Metal Nerdery Podcast

With the advent of the NWOBHM and the IRON MAIDEN (aka: the genre definers; they’re bassically the Black Sabbath of NWOBHM), the Metal landscape was starting to take on a different dimension; with increased aggression, speed, and heaviness (musically and lyrically) while simultaneously weaving in twin guitar harmonies, a greater sense of melody, prog-rock style orchestration and arrangement to cre...

“The power of the RIFF compels me. . .” DOWN.   Ever since The Almighty Iommi first blessed the world with his glorious presence vis-à-vis Black Sabbath in 1970 (and through the incredibly prudent use of the tritone), RIFFS have been continuously evolving throughout Metal, becoming ever more ambitious, grandiose and complexicated with ever increasing precision, evilocity, and gravity punishing hea...

In our quest for all things Metal, we decided (perhaps somewhat extremely erroneously) to delve deeper into the myriad of potentially possible genres, subgenres and “cores” that exist in the realm of Metal.  Since there are just too many to mention and account for (with perhaps even MORE “cores” being generated as we speak), it’s WAY easier to just call this EXACTLY what it is:     MEME CORE!!   T...

It feels like being back in the basement, rehearsing a set for an upcoming gig.  For anyone who’s ever been in a band, one of the first things you learn is how to play someone else’s songs.  Covers.  There is not a Metal band in existence that has NEVER played cover songs by their favorite artists at some point in their careers.  The awesome thing about covers is the “interpretation”, much in the...

We’ve all been there.  We all remember our first-time.  Metallica’s haunting, 1986 thrash metal magnum opus MASTER OF PUPPETS (or “MOP” for the acronym lovers) was, is and will continue to be (evermore) “one of those albums” that will forever affect you to your core.  It doesn’t matter if it was yesterday or 35 years ago, EVERYONE has a MOP story!    It’s “one of those albums”:  exquisitely (and b...

“Terminal, what disease?…”   Anytime Overkill’s 1989 Thrash masterpiece “The Years of Decay” comes on (henceforth also to be known in the realm of Metal Nerdery as “The YOD”, pronounced like nod, not like yode), IMMEDIATELY you can hear neon green and visualize an omnipresent, crazy, winged, bat-skull (or is it skull-bat?) flying through the entirety of the sonic landscape, like Overkill’s own qua...

“Sooner or later, everything old is new again…” – Stephen King   While we here at Metal Nerdery feel that ALL Metal is important and plays a part in the grand design of the Metal Multiverse, our favorite is Thrash, and many of the favorite bands of many of our favorite bands were all part of The Movement In Metal That Became The New Wave of British Heavy Metal (or NWOBHM for short.  Or “technicall...

“WE’RE GONNA DO A NUMBER NOW. . .”   For anyone who has ever heard OZZY OSBOURNE perform live in concert, you already KNOW!  And in the unfortunate event you do NOT already know, let’s just say you’ve come to the right place.  Welcome to the Metal Nerdery Concierge.   “DOES ANYONE REMEMBER THE OLD FILLMORE EAST???”   After leaving Sabbath in 1979, Ozzy embarked on a legendary solo career that woul...

“Look inside of yourself, you might see someone you don’t know…” – DIO.    Anytime someone utters the name “Ronnie James Dio”, almost immediately one is transported to another dimension ruled by magic and fantasy; a place where wizards conjure spells and help angels to protect the castle from the dragons of the realm with clean tigers and shiny diamonds.   “Ride the carousel and cast a magic spell...

Okay, lead guitar players, gun slingers, virtuosos, et al, LISTEN UP!!!  This is YOUR episode!!     When you have a podcast about Metal Nerdery and 66% of the Metal Nerdery staff are guitar players (that’s 2/3 if you can Math good) and the guitarists decide to go down the rabbit hole regarding the art of shredding and overall lead guitar wizardry & sheer solo shreddery, you KNOW things are going t...

There’s a saying that “the best revenge is living well”.     Well, someone forgot to give Dave Mustaine that memo.  Because as far as we can tell, Dave’s “best revenge” was to form Megadeth, a band assembled with a very specific mission: to be faster, darker, snarlier, and MORE technically proficient than his previous band from which he’d been unceremoniously sacked (that means “fired from Metalli...

As you will recall, we wrapped up 2020 with a trip back to 1985.  Of the MANY masterpieces that were released that year, Anthrax’s SPREADING THE DISEASE (or “S.T.D.” for short. Don’t deny the power of acronyms.  L.O.L!) had a markedly different sound than the other 75% (that’s 3…) of the Big 4; full of hooky, memorable melodies and a gracious super-sized order of Crunchy Ball Riffs that far exceed...

There’s an old proverb that says: “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”.   No matter which realm of Metal it refers to, that’s music to our ears!  Because (supposably), to quote David Lee Roth: you can’t get that stuff (“that stuff” in this case, being Old School Thrash Metal) no more.  But thankfully, DLR was WRONG!  Because you CAN get that stuff yes more, thanks to an acronym that your...

1986. The Highlander.  The Challenger.  Reign in Blood.  One of THE most critically important years in Thrash history (and honestly, I would argue that for ALL Metal, but as Russell would say:  I digest).  Thanks to the glorious excess of the mid-1980’s (Thanks Reaganomics and cocaine!), metal fans were treated to some of the finest, most incomparably superb moments in metal history that would lik...

JOIN US for a look back at 2020 as we discuss some of the more memorable moments in Metal that are actually worth remembering and otherwise bid a (NOT) fond farewell to the year that can only be described as a diarrhea filled dumpster fire built like Mike Tyson that will not stop constantly hammering you right in the tenders. Visit  www.metalnerdery.com/podcast  for more on this episode Metal Nerd...

Please enjoy some Metal Nerdery Outtakes and Nonsense from prior shows. This wont be the last one of these as we have accumulated many snippets of gold over the last 70 shows. We have a ton of fun with this Podcast and thank you all for coming along on this ride with us. Show Your Support for Metal!! We Love you All

There’s something downright mysterious about DOWN II.  Something about the vibe of the album sounds like it was recorded and produced by Roger Bain in some haunted, abandoned church in an alternate dimension during the early 1970’s and then teleported back to 2002 for a boost in production value and loudness thanks to the generous spell of a wizard who loves Metal.   But that’s not what happened....

I awoke on December 8th and felt a little “off”.  It felt heavy.  Oppressive.  Like a spiritual hangover.   And then I remembered why… 16 years before was the day that we would forever mourn the loss of one of THE G.O.A.T.’s of Metal’s current generation:  our modern-day Riff Lord that we know and love (and HAIL!) as Dimebag (Diamond) Darrell, or simply:  DIME! DIME was a force to be reckoned with...

Back in the day, there were certain criteria on the back of every cassette and compact disc that were critical to ensure that the piece of thrashtastical goodness you were about to consume was WORTHY of your entertainment dollar.   One of the most important criteria to look for was the record label.   Back then, the independent record labels were what really helped to launch the entire Thrash Meta...

Sometimes you have to be reminded of history to understand bolth where you come from and why things are the way they are today. Thanks to Brian Slagel and Metal Blade Records various Metal Massacre compilations, we’re able to gain a greater glimpse of the Metal landscape as it was at that time; a sound that was slowly transitioning from hard rock into what we know and love as heavy metal.   JOIN U...

We did it again; we kept it loose (which was, like, totally awesome, but whatever…).  We had initially intended on targeting 1985 Thrash Metal but as it turns out, there was an absolute abundance of killer metal albums from all across the metal continuum released during 1985 that went beyond Thrash, so we decided to include those as part of the discussion as well.     So go roll another bowl of yo...

So, we apologize in advance for lying.  We were “planning” to pick our respective Top 6 Favorite Fucking Slayer Tracks.  One problem:  it’s REALLY hard for us to nail down our personal “Final Six” Favorite Fucking Slayer tracks, because quite frankly, it’s Fucking Slayer.  Which means that we could do this episode in a million different ways in a million different multiverses across a million diff...

Akka Dakka.  If you’re from Australia, then you already know what this means (and are probably shocked that more people don’t know what this means).  If you’re NOT from Australia, then you know them by their non-Aussie moniker:  AC/DC (and now, through the magic of reading, you know the meaning of BOLTH!). On this episode, we’re discussing Side 1 of AC/DC:  The Bon Scott side.  The beginnings of a...

One thing this merry band of Metal Nerderers will agree on: we LOVE us some Black Sabbath! And with fall being the quintessentially ideal season for Sabbath (and with Witches Night right around the corner), we felt it was the perfect time to jump deep into the ultra-creepy end and get into the brutally heavy modern day classic that really freaked people out a half a century ago in 1970 (!): Black...

TRICK OR TREAT!!! It’s the Halloween Horror Metal episode of Metal Nerdery!! Go through your kids’ candy, take out all of that “good” candy and JOIN US as we discuss the diabolical and the macabre that makes Metal the perfect Halloween soundtrack. Visit  www.metalnerdery.com/podcast  for more on this episode Consider supporting us at Patreon -  patreon.com/metalnerderypodcast  You'll find some ext...