Metal Shop's Backstage Pass

Unleash the Archers is a wickedly rad power metal band from Vancouver, BC. They just released a new album “Abyss” on Napalm Records a couple weeks back, so I hopped on the phone with vocalist Brittney Slayes to talk about Twitch streaming, growing up singing in choir, what inspired her to sing in a metal band and much more. Enjoy!

“We wanted to do our part in corrupting the world with our music.” – John McEntee Underground death metal legends INCANTATION recently released their new album “Sect Of Vile Divinities” so I hopped on the phone with John McEntee to chat. We discussed the A.C song “Kyle From Incantation Has a Mustache”, pandemic life, moving during quarantine, his favorite death metal bands of all time, the new alb...

Imperial Triumphant is a left brained avante garde black metal band from NYC. They recently released their Century Media debut “Alphaville” to massive critical acclaim. I spoke with Steve Blanco about growing up in the NYC music scene, life during the lockdown, jazz music and cutting his hand on bagels.

Bay Area death metal trio NECROT is gearing up to release their highly anticipated sophomore album “Mortal” (Tankcrime Records) on August 28th. I spoke with vocalist/bassist Luca Indrio about growing up in Italy and attending shows at punk rock squats, moving to the Bay Area, his favorite death metal bands and of course we chat all about the album.

Swedish melodic metal band Avatar just released their 8th studio album “Hunter Gatherer” (eOne) this past Friday, so I chatted with vocalist Johannes Eckerström about life in quarantine, some early inspirations, his favorite Swedish metal bands, being inspired by the theatrics of pro wrestling and of course the new album. “Hunter Gatherer” is available now! 

  Jordy Besse is a badass bassist who plays in the French progressive technical death metal band Exocrine. Their killer new album “Maelstrom” is available now via Unique Leader.

Robin Staps is the guitarist and lead songwriter for the German progressive metal band The Ocean. Over the last 20 years, The Ocean has released some incredible genre and mind bending heavy music, amassing a cult-like following in the underground. I spoke with Robin about The Ocean’s new upcoming album, growing up in the straight edge hardcore scene, the importance of the DIY ethics, playing squat...

Naglfar is a long running melodic black metal band from Umeå, Sweden. They released their first album in 8 years – “Cerecloth” – on May 8th through Century Media Records. I spoke with guitarist Andreas Nilsson about the new album, getting stabbed, his children’s taste in pop music, the pandemic, the “Big Four” of Swedish metal and much much more.

Will Putney is a hard working producer and metal musician from New Jersey. Most recently, Putney released an album with his band END called “Splinters from an Ever Changing Face.” He is also a member of the band Fit For An Autopsy and has produced hundreds of metal albums from bands such as Knocked Loose, Thy Art Is Murder, Body Count, Demon Hunter and more.

Ulthar is a raging blackened death metal from the Bay Area that recently released a killer album called “Providence” on 20 Buck Spin. I spoke with guitarist Shelby Lermo about the new abum, the importance or protests, death metal influences, bay area music and his other band VASTUM. Listen til the end to hear a brand new ULTHAR song from “Providence.” Turn it up!

Suicide Silence is gearing up to embark on a truly unique venture – an online virtual “world tour” where they are streaming live shows to specific individual cities via Geo targeting. I spoke with guitarist Mark Heylmun about what all goes into making something like this happen, their new album, the “Big 4” of deathcore and more.

Tacoma metal band Ancestors of God is gearing up to release their album “Emperor of the Sun,” so I hopped on a group zoom call to chat with them and debut 4 brand new songs. Turn it up!

Katalepsy is a badass Russian brutal death metal band that is gearing up to release their new album “Terra Mortuus Est” in July on Unique Leader Records. I chatted with guitarist Anton Garasiyev via skype about everything from nu-metal, the pandemic, growing up in Moscow, his favorite albums and much more. SLAM!

I spoke with Jon Dunn and Ryan Clark from Demon Hunter about their epic tour last year, how they've been staying busy during quarantine, some future plans, some advice to stay sane and much much more. 

This is a lost interview I have finally unearthed!!! I recorded this interview in person back when concerts were a thing. This interview happened right after Thanksgiving when Necrot played the Substation with Gatecreeper, Exhumed and Judiciary. It's short, but fun! 

Of Feather and Bone is a gnarly death metal band from Colorado. I spoke with OFAB bassist Alvino Salcedo about Pink Floyd, Neurosis, working at a record store, the death metal underground revolution, his band's always evolving sound and much more.   

Ensiferum is a folk-metal band from Helsinki, Finland that's gearing up to release their 8th album "Thalassic" in July. I spoke with Petri Lindroos from Ensiferum via skype about video games, releasing an album during a pandemic, some of his favorite Finnish metal bands, his early metal inspirations and much more.

This is a short, but fun one. Unfortunately due to my internet connection being weak, this conversation was cut a bit shorter than I hoped, but it was RAD to catch up with Despise You vocalist Cynthia Nishi. Cynthia is a hairdresser, so we chatted about how she's filling her time while being out of work, some of the shows and movies she has been binging, some of her favorite bands and musicians to...

Anthonie Gonzalez is a musician living in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California. Anthonie's band Constrict recently released an awesome EP called "No Eden." We chat a bit about the band, some of his inspirations, his new harsh noise project, the future of his other band God's Hate, Kickback and much more. Stay tuned til the end to hear a new Constrict song. 

Vince Edwards wears many hats at Metal Blade Records - he works in radio promotion, digital media, video editing, social media and much more. I chatted with Vince about what it's like to work at Metal Blade, his journey from college radio to record label life, some of his favorite current artists and he gave some advice to up and coming bands looking to gain some traction with labels. 

Aborted is a Belgian brutal death metal band that is celebrating their 25th anniversary! I spoke with vocalist Sven de Caluwe via skype to chat about their new ep, how he's staying sane, some of his favorite death metal bands and more.

Originally formed in Germany, Lucifer is now based in Sweden and recently released Lucifer III on Century Media Records. I spoke with vocalist Johanna Sadonis about the album, things she loves about Sweden, how her rock n roll loving mom influenced her, some plans for the band and her karoake picks.

I hopped on a zoom conference call with all 3 members of NW band deathCave to chat about their upcoming album and catch up while we're all staying home and staying safe. This podcast includes 2 songs from their demo ep. Rage! 

It's time to thrash! I chatted with Toxic Holocaust mastermind Joel Grind about the pandemic, his favorite albums, future TH plans, and all things thrash.

Rotting Out just recently released their new album "Ronin" after a bit of a hiatus/breakup, so I hopped on the phone to chat with vocalist Walter Delgado about the album, prison, changes in his life, growing up, therapy, hardcore, powerlifting and much much more.