The P.O.D. Kast

It took over 4 years, but we are finally reviewing System of a Down again on this program and doing what a lot of people did after hearing "Toxicity": looking backwards at this odd album that follows SOAD's usual formula of a few clear hits and a lot of strange, strange songs. Toxicity having the success it did was strange, but this album going double platinum is even stranger, as it introduced th...

It was always going to come down to this. A band that got absolutely massive off of their early single "Headstrong" and has since begun a long, downward spiral into being a band that plays 100-cap venues in towns you've never heard of and exclusively advertises tours on Truth Social, Trapt is here on the POD Kast for the first time. We go over the music, which seems inspired by Linkin Park's route...

It's one of our longest episodes ever, but we simply had to do it, as there's too much here to process, even with a 2-hour running time. A complicated departure from their work in Slipknot, Corey Taylor and Jim Root set out to have their own thing that doesn't sound all that different from Slipknot and we still aren't quite sure why it happened. But they do try to explain it, from Corey and Clown...

After being in SEVEN Polls, Soulfly finally get their day in the sun, and not a moment too soon as we dig into their weird and wonderful history, with Max desperately trying to duck Yoko Ono allegations about his wife's involvement with Sepultura. It's an album that meant a lot to Bryan and we go over in detail what the split from Sepultura meant in 1998 and what it continues to mean now, as both...

It took exactly FIFTY episodes, but Linkin Park is back on the show and we are talking about their legendary, 16 million copy-selling, sophomore album "Meteora". It's an album that is the last effort of Linkin Park's that could be considered nu-metal and finds John and Bryan at two totally different places in their life upon its release: an album so big it's the first that 17 year-old John can rem...

It's one of the longest episodes of the show ever, and how could it not be when we're discussing an album that so perfectly captures the strange gap period between nu-metal's brief dominance and butt rock's eventual takeover, Saliva's "Every Six Seconds". It's clear this was a band that was unashamedly shooting for the rafters of stadiums, going so far as to write a 90s alt-rock jangle-pop song in...

Who is a Primus Guy, exactly? We turn to Bryan's expertise on the subject (both Guys and Primus) to dig in on one of the 90s' most confounding top-selling bands, Primus. How is it that a band whose angular-yet-heavy take on rock music, centered on one man's virtuosic playing of the BASS (of all things) led to a multi-platinum-selling band? We try to figure it out by tackling Primus' studio debut a...

After a little detour and something a little different on our last episode, we are back to covering a regular album this month, and what a regular album it is, as we take a peek at Chevelle's major label debut "Wonder What's Next", an album with two MASSIVE singles and a whole swath of drama. You see, Chevelle at this point in time consists of 3 brothers, the Loefflers. And they don't exactly like...

We made it! Who knew that this podcast, birthed out of a random DM from John to Bryan after they effectively hijacked his episode of Blocked Party and made it the de facto first episode of POD Kast, would make it all the way to damn Episode 50! And we thought, what better way to celebrate than by bringing on some of our friends to talk about their favorite nu-metal songs, what makes the genre grea...

When Limp Bizkit gets in the studio, some days it's heavy, some days it's mellow, some days it's good, and some days...well, some days it is wack. Fred is honest with us and we are honest with Fred as we review Limp Bizkit's classic debut album, "Three Dollar Bill, Y'All$". Bryan remembers seeing Limp Bizkit very early on as we reminisce about some of their early gigs and demo tapes, and we once a...

For just the second time in the show's history (and perhaps the last time), we are covering our namesake band, as we dive into the P.O.D. well once again to review their major-label debut, "The Fundamental Elements of Southtown". I'll say this: we like it a heck of a lot more than we did "Satellite". Doesn't stop us from finding lots to chew on here though, as Bryan remembers grappling with liking...

It was perhaps an inevitability that we got around to covering one of the most maligned albums in the "nu-metal" genre, when the biggest metal band of all-time dips their toe into the nu-metal waters about 3 years too late. It's Metallica's "St. Anger", the one that wrought the most cursed snare tone of all-time and the documentary "Some Kind of Monster" upon the world of music. We grapple with th...

After a Poll of bands we thought may never get a chance to win, Adema's "Adema" emerged as the clear victor and how could it not: an album we loved a single from, featuring Jonathan Davis' half-brother and a bunch of listeners telling us it's good. Well, folks...it's good. So good, in fact, that Bryan teases the P-word. Does it reach Perfecto status? You'll have to listen to find out. And of cours...

It took 45 episodes, but we finally answer the question of whether or not Rage Against the Machine counts as nu-metal. It's a question that has rocked the message boards and Twitter threads since the dawn of time, and finally, two dumb guys from opposite sides of the continent put the debate to bed. We also dive into a deep and honest discussion about being leftist and creating art, as Rage are co...

He's baaaaaack! We are covering our favorite nu-metal Capital-G Guy for the third time on this show (including bonuses), as David Draiman and Disturbed make their triumphant return to the podcast in our review of "Believe", the band's second studio album. It turns out that we end up spending a LOT of time talking about THEIR Capital-G Guy, their logo, who is called...well, he's called "The Guy". W...

An episode nearly 4 years in the making, John finally gets Sevendust to win a Poll and tries to help Bryan realize that they're good, actually. It's an uphill battle after the Kast's first exposure to the band was their hideous "Southside Double Wide" acoustic album on a bonus episode, but John tries his best to convince Bryan that Sevendust are a good band despite his aversion to them for one sin...

It's been nearly two years since we've covered Deftones on the podcast, and not a moment too soon, as we go over 2 hours talking about our favorite boys from Sacramento. An album that was great at the time and perhaps has aged even better, we both ponder this being a true turning point in Deftones' career, both from a musical standpoint and considering where we (and a lot of fans) were at in our o...

We are with you this month, listeners, as we calm things down a bit and review the seminal sorta-pop-punk, sorta-pop, sorta-country, barely-nu-metal "Let Go" by Avril Lavigne, an album that sold an absurd number of copies and turned John into a loyal fan of a pop artist for one of the first times in his young life. We both remember our flirtations with skateboarding as teens, and John recalls havi...

It took 7 polls and 40 episodes but Bryan's dream finally comes to life as we review one of his favourite nu-metal albums, Sepultura's "Roots". Heading into the episode, Bryan assumed that John would hate it, but it's a surprise for John too, as he finds a lot to like on this seminal classic. We dig into it all, from the crossover with the Xavante tribe to the Brazilian musical elements to its inf...

American Head Charge's reputation in the online nu-metal community is very strong, with some critics putting this album amongst the very best in nu-metal history. But does it come across that way for us? With neither John nor Bryan having extensive history with this album, we dig into all of its lore 20 years later, from the flag burning and shotgun blasts to the literal nonsense lyrics, as every...

In what will likely be the last Incubus record that could be considered nu-metal enough for the show, John and Bryan dig in to Incubus' third album, "Make Yourself", one that's highlighted Brandon Boyd's "introspective" phase that spits out some of the weirdest lyrics ever committed to paper but backed, as usual, by some incredible music. The two of us debate whether or not Incubus is responsible...

You can be a nu-metal fan but not be constantly engaging with the classics, particularly a band's--by their own admission--rushed second album. We know about the legacy of the self-titled. We know about how many copies Follow the Leader sold. But where does "Life is Peachy" fit into Korn's legacy as a band, and the legacy of nu-metal as a whole in 2022? Well, it turns out that both Bryan and John...

It's an episode that begins with us talking quite frankly about our balls (and our strength), and you might need a lot of strength to get through almost two hours on an album that just doesn't quite get to where it thinks it's going, as the risks hardly ever pay off and at the end of the day, its biggest song is still a cover. But WHAT A COVER IT IS. We discuss what it means to have a cover hit hu...

BIG TRUCK! BIG TRUCK! After literal years of trying to get this album to win a Poll, Bryan's dream finally comes true and the boys cover Coal Chamber's debut, self-titled album and it does not disappoint. Perhaps the first nu-metal band to recognize the inherent silliness of the genre, from the lyrics to the interviews, we also recognize that this record absolutely kicks ass. It's clearly inspired...

It's a truly wild episode of the POD Kast this month, as Bryan talks about the first time he did acid...at the age of 12. It sets the tone for the entire episode, as we discuss Neighborhood Jesus, Mick Thomson's "sense of humor" and just how it became that a very heavy metal band made a very heavy sophomore album and still managed to capture the hearts and minds of people everywhere. Of course, th...