Dreams of Consciousness

Here is Dreams of Consciousness Podcast Episode 143, featuring an interview with Keymaster and General Ham of Expander. Self-described as "a futuristic punk band from post-war Texas", Austin's Expander represent a dystopian future where technology has run amok, and where noise rock skronk and punk's DIY ethos is fused with driving thrash tempos. I spoke with drummer Keymaster and vocalist General...

In this addendum to Episode142, I spoke with Necrot members Luca Indrio and Chad Gailey about their "Metal Vs. Racism" video series, and the process of making the metal scene more inclusive. MUSIC IN THIS EPISODE: "Cycles of Pain" "Into the Labyrinth" taken from the album "The Labyrinth" "Shadows and Light" "Layers of Darkness" taken from the album "Blood Offerings" Interviews, reviews, and more a...

Here is Dreams of Consciousness Podcast Episode 142, featuring an interview with Luca Indrio and Chad Gailey of Necrot. Representing the current incarnation of the Bay Area metal scene, Necrot keep things crusty and old school. As the band describe it, their approach is "almost like Motörhead/Black Sabbath... translated into down-tuned death metal." I spoke with vocalist/bassist Luca Indrio and dr...

Here is Dreams of Consciousness Podcast Episode 141, featuring an interview with Patrick Murphy of The Oracle. In his musical guise as The Oracle, Patrick Murphy has been creating experimental music that traverses the worlds of noise, dark ambient, and drone. With the impending full-length album Hypogeum, the project has taken a leap forward in terms of songwriting and production. I spoke with Pat...

Here is Dreams of Consciousness Podcast Episode 140, featuring an interview with Mr. Jay of Kingnomad. Hailing from the North of Sweden, Kingnomad may draw facile comparisons to their countrymen Ghost and Witchcraft; however, over the course of three albums, the band's sound has grown to have more in common with Sixties prog and psychedelic rock. I spoke with Kingnomad's founder and main songwrite...

Here is Dreams of Consciousness Podcast Episode 139, featuring an interview with Michael Sauder of Geist & The Sacred Ensemble. Geist & The Sacred Ensemble are a good representation of the experimental, nature-influenced scene emerging from the Pacific Northwest of the US. Though not "metal" in the traditional sense, their mix of apocalyptic folk and drone has a lot in common with bands like Swans...

Here is Dreams of Consciousness Podcast Episode 138, featuring an interview with Eye Of Nix. Seattle's Eye Of Nix sidestep metal tropes and categorization. Straddling several genres, the band's experimental approach incorporates black metal, doom, dark ambient, and neo-classical into their atmospheric style. I spoke with vocalist/guitarist Joy Von Spain, guitarist Nicholas Martinez, and drummer Lu...

Here is Dreams of Consciousness Podcast Episode 137, featuring an interview with Cruciatus of Lantern. Eerie, atmospheric, and evil, Finland's Lantern offer common ground to those who like the darkness of traditional death metal and those who crave something out of the ordinary. Over the course of their thirteen year career, the band carved out their unique sound without abandoning the genre's def...

Here is Dreams of Consciousness Podcast Episode 136, featuring an interview with Vile Creature. Vile Creature are a sludgy "experimental doom" duo from Ontario, Canada. I spoke with drummer/vocalist Vic and guitarist/vocalist K.W. about their history, their writing process, and their latest album Glory Glory! Apathy Took Helm! My thanks to Vic and K.W. for speaking with me, and to you for listenin...

Here is Dreams of Consciousness Podcast Episode 135, featuring an interview with David Buchan of Burial. [Note: This conversation took place on May 29, 2020.] Manchester's Burial represent an overlooked portion of the UK's extreme metal scene. No keyboards, operatic vocals, or Victorian costumes here - the three-piece keep their music stripped down and to the point, utilizing the best elements of...

In this supplement to episode 134, Chepang guitarist Kshitiz Moktan and I compared the respective cuisines of Nepal and Malaysia, and discussed the ridiculously diverse food offerings of Queens, NY. MUSIC IN THIS EPISODE: Chepang - "Grinds of Change-love-war-machine" taken from 1 Love 2017 Demo BARRIGA DE VERME - "II" taken from the album BARRIGA DE VERME

Here is Dreams of Consciousness Podcast Episode 134, featuring an interview with Kshitiz Moktan of Chepang. [Note: This conversation took place on May 29, 2020.] Chepang are a true representation of New York City's "melting pot" nature. Cheekily referring to themselves as "immigrindcore", the band's lyrics and artwork draw from their Nepalese heritage, while their free-form style integrates unorth...

Here is Dreams of Consciousness Podcast Episode 133, featuring an interview with Stephen Barton of Close The Hatch. Operating out of Dayton, Ohio, Close The Hatch are the definition of quiet determinism. Flying under the radar, the band has self-released 7 albums in just under 8 years, evolving along the way from thunderous post-metal to their current atmospheric doom metal sound. I spoke with voc...

In this supplement to Episode 132, J.J. Anselmi spoke to me about his first novel Heavy: A Memoir of Wyoming, BMX, Drugs, and Heavy Fucking Music. Music In This Episode: Drainage - "Rot Retract" In the Company of Serpents - "Malice"

Here is Dreams of Consciousness Podcast Episode 132, featuring an interview with J.J. Anselmi, the author of Doomed to Fail: The Incredibly Loud History of Doom, Sludge, and Post-Metal. J.J. Anselmi's expertise on the subject of doom metal can't be overstated. Not only is he a writer whose work has appeared in Vice, Revolver, and the AV Club, he was the original drummer and co-founder of In The Co...

Here is Dreams of Consciousness Podcast Episode 131, featuring an interview with Wailin Storms. "Post apocalyptic Southern gothic punk" is how North Carolina's Wailin Storms are described. With elements of noise rock, post punk and doom metal, they often switch from slow and ominous to jagged and abrasive within a single song. I spoke with the band (guitarist/vocalist Justin Storms, drummer Mark O...

Here is Dreams of Consciousness Podcast Episode 130, featuring an interview with Grant Netzorg of In The Company Of Serpents. From the traditional sludge metal of their early albums, the music of Denver's In The Company Of Serpents has taken on more ambient and neo-Western qualities, drawing comparisons to both drone band Earth and the film scores of Ennio Morricone. Not coincidentally, the band g...

In this supplement to Episode 129, I spoke with Like Rats guitarist Todd Nief about our respective lockdown experiences and speculate on the future of live music and local music scenes, post-pandemic. Note: This conversation took place April 17th, 2020, MYT. TRACKLIST: "Contagion" "Pandemic Of Fear" "River Dread" Interviews, reviews and more at www.dreamsofconsciousness.com

Here is Dreams of Consciousness Podcast Episode 129, featuring an interview with Todd Nief of Like Rats. [This conversation took place April 17th, 2020, MYT.] Though they have members of power violence heroes Weekend Nachos and a name taken from a Godflesh song, the hearts of Like Rats are very much in the late Eighties/early Nineties era of death metal. The Chicago band excels at writing songs th...

With their name, their self-sufficiency, and their post-apocalyptic masks, Black Pestilence are the band of this pandemic moment. The Calgary B.C. band keep their punk-inflected blackened thrash short, to the point, and vicious. I spoke to Black Pestilence's founder/vocalist/bassist Valax about the band's origins as a solo project, how it grew to its current incarnation as a power trio, and the lo...

Here is episode 127 of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with Pyrrhon. Pyrrhon typify the latest incarnation of New York death metal - discordant, chaotic, and experimental, the band draw as much from the city's long jazz history as they do from Suffocation. I spoke to the band - guitarist Dylan DiLella, bassist Erik Malave, drummer Steve Schwegler and vocalist Doug Moore...

Here is episode 125 of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with Luke Shively of Dismemberment. Dismemberment present a melange of metal past and present. Classic death, black, and thrash metal serve as a jumping off point for the Ohio band to create something new, and decidedly progressive. I spoke with guitarist/vocalist Luke Shively about Dismemberment's history, their la...

Here is episode 125 of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with Piotr Wiwczarek of Vader. Vader are a seminal force in the history of death metal. Emerging from Poland in the early Eighties, they became the first death metal band from that country to be have a release on an international label when their debut The Ultimate Incantation came out on Earache Records. Their thra...

Here is episode 124 of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with Andrew Gigan of Castle Freak. Philly's Castle Freak are as influenced by Eighties B-movies as they are by the metal of the same era. Their punky death grind style hearkens back to the pioneering albums of Autopsy and Repulsion, as well as recent adherents to the style like Noisem. I spoke with guitarist/vocalis...

Here is episode 123 of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with Dan Emery of Thetan and Anti-Corporate Music. When Nashville trio Sanctions lost their guitarist, their remaining members (bassist/vocalist Dan Emery and drummer Chad L'Plattenier) decided to reconfigure their sound and continue as Thetan, morphing into something faster, darker and gnarlier in the process. I sp...