The Metal Cell Podcast

Combining the genuine warmth and emotion of progressive rock with the desolate feeling of post rock, Parhelia's Greg Clarke (Guitars, Keys & Effects) and Cathal Rodgers (Bass & Keys). chat with myself and Howard reflecting over the early formation of the band up to their incredible new instrumental release Celestial Horizons. Seasoned veterans on the Irish Metal Scene, it was great to hear...

Myself and Jack of Forums/Coroza/Gealach catch up with Howard who writes, sings and performs everything with The Magnapinna after most of the band sadly passed away on a tragic paddle boat accident in an inflated pool. Their new E.P Squid Sandwich, chaotic tour stories, gold data sticks along with other bizarre tales which repeatedly blurs the lines between fact and fiction. Along with dodgy guita...

Jeff (vox/guitars) & Ricky (bass) talk with myself and Danielle from The Metal Cell Forums. Strangers With Guns were formed in 2019 and released their first album Degenerate Art in August 2019. It was nominated for a Best Album of a Year award and received plenty of positive reviews. The band are ready to release a new E.P called Disenfranchised Fetus in August and we play an exclusive track,...

I have decided to spread the word on the Irish Metal Scene by talking to similar bands elsewhere in the world. I'm going to give them a Spotify Irish Metal playlist to listen to; compare our scene with their scene and hopefully build a relationship that might see a band from Ireland play in their country or vice a versa. The second of these interviews is in Adelaide, Australia with local thrash le...

Delighted to welcome back my wonderful co-hosts on this terrific episode, where we reviewed Element X & Horenda releases and our chosen subject was Heavy Metal Beefs.....the many verbal wars between famous/not so famous metal bands. We did a feature on Danielle's pick for her band to listen to, the abrasive and dark King 810, talked about gigs and some band updates. As I said before the banter...

I was delighted to welcome Dave and Gearoid of Drought along with Danielle of The Metal Cell Forums to have a chat about their progress so far. Drought is a collective of individuals that have been involved with bands such as Coldwar, Mortichnia, Warpath, Wound Upon Wound and Slave Zero. The lads talk about their influences across Sludge, Death, Black & Doom Metal. They have released two excel...

I have decided to spread the word on the Irish Metal Scene by talking to similar bands elsewhere in the world. I'm going to give them a Spotify Irish Metal playlist to listen to, compare our scene with their scene and hopefully build a relationship that might see a band from Ireland play in their country or vice a versa. The first of these interviews start with the brilliant Sintax from Jerusalem,...

Bailey Junior of Scapegoat TV made a short film on mental health and suicide called Suffer. He is heavily involved in the Metal Community in Scotland and asked for assistance in making the short from friends of his who soon contributed to the soundtrack of the movie. I asked Tom of Zhora, Evan of Worn Out and Shane Horan, Photographer and Psychotherapist to come on the show to discuss Baileys film...

Gama Bomb have spent the last 17 years delighting and tormenting willing audiences in equal measure. Having inked a deal with Los Angeles based Prosthetic Records, the band is currently working on the follow up to 2018's critically acclaimed Speed Between The Lines. I was delighted to catch up with Philly (vox) and Joe (Bass) and enjoy their company as they chatted about tours, new music and their...

Delighted to welcome back my wonderful co-hosts on this terrific episode, where we review Restive Nation & Neon Empire single releases and our chosen subject was the unwritten rules of Heavy Metal. We did a feature on Evans pick for his band to listen to, the incredible Everytime I Die, talked vinyl and some band updates. As I said before the banter is the best out there in the Metal Scene so...

I was delighted to catch up with Rob as he took an enforced break from his busy touring schedule with The Exploited. Rob took the Zoom call in Kerry, where he was busy restoring an old barn in preparation for a brand new studio. It soon became clear that Rob has many interests outside of The Exploited as we chatted over a few beers. Tour stories, sport, architecture and the love of music were just...

Join myself, Jamie, Daz, Liam and Rob of Razor Sharp Death Blizzard as we talk about their upcoming album release, the aptly titled "The World is Fucked" on July 17th. The lads have released their first single "Suicide" of the album and it is a brilliant, yet dark song dedicated to the thousands of lives lost every year to suicide and mental health issues . The band have toured all across Europe a...

Elder Druid came out of 2019 as one of the best Doom/Metal bands in Ireland. They launched their critically acclaimed Golgotha to a jammed packed Voodoo Room in Belfast in January, tour dates were booked and a vinyl pressing done of 250 albums; so it would be fair to say the lads were ready to take it to the next level until their momentum suddenly ground to a halt with the COV-19 pandemic. Join m...

I was delighted to finally interview Ciaran Culhane for my series on people who have left their mark on the Irish Metal Scene by producing incredible music. Ciaran has dedicated his life to music as a producer, sound engineer and multi-instrumentalist based in Limerick. He has built up a fantastic body of work, so it's fair to say innumerable bands and people have benefited from his work at gigs a...

Delighted to welcome back my wonderful co-hosts on this terrific episode, where we covered Grey Stag & Xero single releases and our chosen subject was Metal Genres. Along the way many Metal rabbit holes were explored and both Evan and Jack updated us on their bands activities. Great to have everyone back on the show, the banter is some of the the best that's out there in the Metal Scene so ple...

I was so pleased to welcome Josh Robinson on the Producer and Mixer Series as I have been a massive fan of his work and bands that he has chosen to work with for a long time. Joining us on the Podcast also were Taylor and Gavin from Survivalist and Paddy, Daire and Steve of Heel of Achilles. It was a huge edit considering it was all done using Zoom, the sound outcome was patchy enough in stages du...

I was delighted to welcome back long-time contributor to the show Evan from Worn Out/The Metal Cell Forums along with his legendary DJ pal Dave from Today FM's Dermot and Dave Show to talk about their love of the Metal Scene. Dave talks about his teenage years following Metal and as he grew older how his love for Metal music stayed with him through various stages of his professional working life....

Aidan Cunningham is a mixing, recording engineer and music producer with a life-consuming obsession of sound. Aidan's fascination with recorded music formed as a young teen and has flourished into a full time career creating music with artists from around the globe. In this episode the first of my Producer and Mixing Engineer Series, Aidan gives us an insight into his world working creatively to p...

Andy Clarke of The Crawling invites us for a drink in his virtual bar and we talk about the current state of Irish Metal in the middle of a pandemic. There's lots to discuss, the last few gigs of The Crawling, their merch, future plans and the state of Irish Metal at the moment. We have the now regular news round-up of the Irish Metal scene and 2 exclusive songs from So Much For The Sun and The Gr...

This episode is examines the thought process that goes into an artist designing a brief for a band and the work that goes into achieving a final product that will represent both the band and the artist. Contributions by Kym Horner of Kym Horner Design, James Sheridan of James Sheridan Does Art/deadxactress, Colin Bolger of Dabulga Design and Mick Carey of Zealot Cult to help to understand the thou...

This episode is spent examining the connections between the t-shirt, art and the Metal Fan. Contributions by Sean O'Sullivan of Ten Ton Slug, Ciaran Coughlan of Obsidian Design and Alex Fitzgerald of Absurd Merch help to understand the thought process with the design, concept and final product. I also want to thank Conjuring Fate, Sectile and Grief Eater for summiting their brilliant songs for thi...

Strange times indeed but it didn't deter TOOMS from releasing one of the best singles of the year with Stampede. All precautions were adhered to, when the lads arrived from neighbouring border county Limerick, to talk about the efforts that went to recording their new album. One thing for certain with Alex, Anto and Kieran you are guaranteed some great chats and weird rabbit holes to disappear dow...

Delighted to welcome back my wonderful co-hosts on this terrific episode where we covered gigs attended, festival gossip, a Grief Eater single review and lots of banter. The main subject was professionalism in the Irish Metal Scene which hopefully will answer a few questions or kickstart another discussion on it. The insights that Jack and Evan offer as musicains playing in the scene are really br...

Part 1 features Dog Tired. The lads had just finished playing a stormer of a set, upstairs in An Spailpin Fanach for Urban Assault 2020, when we had a great chat about the creation of one of their best releases yet "The Electric Abyss". There was plenty of stories of hairy princesses, sheep punching and life growing up in the wonderfully named Penicuik. Dog Tired are playing Bloodstock this year a...

Delighted to welcome back Con Doyle to talk about all things Metal. Con is a local legend of the Metal scene and discusses his many projects that are coming to fruition in 2020. The main subject of course is his two day Monolith Festival on July 31st and 1st of August. We run through all the bands that are on the bill and share some of their music for those that may not have heard of them. Con als...