REQUIEM METAL PODCAST

After 10 episodes devoted to our Crucial Years series, it feels great to get back to discussing a single band. What better way to get back into it than Watain.   "Malfeitor", Lawless Darkness (2010)   Talkset #1 "Life Dethroned", Rabid Death's Curse (2000) "Devil's Blood", Casus Luciferi (2003) "The Golden Horns of Darash", Casus Luciferi (2003)   Talkset #2 "Serpent's Chalice", Sworn to the Dark...

1989. So this is it. Our 100th episode and the end of our Crucial Years in Metal series. In our opinion, the most crucial year in metal.   Grotesque, "Blood Runs from the Alter", The Black Gate is Closed   Talkset #1 Overkill, "Elimination", The Years of Decay Metal Church, "Badlands", Blessing in Disguise Testament, "Nightmare", Practice What You Preach Sabbat, "Do Dark Horses Dream of Nightmares...

1990. The last year that thrash reigned supreme. Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax put out what many see as their last great records. Pantera begin to carve the new wave of thrash, Priest releases their last record with Halford and Swedish death metal hits with Entombed's Left Hand Path. The metal world was on the cusp of a change to the extreme.   Blind Guardian, "Lost in the Twilight Hall", Tales Fro...

1991. The year extreme metal really gained ground in the music world. No longer relegated to the the import bins, this new wave of metal really started penetrating record stores, or at least in the small Midwestern town we came from. Sweden hit us with Debuts by Grave, Dismember and Unleashed, while Entombed delivered their sophomore LP. The US scene was also firing on all cylinders with Morbid An...

1986. This is the year of thrash. Slayer, Metallica and Megadeth all put out what many see as their quintessential records, King Diamond goes solo and Repulsion erupt on the scene. Not to mention hidden gems like Sepultura's Morbid Visions and Infernal Majesty's None shall Defy continue to broaden metal's ever-diversifying cannon.   Candlemass, "Solitude", Epicus Doomicus Metallicus   Talkset #1 M...

1984. The rise of thrash, Germany entering the thrash fray with what was arguably the start death metal and established acts like Dio, Maiden and Priest continuing to dominate.   Dio, "Egypt (The Chains Are On)", The Last in Line   Talkset #1 Judas Priest, "The Sentinal", Defenders of the Faith Iron Maiden, "Back in the Village", Powerslave Mercyful Fate, "Gypsy", Don't Break the Oath Metallica, "...

We're back after a little hiatus with a big transition year in metal for established acts...1995. It was the year many underground mainstays spread their wings a bit. In some cases refining their sound, in others pushing the limits of their genre. Enjoy 1995.   Deftones, "Bored", Adrenaline   Talkset #1 Fear Factory, "Self Bias Resistor", Demanufacture Monster Magnet, "Negasonic Teenage Warhead",...

Continuing our countdown of ten crucial years in metal we come to 1992. The 2nd wave of black metal has landed, metal starts making it's way into the mainstream, and another wave of underground acts begin to gain prominence.   Cannibal Corpse, "Hammer Smashed Face", Tomb of the Mutilated   Talkset #1 Alice In Chains, "Them Bones", Dirt Pantera, "Fucking Hostile", Vulgar Display of Power Ministry,...

Continuing our countdown of Crucial Years in Metal, we arrive at 2001. It was a year of reinventions and innovation that the metal world greatly needed to maintain relevance in critics circles. Bands like Cathedral came back with a fusion of all their various styles consolidated into a stripped down, crushingly heavy magnum opus, Pig Destroyer had refreshed grind, Enslaved had taken their songwrit...

Continuing our countdown of Crucial Years in Metal, we arrive at 1988. A year when thrash was approaching it's zenith and grindcore and death metal were beginning their rise. The rapidly approaching reign of Earache Records was only a few years away and the tent pole bands of Carcass and Napalm Death were changing as quickly as they released records. Within a few short years we'd see the rise of S...

Yes. Everyone has a top list of something it seems, and we're no different. Our approach to this cliche of journalism is highlighting landmark years in metal, with an emphasis on years that had an abundant of seminal releases. This also means that we're dealing in volume of records released in certain years, so we're missing some crucial LPs in our lists, but most of those we've covered or will co...

This week we're covering the seminal grind masterpiece, Unrest by Disrupt.   "Domestic Prison", Unrest (1994) "Mass Graves", Unrest (1994) "Compliant", Unrest (1994)   Talkset #1 "A Life's a Life", Unrest (1994) "Pay For...", Unrest (1994) "Unrest", Unrest (1994) "Reality Distortion", Unrest (1994) "Down My Throat", Unrest (1994) "Tortured in Entirety", Unrest (1994)   Talkset #2 "Religion is a Fr...

 Generally accepted as one of the handful of pioneers of the second wave of Black Metal, Emperor's In the Nightside Eclipse barely saw the light of day. With the majority of it's ranks either in prison or under suspicion, In the Nightside Eclipse is truely a perfect storm. Luckily a series of seemingly band events culminated into it's delayed release, which at the time seemed like a detriment, tod...

Finishing up our Hypocrisy coverage, spotlighting their more recent work from 1997-2009. We do exclude a few of their albums from the 90s, since they don’t really hold up in the context of their entire career.   "Inquire Within", The Final Chapter (1997)   Talkset #1 "Through the Window of Time", The Final Chapter (1997) "Adjusting the Sun", The Final Chapter (1997) "Elastic Inverted Visions", Hyp...

We’re back to Sweden again, but this time with the well know, yet often overlooked Hypocrisy. Formed in 1990 after a stint in Florida with Malevolant Creation, the Tägtgren-helmed machine has churned out 11 full length albums. Some better than others, but some haven’t been given the proper attention due to several turds in a row. Beyond Hypocrisy, Peter Tägtgren has an impressive producer resume,...

Way back in episode 14 we discussed the career of Taneli Jarva (Sentenced, Impaled Nazarene, The Black League, etc) and figured it was time to go back and spotlight some of our favorite Sentenced tracks. Unlike many of our other career retrospectives, this one   "Where Waters Fall Frozen", The Funeral Album (2005)   Talkset #1 "Dancing on the Graves (Lil' Sistah)", Amok (1995) "The Way I Wanna Go"...

Justin Broadrick, mastermind behind Godflesh and now Jesu has a long and varied past when it comes to extreme, genre defying music. His stints in Napalm Death and Head of David brought him to where we first begin our exploration of the first 3 Godflesh full-lengths and various EPs.   "Godhead", Godflesh (1988)   Talkset #1 "Like Rats", Streetcleaner (1989) "Pulp", Streetcleaner (1989) "Slavestate"...

How to approach an Iron Maiden show? Everybody knows the Number of the Beast, Piece of Mind and Powerslave, so how could we bring an interesting spin to Maiden coverage? Well, for now we're starting at the beginning. This episode we discuss the Paul Di'Anno years, covering Iron Maiden, Killers and a bit of The Soundhouse Tapes. More Maiden to come!   "Running Free", Iron Maiden (1980)   Talkset #1...

In an attempt to dig deeper into the origins of the metal genre we thought it would be interesting to delve into one of the most energetic bands in the history of, well music... the MC5! Just as our punk show examined the connections between metal and punk, in this episode we broaden our scope out a bit from the narrow confines of extreme metal and take a sonic history lesson with the help of Mike...

Part 2 of our coverage of Celtic Frost this week. We explore To Mega Therion, Into The Pandemonium and Monotheist. We chose to omit Cold Lake and Vanity Nemesis, while some may enjoy these two albums, we thought they deviated from the Celtic Frost course we wanted to follow.   "The Usurper", To Mega Therion (1985)   Talkset #1 "Circle of the Tyrants", To Mega Therion (1985) "Necromantical Screams"...

It's possible that no other band has had more impact on extreme metal than Celtic Frost. Formed from the ashes of Hellhammer, Tom G. Warrior and friends assembled a trio that would write the blueprint for metal that would effect generations to come. This episode we cover a bit of the early Hellhammer era and delve into Morbid Tales, Emperor's Return and To Mega Therion.   "Massacra", Apocalyptic R...

Another year has come to a close, and damn, what an unbelievable year for extreme metal! Since there were so many great albums to sift through, we decided to break it up into two episodes that we'd run back to back-- long enough to fill most holiday commutes (at nearly 3 hours) and timeless enough to act as a mix tape of how truly rad 2009 was for metal!   Paradise, "The Rise of Denial", Faith Div...

Another year has come to a close, and damn, what an unbelievable year for extreme metal! Since there were so many great albums to sift through, we decided to break it up into two episodes that we'd run back to back-- long enough to fill most holiday commutes (at nearly 3 hours) and timeless enough to act as a mix tape of how truly rad 2009 was for metal!   Kylesa, "Unknown Awareness", Static Tensi...

The followup to our first career retrospective of black metal visionaries, Marduk. This episode we focus on Panzer Division Marduk, La Grande Danse Macabre, Plague Angel, Rom 5:12 and Wormwood.   "Christraping Black Metal", Panzer Division Marduk (1999)   Talkset #1 "Azrael", La Grande Danse Macabre (2001) "The Hangman of Prague", Plague Angel (2004) "Perish in Flames", Plague Angel (2004)   Talks...

Ripe for the holiday season, we bring you the black metal stylings of Sweden's Marduk! A band that has gone through several distinct phases, some more innovative than others, but all culminating in their 2009 masterwork... Wormwood. This first show we'll be investigating their early era, focusing on Dark Endless, Those of The Unlight, Opus Nocturne, Heaven Shall Burn... When We Are Gathered, Night...