Night Demon Heavy Metal Podcast

This week's episode is devoted to an exploration of the title track of Night Demon's 2015 debut album, Curse of the Damned . The band members break down the component parts of the song, from the distinctive swing intro to the MXR Phase 90 guitar effect to the memorable singalong part near the end. You will hear about the musical and lyrical inspiration for the track, why its narrative st...

We continue our deep dive into all things Curse of the Damned in celebration of the album's 10-year anniversary by examining album opener "Screams in the Night." Night Demon band members past and present explain how the song originated as an afterthought in the Curse writing sessions, but how it has gone on to become a fan favorite, a "hit," and a fixture in the band'...

This week, we continue our focus on Night Demon's Curse of the Damned album on the occasion of its 10th anniversary Ultimate Edition reissue. A key component of the forthcoming box set is a copy of the Blood Sacrifice comic book designed by James Dufresne. This week, Jarvis sits down to interview James Dufresne about the connections between Blood Sacrifice and Curse of the Damned , the state...

This week we continue our celebration of Curse of the Damned on the occasion of its 10th anniversary and the accompanying release of the Ultimate Edition box set of the album. As discussed last week, Night Demon recorded an earlier version of the Curse album known as Run for Your Life , and those recordings are included in the box set for the first time. The guys will lead you track-by-track throu...

As diehard Night Demon fans know, the band recorded a version of what became Curse of the Damned under the banner of Run for Your Life . They ultimately decided to shelve those recordings. In this episode, we hear from current and former members of the band explaining the whys and wherefores. How did it come about that Dusty was on the Run for Your Life recordings? Why did the band play to a click...

This week we present you with commentary from current and past members of Night Demon about Curse of the Damned on the occasion of its 10-year anniversary. You will hear how the creators of the album felt about at the time, how it fit in the context of the times, what Armand's role was in shaping the songs and sound, and how past and present members of the band feel about the record's pl...

This week we present a major announcement from the Night Demon camp about forthcoming activities to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the legendary full-length debut album, Curse of the Damned. There will be concerts, special merchandise, and even an action figure of axe-wielding Eugene, the black-clad mascot from the album cover. But the centerpiece of the Curse at 10 celebration is the September...

This week, we bring you the final installment in our series of Jarvis' interviews of friends, colleagues, peers and influences from other bands.  This episode comes to you from backstage at the Limelight in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where Jarvis interviewed affable bassist Joe McGuigan from longtime Irish thrashers Gama Bomb. This wide-ranging interview spans the entire history of Gama Bomb,...

This week, we conclude Jarvis's two-part interview with Russ Tippins and Cindy Maynard of Brooklyn-based classic hard rock revelations Tanith.  The conversation continues to flow easily, with topics ranging from England versus U.S. scene differences and similarities, the recording of the "Citadel" single as the first time the four members of Tanith played together, the affinity of u...

This week, we bring you the first installment of Jarvis' interview with Russ Tippins (guitars/vocals) and Cindy Maynard (bass/vocals) from Metal Blade recording artists Tanith. Both musicians discuss their formative years, including Cindy's travails trying to learn guitar as a lefty and Russ's experiences in England starting a band (Satan) with his schoolmates. They talk about the c...

This week we bring you the second and final installment of Jarvis Leatherby's interview with Christopher Williams, drummer of Accept and Elegant Weapons. This far-reaching and fascinating interview covers such topics as the evolution of the Nashville scene for career musicians, the burgeoning hard rock / metal community there, how Christopher landed the Accept gig, why playing and listening t...

This week we continue our series of Jarvis Leatherby interviews with musicians who are friends, peers, influences and/or tourmates of Night Demon. The next interviewee is Christopher Williams, longtime drummer for Accept, who first crossed paths with Night Demon on a European tour in winter 2018.  In this far-reaching, in-depth interview, you will hear how Christopher became obsessed with the drum...

This week, we continue our ongoing series of Jarvis interviews with influences, friends, pals, and so on. We pick up the story with Midnight visionary Athenar as he explains how Midnight evolved from 2003 to the present day. You will hear many parallels between the careers of Midnight and Night Demon, how Athenar grew to take Midnight more seriously year by year as their popularity expanded by lea...

This week we continue the "Interviews with Jarvis" series by bringing you part 1 of his in-depth conversation with the elusive Midnight mastermind Athenar.  In this discussion, Athenar digs deep into his musical history, describing his formative musical years, talking about his first albums and first concerts as an '80s kid in the Cleveland suburbs.  You'll hear how he moved fr...

This week we continue our series of interviews by Jarvis Leatherby with friends, colleagues, influences and peers.  This week's subjects are Phil Ross and Bryan Patrick of Sentry, formerly Manilla Road. Over the course of this wildly entertaining 90-minute interview, you will hear about how Phil and Bryan discovered heavy metal in Wichita, Kansas; how they joined forces with the legendary Mar...

This week we continue our series of interviews between Jarvis Leatherby and musicians who are peers, compatriots, influences, and friends. The subject this week is Trevor William Church of Haunt / Beastmaker fame. Listen in as Jarvis and Trevor discuss Trevor's origin story, his famous father, his humble beginnings in rural California, how he came to start Beastmaker, how and why he shifted f...

This week we bring you another installment in the series of Jarvis Leatherby interviews with contemporaries, peers, influences, and friends.  Our subjects this week are Adam Neal and Stacey Savage, founding members of occult Kentucky true metal stalwarts Savage Master. In this wide-ranging conversation, Jarvis, Adam and Stacey cover the origins of the band, the evolution of the underground traditi...

This week, we bring you a special treat, as Jarvis interviews the reclusive and gifted Chris Black, from High Spirits, Dawnbringer, Superchrist and others. You will hear about Chris's upbringing, his gateway to heavy metal, his thoughts on various subgenres, why all his albums list first names only, his impressions on various punk bands, how he goes about songwriting and the live performance,...

Recently, Night Demon completed a full European tour supporting progressive metal titans Queensryche. During that tour, Jarvis had an opportunity to sit down for an in-depth conversation with Queensryche guitarist Mike Stone. This week we present that interview in its entirety for your listening pleasure.  You will hear about Stone's fascinating career journey, life story, philosophies on mus...

This week we conclude our foray into the Night Demon / Cirith Ungol European run in September 2024. We pick up the tale with two off days following the successful London show. The guys explain why playing a series of one-offs can be logistically challenging and exhausting. You will hear how the Roskilde, Denmark show was a triumph for both bands, featuring great performances, a state-of-the-art ve...

This week we continue our coverage of the Night Demon / Cirith Ungol run of shows through Europe in September 2024. We pick up the narrative with a stressful day of air travel from Italy to London, with flight delays and a long ride from the airport to the gig at the famous Underworld venue in Camden. The boys scrambled to set everything up in time, and were rewarded by a packed house on a Monday...

In fall 2024, Night Demon performed a series of shows in Europe alongside their compatriots in Cirith Ungol.  We pick up the narrative as the band travel from Switzerland to Milan, Italy. Armand relates how he and his girlfriend encountered a series of disasters as they endeavored to travel by bus to Milan. Eventually the band arrived in time for the Metal Italia Festival, where Night Demon and Ci...

In mid-September 2024, Night Demon and Cirith Ungol joined forces for a short run of shows through Europe. This week's episode memorializes the first of those gigs, which occurred in Basel, Switzerland.  In their 800+ concert history, Night Demon had never performed in that city before.  You will hear about the band's travel arrangements to Switzerland, their impressions of the city and...

This week we bring you all the details of Night Demon's appearance at the Blades of Steel Festival in August 2024 in Madison, Wisconsin. You will hear about why the guys felt their headlining performance was triumphant, despite not having played together in weeks.  They also describe the travails of Cirith Ungol's travel to the fest, but how they too triumphed and pulled off a killer sho...

This week we catch up with Night Demon in August 2024.  On the heels of a much-needed two-month break from band activities, Night Demon regrouped in Ireland to play the second installment of the Frost & Fireland Festival along with Cirith Ungol and a stacked international lineup.  You will hear why it was important to the band to put on this festival in Limerick, despite the arduous travel log...