Metal Nerdery Podcast

We here at Metal Nerdery live by a few “rules”:  Our Trust is in Black Sabbath and Slayer, Pantera was the Metallica of the 90’s and some songs, albums AND/OR bands simply CAN’T BE LOUD ENOUGH!! (sorry, that’s the text representation of turning everything up to 11 and SCREAMING IN CYBERSPACE!).     We were all over the road and had a lot of fun with this one and dug into all kinds of incredible tr...

“Where were YOU when you heard the news…?” No one will EVER forget the day that Eddie Van Halen left this world. And the reason we will never forget is because Eddie Van Halen CHANGED this world in such an incredibly profound (and incredibly METAL) way that he can only be described as unforgettable. There have been many copycats and imitators over the years, but to paraphrase from The Highlander:...

Pantera had a gift for outdoing themselves with every song and every album. Just when you thought it couldn’t possibly be any heavier, they come around the corner and prove you wrong. FAR BEYOND DRIVEN, Pantera’s 3rd release (post Power Metal) blends the intensity and thrashy groove of Vulgar with the aggression and brutal heaviness of Trendkill. (No wonder it went to Number 1!!!) JOIN US as we di...

Back before corporations acquired (and systematically destroyed) rock radio by playing the same 10 songs on perpetual repeat into the dirt, radio disc jockeys used to actually have some control over their “playlists” and would sometimes throw on a song that wasn’t a normal rock radio favorite:  maybe something that wasn’t a “hit single”, or something for which there was no “music video”; something...

One of the key components of classic thrash during the glory years was riffs; namely “how many can you fit into one song?” (sort of the same logic used in many of today’s finer adult motion picture feature presentations). Sabbat answers that question: ALL of them!! This was new territory for some of us as we weren’t as familiar with Sabbat back in the day and didn’t have access to it (though it if...

It’s Vol. 2 of our 4 Vol. Metal Nerdery Stoner Doom Metal Sampler Series. We found some more incredible Stoner Doom Metal tunes “after the smoke cleared” from our last Stoner Doom Sampler Vol. 1 episode and of course “we wanted to share” with you the “bounty of our harvest”, because everything is better shared between “a couple of buds”. Clear your calendar for an hour or so, turn on the black lig...

Often in life, we don’t discover the truth about something until it’s too late. And the truth about Powertrip is that they are an anachronistic anomaly in Thrash Metal: yeah they may have come to power in the late 2000’s and 2010’s but they would sound right at home in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s era of Thrash Metal that we hold so dear. Sadly, some of us are only just now discovering the ban...

Ahh, 1987. Before Bob Rock and The Black Album were even imagined, before Metallica cut their hair and gave us multiple LOADS, there were “The Garage Days”. After the devastating and tragic loss of bassist Cliff Burton in 1986, Metallica had to find a suitable replacement bassist to help the band continue forward on their quest for worldwide Thrash Metal domination. Enter Jason Newsted. Enter some...

Ahhh, the 80’s and the early days of Thrash Metal. A time of exponential growth in the genre that would become THE most powerful and glorious force in the entirety of the known Thrash Metalverse. The speed, the riffs, ALL of it: The 1980’s gave us the birth (and further evolutionary refinement) of Thrash Metal. If you’re reading this, then you already know that we here at Metal Nerdery LOVE THRASH...

“What happens when fresh green collides with Metal?  Duuuuuuuuuuude…” That’s right!  Stoner Metal. Doom Metal.  Sludge Metal.  The label doesn’t really matter.  What DOES really matter is how fantastically heavy & awesome ALL of it is!!   On this, Metal Nerdery’s Stoner Metal Showcase, Vol.1, we check out some of the early, influential Stoner & Doom Metal bands (*cough* Black Sabbath *more coughin...

Any metalhead who hears the phrase “80’s era Metallica” will IMMEDIATELY conjure visions of James, Lars, Kirk and Cliff (R.I.P.) and be transported back to the days of yore, back before Metallica was a household name, back before they were part of The Big Four of Thrash Metal Royalty, back before Master of Puppets was even a “thought”. Back to 1984 and the badassness of Ride The Lightning. Ride Th...

Humor Metal. It’s like our 2 favorite things rolled into one. What could be more awesome than killer riffs combined with killer punchlines? A Metal Nerdery episode about those two things. So fix your favorite relaxer, tune out the outside world long enough to laugh from the balls and JOIN US as we discuss the origins of humor metal, some of the key bands and tunes that just tickled us right in the...

Getting to know a fellow Metalhead is a lot like dating: you have to ask the right questions to see if THEIR Metal is in alignment with YOUR Metal. So, we decided it’d be fun to give everyone a more intimate view of what drives the Metal Nerdery magic by addressing some basic “Getting to Know You” style questions.   For example: What’s the word about the Metal Nerdery nerds? What is their backstor...

Set and Setting are super important. Especially when it comes to “setting the tone” for an entire album. You’ll want to double up on your favorite relaxer, shut out the world for a bit longer than you usually would (maybe even take a trip) and JOIN US as we go through some of our favorite opening tracks and intros (and maybe even a #softintro or two…) from some of our favorite metal albums all ove...

1989. Brazil. Thrash Metal. Magic. Sepultura’s “Beneath the Remains” is STILL a force to be reckoned with in the thrash metal community and really, the metal community at large. It is fast, heavy, thrashy and also, GROOVY! (That’s right. GROOVY!). Sepultura “raised the bar” with this album, bringing BOLTH groove and melody together with those amazing riffs, the breakneck speed and the incredibly c...

“There’s just something about those first 2 Slayer records…” 1985. This was a time in history where Thrash Metal was quickly taking over the musical landscape and proving that things were about to get a whole lot darker, faster and heavier (and EVILER of course, much to the chagrin of the PMRC!). Slayer’s 2nd album, ‘Hell Awaits’, had ALL of the necessary ingredients to make the quantum leap forwa...

King Diamond. Just seeing the name conjures all kinds of dark, creepy, diabolical imagery. ‘Abigail’ (which is King Diamond’s second solo album) is the first King Diamond album that truly captured his master horror storytelling craft, spinning tales of “living” haunted houses, betrayal and evil murderous zombie demon babies. It is by far one of THE most important concept albums EVER in the history...

On this episode we conclude our 3 part series on 1990: 30 Years of Metal, starting with the O’s. We went down the rabbit hole on a few topics and reminisced about some old show stories and other assorted flashbackery that activated the METAL NERDERY TIME TUNNEL and sent us back to our high school dimension. It’s been determined that for Generation X’ers, the 90’s was essentially OUR 70’s; especial...

Continuing with our 3 Part Series on 1990: 30 Years of Metal (Part 2 of 3), we get further into the list, starting with the F’s.*** 1990 was a tremendous year for metal, including some of THE greatest Metal Albums of ALL TIME (Forbidden, Megadeth, Slayer…ummmm, YES PLEASE!!). The tidal wave of thrash everyone thought had crested and peaked in the late 1980’s actually plowed on through into the 199...

30 years ago. 3 DECADES OF METAL!!!!! The tsunami of metal that crested in the late 80’s proceeded to plow right into the 90’s, slamming right into a decade that produced some of THE most important albums in Metal History. So fix your favorite relaxer and JOIN US for Part 1 of our 3 Part review (and ensuing discussion) of Metal Albums turning 30 this year with our FIRST EVER guest host!!! PLUS Mil...

The one thing that great thrash and great comedy have in common is great timing!! Stormtroopers of Death (S.O.D.) came around at the perfect time in the 80’s thrash metal scene and were the perfect blend of hilarity, angst, and ultra thrashy, punky hard-core goodness to help remind us all that we could still HAVE FUN, especially with Metal!! So come, JOIN US as we dive into ‘Speak English or Die’,...

1995. JOIN US as we go through a list of albums that are turning 25 in The Year of Our Riff Lord 2020. Prepare yourself your favorite relaxer of choice and go down the list with us. You can tell the quarantine is starting to have an effect on us…or at least SOME of us.     Visit www.metalnerdery.com/podcast for more on this episode Consider supporting us and more importantly, METAL with Metal Nerd...

Hard to believe that the turn of the millennium was 20 years ago!!  On this episode of the Metal Nerdery Quarantine Sessions, we talk about albums turning 20 in 2020.  It's our first ever virtual session, so if it appears strange, it's because it is.  ALL of this shit is strange, but aren't you so happy you found us!  Because like you, we too, are also strange.  Praise be to metal and to strangene...

What do you get when you mix art, the metaphysical, psychedelics, enlightenment and metal?  You get Tool's 1996 classic "AENIMA".  JOIN US as we dive into the tracks and discuss one of the most important progressive metal albums of the 1990's. Visit www.metalnerdery.com/podcast for more on this episode Consider supporting us and more importantly, METAL with Metal Nerdery Tees and Hoodies – metalne...

What happens when you blend hard core, jazz and metal? You get Helmet’s major label debut “Meantime”, that’s what! JOIN US as we walk through the album, the tracks and the unique style that brought a new kind of groove to 90’s metal.     Visit  www.metalnerdery.com/podcast  for more on this episode Consider supporting us and more importantly, METAL with Metal Nerdery Tees and Hoodies – metalnerder...