Black Night Meditations - Underground Metal Radio

3 Alestorm guys, 2 WSCA Metal guys, 1 tour bus, and 37 minutes of trout, cutlasses, shorts, blood, pizza, forums, Eurovision, concerts, and more. But there were no drunken rats, and Captain Morgan did not have his revenge on anyone. Ultimately this was quite tame; no one even walked the plank. Well, we did step off the tour bus onto a Massachusetts sidewalk, which is basically a concrete version o...

I remember being excited back in '97 about getting Nile's first album Amongst The Catacombs Of Nephren-Ka even before it was released. I knew it would be a masterpiece. To this day, it's still my favorite Nile album. But the newest record, Those Whom The Gods Detest, is a current favorite. I was pleased to finally speak with Karl, having long admired Nile music and his Saurian albums. The songwrit...

Two planets colliding. That is the sound of Cage, so says vocalist Sean Peck. I'm inclined to agree, and even moreso with their latest album Science Of Annihilation. You'd think the highlight of this discussion would be about Metal. While any discussion of Metal is horns-up, the real fun was Sean & I talking about comics. He's got me beat on the number of comics collected since the '80s, but I...

I could give you a brief history of Megadeth, praise the band's discography, or just tell you how awesome it was to have Dave Mustaine on Black Night Meditations. But I won't. You know the stories, you know the albums, you know the man. But hopefully after listening to our 28-minute conversation you will have been as enlightened and informed as I was. Email/Requests: blacknightmeditations@msn.com...

WSCA 106.1 FM brought the North American Nightmare Tour featuring Enforcer & Cauldron to Portsmouth, NH on September 21st. I had both bands at the station before the show, and spoke with Enforcer vocalist Olof, and Cauldron's Ian and Jason. We chatted about the ups and downs of the tour and future touring and recording plans. If you have not heard Enforcer - Into The Night & Cauldron - Cha...

Another non-Metal interview not a part of BNM. Broaden your horizons. Expand your mind. Is Jane Badler a Metalhead? Has she been in a mosh pit? Has she ever spent the night in a graveyard? Inquiring Metalheads and Badlerheads want to know. For 27 minutes we discuss pageantry, snow days, college, Australian music, burlesque, cheesecake, tin-foil hats and steel-cage matches. Somehow we manage to wor...

Every once in awhile I discover a new instrumental guitar album that reaffirms my long-standing belief that "Shred" will never die. I missed out on Rusty Cooley's solo album several years ago, and I am glad that Lion Music recently reissued the album because it is easily one of the better guitar albums in years. Even his band Outworld released an impressive album. He's shredded with Derek Sherinia...

Be aware! The audio quality is bad at times. Myself, Alan Averill (Primordial) and Jarkko Aaltonen (Korpiklaani) sat down in a pub with loud people and loud music. This made the recording very difficult. But when you have the opportunity to talk Metal for an hour with two bands over beers (and pineapple juice), you go with that unique opportunity. When it was loud, we had to speak up and that is w...

This was a long time coming. I've been a Kreator fan for 20 years, so speaking with Mille was a highlight of my Metal life. As with Exodus, I purposefully did not go into our conversation with any planned questions. I just wanted to have a great talk about Kreator. I only had a few minutes to speak with Mille, but it felt like an hour-long conversation because my mind was so deep in Kreatorland. S...

To say that Exodus is legendary in Metal is an understatement. And to see them tour with Kreator is every Metalhead's dream. I was happy to speak with Tom, as he does not do too many interviews. I like how direct he was (after-show with the fans, thoughts on the other bands). He does seem to prefer the new material over the old, but I suppose he gets tired of the playing the same old songs all the...

Whether it's the amazing and diverse Return To Metalopolis album, the classic Megadeth albums, or his fusion project OHM, Chris Poland can be counted on to deliver amazing guitar work. But his songwriting should be highlighted as much as his fretboard skills. "The Fall Of Babylon" is but one great example of the songwriting prowess Chris possesses. While Metal may be in his past and Fusion is wher...

To say that Derek Sherinian is an accomplished musician is an understatement. His songwriting should outshine his collaborations. Whether it's his solo albums or Planet X, his music is "river, not quilt." He's able to seemingly without effort meld different styles of music into Prog Metal supremacy. His new album Molecular Heinosity is no exception, and could be his finest solo release yet. Derek...

God is gracious. Indeed, as speaking with Rob Halford was a lesson in humility and respect. He may be called the Metal God, but he comes across as your best friend. What an honor and pleasure to speak with a man who has long been at the top of the Metal hierarchy. He was lengthy, and humble, with his responses. I like what he had to say about his unfortunate comments about Metal during his Two pha...

Fifth time is the charm. The previous four times I was scheduled to speak with one of the AA guys, it never happened. Thankfully guitarist Johan Soderberg was available to give me 20 minutes before the band's meet & greet. As with every other Scandinavian musician I've interviewed, Johan was soft-spoken and laid back, therefore tough to interview, but quite honest. He spoke about their latest...

Uncut, unedited. Mike and I spoke in the back of the tourbus for about 30 minutes. He was very open about his youth, which was interesting to hear. We also discussed Portugal, which led to talk of sports. Our conversation was more personal, as opposed to just talking about Moonspell. His comment about Russia and Rocky IV was hilarious. Mike was great to speak with, and thankfully he had a lot to s...

YNGWIE IS GOD. That proclamation from 1984 can still be stated today. There is something to be said for having a vision and sticking to it. Yngwie knows what he wants, and he always goes for it. He's very forthcoming in our conversation. Even humble at times. I love his comments about working with Dio. And did I hear him taking out the trash at the end of our talk? Yngwie the multi-tasker! BLACK N...

One of my non-Metal interviews that is not connected with Black Night Meditations, but I'm posting here anyway. I've been a fan of The Human League since I heard their singles from the Dare album on the radio in '81-'82, and have been a fan ever since. I was excited to speak with Phil, and I had a lot I wanted to talk about. This interview was to promote their headlining slot on the Regeneration T...

Stefan's call from Sweden came through via the Metal Blade offices in Los Angeles which was then routed to New Hampshire. There is an obvious sound quality issue because of this. I did amplify Stefan's audio. Regardless, this is worth listening to because Falconer deserves more promotion for their excellent style of Folk Power Metal. We discuss the new album, live shows, Mithotyn, and bobbleheads....

Fernando talked a lot, and that was great. I had enough questions, and didn't even get to all of them. Thankfully Fernando had a lot to say. The highlight being our discussion about comic books and movies. He spoke candidly about the different styles of music that Moonspell has composed. Definitely one of my better interviews. BLACK NIGHT MEDITATIONS - A heathenish foray along the shining path. Au...

Alex was incredibly willing to talk for quite awhile. Including about 10 more minutes off the record. I was able to get the latest info about both Leaves Eyes and Atrocity, since they're the same bands (members, not style). LE is really dedicated to touring a lot in support of the Vinland Saga album. BLACK NIGHT MEDITATIONS - A heathenish foray along the shining path. Aural ruminations of Black, D...

Hansi was very gracious, and thankfully willing to talk for a long time, even as Leaves Eyes were soundchecking rather loudly. Blind Guardian is one of my favorites, and I'm glad we talked about the Nightfall album being the greatest, and ANATO being a disappointment. It's rather shocking to learn when we'll get the next album. BLACK NIGHT MEDITATIONS - A heathenish foray along the shining path. A...

One of my all-time favorite bands. This was my biggest interview, and I had way too many questions. I didn't even get to them all, since Bobby and I talked for so long. Interesting how he and I differ on the eras of the band. BLACK NIGHT MEDITATIONS - A heathenish foray along the shining path. Aural ruminations of Black, Death, Speed, Thrash, Doom, Folk, Shred, Power, Prog & Traditional Metal....

I was only supposed to talk with Ronny, but Jay joined in and made the interview better. The talk of their non-Metal Church projects was cool. Too bad about Gigantour. I had to make this interview brief, as the band needed to get ready to go onstage. BLACK NIGHT MEDITATIONS - A heathenish foray along the shining path. Aural ruminations of Black, Death, Speed, Thrash, Doom, Folk, Shred, Power, Prog...

While I enjoyed talking to these guys, they are the quiet, very laid back Scandinavians who don't open up too easily. But the honesty was there, and Enslaved are legends. BLACK NIGHT MEDITATIONS - A heathenish foray along the shining path. Aural ruminations of Black, Death, Speed, Thrash, Doom, Folk, Shred, Power, Prog & Traditional Metal. Tuesday Nights 10pm-2am e.s.t. - WSCA 106.1 FM - Ports...

All went well here. Ahriman answered the questions very openly. I like the talk of his solo work, and his desire to tour with non-Metal bands. We were in a cold, damp basement for the interview, which I guess added a Black Metal quality. BLACK NIGHT MEDITATIONS - A heathenish foray along the shining path. Aural ruminations of Black, Death, Speed, Thrash, Doom, Folk, Shred, Power, Prog & Tradit...