or whatever, kind of give you a whistlestop
tour of their catalogs and how these bands evolve. What
are the records you really need to hear? What is
their offering to this world, so to speak, which is
very distinct from band to band. I Hate God, don't
sound like Crowbar? Who don't sound like Corosia Conformity, who
don't sound like Acid Bath. You've got down there as
the sort of supergroup combination of a lot of these things.
And this first part we put out is about three
and a half hours long, and we were talking about
the glory years of the nineteen nineties with where this
genre came from and these incredible runs that these bands
like I Hate God and Crowbar and Corrosia Conformity put
out during those years. And really I was almost like,
you know, it's a sort of a form out of
a special us doing this kind of like scene deep
dive that we hadn't quite done in a while. So
I was not apprehensive, but you know, I was quite
sure exactly how it would turn out. I was really
pleased with it at the end when we finished, I
was like, ah, yeah, that was great. Three hours of
just talking about again in as comprehensive but also efficient
a manner as we can, these incredible bands from this scene.
So that is there for you. If you want to
dive into the swamp and hear about some of the
biggest medius riffs, I'll jump on that.
Speaker 3: I'm about halfway through. I'm really enjoying it. Obviously sludge
is not I think I know a lot about so
I'm a good candidate to listen to this. Like I'm
learning a lot. At one point when you're like, oh, yeah,
this particular band have about a six album run, and
I'm like, fuck me, I didn't. I had no idea, Like,
and I'm listening to grow Bar Records listening to our
hear Girl's records, like this is really an education for
me and I'm really enjoying the special.
Speaker 1: Yeah, thank you. And we also speak about again if
you've heard all of the Crowbar records or the I
Hate God records or whatever, there's also some of the
slightly deeper cut bands from this scene again this period
of nineties. Maybe band who only released a record or two,
but we're, you know, involved with this kind of movement.
We're trying to really dig out as much as we
can while we do this. When we go into the
second part of this special in a couple of weeks time,
we will be continuing this story onwards into the millennium,
seeing what these bands, you know, contemporary output is like.
Speaker 2: And yeah, we're having a real.
Speaker 1: Lot of fun getting sludgy with it and getting really
really waist deep in the mucky stuff. But if you
are curious about that style of music, then this is
definitely the special for you. So that is a Patren
dot com slash that's not metal. And let's end today
with some releases. And first up the first pint I've
got this This is all Time Low right, and their
album is called Everyone's Talking I need to preface this
with everything that I might be alluding to here is
you know, alleged, alleged so on. But when I saw
the All Time Low, we're releasing an album this week,
and I pulled it up and I saw the album
cover with this title, and they are dressed to kind
of look like essentially they're the Wiggles, right like, it's
kind of they are all wearing different brightly colored children's
entertainer type outfits, and the logo of the the album
you know name is kind of in this big garish,
multi colored children's party type style.
Speaker 2: What is going on with this?
Speaker 1: I don't know.
Speaker 2: Is this like bait?
Speaker 1: Is this kind of is this a self referential thing?
Because again, you know, this is all alleged and whatnot.
But al taime, Laura Aban, who have developed in recent
years a certain reputation amongst certain areas of the rock audience,
coming out with this album title and cover is either,
as I say, baits or the most tone death piece
of kind of album marketing I've maybe ever seen. I
was like aghast when I pulled up this album cover.
Speaker 2: No, yeah, I.
Speaker 3: There's no way it's self aware, but it does look
like a gold like a ton. It is so stupid.
It looks like it's such a bad look. Guys.
Speaker 2: Fuck me, everyone's talking exclamation mark. It's like, as I
say that, the what are they're talking about?
Speaker 3: Oh?
Speaker 1: It has to be the worst piece of like album
branding this year staggering but all time. Those new album
is out now. Sabaton's new album is also out. It's
called Legends. It sounds like Saboton. They are speaking about
legends of history like Napoleon and Julius Caesar and all
all of these people. And I've listened to the Sabaton album.
I will listen to it more. My first impression of
my listen I gave it was I really like the
first track and the rest of it. I need to
spend some time with it. There's at least one big
pumpa on there.
Speaker 3: It's progressive, it takes a lot a lot of I
really sulking Sabaton album.
Speaker 1: Yeah it sounds like Sabaton, but yeah, Sabatan, you are
out now. And if you are a big Scandinavian metal pumpa,
then you might also follow that up with the Battle
Beast album, which is called steel Bound. Mark. You've been
on one with the fucking singles from this Battle Beast album,
aren't you? Yeah?
Speaker 3: I am? But also I always am with the Battle Beast.
This happens every time Battlebeast release an album. I'm messaging
you like, oh if you heard the new battle Bee song,
it's really good, mate, and You're like, I better know
what sounds like and I'm like, no, trust me, it's
better than that.
Speaker 2: I don't know what it is.
Speaker 3: I just have this fixation on this band forever. Anyone
who hasn't heard Battle Beast, They're like Eurovision Metal. It's
super like I don't know, do just pic Turbo meets
a bit more Para metal is super poppy, but tr
us me. The singles from this album are very good
and I'm very excited for the whole thing.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, they've always got some songs that I like,
and certainly Sabatine and Battlebeast. If that's your your flavor,
that's a fun double to fix you up tomorrow. Then
one of the kind of breakout stars of the last
couple of years from the worlds of kind of hardcore
and alternative that sort of blending point military Gun I've
got their record called God Save the Gun. Old school
hardcore absolute legends. Bio Hazard are back with their first record,
and I think about thirteen years the kind of reformed,
you know, sort of classic line up of bio Hazard,
I believe, finally put out a record called Divided We Fall,
and believe it or not, the last Buyer Hazard record,
back in about twenty twelve had at least one or
two songs I remember really really like. I actually listened
to a lot at the time, and I like that record. Yeah, yeah,
So I'm going to check out the new bio Hazard
and I'm sure it's gonna be a lot of fun
because bia Hazard a great. Then this is a band
called eighty four Tigers. This is kind of this is
your again, sort of like alternative rock leaning world. I
believe there are members of the Swellers and some other
bands involved in this band. They've got recorded nothing ends.
But this is crazy because on the last episode we did,
we had the band called fifty Lions, which is the
Australian hardcore band, and now we were eighty four Tigers.
What is this sort of trend of just large amounts
of specifically big cats. But I suppose it could be
like if the next week we've got one hundred and
twelve pumas or something, and then there are something. There's
something going on, there's some kind of escalation t who
can up it's so specific eighty four Tigers, but they
are out there. Another comeback record comes from Coroner, the
really interesting and kind of individual, idiosyncratic, sort of technical
but gradually leaning into big, fat, stompy groove thrash metal
band from Switzerland from the nineteen eighties and early nineteen nineties.
They have put their first record since then, so we're
talking like thirty something years. I didn't I imagine we
were going to be get agg a Coroner record, but
they have got a new album out called Dissonance Theory,
so I would definitely be interested to check that out.
If you like big, stompy, groovy death metal, then there
is an aunt called Tribal Gaze who have got a
record out called Inveighing Brilliance and more kind of pioneers
of the brutal death metal and slamming style Internal Bleeding.
I've got a record called Settle All Scores. The legendary
American funeral doom band Evocan, in my opinion, one of
the best bands in that realm of funeral doom. Their
record Mendacium is out. They only put records out about
every seven eight nine years. The last one was like
a World War One themed record, came out about twenty eighteen.
Speaker 2: It was really good.
Speaker 1: So I'm going to be checking out the new Evocan record.
I didn't even realize this was out until I was looking.
But the kind of American post black metal band Tombs
have got a record out called Feral Darkness, so that's exciting.
The I believe Danish kind of atmospheric black metal band Afski,
who have kind of, you know, made a bit of
a name themselves in the last few years. They've got
a record called Falis I believe that. I'm going to
say that, but that's out and increasingly going into more
kind of like avant garde and esoteric realms of black
metal and black metal related genres. There is the band
wolven Nest with procession and a Polish band called Zart
with a C in the beginning, and Zartipolski is the
name of that record out on. I think Theesons have missed.
But this is like a kind of Americana Gothic country
type record. A band called Skull and Dawn. I've got
a record out called The Harvest, and I didn't know
what this was, but I looked at the guests who
are on this record, and it's got like Okey from Bowlzer,
It's like singing on this record and stuff like. I
don't know who's involved with this, but you know, interesting
bunch of names at least. And there are a few
EPs for you out today. For me, the one that
I am excited to hear comes from unto others who recently,
I think it was just last week, announced that they
are going to be releasing I Believe in Halloween two,
the second installment in what they said was planned to
be a yearly event. They got kind of sidetracked in
turn out to be a yearly thing. But they are
bringing back the I Believe in Halloween EP series, the
first one, which had two tracks on it is fucking great.
I still listen to that EP, particularly Out in the
Darkness Well, Out in the Graveyard Sorry is one of
my actual favorite on two others songs, and this EP
has got three new songs on it. There's one that's
out that I've heard that's kind of crazy. It's really
fast and really like the nasty side of onto others.
And it's also going to finally feature the recorded version
of their cover of The Misfits Halloween that they have
been doing for ages and if you hadn't already heard it,
their version of pet Cemetery by the Ramoments is also
featuring on this again because of course it had to
but exciting new spooky theme unto others out now. There's
also from the world of hardcore out on Pure Noise Records.
There is the band Spaced with a record called No Escape.
There is of course that surprise sun EP I mentioned earlier,
Eternity's Pillars Raised, the Chad's Reverential and the very theatrical,
fairy tale style symphonic black metal band Carrick and Gren
are back with an EP called The Cult of ca.
So that is your lot for this hyperblast, this random
releases this day. Thank you very much for listening. We
will be back next week with the reviews actually for October,
where we are going to be talking about some of
these big and bold and interesting records. It's one of
the most stacked months of the year. A lot of
exciting albums that we are going to be putting under
the Ninth in next week's episode, and do let us
know what your experiences were. If you made it out
to Parkway Drives Incredible Anniversary tour, if you made it
to Bloody Cantations, absolutely else tour and anything else has
been going on. If you were at Hate Print, Star
and Garter to show, please let me know how that was.
But yeah, we'll be back next week. Cheers everybody.
Speaker 4: Bye,