Metal Shop's Backstage Pass

Cirith Ungol is gearing up to release their long anticipated comeback album "Forever Black" next week! Listen to the newest member Jarvis Leatherby talk about how he got the band to reunite and how he joined the band. Plus he gives us a run down of what's up with his other band Night Demon. 

Lindsay O'Connor is a  beast of a metal vocalist who is currently in the bands Coma Cluster Void, Eyes of Perdition and Catenation. She is also a featured vocalist on the new game DOOM ETERNAL. Gnarly! We talk everything from her DOOM experience to a little quarantine chat, her musical inspirations and some of her favorite all time albums. 

We were able to meet Incendiary vocalist Brendan Garrone last year when his band came through on tour. I caught up with him via Zoom app to talk about how he's handling everything during this stay at home order, how things are in NYC and some of his favorite albums to clear his mind. - Kevin

Code Orange recently released their mammoth new album Underneath and executed one of the most unique record release shows ever - an immersive live stream to an empty venue that's an absolute must see. I hopped on the phone with vocalist Jami Morgan to chat about stepping up front and becoming the full time vocalist, the new album, early inspirations and what it's been like working with WWE. - Kevi...

The Black Dahlia Murder is gearing up to release their new album "Verminous" next Friday, so Kevin hopped on the phone with vocalist Trevor Strnad to talk about dropping an album during a pandemic, some of his favorite death metal right now, Dungeons and Dragons and much much more! 

Today is the Day is a very unique and powerful noise rock / metal band that has to be seen live to truly understand. Kevin chatted on the phone with TDIT frontman / mastermind Steve Austin about the band's new album, what it was like to cancel a tour in the middle of it, what his life is currently like, some of his musical inspiration and much much more. 

You might know Tom Sheehan as the vocalist of NYHC bands Indecision and Most Precious Blood. Or you might know him as one of the three hosts of the popular hardcore/lifestyle podcast Axe To Grind. Kevin chatted on the phone with Tom about how things are going in NYC during the stay-at-home order and how he's managing to stay safe and sane while still working his highly essential day job. 

Greyhawk just premiered "Dont Wait for the Wizard" from their upcoming album "Keepers of the Flame" and it's AWESOME! Kevin hopped online to chat with their bassist Darin Wall to talk about the new album, his early musical inspirations, his favorite kinds of beer, his other band Skelator, playing with Ross the Boss, home workouts, the craziness of this pandemic and a little wrestling talk. Stay tu...

Kevin hopped online to chat with Xibalba guitarist Brian Ortiz about their brand new upcoming album along with lots of Sopranos talk, ranking his favorite death metal bands, his favorite quotable movies, growing up in the Pomona hardcore punk scene and they also chat about his side projects.  

Kevin hopped online to chat with Xibalba guitarist Brian Ortiz about their brand new upcoming album along with lots of Sopranos talk, ranking his favorite death metal bands, his favorite quotable movies, growing up in the Pomona hardcore punk scene and they also chat about his side projects. 

Kevin met up with Marshall, Roger and Joe from Southern California hardcore/metal band The Warriors for a few slices of pizza before their show at El Corazon on February 2th. They chatted about the making of their new album “Monomyth”, some of their early influences, being back out on the road again after some time away and some things they’re excited for in 2020.

Badass up-and-coming Northwest doom band SORCIA joined us in studio this week to chat about their band, where they come from, their musical influences and even some of their musical family roots.  Tune in til the end to hear their debut single! 

Kevin sat down with metal guitar icon Ross the Boss before his show at El Corazon in Seattle. Ross formed both The Dictators and Manowar, two legendary bands! He then continued to rock with Ross the Boss and many other badass projects.  Kevin and Ross chat about everything from his favorite guitarists of all time and how he started playing guitar to just why Manowar fans are so diehard. ...

Metal legend Max Cavalera truly needs no introduction. The man behind Soulfly, Nailbomb, Sepultura and Cavalera Conspiracy allowed Kevin on his bus before his gig at El Corazon to chat about a bunch of nerdy metalhead topics including  - some of his favorite underground metal bands  - what he's been listening to  - some odd music we might not expect him to be into  - what histo...

Leveled is an up-and-coming metal band from South Florida who released a KILLER 7 song EP toward the end of 2019 called "No One To Save You." Kevin chatted with vocalist Xavier and guitarist Chad about the origins of their project, how touring has changed over the last decade, their love for Slipknot and pro wrestling and some of their all time favorite Florida bands + we get to hear a song from t...

Tim "Ripper" Owens is a legendary vocalist within the world of heavy metal! He has performed and recorded with Judas Priest, Iced Earth, Yngwie Malmsteen's Rising Force, Charred Walls of the Damned and many many more.  His newest project is The Three Tremors - a supergroup comprised of three distinct metal vocalists performing together. Though it's not a really long interview, it was awesome...

Take Offense is a killer crossover hardcore/thrash band from the San Diego / Chula Vista area that's playing at the Vera Project on January 26th with Higher Power. They released an incredible album called "Keep an Eye Out" in 2019 and have had a hell of a run this past decade.  Kevin chatted with guitarist Greg Cerwonka for an hour about everything from his early influences, growing up going...

On February 28th, Intronaut will release their first album in 5 years entitled "Fluid Existential Inversions" via Metal Blade Records. We spoke with Intronaut vocalist/guitarist Sacha Dunable about a variety of things including but not limited to ... - His guitar company Dunable Guitars - The new album - Magic mushrooms - Scars - His favorite metal bands - Karaoke picks Enjoy! and make sure you su...

Red Death is a killer crossover thrash / hardcore band from Washington DC that will be playing the Vera Project in Seattle on January 19th.  Kevin got on the phone to chat with bassist/vocalist Chad Troncale from Red Death to chat about a variety of things including  - Their new album "Sickness Divine" -Signing to Century Media  - Growing up listening to Nirvana and early punk bands...

Happy New Year! Kick 2019 square in the ass as we toss it out to the trash and count down the top 30 metal albums of the year. From Killswitch Engage to Tomb Mold, from Knocked Loose to Alcest – find out if your favorite album made our list!

Last week we met up with Cattle Decapitation guitarist Josh Elmore backstage at El Corazon to chat about everything from the influence of his childhood heavy metal magazine collection to the new album “Death Atlas”, the end of the world and even getting paid 1 dollar for a show. Enjoy! 

"The Late" Cathy Faulkner came back to the world of Metal Shop this past Saturday night, so you know we had to let her in on the Brutal Poetry fun. Check out Cathy reading some Cannibal Corpse lyrics! 

Ryan The Beard sat down with Chad Gray before Hellyeah's Seattle concert at El Corazon last week to discuss the legacy of Vinnie Paul, early musical inspirations and the long term effects of repeated hits to the skull from a microphone. Enjoy! 

Ian sat down with members of the Iowa melodic hardcore band Modern Life Is War before their show at Vera Project to talk about reuniting the band, new music in 2020, early influences, growing up on Seattle music and more.  The 2 songs that appear in the interview are from "Tribulation Worksongs Vol.1" and "Tribulation Worksongs Vol. 2".  Check out more from Modern Life Is War here&n...

"Singing about rotting corpses has worked out ok for me."  Kevin and Ryan the Beard sat down with Exhumed guitarist/vocalist Matt Harvey before their show this past Friday night at the Substation in Seattle to talk about everything from their new album "Horror" to being introduced to metal through the band Poison. Enjoy!