The MetalSucks Podcast

  Alex Erian, vocalist for recently reactivated deathcore pioneers Despised Icon, guests on the podcast this week. In our exclusive interview we delve into the reasoning behind the band breaking up and moving on and then, after a short time, making the decision to come back together. We talk about their new record Beast and how recording with two bands at one time creates headaches for him. We fin...

Aaron Turner of Sumac, ex-Isis, Mammifer, Old Man Gloom and Hydra Head Records is our guest this week. We discuss the new Sumac album What One Becomes, how he has changed emotionally since his early days with Isis, the role his wife played in turning him into a more well-adjusted person, his introverted nature, whether Isis will return someday, how a different view of his life shapes his reaction...

Jamey Jasta, lead singer of Hatebreed, joins us this week. In our in-depth interview with the revered frontman, we talk how politics inform Hatebreed's new album, The Concrete Confessional, as well as his songwriting process, how small utterances on social media can provoke big reactions, his thoughts on the state of the music industry, why a separate metal streaming service would be a bad idea (a...

This week we take a look at the best metal albums of 2016 so far. Of course we see it differently from one another but we lay out what this year has offered and what it really means in the scope of metal history and the rest of the year to come. We also invite Rob Pasbani of Metal Injection and the Metal Injection Livecast to offer a different perspective on this year’s releases. He fills us in on...

Cristina Scabbia, lead singer for Lacuna Coil, guests this week to talk about the band's new album Delirium, their eighth studio album over a 20-plus year career and the first to be totally self-produced. Cristina talks about relationships between band members, experiences with past producers and the pressures the band has been under leading up the album's release. She talks about where the lyrica...

The legendary black metal drummer Frost of Satyricon is our guest this week. In our interview we talk about the re-release of their classic album Nemesis Divina on its 20th anniversary, what that means for the band, if the classic albums he grew up with would be different if they were remastered, and whether or not there is space in black metal for change and openness in songwriting. Forgive us fo...

This week Joe Duplantier of the mighty Gojira returns to the podcast for another interview ahead of the release of their new album Magma. We find out how the emotional impact on the Duplantier brothers of losing their mother effected the production of this album, whether having kids makes Joe think about the business differently, what the changing direction of their music means for the future of t...

Luc Lemay, legendary guitarist and vocalist for Gorguts, guests this week, and in our revealing interview we discover how he became and maintains the status of being the nicest guy in death metal. We even try to get him to hate on people but he holds his ground, refusing to say one bad word about anyone we mentioned. We also talk about his return to composing after such a long hiatus, how he was s...

Evan Brewer guests this week on the podcast, fresh on the heels of releasing the debut full length album with his new band Entheos. In our interview we spend more time talking about bass than ever before, but we also learn about his decision to leave The Faceless, what that meant for his career, why going solo for a few albums was a good idea and whether or not he likes watching movies with all th...

This week the always intense and enigmatic Ministry mastermind Al Jourgensen guests on the podcast. His new project, Surgical Meth Machine, just released their debut self-titled album, and we find out where this next level of music came from and how it turned into something bigger than expected, how the grind of the industry drives him crazy and how he inadvertently became what he most despised by...

Filter's Richard Patrick takes over the podcast this week -- and when we say "takes over the podcast," we mean it! Filter's new record, Crazy Eyes, is out... but we talk about the new music for maybe two seconds before the conversation shifts to the nature of art, Patrick's belief that music and art should be subversive, how the radio hit "Take a Picture" exemplifies this belief, and the U.S. Pres...

Dez Fafara puts in his second appearance on the podcast. DevilDriver's new record Trust No One will be the first in a decade with new personnel playing and writing music for the band. We talk in depth about Dez's work ethic, his view of the lineup changes, what that means for this album and the band going forward and how his attitude changes without negative influences working against him.   We al...

The legendary Ihsahn guests on the podcast this week. We talk about his new album Arktis being a departure from his last experimental album, working with Trivium’s Matt Heafy and his love for black metal, the differences between writing music in a band setting versus the creative process as a solo artist, and if he would ever entertain returning to a "band" or he's too comfortable working independ...

Otep Shamaya, known for her outspoken and honest nature, brings it to the podcast this week. We talk about her new record Generation Doom and how it almost didn't happen, how her history informs her present, how the music industry almost ruined her passion for music, her work as a voiceover artist and what it feels like to have regained the passion for her art. We could only fit in part of our len...

Anthony Notarmaso, vocalist for the embattled After the Burial, guests this week with one of our most heart-wrenching interviews to date. It's unfortunate that the band can't do interviews without talking about their late guitarist Justin Lowe, who tragically passed away last year, but that enabled the band to reach into spaces not many can comprehend. We talk about Justin, how the band decided to...

This week's guest on the podcast is Johan Hegg of the mighty Amon Amarth! Listen in as we discuss why he the band's new album, Jomsviking, may quite possibly be the band's finest work to date, the story behind the band's first concept record, the cause of their first line-up change in twenty years, and their decision not to hire a new permanent drummer. Plus: Eyal Levi is back again for another in...

Steve Austin, vocalist and guitarist for Today is the Day, recently formed a new band called UXO with his longtime friend Chris Spencer of Unsane. We invited Steve to chat with us and wound up having one of the longest, most interesting discussions we've had in a long time. We talk about how the UXO project came together, where his drive to create introspective, destructive music comes from, how h...

This week we were recovering from our trip to the Caribbean on the 70000 Tons of Metal cruise. The floating festival is in its sixth year, offering 60 bands over the course of four days, and somehow we survived our third trip. Whether you love to see the crowd, the destinations or the bands you will have a spectacular time. As part of the press corps, we got the opportunity to talk to some of the...

This week we invited Steve "Stevic" MacKay of the genre-bending Twelve Foot Ninja to the podcast for one of our favorite interviews to date. Shamelessly outspoken about music, the business side of things and the media, Stevic tells us all the things that are haunting him as a person, and the obstacles the band has encountered from the other side of the globe in Australia. His unique perspective is...

Steffen Kummerer, guitarist and vocalist of Obscura, guests this week. With their first new album in five years, Akroasis, coming out this week, we talked to Steffen in depth about his approach to writing the new album, his experience and education, how the shifting membership in the band shaped where they are today and whether having a master's degree or being a metal vocalist gets more traction...

James LaBrie of the legendary Dream Theater guests this week. We talk about their new album The Astonishing, the process surrounding making their most ambitious concept record to date, putting together an extensive live production for it, his relationship with fans, how he is able to adjust to touring vs. home life and whether the changing tide in the music industry effects the way he leads his li...

Tim Millar, guitarist for Protest the Hero, guests this week. Protest the Hero have reinvented the way to make music so many different times we had to talk to Tim about the crowdfunding for Volition, their new subscriber campaign through Bandcamp, whether they realize that they are turning the industry on its head, what the consequences may be for touring and releasing records, and how this new st...

Back by popular demand, "One Minute to Midnight," in which veteran musician and producer Eyal Levi lends his ear and expertise to two unsigned bands who submitted music for us to pick apart. We give Hasta La Muerte and With Silent Eyes some creative direction and tips and tricks that could make their music better.  Last week Derek Brewer of Outerloop Management wrote an Op-Ed piece for MetalSucks...

We're back from the holiday break with a guest we have wanted to talk to for quite a while: Randy Blythe of the mighty Lamb of God guests this week on the podcast ahead of their U.S. tour. We only had a short time with him, but we chat about his immense workload, struggles with addiction, his retirement plan, plans for 2016 (including a couple of books) and what he will look like on stage in 20 ye...

We wrap up 2015 before the holiday break with our take on the Best Albums of 2015. We posted our lists a while back but we wanted to dedicate a full episode to the albums that turned us on all year. Initially it looked like there weren't going to be enough to cover fifteen records, but a slew of good albums came out in the final month. Hell, the number one album on our lists hasn't even been relea...