The MetalSucks Podcast

MetalSucks Podcast hosts Petar, Brandon, Jozalyn and Sylvia go all out to celebrate the art we loved in this trying year of 2020. We let the music do most of the talking as we play a track from each one of our collective 15 favorite albums of the year, and we share in the celebration by chatting with the artists that made that music: Barney Greenway of Napalm Death, Brittney Slayes of Unleash The...

Tarja Turunen is our guest for our first-ever holiday episode of The Metalsucks Podcast. We discuss some of her favorite memories of Christmas while growing up in Finland, how a personal tragedy ruined the holidays for many years, her decision to make her first solo record in 2006 a Christmas album, her upcoming Christmas livestream performance, and her favorite Christmas album as a child. She als...

Soilwork and The Night Flight Orchestra guitarist David Andersson is our guest this week. We discuss Soilwork's latest EP, A Whisp of The Atlantic, the "Feverish" trilogy of videos accompanying the EP's singles, the dream that lead to the epic 16-minute title track, becoming a major songwriter for Soilwork since he joined the band, and why it's important to adapt and change in music to ensure surv...

Underoath electronics wizard Chris Dudley is our guest this week. In celebration of the interview taking place on Friday the 13th, we discuss that film series in its entirety, apologists for Jason X and Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, how to introduce R-rated movies to your kids without taking it too far, and the last horror movie that actually scared us. Chris also tells us how much time Underoat...

This week our guest is TesseracT guitarist James Monteith! We discuss the current climate of the UK as they go into their second shutdown due to COVID-19, how promoting records has been a booming business during this time, the band's plans for their next record and how they feel about releasing new material without being able to tour behind it, the luxury of having no deadlines when creating music...

Troy Sanders of Mastodon, Gone is Gone, and Killer Be Killed is our guest this week! Celebrating the second release by Killer Be Killed, Reluctant Hero, we discuss Troy's desire to do a full tour with the band despite it being seen as a side project, having a total of 12 active bands between Killer Be Killed's four members, and how the writing process is different with all the vocalists he works w...

This week Mikael Stanne of Dark Tranquility is our guest! We discuss bringing in two new guitarists for the band's forthcoming album, Moment, their plans to eventually celebrate Moment live, and an update on the scheduled fall 2021 North American tour after letting go of booking agent John Finberg following allegations of sexual harassment. Mikael also tells us which of the band's albums is his fa...

Legendary drummer Mikkey Dee is on the show this week! Mikkey talks about the upcoming 40th anniversary of Ace of Spades, his first time seeing Motörhead as a teenager before joining the band, Lemmy's reluctance to play songs from the Ace of Spades live, and why Hammered is his least favorite record he performed on. Mikkey also talked about a whole lot about Lemmy: which part of Lemmy that always...

Cradle of Filth leader Dani Filth is back on the show! We discuss the band's upcoming streaming concert set for October 30, how some fans have angrily demanded the livestream be free, recording a new album during a pandemic with all the band members living in different parts of the world, how Covid-19 is crippling the entertainment industry beyond just music, and the creative drive that will follo...

Mr. Bungle bassist Trevor Dunn is our guest this week! We discuss the origins of Mr. Bungle while the guys were still in high school, why he felt that he and his friends gravitated towards metal in those years, and his ongoing drive to write music that sounds new and original to him. In light of the band's plans to release a re-recording of their early demo, The Raging Wrath Of The Easter Bunny, T...

Legendary vocalist John Bush of Armored Saint (and formerly of Anthrax) is our guest this week. We discuss the band's new album, Punching the Sky, trying to keep his lyrics positive in light of all the terrible things happening in the world, why he doesn't have personal social media accounts despite the assets they'd be to the band, the importance of surrounding himself with the people who helped...

Brett Campbell of Pallbearer is our guest this week! We discuss how the songwriting process on the band's new album, Forgotten Days, differed from that on past albums, how the band formulated the new songs to resonate live, how the lyrics have a direct tie to the band's debut, Sorrow and Extinction, and why they worked with an outside producer this time. Brett also tells us how the extended break...

Our guest this week is Brutus bassist Peter Mulders. We discuss the band's first live album, Live In Ghent (out October 23), how the recording wasn't initially meant for fans to hear, the organic process of how songs evolve after playing them live, the energy of getting to record a show in his hometown, and the painstaking process of obtaining visas for the North American tour in March that was ev...

Elize Ryd of Amaranthe is our guest this week! We discuss the band's upcoming album, Manifest (October 2), how the mental reality of the pandemic affected the recording of the record, the importance of making a fun and positive record during this time, and the story behind the guest artists on the album. Elize also tells us about why creating music videos is still one of her favorite parts of bein...

Enslaved's Ivar Bjørnson is our guest this week. We discuss the band's new album, Utgard, and the concept behind it, the shorter songs therein compared to their previous three albums, the experience of the band's recently completed virtual tour, and what new drummer Iver Sandøy brings to the band both behind the kit and vocally. We also talk about the influence Deep Purple have had on Enslaved, th...

The Ocean mastermind Robin Staps is back on the show to discuss the band's new album, Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic|Cenozoic. Robin discusses how the two Phanerozoic albums sound completely different despite being recorded at the same time, Jonas from Katatonia's guest appearance, the difficultly in finding fossils for the box set version of the album, and how he predicted the future with regards to Co...

Kataklysm frontman Maurizio Iacono is our guest this week. We discuss the band's latest album, Unconquered, how anxiety has driven his career and having to readjust during this time, how delaying releasing a record right now is not “metal," and whether he plans to start writing a new album right away because the band can't tour. Iacono also discusses how his job as a booking agent has been reinven...

Barney Greenway of Napalm Death is our guest this week. We discuss the band's first new album in five years, Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism, how he and bassist Shane Embury always argue about the sequence of songs on their records, and the non-metal bands that heavily influence Napalm Death. Barney also talks about how the world has changed since the last time the band released new music,...

Our guest this week is Kamelot and Seventh Wonder vocalist Tommy Karevik. We discuss all the preparation that went into creating the new Kamelot live album/DVD, I Am The Empire - Live From The 013, getting every special guest that they went after, his childhood love of Michael Jackson, transitioning from being a fan of pop to heavy metal, how the touring cycle for Kamelot was affected by COVID-19,...

Black Crown Initiate guitarist Andy Thomas is our guest this week! We discuss the recording the band's new album during modern times, the return of guitarist Ethan McKenna, finding motivation, channeling the lowest points in his life into the record, avoiding the hatred of daily contemporary culture, trends in social media, the hard compromise of the upcoming election, and more. Petar, Brandon, an...

Avatar vocalist Johannes Eckerström is our guest this week. We discuss how being controversial in metal is extremely hard work because of how far the genre has already pushed the edge, his band’s relationship with one visual director for over a decade, the realization that we have arrived in the dystopian world art has envisioned for ages, his journey to becoming vegan, being a huge fan of the wri...

Dee Snider is back on the show! This time we discuss his new live Blu Ray/DVD, For The Love of Metal Live, how the album's sole new track, "Prove me Wrong," is a statement to his fans, why a live DVD is what every music fan should embrace these days, and the immediate connection the songs from his latest solo album had with fans. We also tackle plenty of pandemic-related issues: if Twisted Sister...

The Acacia Strain guitarist Devin Shidaker is our guest this week. We discuss releasing two albums in one year and the choice to surprise-release It Comes In Waves, why they need to take chances to keep their sound fresh instead of repeating past formats that worked, how streams are more important to the band than actual album sales, and the honor system with fans who buy physical copies. We also...

Witch Taint's Lance the King of Black Metal and Matthias Backwards, aka Dave Hill and Phil Costello, join the show this week. We discuss the origin of the band’s name, how they constantly have to prove how metal they are, how the slang words for "taint" differ by region, their ongoing beef with death metal, why worshipping Satan in your sleep is vital for being a true black metal artist, why you c...

Voivod guitarist Daniel “Chewy” Mongrain is our guest this week. We discuss the Canadian perspective on the recent protests inspired by the murder of George Floyd and his country's response to the pandemic, he looks back on Voivod's most recent studio album, The Wake, tells us about how Voivod got invited to play the Montreal International Jazz Festival, why spontaneous composition is difficult fo...