Night Demon Heavy Metal Podcast

This week's episode delves into the whys and wherefores of Night Demon's inaugural tour of the United States with Raven in 2014. You will hear about crushing financial pressures, myriad hardships leaving the band focused completely on survival, and the welcome addition of Andrew Bansal to the touring party. Despite the difficulties, the Night Demon guys were thrilled because they were fi...

In the fall of 2014, Night Demon launched their first full-scale US / Canadian tour opening for NWOBHM legends Raven for a grueling 45 shows in 53 days. In this week's episode, we explore the circumstances that coalesced to make this tour happen.  You will hear about the band members' love of and respect for Raven, including the memorable tour stop when Brian played drums with them. We c...

In 2014, a young, hungry Night Demon had the privilege of opening for legendary horror-punk act Samhain at The Wiltern in Downtown Los Angeles.  In this week's episode, you will hear about Jarvis's love of Samhain, how he first heard of the band, and his track-by-track impressions of their entire discography.  You will also learn how Night Demon landed this show at such an early stage of...

In October 2013, Night Demon's career took a massive leap forward when they played a three-show regional run with two of their musical heroes, Diamond Head and Raven.  Last week's episode explained how those shows came to be and how they helped catapult the band forward. This week we explore the three shows themselves: Orange County, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.  You will hear Jarvis and D...

This week, we take you back down memory lane to the early days of Night Demon, as they bubbled up from the seedy underbelly of the Los Angeles heavy metal underground. You will hear the context of Night Demon's drummer vacancy being filled by Dusty Squires in a session capacity as the band began recording what became the Curse of the Damned album. Jarvis reminisces about the difficulties of p...

This episode wraps our six-part series covering Night Demon's Outsider headlining tour of Europe in September 2023.  This week we cover the final half-dozen shows of the tour, including stops in Austria, Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands. For every gig, the band members and crew break down the gig, provide anecdotes of life on the road, and take you inside the highs and lows of each ni...

This week we bring you all the highlights of 2023 in a massive 100-minute year in review episode.  We will take you through the initial announcement of the Outsider album, the song-specific episodes, the sadness of Dusty's departure followed by the triumph of Brian's arrival, and glorious moments from the road, including the Hell's Decibels Tour of the USA plus tour stops in Japan,...

In this week's episode, we continue chronicling Night Demon's September 2023 European headlining tour.  The narrative picks up with a late night, post-gig drive through the German countryside en route to Munich for a Monday night show at the Backstage venue.  You will hear about the band's sweltering performance in a packed house, and the pitfalls of government-imposed sound decibel...

This week we continue following Night Demon through their September 2023 European tour, including a headlining gig at the Metal Mania Festival in Andernach and a matinee in Bad Oeynhausen.  You will hear the band's musings about how playing the full new album doesn't necessarily work at a headlining festival set, and how they may alter that strategy in 2024. The guys also talk about the...

This week we continue our coverage of Night Demon's September 2023 headlining run through Europe.  The narrative resumes with the band's gig in Paris, including a bicycle-riding adventure, haute cuisine and more "Empires Fall."  Then the guys take you through a trio of shows in the scorching late summer heat in Germany.  You will hear about an impromptu show at a wedding hall,...

This week we resume the narrative of Night Demon's fall 2023 European tour.  After a disastrous beginning, the tour settled into a groove with a pair of stellar shows in Germany.  For the first time, the band sold out the Goldgrube venue in Kassel, where they debuted their main tour setlist, played a killer show, and enjoyed a fine Mediterranean meal afterwards.  The next day it was off to Es...

In fall 2023, Night Demon embarked on a European headliner tour in support of the Outsider album.  This episode chronicles the rocky start to that tour.  You will hear about a rainy, disorganized event in Oldenburg, Germany that kicked off the tour, followed by a pyrotechnical disaster in Berlin the following night.  Through all the adversity, the guys remained in high spirits and managed to keep...

One of Night Demon's most beloved covers ever is their version of the Riot classic "Road Racin'".  In this week's episode, the guys (with an assist from Riot bassist Donnie Van Stavern) break down the history of Riot, including the various eras of the band, Riot's underrated importance to the heavy metal genre, and how the members of Night Demon became acquainted with...

Back in 2014, Night Demon recorded a cover version of the NWOBHM classic "Axe Crazy," by the band Jaguar.  This week's episode takes a deep dive into that song.  Jaguar guitarist and founding member Garry Pepperd chronicles the formation of the band and explains how "Axe Crazy" came about and why it was released as a single rather than on a proper album.  The Night Demon b...

cThis week's episode is the third and final installment of our coverage of Night Demon's August 2023 residency in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada.  The narrative resumes with the aftershow party following the band's Friday night gig, including an in-depth rundown of the good, the bad and the ugly of their karaoke experiences, followed by an exploration of the mysterious Newfou...

This week's episode is dedicated to the second night of Night Demon's 3-show run in Newfoundland, St. John's, Canada, in August 2023.  The guys describe the setlist in great detail, including unexpected glitches during the rarely played "Killer," the tradition of adapting the setlist to audience requests on the fly, the power of "Hallowed Ground," and the objecti...

In August 2023, Night Demon visited Newfoundland, Canada, for the third time in the last four years.  This week's episode begins by describing the band's arrival after a whirlwind weekend in New York City.  The guys talk about their downtime and sightseeing excursions early in the week before getting down to business for their first show of this run on Thursday.  You will hear about how...

This episode covers Night Demon's one-off show in New York City in August 2023 supporting the mighty Cirith Ungol.  You will hear of the band's history in New York, and why playing in Manhattan is different than playing in Brooklyn.  The guys describe their experiences in the area before the show, including sketchy Jersey Shore hotels and counterfeit merchandisers in Times Square.  They...

In late July 2023, Night Demon performed a pair of shows at metal festivals in Germany.  This week's podcast episode is dedicated to that weekend.  You'll hear how the original plan called for more extensive European performances, why the itinerary narrowed to the Burning Q and Rock of Ages Festivals, and all the ups and downs of that memorable weekend.  What's it like to play at a...

Join us this week as we take you through the back end of Night Demon's spring 2023 Ireland tour, including dates in Dublin and Limerick.  You will hear about the pitfalls of playing in a large city like Dublin, the substandard drum kit, the setlist, and post-show shenanigans at the Obama travel plaza.  The guys then walk you through the challenges and triumphs of the next night's show in...

This week we continue our in-depth coverage of Night Demon's May 2023 tour of Ireland.  This episode focuses on the band's triumphant midweek gig at Voodoo in Belfast, Northern Ireland.  You will hear why the guys considered it to be a great show and a highlight of the tour that cemented Belfast as eagerly anticipated territory for future tours. They describe the venue, the gear, the pow...

This week we continue our narrative of Night Demon's spring 2023 tour of Ireland and the UK with an in-depth examination of their headlining gig at Sandinos in Derry, Northern Ireland.  The boys explain why Derry is important to them and why their objective is to perform annually there.  You will hear all about the highs and lows of the gig, including presales that vastly exceeded expectation...

Faced with some down time in Northern Ireland, Night Demon tackled the challenge of recording acoustic versions of some of their material.  This episode tells that story.  The guys explain the difficulties they encountered in lining up a suitable location for recording, and how their problems were solved when they stumbled across Emerald Guitars.  They also describe the process of selecting partic...

Following the Japan tour in spring 2023, Night Demon traveled to the UK for a run of UK / Ireland shows that was planned to commence with an appearance at the Dominion Festival in Newcastle.  Unfortunately, that festival was canceled on very short notice, leaving the band in limbo for a few days.  In this week's episode, you will hear how they spent that time.  The centerpiece was an off-the-...

After two triumphant gigs in Tokyo, Night Demon had a couple of days off in Tokyo.  You'll hear how they spent them, from exotic foods to transport snafus to guitar purchases.  But it all culminated in an unplanned visit to the Painkiller bar, where the lads fired up for an impromptu covers show in front of a handful of lucky diehards.  The guys summarize their reactions to the Japan shows an...