Metal Shop's Backstage Pass

A few months back I spoke with Eric Lauder from the Detroit, Michigan based thrash/death metal band Plague Years. Their newest album “Circle of Darkness” is AWESOME! We chat about rap, death metal, Detroit, scars and more. 

Cannibal Corpse will be releasing “Violence Unimagined” in April, so I chatted with bassist Alex Webster about the album, staying consistent, recording from across the nation, living in Portland, working with Erik Rutan full time and much more.  

Texas death metal band Frozen Soul released their debut LP “Crypt of Ice” on Century Media Records within the first week of 2021. I spoke with vocalist Chad Green about teaming up with Century Media, the Mt. Rushmore of Texas metal, growing up with grandparents owning a rock club and much more.

I spoke with Cult of Luna founding member Johannes Persson about their new EP “The Raging River,” , their collaboration with Mark Lanegan, working in the Swedish film industry, being an artist during the pandemic and much more.

Over the past couple years you may have seen the Maggot Stomp logo floating around on the artwork of some killer death metal albums. Well, Scott Magrath is the dude behind the madness at Maggot Stomp. We chatted about everything from growing up in the CT hardcore punk scene to elitism in underground music. Check it out and support Maggot Stomp!  

Bell Witch bassist Dylan Desmond has been busy as hell during the pandemic. Aside from working on new Bell Witch material, he is in the process of creating a bunch of new bands and projects. I chatted with Dylan about all his new music, his KIX shirt, his songwriting process and much more. Enjoy!

Gatecreeper surprised the metal world by dropping a brand new 7 song album “An Unexpected Reality”out of the blue last week. I spoke with vocalist Chase Mason about the album, the blogspot era, his new car, trends in music he’d like to see come back, stadium death metal and much more. 

This week on the podcast I chat with Sanctuary guitarist Lenny Rutledge about the legendary Warrel Dane, the anniversary of “Into the Mirror Black”, new music, life during the pandemic and much more. Enjoy!

Kamelot is a long running power metal band based in Tampa, Florida. I chatted with guitarist and founding member Thomas Youngblood a couple months back about their brand new live Blu-Ray, early inspirations, writing music during the pandemic and more. Enjoy!

Happy New Year! To ring the new year in, I spoke with Briant Tatler, the lead guitarist for the iconic NWOBHM band Diamond Head. We chatted about the re-release of Lightning to the Nations, life during the pandemic, bands he can always revisit when he's down and much more.

Happy Holidays! I spoke with Rob Halford a few weeks back via Zoom about his new book "Confess", scars, his career in Judas Priest, the importance of being yourself, staying inspired through music and so much more. You can check out the video of the interview on the KISW website.  

Hatebreed recently released their new album “Weight of the False Self” via Nuclear Blast, so I hopped on the phone with guitarist “Florida Frank” Novinec and we chatted about it along with a variety of topics ranging from working at a record store, riding BMX, his musical journey and much more. Hails!

Little Rock, Arkansas based death metal / hardcore band Terminal Nation released their killer debut LP “Holocene Extinction” via 20 Buck Spin this year. I spoke with vocalist Stan Liszewski via Zoom about the album, growing up booking DIY hardcore shows, working out at home and much more.

Mastodon recently released an awesome B-sides, covers and rarities compilation album called “Medium Rarities.” I spoke with guitarist Bill Kelliher via Zoom about life during the pandemic, how he’s staying sane, quarantine collaborative covers, his gear and much more.  

Rochester, NY based underground death metal UNDEATH released their debut full length album “Lesions of a Different Kind” on Prosthetic Records. We talked about everything from his love of old school death metal, the video game Dark Souls, bootleg t shirts, putting out an album during a pandemic and much more.

Legendary prog metal band Fates Warning is celebrating the release of their 13th studio album "Long Day Goodnight". I spoke with vocalist Ray Alder from his home in Madrid about the new album, life during the pandemic in Madrid, what it was like joining his favorite band and much much more.

Arkansas-based melodic doom metal band Pallbearer recently released their new album “Forgotten Days” on Nuclear Blast. I spoke with vocalist/guitarist Brett Campbell about teaming up with NB, doom metal, zoning out to modular synth noise, scars and much more.

DevilDriver released their new album “Dealing With Demons (1)” at the beginning of October, so I got on the phone with vocalist Dez Fafara to chat about the new album, life during the pandemic, featuring his son on the new album, sobriety, scars and much more.

Venom Prison is a hard working Welsh death metal/hardcore band that recently released “Primeval.” I interviewed Ash via Skype about everything from re-recording early demos to how the pandemic has affected the band. Enjoy!

Anaal Nathrakh is a gnarly, ear-crushing band from the UK that recently released their 11th album “Endarkenment” on Metal Blade Records. I skyped with vocalist Dave Hunt and we chatted about everything from his undying thirst for the most extreme music he could find while growing up to a very memorable scar on his body. Enjoy!

Thank you for sticking with the Metal Shop Backstage Pass for 200 episodes. Through format switch ups and strange times, the podcast remains a positive force for us.   This week we are featuring an interview with Iver Sandoy from ENSLAVED. Iver has been a longtime producer for ENSLAVED and recently joined the band full time. We chat about the new album "Utgard," concerts happening with limite...

WILDERUN is a Boston-based progressive folk metal band that released the epic album “Veil of Imagination” on Century Media last year. I spoke with Wayne Ingram about his unique role in the band, the many instruments he plays, life during a pandemic and much more. Enjoy! 

Southern California death metal band SKELETAL REMAINS is riding high off the release of their badass new album “The Entombment of Chaos” on Century Media. I chatted with vocalist/guitarist Chris Monroy about the reality of releasing an album mid-pandemic, his “real life” job, touring with legendary bands, his first band shirts and much more.

John Bush has quite the pedigree in the world of heavy metal. Not only has John been the longtime vocalist for influential metal band Armored Saint, he also sang in Anthrax from 1993-2004. I spoke with John about the new Armored Saint album “Punching the Sky,” life during the pandemic, staying fit and sane during this time and much more.

Tim Singer is a bit of an icon in the world of underground hardcore (my words, not his). Not only was he the vocalist for genre defining bands like Deadguy and Kiss It Goodbye, but he is back with a new project called Bitter Branches. We chatted about the new album, life during the pandemic, the 25th anniversary of the first Deadguy LP, growing up in the hardcore scene and much more. Press play an...