TERMINUS: extreme metal podcast

Finally breaking free from the shackles of an endlessly repeated conversation on black metal pornography, your hosts return with an episode of lower-tempo extreme metal from two very different parts of the scene. Featuring a returning fan submission and a record from a style we rarely cover, this episode is a deep cut for those who want to expand their listening habits into uncharted territory. Or...

A Terminus first occurs on this episode when, in the intro segment, your intrepid hosts manage to recreate nearly word for word the intro to the last episode out of sheer forgetfulness. We left it in just for you. After the podcasting equivalent of leaving a toddler in a hot car, our episode: First up is Verminous Serpent, a brand new Irish black/doom band staffed by a host of prominent musicians...

Mom and dad are fighting again. It's been a tough time on the Terminus homestead with regards to scheduling, TDMG waylaid from recording earlier by the insidious trickery of budget airlines. Perhaps a cooling-off period was needed, though, before recording what is perhaps the most contentious episode in Terminus history. Blood must be shed. There is no other path forward. The cause of such discord...

After being battered for a fortnight by winds of frost and plague, Terminus once again valiantly gallops into battle against the forces of stoner doom and prog metal with another enthralling installment of the only metal podcast that has ever existed. Weathered and beaten but unbowed, your intrepid hosts present a melange of records from all over the map, starting most curiously with Lovebites, th...

As February progresses and winter's grip begins to falter, Terminus takes advantage of this space between seasons to present a real grab bag of an episode. Today's theme? Confidence and boldness, as exhibited by bands from all over the world and in all styles of extreme metal- there's something for everyone here. First: Cuban(!) slam death band Orphan Autopsy, whose refined presentation and brilli...

Sunday, February 12th, 2023 marks one of the most important rituals in American culture: the release of a new Terminus episode. We're back with some records the more death metal-inclined Terminators will undoubtedly appreciate, plus an appetizer provided by Russia's Utanförskap, a post-black metal project which arrives at a unique sound through a genuine appreciation and understanding of its post-...

Now that the dust has settled from our 2022 recap, it's time for the boys to dive headfirst into the new year with a smattering of genre- and quality-varied records. This week's episode features a major black metal release and a funeral doom record from a friend of the show, but first up- an appetizer. Noisy Neighors' debut full-length truly blasts from stereo speakers with a ripping half hour of...

The Black Metal Guy slithers out from his dreadful crypt. The Death Metal Guy emerges from his abattoir-cum-brothel. A chill upon the hissing wind raises hackles and lowers spirits. A sluggish and corpulent full moon hangs listlessly just over the horizon. A whisper whips through the trees, barely audible: "please bro I just need an aux cable to run my drum machine through the PA I swear I'll give...

By this point into Terminus Winter Break, you've no doubt exhausted our considerable back catalog, and have been reduced to listening to actual music instead of our reviews. But fear not! Every time we go on break, we release one of our elite, patrons-only bonus episodes to all you rank and file terminators. So here's the first single-record episode we've ever done. We think it's some of our best...

The third season of Terminus is drawing to a close, but of course, there's one last matter to attend to: a testimony to the unquestionable best metal records of 2022. As is tradition, our final episode of the year is a sprawling beast where your intrepid hosts discuss all the peaks and valleys of the year in review. This year's list has plenty of surprises in store, with lots of dark horse records...

Merry Christmas and Happy Yule to all terminators (and lumps of coal to those who deny our power)! This is our last main episode of 2022 before we embark on the path to our end of year extravaganza and it's a doozy. We're finishing the year with two black metal records which need zero introduction- one arriving at the end of this week, the other released by surprise. Both these records are the lat...

Another episode so soon? Well, our cold, black hearts felt the distant and chilly fingers of shame over how long the last one took to come out, so we've ramped up production in the Autism Factory just for you! Today's episode is another that focuses on deep cut black metal, but perhaps a little less putrid and decrepit this time around. It's still gnarly, though, as demonstrated by our opening seg...

With the holiday season comes Terminus descending into scheduling hell, as is tradition. We like to think of it as a fun mystery, like opening presents on Christmas morning: when will the new episode arrive? Will a random bonus episode get released with zero notice? How blackout drunk will one or both hosts be? To answer in order: right now, maybe at some point, and neither, unfortunately. But to...

If you're wondering why today's installment of Terminus took a while to get to you, it's simple: episode 111 is all about doom, so it moved a little slower. Amidst all the high energy death and black metal we've been covering this year, we've been waiting for the opportunity to cover records a bit more... lethargic. Call us Type O Negative, because today we're going slow, deep, and hard. First up:...

Terminus has been, to some degree, derelict in its duty to promote Outlaw Rock this year. Hopefully today's episode ameliorates this deficiency with a grip of records all firmly within this rough and tumble style of black metal(?). For those unfamiliar with the term, Outlaw Rock is a concept formulated by Terminus for a distinct style of USBM with a range of pointedly American influences, from cou...

On rare occasion Terminus will dip its toe into the heady waters of "mainstream metal" (referring to bands that human beings listen to)- it's a rare and dangerous venture, but a necessary one. Today's episode is one such occasion, one where owners of Black Metal Tapes Worth More Than Your Life eye us suspiciously, thumbing the hammers of their revolvers under the poker table. Fret not- while today...

Gentlemen... behold! A new lean and mean episode of Terminus has arrived now that The Black Metal Guy has returned from Parts Unknown, fattened on the riches of distant lands. What better way to celebrate than with two down-the-line black metal records? We can have a little shrieking, just as a treat. First up is Ateiggär from the Helvetic Underground Committee, a group of Swiss artists we've been...

Just in time for the spookiest of seasons comes a spine-chilling installment of Terminus with the team you fear most- The Death Metal Guy and Harried Terminus Intern Hyper Shaman. As is (usually) tradition for this combo, we've got a death metal centered episode for you, but fear not: only one of the records discussed has prominent slams! First off, though, is a look at the new Daemogog record, wh...

We return to your regularly scheduled programming after a brief diversion to record a bonus episode on Lykathea Aflame's seminal Elvenefris (which you should purchase your way into immediately.) This week we're going way down the line with three more-or-less black metal records occupying often-ignored sonic niches of interest to serious listeners. First up: the return of ColdWorld, a DSBM legend w...

Let's face it, people: 2022 has been a difficult mating season for black metal. They're not sending their best, folks- or at least they haven't been so far. That might all change with today's episode, which features two excellent records of autumnal, melodic, and strikingly structured black metal which reaches back to the trenchcoat era of the late 90s/early 00s for its primary influences. If you'...

Again, a bit of a delay, but we've got something to make it up for you: a big, sprawling episode of highly anticipated records and autistic analysis guaranteed to please all Terminators or your money back (please don't call me on this I can't give refunds on Patreon.) This time we're looking at two scrappy, unusual records descended from a parallel universe war metal scene that somehow drifted int...

Okay I know last time I said we were back and were gonna be super consistent and everything, but here's the thing: I lied. I lied specifically to hurt you. The relationship between Terminus and its fans is inherently abusive, but don't worry: we're bringing you back some flowers and promising to never do it again with an episode featuring two radically different sides of the wasteland known as Det...

No excuses this time. We're back. For real. See? We've got another episode? This one's cut in pretty distinct halves, with some remarkably extreme, timbral music on one side and some true to the 80s heavy metal on the other, but surprising threads of composition run through both. To start, though: it's been a little while, so The Death Metal Guy took it upon himself to ruin your day with some brut...

It's been a laborious path, surely, but Terminus is back on track as TBMG and TDMG reunite after a long departure from one another. Creative differences? Lover's quarrel? Nothing so interesting as that. What's important is that we're back to the Terminus you know and love, autistically criticizing unknown records for the pleasure of equally autistic listeners. T-shirts in the back. First up is the...

It's that time of the season again! Terminus returns with another episode but, uh, a weird one again. This time it's TDMG that's our handling some personal business, which means we have an episode featuring TBMG and Terminus intern Hyper Shaman, this time focusing on wooly and wild strains of black metal from all over the (full) spectrum. Think of this as the perverse alternative to the first gues...