Shows
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 132: And Now, You Die! Type O Negative’s ‘Slow, Deep and Hard’If Radical Research exists to dissect the most esoteric and weird and unique recordings in the spheres of rock and metal, then we are sorely overdue to feature the singular debut by Type O Negative. 'Slow, Deep and Hard' began life as Repulsion's one and only demo, 'None More Negative,' recorded in late 1989 and early 1990. After a name change and a contract with Roadrunner Records, the album was re-mastered, the song order re-configured, and the 7-minute "Glass Walls of Limbo (Dance Mix)" added, 'Slow, Deep and Hard' was born. Join us as we plunge into all the blood...2025-07-251h 30
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 131 – A Eulogy for Tom Hailey
This was an unplanned conversation about an unplanned, unexpected, shocking event in our lives. It’s just Hunter and I talking about a dear friend that recently passed, one of our own leaving earthly bonds. And in our reveries and remembrances we left out so much: Tom Hailey was the beer/wine buyer at the Raleigh Whole Foods and held that position for many years there, beloved by the entire staff. He had a college radio metal show where he adopted the persona of The Unholy One and spoke to (no, COMMANDED!) his audience in a John Tardy-like roar. We...2025-07-0738 min
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 130 – Obscure Mindways: Obliveon 1989-1993When God decides to record his first metal album, he will be disappointed to remember that Obliveon already recorded its masterpiece, Nemesis, in the Year of Our Lord, 1993. On its latest episode, Radical Research conducts a much-belated investigation of the first two albums by Montreal's most underrated sons, Obliveon. In the early '90s, the band treated a small-but-fanatical audience to highly-advanced, cutting edge, cosmic death thrash in the forms of 1990's From This Day Forward and the aforementioned Nemesis. Still unsung after all these years, Radical Research is here to set the record straight and shed light on o...2025-06-241h 05
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 129.5 – Drilling Down on Gaahls Wyrd’s “Flowing Starlight”Norwegian vocalist Gaahl is a man who we deeply admire...his work with Gorgoroth and Trelldom, in particular, has a special place in the blackest ventricles of our hearts. Same, too, for his band Gaahls Wyrd, In our initial listens to the band's freshly-released (as of this writing and recording) Braiding the Stories album, we find ourselves facing one of the greatest post=black metal Norweird offerings in a decade. We are particularly excited by final song "Flowing Starlight," which we dissect here for your enlightenment and/or amusement.
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The Radical Research Patreon...2025-06-1918 min
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 128 – What Doesn’t Kill GRINDCRUSHER Makes GRINDCRUSHER Stronger.Inspired by Jeff's soot-damaged, waterlogged, promo-punched copy of his treasured US CD version of this 24-song behemoth, we take an hour and 40 minutes to revel in this intensely special 1990 compilation. The epitome of the Earache label at its peak, this was a fun episode to record, captured partly in Savannah while we hung out at Hunter's and partly remotely, from our separate outposts. From the ruins of a devastating fire...GRINDCRUSHER lives on Radical Research!
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The Radical Research Patreon page is now set up and ready for your patronage. We are offering tiered...2025-04-251h 41
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 127 – Genesis ‘And Then There Were Three’ is Total Prog!!We're incorrigible Genesis fans. We hail every bit of output from 1970 to 1978. We even go further than that. But here, for episode 127, we stop and lovingly gaze at the band's final album of the '70s, the first after the departure of guitarist Steve Hackett, and a work that some mark as the band's departure from prog rock. Not so, say we! Spectral, ghostly, gauzy, playful, lush as all get-out...and total prog. We laud this fascinating transitional effort by one of the greatest bands of all time...prog or otherwise,
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The Radical...2025-03-241h 03
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 126 – None More North! Thule 1985-2005 (with Agalloch’s John Haughm)For our 126th episode, Radical Research travels to the farthest reaches of our favorite country and we do so with a rare companion, Agalloch lynchpin, John Haughm. In this episode, we dive into the discography of Thule, a progressive rock band that defies the rules of progressive rock. Dark, nocturnal, frozen, magical - Thule's seaborne prog offers the listener glimpses into forbidden worlds. We hope that this episode will seduce you into taking the risk that is well worth the reward.
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We were stoked as hell to have Agalloch’s John Haughm with us...2025-03-031h 52
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 125 – Do You Think We’re Forever? Anathema’s ‘Eternity’Radical Research has risen! For our first episode following the tragic event of Jeff's house fire and the loss of members of his beautiful feline family, we have chosen to return with an exploration of one of the most emotional and intense albums of the 1990's, Anathema's Eternity. This album takes the weight of the profoundest Pink Floyd and marries it with the doom and feedback sorcery upon which Anathema built its reputation. Please join us for this most cathartic and, ultimately, affirmative of episodes.
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The Radical Research Patreon page is now set...2025-02-131h 19
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 124 – FLOPTAGON: Bathory’s ‘Octagon’
What started as a joke ("send us a $10,000 donation and we'll do an episode on Bathory's disasterpiece flop, 'Octagon'!") Well, we wondered what that kind of episode would be like, so we decided to just chat about it and see what happened. No big plan, no huge overarching analyses...just a little walk through the ugly, clattering eighth album by a man and band we absolutely worship. We count 'Octagon' as one of the worst two albums ever released by a legendary band...the other one, 'St. Anger' by Metallica, is even worse than this.
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Radical Research PodcastEpisode 123.5 – Autopsy’s ‘Fiend for Blood’: An EP in the Process of DyingAs Hunter so aptly calls it early in this short episode: “Fiend for Blood is an EP that is in the process of dying.”
After the classic Mental Funeral of 1991, Autopsy released the Fiend for Blood EP as its follow-up. Those who were there in 1991 would have already recognized Mental Funeral as a towering achievement of death metal and, indeed, time has proven us right on that score. But Fiend for Blood impressed less. It was even more garage-y, it was a mere 12 minutes, and, at first, it felt like a mere afterthought. In the thinking of at least one...2024-12-2725 min
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 123 – Vauxdvihl 1994-2001: Exhumation PartyAustralia’s Vauxdvihl (or, for a short time, Vaudeville) came quickly, evolved swiftly, and left behind a beautiful corpus of 19 documented songs. We have stood in awe for three decades of this short but impressive discography, and episode 123 of our weird little podcast is an attempt to bring you into the Vauxdvihl fold. (Beware of the ridiculous amount of Fates Warning mentions here…or make a drinking game of it.)
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The Radical Research Patreon page is now set up and ready for your patronage. We are offering tiered subscription levels for those who want...2024-11-121h 12
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 122.5 — A Challenge from S. Craig Zahler to Hunter Ginn, re: Sarcofago “Nightmare”Jeff: “Was talking with my friend S. Craig Zahler a few days ago, and we were discussing Sarcofago’s 1987 debut, I.N.R.I. Zahler noted that there are some bewildering timing issues in 'Nightmare,' and how he’d like Hunter ('who is 20 times the drummer I am') to try and identify what the hell’s going on. I put this quandary/query to Hunter and let ‘er rip.”
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The Radical Research Patreon page is now set up and ready for your patronage. We are offering tiered subscription levels for those who want a set-i...2024-10-3010 min
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 122 — Intrigue CD 4: The Fourth Time We Opened the CapsuleThis episode brings to a close our periodic investigations of the Steven Wilson-curated 'Intrigue' compilation. Covering progressive sounds in UK alternative/post-punk music from 1979-89, 'Intrigue' nails its intention, proving that, while traditional prog rock may have waned in the '80s, that spirit of adventure and invention remained alive through the work of dozens and dozens of UK music-makers in this time period. This episode focuses on Kate Bush, Dif Juz, Cardiacs, Dead Can Dance, SLAB!, Momus, No-man and a host of others.
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If you don’t want to hear about our aw...2024-10-231h 33
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 121.5 – Previous Episode Updates (Hail Spirit Noir, Hammers of Misfortune, Manes, Diskord, Xysma, Kayo Dot)In this .5 episode (the longest point-5 we’ve done to date), we offer up 6 subjects of previous Radical Research episodes and take a look at their activities since we last put our spotlight on them. (As we explain at the beginning, the sound quality is rough this time, as Hunter is still reeling from Hurricane Helene’s effects on his household's technology.)
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The Radical Research Patreon page is now set up and ready for your patronage. We are offering tiered subscription levels for those who want a set-it-and-forget-it donation option. As ever, if you...2024-10-1030 min
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 121 – The CORONER Episode!!!Switzerland’s deadliest export, Coroner, which sliced and sawed its way through the metal landscape of the ‘80s and early ‘90s, has finally found its way under the Radical Research microscope. From the savage thrashing mayhem of R.I.P. to the reclined elegance of its final missives, Radical Research dives deeply into the methods and madness of one of metal’s ablest battalions.
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The Radical Research Patreon page is now set up and ready for your patronage. We are offering tiered subscription levels for those who want a set-it-and-forget-it donation option. As ever, if...2024-10-011h 25
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 120.5 – Jeff Scott Soto and Queen’s “The Prophet’s Song”A quick look at Queen’s “The Prophet’s Song,” its a cappella middle section, and the treatment it was given by one Jeff Scott Soto in various live performances. It’ll all make a little more sense when you listen…
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The Radical Research Patreon page is now set up and ready for your patronage. We are offering tiered subscription levels for those who want a set-it-and-forget-it donation option. As ever, if you choose to support us, we are humbled and grateful! patreon.com/RadicalResearchPodcast
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All past Radical Research episodes can...2024-09-1917 min
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 120 – DBC’s ‘Universe’: Black Hole SpelunkingIs there an album more representative of this podcast's main focus? Not outside of Norway, there isn’t. Montréal’s DBC (Dead Brain Cells) released ‘Universe’ in 1989, a tech-y cosmic opus of 37:26 that manages to cover the big bang, the evolution of life, the fall of the dinosaurs, man’s eventual dominance on Earth, and humanity's possible future in the album's brief but eventful duration. Join us as we spelunk through the black holes and blocky, monolithic riffs of DBC's second and final album…
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All Ye Who Enter: Tangents on other Canadian metal bands wi...2024-09-1056 min
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 119.5 – Death, DiGiorgio, and the Bass on ‘Human’This is a “careful for what you wish for” kind of thing. For years and years, we hoped that we could hear the mighty Steve DiGiorgio’s bass work with more clarity on Death’s 1991 masterpiece, Human. Once we could, thanks to the 2011 reissue, we relented and realized we preferred the original version after all. We present this mini-episode in good humor and with an anxious heart, because we hope no one, least of all DiGiorgio himself, understands this is not a critique of his playing. The man is a god to us…we just prefer the original sound of the 199...2024-09-0310 min
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 119 – The Fu*king Champs 1994-2007: Hot-Ass MajestyOperating outside of the metal infrastructure, but heralding its glory and complexity more so than most “true” metal bands, The Fucking Champs, in their 1994-2007 rampage, cobbled together elements of Trouble, Confessor, Don Caballero, and Kraftwerk and reshaped the geometric possibilities of math metal, all with the insouciance of its indie rock roots. Please join us as we attempt to solve this riddle wrapped in a conundrum. You’ve got a thirst, Portland!
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We talk about the various name changes our San Franciscan heroes have endured…from The Champs to C4AM95 to The Fucking Champs...2024-08-271h 11
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 118.5 – Better Slit Than Never: Cryptopsy’s ‘None So Vile’ 28 Years LaterSometimes it takes a while to come around to an album. In our case, it took 28 years with Cryptopsy’s second album, None So Vile. Better late than never. We repent!!!
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The Radical Research Patreon page is now set up and ready for your patronage. We are offering tiered subscription levels for those who want a set-it-and-forget-it donation option. As ever, if you choose to support us, we are humbled and grateful! patreon.com/RadicalResearchPodcast
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All past Radical Research episodes can be found here, where you can also find Je...2024-08-1907 min
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 118 – There’s Only One Good Song On These Albums! One-Song Metal AlbumsThe one-long-song album is a rare event in the metal genre, and a tough assignment to tackle and get right. We hold up these five albums as the finest examples of the approach. While it’s difficult to convey their scope in snippet form, we tried our best and had a lot of fun doing so. (Incidentally, this also happens to be one of our longest-ever episodes!) Join us, even if these albums only have one good song on them…
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The Radical Research Patreon page is now set up and ready for your patr...2024-08-071h 39
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 117.5 – Ginn Loves GaddOur man Ginn loves him some Gadd! In this brief episode, we extract three of Hunter’s favorite moments by his favorite drummer on the planet, Steve Gadd. It results in something we thought we’d never do on this podcast: play a snippet of a Paul Simon song. But you have to admit, Gadd is Badd…Badd Ass!
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The Radical Research Patreon page is now set up and ready for your patronage. We are offering tiered subscription levels for those who want a set-it-and-forget-it donation option. As ever, if you choose to suppor...2024-07-3007 min
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 117 – Steven Wilson’s Intrigue Compilation, Dissection Part 3Pull up a chair and get your ears out! We get giddy when we’re together in the same space, which we were for this episode. You’ll hopefully forgive our exuberance and all the talking over each other in excitement of brotherhood, music, pizza and other various inputs. All in the name of exalting the third of four CDs in the Steven Wilson-curated Intrigue compilation series. Join us for another walk through the fascinating world of progressive-minded ‘80s-era UK post-punk and alternative rock.
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The Radical Research Patreon page is now set up and re...2024-07-251h 15
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 116 — What is Psychedelic Music? The Radical Research Answer to a Vexing QuestionWhen it comes to a difficult-to-define concept like psychedelia in music, it's subjective. It’s not all hippies with sitars and lava lamps and bongs…but that’s not wrong either. With a little help from author Michael Hicks and his parameters for what makes music psychedelic, we pose the question: “What is Psychedelic Music?” and offer the Radical Research answer.
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The Radical Research Patreon page is now set up and ready for your patronage. We are offering tiered subscription levels for those who want a set-it-and-forget-it donation option. As ever, if you choose to...2024-07-081h 26
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 115.5 – Permeable Lines, Part 2Our second in the Permeable Lines series, and our first point-5 episode since 83.5 nearly two years ago! That enough numbers for you? Join us for a brief dust-up between inspiration and rip-off. You decide. (More numbers: “18 is actually 9…it stuck in his mind….”)
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The Radical Research Patreon page is now set up and ready for your patronage. We are offering tiered subscription levels for those who want a set-it-and-forget-it donation option. As ever, if you choose to support us, we are humbled and grateful! patreon.com/RadicalResearchPodcast
Note II: All past Radical...2024-07-0416 min
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 115 – Hexx Yourself Before You Wreck YourselfWe celebrate musicians and bands that rapidly evolve and challenge their audience with newness each endeavor. But the abrupt left-turn San Francisco metal band Hexx took between 1986 and 1987 is beyond fascinating, and beyond the norm. It culminates in one of our favorite albums of the early ‘90s, the mighty, seething, adrenaline-injected Morbid Reality. Strap in, freaks, this will be a bumpy ride!
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The Radical Research Patreon page is now set up and ready for your patronage. We are offering tiered subscription levels for those who want a set-it-and-forget-it donation option. As ever, if yo...2024-06-2055 min
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 113 – Thief’s ‘Bleed, Memory’: What Was Your Original Face Before You Were Born?For our 113th episode, we dispense with the usual exhalations of the past in favor of the thrills of the tense present-future. Thief, the Los Angeles-based brainchild of visionary producer, Dylan Neal, has released one of 2024’s most extraordinary albums, Bleed, Memory, a harrowing journey through the late stages of the human mind and spirit. Without giving away all of the album’s treasures, this episode can be considered an act of seduction, a persuasion. We dare even the heartiest will to resist the siren strains of Bleed, Memory.
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The Radical Research Patreon page is now s...2024-05-2058 min
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 104 – Diskord 2007-2021: Architectonic DeathAs is so often the case, Radical Research, for its 104th episode, finds itself in Norway, only this time to investigate the psycho-necrotic brutality of Oslo’s Diskord. At once garage-y, asymmetric, and morbid, Diskord hawks death-wares that invite listeners to stroll through the hallways of the weird metal madhouse. Only death and Norway are real.
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Thanks to Tim Hammond for the Oscillations mp3s. We only had the vinyl and no digital version, and we knew who to turn to. Thanks Tim, you are a fucking champ!
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Wagner wa...2023-11-191h 07
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 99 – The Four Freaks Roundtable: Jeff & Hunter + Thomas Nul & Brian GrebenzFor 98 episodes, the pilots of Radical Research have gone it together. Mind you, the hosts have had some curatorial help along the way (Jason William Walton and Forrest Pitts, please take a bow). But on the eve of episode 100, Radical Research has called on two of its most stalwart allies, the estimable Thomas Nul and Brian Grebenz. Over the course of almost two hours, this veritable Roman Senate chews on the hard-hitting issues that occupy the minds of all right-thinking citizens of the Research Republic. We invite you to turn on and tune in to this symposium of sickness. 2023-07-281h 50
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 98 – The Meads of Asphodel’s Guts Spun on the Loom of JudgmentFormed in 1998 in the Hertfordshire region of England, The Meads of Asphodel are a special, experimental heavy metal band with many distinctive and beguiling qualities. So why did it take one of the Radical Research hosts 24 years to acquire a taste for the Meads? We don’t have the answer, but in this episode, Jeff runs down all his favorite aspects of Meads while Hunter listens, corroborates and discusses this better-late-than-never obsession.
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This is from the main page of the Meads of Asphodel website, https://www.themeadsofasphodel.co.uk/: “Experimental extreme metal band The M...2023-07-021h 22
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 94 – The Real Freakshow: Psychotic Waltz 1990-1996
Over the course of its previous 93 episodes, Radical Research has banged, thrashed, and decapitated but never before has it waltzed. That ends now. Formed as Aslan in 1985, San Diego's Psychotic Waltz released four full-length albums in the ‘90s, each of which challenges all received notions of "progressive metal." Despite being one the most even-handed of metal bands -- not a weak link in the psychotic chain -- this episode pays particular attention to the uncanny, elegant guitar playing of Dan Rock and Brian McAlpin. Their entangled, spiraling guitar tendrils push the instrument to the point of apotheosis in the co...2023-03-191h 21
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 92 – Last Crack: The Best of All Our Burning TimeRarely can a rock or metal band be described in terms of open-heartedness, nostalgia, or compassion. But the subject of Radical Research’s 92nd episode defies convention in nearly every way. Madison, Wisconsin’s Last Crack was a band that seemed on the brink of breakout success but, ultimately, condemned to wander the corridors of obscurity. They recorded their second album at Eldorado Studios in Hollywood, and released the results via Roadracer/Roadrunner in 1991. To our ears, Burning Time is a masterpiece of left-field hard rock/metal. A mesh of razor-sharp guitars, a deft rhythm section, and the magisterial wail...2023-02-021h 16
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 91 – Atheist 1985-2010: We Believe!!!
Occasionally, Radical Research dares to tackle the big questions: what is time, and can we have a piece of it? Can a psychic saw perform brain surgery? Can a metal album have a samba track and several bars of Miami bass hip-grind? On episode 91, a look into the works of Florida’s seminal tech titans, Atheist, we take on these and other pressing matters. Pull up a chair and strap on your trustiest pair of headphones: it’s pizza time.
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We meant to bring it up in the conversation, but simply overlooked this fasc...2023-01-111h 28
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 86 — The Forrest Pitts Takeover!We know many Radical Research listeners partake in music we’re not totally familiar with. As much weird/left-field/inventive rock/metal as we digest or are aware of, there’s so much more that we have no experience with. Thus, we invited listeners to submit samples of an artist, or multiple artists, they’re certain we have no familiarity with. So it is that Mr. Forrest Pitts -- writer, thinker, dreamer, master of disaster, headspinner general – fucked with our heads this entire episode. Five snippets each by three different artists. We had a blast, and think you’ll find this...2022-09-251h 12
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 85 – 3D Blasphemy: Abigor’s Infernal ReapingMiles away from the torchlight of Norway, Austria’s mysterious Abigor spent their time in the ‘90s not generating headlines but rather plying their heretical craft in virtual secrecy. The band’s album-to-album evolutionary leaps bear the mark of restless and visionary minds. This notion is confirmed by the group’s radical reinvention of itself in the mid-aughts. The 85th episode of Radical Research takes a close look at Abigor’s progress over the course of a decade-and-a-half of three-dimensional blasphemy.
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The beginning of this episode wasn’t planned but we decided to keep it in, r...2022-09-151h 11
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 84 – Gigan 2007-2017: A Decade of Brain-Frying Cosmic Escapism
Radical Research spends much of its time plundering the most mind-bending sounds in rock and metal. On our 84th episode, we go several light years farther in our quest for psychic devastation as we survey and discuss the improbable body of work amassed by Chicago’s Gigan. As forbidding and violent as the character from which it derives its name, Gigan’s music blends savagery and psychedelia with skill and compositional might that have no peers. If you survive this episode, you can consider yourself a veteran of the psychic wars.
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We re...2022-08-1953 min
The Patriot Review With Jeff WagnerEpisode 83 - The Propaganda GameJeff and special guest Sosland Temanson discuss the lies and misinformation the radical fascist left is using to destroy America.Sosland's podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/remember-god-loves-you-and-i-will-meet-you-at-the-finish-line/id1619863267Special guest and founder of Hamilton Liberty Academy, Moira Hamilton, introduces us to her project to put truth back into education.Hamilton Liberty Academy: https://www.hamiltonlibertyacademy.com/meet-hlaMoira's Art: www.ladyhamiltonart.comNina May: http://www.renaissancewomenproductions.com/home.htmlTPR website: https://www.redbloodedpatriots.comJ6 justice: www.j6truth.orgKilled...2022-08-151h 11
The Patriot Review With Jeff WagnerEpisode 82 - Sex CellsJoin Jeff and special guest Shawn McBreairty for an update on his fight to rid the schools of hyper-sexualization of kids in Maine.Jeff discusses sexual subcultures in AmericaTPR website: https://www.redbloodedpatriots.comJ6 justice: www.j6truth.orgKilled for Profit series:https://frankspeech.com/jeff-wagnerHigh Treason Website: https://www.america1stproductions.comDONATE TO "HIGH TREASON: YOU DECIDE" DOCUSERIES: https://www.america1stproductions.comDownload 5G Risk: The Scientific Perspective HERE: https://www.ftwproject.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Pall_5G_Risk_The...2022-08-081h 00
The Patriot Review With Jeff WagnerEpisode 81 - Hand's Off Our Kids**CRITICALLY IMPORTANT***SEND A LETTER TO YOUR STATE AG AND DA TO CONVENE A GRAND JURY TO PROSECUTE THE COVID CRIMINALS!!!GO HERE:Video: https://rumble.com/v1e3rdd-july-29-2022.htmlLetter: https://www.flemingmethod.com/call-for-indictmentsJoin Jeff and special guest Dr. Sayed Haider to discuss the damaging effects of the hyper-sexualization of our children.Dr. Syed Haider website: https://drsyedhaider.comTPR website: https://www.redbloodedpatriots.comKilled for Profit series:https://frankspeech.com/jeff-wagnerHigh Treason Website: https://www.america1...2022-08-081h 04
The Patriot Review With Jeff WagnerEpisode 80 - The Flatlining American Medical SystemJeff and special guest Dr. Robert Yoho (ret.) to discuss the state of the American Healthcare System, the use of false studies and propaganda that is killing us.Dr. Robert Yoho Sites:https://www.robertyohoauthor.comhttps://www.robertyoho.substack.comhttps://www.truthforhealth.comhttps://www.flemingmethod.comTPR website: https://www.redbloodedpatriots.comKilled for Profit series:https://frankspeech.com/jeff-wagnerHigh Treason Website: https://www.america1stproductions.comDONATE TO "HIGH TREASON: YOU DECIDE" DOCUSERIES: https://www.america1stproductions.com2022-08-0859 min
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 82 – Fates Warning: An Impromptu DiscussionIn anticipation of Destination Onward – The Story of Fates Warning and its publication in July, 2022, the author, Jeff Wagner, and Radical Research co-host, Hunter Ginn, sit down and talk about Fates Warning. It’s far from the first time we’ve discussed Fates Warning together, but it’s the first time we’ve gone into an episode of Radical Research with absolutely no plan. We didn’t even know what snippets we’d feature until after the conversation wrapped up. This is not intended to be an exhaustive or final-word survey on this legendary band’s output. It is, quite simply, an...2022-06-271h 13
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 79 – Simen Hestnaes aka ICS Vortex: 25 Years of Agility and QuirkFor the final installment of our 6-episode Norwegian tour across this most creatively-fertile country, Radical Research surveys the career of Simen Hestnaes. Working both under his given name, as well as his better-known nom de l'acier, ICS Vortex, Simen has assembled a large and exceptional body of work that stakes claim in the metallic regions of black, doom, prog, avant, and beyond. Episode 79, accordingly, finds Radical Research operating in its most voluptuous mode, suited to indulge this similarly-Rubenesque assemblage of Simen-splashed audio titillation.
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That’s Jeff’s cat, Cora (aka Corgoroth), mewing at the...2022-04-261h 45
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 78 – Enslaved’s Monumension: Floating Diversity & Monumental DimensionsWe love Enslaved. They are a rare long-running band that, in our estimation, have not released a bad album. Of their 15 full-lengths to date, your Radical Research hosts highly rank their sixth album, 2001’s Monumension: it’s Ginn’s #2 (just behind Eld, 1997) and Wagner’s #1 (in front of Isa, 2004). Curiously, it was perhaps the most lambasted, misunderstood and contentious of Enslaved’s early era. But we don’t much care about all that: we place it on pedestals most high. It’s certainly good enough for us. Join us in a celebration of the mighty Monumension.
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Plea...2022-03-3158 min
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 72 – Master’s Hammer: Dreaming Bulldogs & Shy GeckosFormed in the Czech Republic in 1987, Master’s Hammer summoned a singular, constantly mutating approach to black metal over two distinct lifetimes (1987-1995, 2009-2020). The band’s debut album, Ritual (1991), is described by Darkthrone’s Fenriz as “the first Norwegian black metal album, because it sounded incredibly Norwegian to many of us.” We celebrate the entire discography and, with this episode, scattershot a few of our favorite moments from their compelling discography.
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Hunter has appeared on a couple podcasts lately, we invite you to check these out:
CaliDeath Podcast
https://soundcloud.com/calideathpodcast/ep-53-hunter-ginn-canvas-solaris-radical-research-podcast
I Hate Mus...2021-11-081h 01
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 69 — Minds No Longer Present: Eucharist’s MirrorworldsOften overlooked relative to Gothenburg luminaries such as At the Gates, In Flames, and Dark Tranquility, Eucharist, whose entire legacy hinges upon two full-length albums and a clutch of compilation tracks, recorded some of the most vibrant, imaginative melodic death metal of the era. It’s that second album that we zoom in on with episode 69 of Radical Research, those luxurious curves of the band's swansong, Mirrorworlds. Join us as we venture into the cosmic sphere and greet immortality.
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Contributed by Radical Research listener Chris Warunki, you can read a Eucharist interview from 2016 right here: http://radicalresearch.org...2021-08-0354 min
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 68 – The 6/8 Time Signature in Heavy Metal: Marching into FireThe occasion of Radical Research's 68th installment could have been marked in one way only – with a full-force exaltation of music's deadliest, most head-snapping time signature, 6/8! On this episode, we survey a vast range of metal subgenres to demonstrate the ways in which artists as disparate as Realm, Order From Chaos, and Solefald have deployed 6/8 to maximum effect. Keep the ibuprofen and Ben Gay within reach. After 24 clips of the most lethal metal, you're going to need some relief! 24 in 6/8!
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Camel are the first rock band, in our awareness, to literally refer to the 6/8 time signature in song...2021-07-191h 08
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 67 – Prog Macabre: French DreadWith this dispatch, we descend into the catacombs to examine France's heritage of musical terror. From the spectral melancholy of Pulsar to the howling conflagrations of Deathspell Omega, this episode provides a tour across four decades of music that commits itself to the most essential - and essentially Gaulic - notions of Grand Guinol and Fin de Siecle. We beckoned the uncanny, the psychically-tortured, the decadent, the unrepentant, and all invitations were accepted. We hope that you, too, will accept our invitation for this journey into the bleakest corners of the French imagination.
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In a ra...2021-06-071h 23
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 66 – The Houde Abides: Kataklysm 1993-1996
Have you even the slightest notion of mystical reincarnation? Unfortunately for you, as for the rest of we mortals, even after spending hours with the music of Houde-era Kataklysm, it is unlikely that you will have any tighter apprehension of the matter. On this, the 66th episode of Radical Research, we peel back the lacerating layers of one of Canada's most confounding exports. The music that Kataklysm issued from 1992 to 1996 was directed by the scorched, distorted vision of vocalist, Sylvain Houde, whose mongrel utterances vibrate at a pitch that is inaccessible to any other singer, past or present. The...2021-05-1151 min
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 65 – DVC: God’s Work Reversed in TallahasseeErupting from the wastes of Tallahassee, Florida, DVC (Darth Vader's Church) produced two long-players of low-slung filth and Southside mania. From 1989 to 1992, DVC explored the most shameful, subterranean grottoes of death/thrash and did so in almost categorical secrecy. On Episode 65, Radical Research opens the grave and digs into this band's modest but fascinating body of work. Join us on this adventure of descendant upheaval!
Note I:
Manufacture Sound Output Co. also released material by Insect Fear, Singing Spoons, Shatterposts and Gruel. Which doesn’t help anyone or anything, but it’s worth noting, we suppose.
N...2021-03-3054 min
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 64 – Steve Hackett is the WizardNo anniversaries, no deaths, no reissues, no birthdays, no arbitrary celebrations. This is Hackett for Hackett’s sake! Guitarist Steve Hackett is one of the most extraordinary musicians ever to wield the instrument. Herein we present a clutch of short, sharp shocks from the man’s prolific output, just a sampling of the curious magic he’s capable of. Hackett hacked to bits. Indulge!
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Please consider donating if you listen to Radical Research often: https://www.paypal.me/rrpodcast
We also have a webstore where you can find shirts, CDs, and books:http://radicalresearch.org/shop/2021-03-1540 min
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 63 – LunaTechSpiritGasm: Alchemist’s Cosmic DramasThere is simply nothing like Alchemist. Active throughout the ‘90s and into the aughts until their dissolution in 2010, the Australian quartet offered severe heaviness embellished by insanely loopy guitar weirdness and pounding aboriginal rhythms. Their psychedelic metal flew largely under the radar, despite linking with Relapse Records in the second half of their career. Radical Research brings you 15 slices of lysergic Alchemetal in celebration of this most intriguing band. Thank you, Adam Agius, Rodney Holder, John Bray and Roy Torkington. Be there or be cubed.
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We encourage anyone who 1) listens to Radical Research, and 2) wears cl...2021-02-231h 14
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 62 – Under Separate CoverEpisode 62 of Radical Research challenges the notions of identity, probes at both the masks and the faces themselves. What biology occurs when the firstborn cleaves to the breast of another? This conversation claws at the God-playing reconstructions of Type O Negative, Ulver, Manfred Mann's Earth Band, and Gorgoroth, among others. To do or to undo? That is the question.
Note I:
Correction: Jeff quotes a line from A Perfect Circle/Failure’s “The Nurse Who Loved Me” as “say hello to the floor’s topography.” Obviously it’s “the rug’s topography.” We couldn’t be more embarrassed, because t...2021-02-091h 22
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 61 – Face the Goat at Sunrise: Dødheimsgard 1995-2015Citizens of a scene that demands innovation and progress, Norway’s Dødheimsgard have assembled a body of work that evidences the evolutionary strides common to Norweird, but have nevertheless remained red in tooth and claw. Episode 61 provides a comprehensive survey of Dødheimsgard’s work, from the icy, elemental black metal of Kronet til Konge to the vast, unknowable psychic landscapes of A Umbra Omega. Over the span of their career, DHG has featured members of such luminary bands as Darkthrone, Fleurety, Ved Buens Ende, Strid, among many others, all galvanized by the leadership of the mysterious Vicotnik. The ba...2021-01-261h 09
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 60 – God It’s Great to Be Alive: Helios Creed 1985-1992
We at Radical Research have made a habit of descending into the vortices of profound sound, but our adventures with the musical hijinks of Helios Creed make most other sojourns seem, by comparison, like empty gestures. On our 60th episode, we divest ourselves of empty words and, instead, dive headlong into the abysses of FX-saturated deep space sonix. From alien salutations to violet lactations, we invite you to join us on this most radical of research assignments.
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We encourage anyone who 1) listens to Radical Research, and 2) wears clothes, to head over to https://www.earthinsound.org/store...2021-01-121h 00
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 59 – At the Oxiplegatz: The Episode Nobody WantedEven in the bizarro wilderness of Radical Research, Alf Svensson’s Oxiplegatz stands out in its peerless freakishness. A founding member of the epochal Swedish death metal band, At the Gates, Svensson used Oxiplegatz as a conduit for his most perverse cosmic fantasies. Built on a chassis of mangled guitar harmonies, “machine drums,” and an operatic battery of vocal styles, Oxiplegatz’s music defies even the most liberal definitions of “metal.” What results is some of the most personal heavy music ever to be committed to tape, produced and packaged with do-it-yourself, idiosyncratic love. If you value artistic bravery and the defi...2020-12-161h 13
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 58 – Let’s Necromance! Ripping Off Rush With LoveIf the wild, transcendent music we exalt were a cluttered yet beautifully arrayed galaxy, the artists making that music would be planets and Rush would be its sun. So much of what ticks off all the right boxes for us is inherent in the music of the legendary Canadian trio. We can't imagine life without Rush, and realize we're hardly alone in our fealty. This episode, we explore 15 snippets proving the thread of Rush runs deeply within the molten cores of its orbiting planets. These 15 are only several of numerous examples we could have chosen. We will likely make...2020-12-011h 13
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 57 – Naught Was Anymore Like Before: Atrocity 1990-1992Germany’s Atrocity have been plying their execrable goth-metal wares since 1994’s precipitously tragic Blut, but the band’s first two albums, 1990’s Hallucinations and 1992’s Todessehnsucht (aka Longing for Death), occupy space in the top tier of death metal’s golden age. Wild, technical, psychotic, and destructive, these two albums document the work of a young band hungry to bend minds and mock convention. On the 57th episode of Radical Research, your hosts offer a guided tour through a prison called Earth. If you’re agile of foot, you may avoid a fatal step and hold out to the end.
2020-11-131h 06
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 56 – Genesis & The Lamb’s Hindquarters“If you think it’s pretentious, you’ve been taken for a ride”
With this episode, we look at the second half of Genesis’s 1974 double-album, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. Garnering a mixed reaction upon release, it eventually grew into a mammoth cult classic. But it still has its detractors -- or, at least, fans saying that it’s “front-loaded,” “top heavy,” “falters in the last half” or other such nonsense. Clearly we disagree! We believe it is utterly fantastic – exactly as it all should be -- in its entirety. We celebrate the Lamb’s hindquarters with this 90-mi...2020-10-281h 28
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 55 – Wicked Webs Weaved: The Works of Hammers of MisfortuneHerewith we present an overview of one of the most beguiling bands to emerge from American soil. Part doomed epic metal, part gothic grandeur, peppered with prog, and very much in the spirit of our other chameleonic favorites, we run through Hammers of Misfortune’s works beginning in 1998 -- when they were called Unholy Cadaver -- and ending with their most recent work, 2016’s Dead Revolution. We hail leader John Cobbett and his revolving cast of mischievous misfits. As ever, this should be considered an overview only. We leave the serious deep diving up to you.
Note I:
Y...2020-10-121h 38
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 54 – Radical Miscellany: 7 Degrees of Norwegian Metal Separation & Uli Kusch Glorifiedpart 1:
In which Hunter is assigned a 7 Degrees of Separation task, with these parameters: begin in Norwegian metal, end in Norwegian metal. Betwixt, he was free to roam. We start at Ivar Bjornson (Enslaved) and end with Morty Black (TNT). Hunter’s route is circuitous, but he did it. Good show, Radish! [We won’t reveal the entire chain here…you’ll just have to listen.]
part 2:
In which we celebrate Uli Kusch. We don’t know when his birthday is. We aren’t celebrating an anniversary. And, thankfully, Uli Kusch didn’t just die. We are simply taking a...2020-09-2858 min
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 53 – It’s All Gone Weird: The Ved Buens Ende/Virus A/BWe love to draw lines and conclusions. We hear links and threads where there may be none, or, on a good day, where we might just be onto something. And we love Norway, especially its music. Especially the weird metal stuff. And we have always found that the short life of Ved Buens Ende and the spirit of their sole album, Written in Waters (1995), lived on within the nutty realm of Virus’s Carheart debut (2003). We compare/contrast these two landmark Norweird albums and find that Carl-Michael Eide has a lot of really great things to answer for. Don’t ta...2020-08-2553 min
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 52 – Eight-Sided Views of Two-Headed Turtles: The Mars Volta’s OctahedronA journey through a wilderness of Nembutals and Luciforms, The Mars Volta’s fifth album offers up a radical departure from the itinerant mania of The Bedlam in Goliath, to explore the inscrutable, dream-like vistas of the interior mind. Though songs like “Teflon” and “Cotopaxi” puncture the reverie with their rhythmic brawn, Octahedron is governed by an acquiescence to the spacious, liminal dimensions of the dream-state. Festooned with the surrealist art of Jeff Jordan, Octahedron travels the paths of psychic borders and the distorted geographies of the human mind put under the pressures of the absurd. We invite you to descend...2020-08-041h 08
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 51 – Suffocated by Stars: Ripping Into Nocturnus’s ‘Thresholds’Continuing our appreciation for the unloved misfits of Metalopolis, we always considered 1992’s Thresholds, by Florida’s Nocturnus, an honorary 1993 album. Until we found out it was recorded in December 1991. Whatever the case, these eight chunky, blocky, cosmic, technical songs find Nocturnus at its densest and strangest. While every ingredient adds to the peculiar flavor, it’s all about the wild tandem ripping of guitarists Mike Davis and Sean McNenney when you get right down to it. And we get right down to it! Thanks for joining us, and sorry for Jeff’s weak presence…technical issues, of course.
Note I:
I...2020-07-151h 15
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 50 – Exalt of the Weird: Celebrating Celtic Frost’s Into the PandemoniumStorming the gates with a new wave cover tune, borrowing from Baudelaire and sampling from NASA Apollo transmissions over primitive machine pulses, Swiss pioneers Celtic Frost exploited terrain no metal band had before with their third full-length album. Created under constant stress and duress in the early months of 1987, the self-produced album was a bold, controversial piece of art that continues to divide the Frost fan base decades later. Irrational yet focused, phantasmagoric yet genuine, and depicting a Heavenly sort of Hell, Into the Pandemonium knots together opposing forces and plunges us into the abode of all demons. Playful...2020-02-112h 11
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 49 – CAVEAT!!!!!! Nuclear Death 1986-2000Many bands have professed to play death metal, but few have summoned the power of death itself, have forced the very bowels of earth to erupt. Nuclear Death, the lords of their own putrid hell-scape, emerged from the sun-scorched wastes of Phoenix, Arizona to ply some of the most personal, most unsettling metal ever to heave itself out of its own rotting grave. On our 49th episode, we survey the pastures of torture, incest, and psychedelic terror that define the band's art. From the septic, Expressionist death of Bride of Insect, to the phantasmagoric slumbers of The Planet Cachexial...2020-01-281h 27
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 48 – Vaffel House of Kicks: The Works of Albino SlugFor the second time in a matter of months, your intrepid hosts find themselves in the frosty arms of Trondheim, Norway, this time to investigate the world of the frustratingly private Albino Slug. Known to few but adored by those who do, Albino Slug’s legacy hinges on two, confounding slices of avant-rock and metal. From Melvins-doom to musique concrete, Albino Slug operates, as you will hear, in a universe of its own making. Denied its 15 minutes, even in the prime of its career, Radical Research is looking to set things straight, shining a spotlight on this band’s inte...2020-01-1453 min
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 47 – This is Self-Destructing Turnip, Come in Radish: Porcupine Tree’s Curious DebutAfter firing up a band called No Man Is An Island (later shortened to No-Man), a young Steven Wilson corralled a couple friends and some wild ideas to sculpt homespun cassette recordings under the strange name Porcupine Tree. These then-obscure tapes, Tarquin’s Seaweed Farm (1989) and The Nostalgia Factory (1991), were edited and re-sequenced as an oddball album, On the Sunday of Life, in 1992. Debuting on the newly-formed Delerium label, it was all an entirely English enterprise, right down to its freewheeling Gong-ish whimsy and hallucinogenic Lewis Carroll-esque playfulness. Begun as a not-very-serious project, the darkness of direction taken later by...2019-12-311h 06
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 46 – For Knobs, For Wires, For Faders: Synth Whores II Bust out the Purell and take a healthy dose of penicillin because the whores are back in town. On this special -- and occasionally-recurring -- episode of Radical Research, we stroll alongside a pornographic buffet of sumptuous synthesizer vibrations. For this globetrotting, sweaty-browed sojourn, we’ll travel from Wuppertal to Richmond to Reykjavik to Los Angeles and all points in between, in search of the scintillating, salacious, and sometimes surprisingly-subtle sounds of the synthesizer. Go ahead, turn out the lights, strap on the headphones, and live a little.
Note I:
Jeff brainfarted and called Wobbler’s 2017 album “From S...2019-12-1700 min
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 45 – A Means to an End: The Manes DiscographyFor the 45th episode of Radical Research, we continue our trek north, this time landing in Trondheim, Norway, where we take a close look at the vast and fascinating discography of Manes. Well-respected in black metal circles for their personal and visionary approach to the genre, Manes has spent the last 16 years working through a difficult-to-pigeonhole brew of dark, atmospheric rock and electronic music. Our conversation addresses the band's sprawling body of work, from 1993's ghostly Maanens Natt demo to 2018's stunning Slow Motion Death Sequence. Manes says that "Nobody Wants the Truth," but you're going to get it re...2019-11-2700 min
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 44 – 44th & Magical: Xysma 1989 – 1998When Uranus falls, once and for all, in the cosmic background will be heard the humming, buzzing sound of a tragically-overlooked group of travelers. Formed in 1988 in Turku, Finland, Xysma waged a decade-long war against expectation and small-mindedness. With phantasm-like stealth, the band moved from scatalogical grind to groovy Sab-death to vendetta rock, as well as all points in between and beyond. On this episode of Radical Research, our 44th, we plumb the depths of Xysma’s bewildering catalog, turning over the stones that pockmark the band’s vast forest of sound. Whether you skew “Pyosisfied” or Pet Sounds, you will...2019-11-121h 36
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 43 – Cut It! Cut It! Dissecting Mr. Bungle’s ‘California’After recording two mind-bending and defiant albums -- pieced together, ever so precariously, with the bacterial molecules of metal, ska, contemporary music, free jazz, musique concrete, tango, imaginary soundtracks, and the music of the Middle East -- Mr. Bungle returned to the table in 1999 with their fin de siecle masterpiece, California. Breaking from the hysterical invention of the previous albums, California works within a more stable reservoir of sounds, resulting in a luxurious set of songs that presses into service the band’s highly-evolved compositional prowess and nimble musicianship. Over the course of 44 minutes, Mr. Bungle works through the sw...2019-10-2800 min
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 42 – Modular Madness: In the Laboratory with Heldon’s ‘Stand By’Emerging from a web of poststructuralist philosophy and electronic fetishism, France’s Heldon -- whose name is derived from Norman Spinrad novel, The Iron Dream -- functioned from 1974–1979 as a vehicle for Richard Pinhas’ wildest aural fantasies. The group’s first six albums work through an esoteric maze of analog synthesis and post-Fripp guitar histrionics, from the curiously pastoral second album, Allez Téia, to the cryptic violence of 1977’s Interface. This episode, however, trains its gaze on the last album of the band’s original run, 1979’s singular and masterful Stand By. Here, Pinhas, abetted by principal confidantes, Patrick Gauthie...2019-10-1500 min
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 41 – Express Bullet Train to Obscurity Town: Sindrome, Epitaph, Mid-Evil, Embrionic Death, ParaxismLet’s face it: we live in a world bereft of justice. And so it falls on the shoulders of Radical Research to shine a bit of light into this dim world. On this, our 41st episode, we give a voice to the voiceless and spotlight 5 unsung greats. From the Great Lakes to the land of Ten Thousand Lakes, from Marshalls to Moogs, this episode draws back the curtain to reveal the important but mostly ignored work of five late 80s and early 90s bands working in extreme metal. We will discuss the harrowing thrash of Sindrome, the Atrocity/De...2019-10-0100 min
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 40 – Temptations So Wild: Gorgoroth’s ‘Incipit Satan’Departing from the tractor-beam blasphemy of their seminal first four albums, Bergen, Norway’s Gorgoroth offer a more panoramic approach to (a career in) evil on their daring fifth missive, Incipit Satan. IC absorbs influences from death industrial, morbid rock and roll, and melodic death metal, and transmits them with an elegant cruelty. The album stays true to the band’s revolving-door membership and is the first to feature bassist, King ov Hell, as well as the menacing and mysterious Sjt. Erichsen on drums. Most importantly, Incipit Satan is the first Gorgoroth to feature a full-album performance by vocalist Gaah...2019-09-171h 00
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 39 – In The Woods… Family TreeGreetings from the nativity. This podcast began as an examination of the vast and nebulous frontier of Norwegian post-black metal. In that spirit, episode 39 of Radical Research probes the tentacles of the In the Woods... diaspora and gives an ear to Drawn, Stille Opprör, Naervaer, Transit, and Green Carnation. These artists give light to the polyglot transmissions from the distant North and reveal the flexible expressions of Norway’s most progressive artists. As always, we invite you along on this journey into the deep regions of recorded sound.
Note I:
There are yet more branches of the ITW tre...2019-09-031h 21
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 38 – Fathom by Fathom by Fathom: Kayo Dot’s BlasphemyToby Driver’s path to the present has been circuitous and inscrutable, which is to say, in keeping with music he has written over the last 25 years. His work in Maudlin of the Well, Kayo Dot, and as a solo artist has encompassed metal, chamber music, serialism, aleatoric composition, electronics, folk, sci-fi soundtracks, and beyond. For this episode of Radical Research, we will be taking a detour from our normal practices to investigate an album not yet released (at time of recording), Kayo Dot’s ninth album, the estimable, Blasphemy. A work of remarkable accomplishment, and surely one of the...2019-08-2056 min
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 37 – Listen With the Lights Off: Devil Doll 1989-1996Writing about Devil Doll is like skating about horticulture. Led by the deeply enigmatic Mr. Doctor, and purposely shrouded in the thickest mystery, Devil Doll’s music disappoints even the keenest taxonomist. Experimenting with metal, classical, and progressive rock, Mr. Doctor and his revolving cast of collaborators created large-scale, spell-binding masterpieces that, really, are without peer. Left with far more questions than answers, we nonetheless go forth stubbornly on a mission into the nocturnal dreamworld of Devil Doll. We make no promises but ask that you gird your loins and join us on this, the 37th episode of Radical Re...2019-08-061h 31
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 36 – Melvins is Cult, Part 1: Hostile Ambient TakeoverMelvins’ career -- a vast, still-expanding 36-year odyssey across the full spectrum of heavy and experimental sound -- is marked by goalposts, some triumphant, some deviant. On this episode of Radical Research, we train a critical eye on 2002’s bellwether, the curiously-named Hostile Ambient Takeover. The album takes stock of many of the band’s hallmarks: droning, hypnotic trance rock, mathematical hijinks, and Mountain/Cactus-inspired groove. But the band breaks with its tradition of conspicuous mash-up and manages these generic demarcations with remarkable seamlessness. To drop it into proper context, we also take a look at the band’s late '90...2019-07-231h 07
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 35 – Grey and Pink Topography: A Canterbury OverviewThe so-called “Canterbury scene” was an adventurous musical movement of time and place, bonded tightly by shared influences and an incestuous genealogy. This episode, we climb our favorite limbs from the Canterbury tree, including but not limited to Caravan, National Health, Egg and Quiet Sun. Much respect to Dave Stewart! Be praised, Steve Hillage! Arise, Richard Sinclair! We shout hails to thee, out there in the land of grey and pink.
Note I: We mention a couple English bands that intersected with or correlated to the Canterbury scene and sound – Gong and Camel – yet we are remiss in forgetting mention...2019-07-091h 10
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 34 – No More False Transparency: The Works of AnacrusisIt began with suffering and ended with screams (and whispers). St. Louis' radically-progressive Anacrusis never enjoyed the recognition they so deserved, but popular neglect did little to temper their potent vision. A product not only of the ‘80s thrash scene but also of the fertile post-punk and alternative rock landscapes, Anacrusis mined an especially personal sound that reconciled the aggression of the heaviest metal with a plaintive, often painful, sense of melancholy. On their final two albums, the towering Manic Impressions and Screams and Whispers, the band developed a harmonic guitar strategy that continues to test the limits of in...2019-06-251h 20
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 33 — Men Behaving Badly: Trashed ProductionsMen Behaving Badly: Trashed Productions
What is music if not sound? In episode 28, we discussed the mathematical properties that have shaped some of rock and metal’s most extraordinary albums. In episode 33 of Radical Research, we expand our investigation into the controversial, often divisive, sounds of some of metal’s most remarkable albums. We will take a look at the fevered, heading-straight-for-the sun mania of Born Again, the vacuum-sealed, bass-less thrash of …And Justice for All, the clinical blasphemy of Blessed Are the Sick, among seven others. Join us as we get into the weeds and meditate on the strang...2019-06-111h 15
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 32 – In the Morphine Fields: The Works of Thought IndustryIn less than 10 years’ time, Michigan’s maddest scientists, Thought Industry, built a five-album discography that drew upon every available atom and protein in the rock and metal corpora. From the mutated post-thrash of its debut, Songs for Insects, to the melancholy, cosmic vistas of its watershed swan song, Short Wave on a Cold Day, Thought Industry never abandoned their quest for invention and, like the noblest and most knowing bands, drew the curtain on their career at precisely the right moment. Please join us as we pay tribute to these great, mercurial, marginal Michiganians.
Note I: All music for...2019-05-281h 18
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 31 – An Abrupt Egress from the ’60s: Van Der Graaf GeneratorCrawling out of Manchester to work strange machinations on the English psych-pop era of the late 1960s, Peter Hammill and Van Der Graaf Generator’s sonic architecture was a mirror to that decade’s creative promise and a murder of its utopian ideals. They documented their deeds throughout eight albums between 1969 and 1977, revving up the electrostatic contraption again in the 2000s when the world might have finally been ready for them. When we wear the Keep Prog Weird slogan on our backs, it is the spirit of Van Der Graaf Generator we honor and praise.
Note I: Chris Judge Smit...2019-05-141h 40
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 30 – Thank You, Uwe Osterlehner! Deathrow’s Deception Ignored
We here at Radical Research like a good departure. Whether that means the beginning of a vacation or the sixth Journey record, departures are just good for the soul. And so goes the third record by Germany’s Deathrow, Deception Ignored, which constitutes a break from the band’s heaving thrash origins and a migration to technically-advanced thrash territory. This episode celebrates the evolution of the Düsseldorf-based quartet and highlights some of D.I.’s most exciting and alarming moments, such as the instrumental high water mark, “Triocton.” Join us on our deep dive into the recesses of tech-thrash...2019-04-231h 09
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 28 – Rock Out With Your Calc Out: A Math Rock SurveyAs Pythagoras mused, “There is geometry in the humming of the strings, there is music in the spacing of the spheres.” So too is there magical energy in the shapely contours of the most mathematical rock music. In this episode of Radical Research, we trace out a heritage of calculus embodied by bands on the acute end of the rock spectrum. From the rarified, Bartok-ian rock of King Crimson to the wildly dynamic Sturm und Drang post-rock of Slint, this episode focuses on the identification of rhythmic land mines and the surreptitious emotions located therein. Keep your vintage TI hand...2019-03-261h 21
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 27 – Fall Into Overdrive: Spiral Architect’s Tech-Metal MasterworkA Skeptic’s Universe is what happens when student becomes master. Spiral Architect’s school years were spent in obscurity, honing their craft, learning their lessons, keeping their noses to the grindstone. In 1998 they began work on their master’s thesis, and in early 2000, upon publication, earned a spot on the lonely pedestal of top-tier tech metal. While owing debts to Watchtower, Fates Warning, Psychotic Waltz, Sieges Even, Toxik and Cynic, the young Norwegians upstaged them all with a most vicious merging of high-test progressive metal, bubbling fusion ferocity, and laboratory-borne aural pathogens.
Music cited, in order of app...2019-03-121h 13
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 26 – It’s Weird Being a Bob: NoMeansNo FTWAngular, adventurous, and apocalyptic in nearly equal shares, few bands scratch the collective itches of Radical Research like Victoria, British Columbia’s Nomeansno. From their punky beginnings to the nuanced terror of their mature work, Nomeansno trafficked some of the most dangerous and dexterous rock music of the '80s and '90s. Accompanied by venomous libretti - Rob Wright May be responsible for rock music’s most articulate extrapolation of Hannah Arendt’s theory of the Banality of Evil - Nomeansno summoned a heady din of seething, twisting, mongrel-music. Peerless in a peer-friendly world, Nomeansno takes the road never...2019-02-261h 40
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 25 – Pytten’s Chamber Music: Black Metal in GrieghallenPytten’s Chamber Music: Black Metal in
Grieghallen
As the ground began to swell in early ‘90s Norway, a shadowy figure known to metal fans only as “Pytten” (ne Eirik Hundvin) ensconced himself in Bergen’s Grieghallen Studio and began to document the work of the country’s Young Turks. In this frontier territory, Pytten used the cavernous spaces of Grieghallen to create a miasmic, atmospheric sound that would establish the production aesthetics for the emergent global black metal movement. For its 25th episode, Radical Research examines the morphology of Pytten’s work across a ten year span, as well...2019-02-121h 25
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 24 – This is the Ritual of Divination: Nasty Savage ’87/’88Emerging from the swampy wastes of Florida, Nasty Savage created a body of work built on the inimitable vocals of Ronnie Galetti (aka Nasty Ronnie), hammering percussion, and a harmonic guitar language that has yet to be replicated. This episode of Radical Research takes a focused look at the band's most feverishly creative period, represented by 1987's Indulgence LP and 1988's Abstract Reality EP. Neither thrash nor power metal nor prog, these two pieces of music vibrate at a pitch all their own, but have influenced artists who occupy a broad space of the heavy metal spectrum. Join us...2019-01-2958 min
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 23 – What the Hell is Art Rock?
The possibly despicable term “art rock” is where pop, prog & rock meet, with a generous layer of quirk embedded throughout. Art rock is pop without restraint, prog with good table manners, rock stretching its creative fibers beyond the norm. And yet, gray areas abound! In episode 23 of Radical Research, we offer an hour-long survey of several artists in this realm: Crack the Sky, Be Bop Deluxe, Godley & Creme, Split Enz and Max Webster. Leaping off from the platform built by the Beatles, David Bowie, Roxy Music, 10cc and Queen, we crash-land onto beguiling terrain.
Note I: Other than...2019-01-151h 08
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 21 – Who is the Freak Now? Regurgitating OLD
Meet the creatures Plotkin & Dubin, instigators of some of the most beguiling music ever beamed to Earth from a New Jersey-shaped quasar. Like the guy in the petri dish on the Musical Dimensions… album cover, your puzzled Radical Research hosts consider the bizarre landscape before them and dive into the peculiar tumult of OLD.
Note I: We can only assume “sleastak,” from the album title The Musical Dimensions of Sleastak, is a reference to Sleestaks, an extra-dimensional reptile race from 1970s Saturday morning show, Land of the Lost.
Note II: We briefly mention Khanate, a post-OLD...2018-12-181h 27
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 20 – Wolf’s Lair Abyss: Answer & AnnouncementFrom the dark past, in the light of freezing moons and through funeral fog, Mayhem reappeared in 1997, under cover of night and to relatively little fanfare. Wolf’s Lair Abyss, the band’s first release since 1994’s epochal De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, reveals a fiercer, future-forward approach to Mayhem’s trademark hailstorm black metal. Time has been kind to this EP and so your Radical Research hosts have pulled out the cuneiform in order to decipher symbols of bloodswords.
Note 1: With this EP, we see the reappearance of two former Mayhem members, Maniac and Necrobutcher. This lineup would go...2018-12-0451 min
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 19 – The Unquietness of FleuretyGoodbye clarity, hello obfuscation… Norway’s other post-black metal duo, perhaps dwelling deeper in obscure shadows than Solefald… we hail Fleurety’s dedication to the dark arts and… which craft? All the ones that bring metal to the most precarious of left-field edges. So bizarre that it makes complete sense. We enthusiastically endorse their mission.
Note I: Of all our favorite high school Latin teachers who are also committed metal fans, our favorite has to be Chris Ayers. We are grateful for his help with the Latin translations/meanings in this episode. Chris also has the rare distinctio...2018-11-271h 16
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 17 – Take the Bröms Dose: The Works of AfflictedProlific for a brief few years, with curious beginnings and a mostly ignored ending, Afflicted’s supernova burned brightly at its peak. That peak, Prodigal Sun, is the essential cornerstone of Afflicted’s output and is explored in depth here. Psychedelic, transcendent left-field death metal lunacy from far beyond.
Note I: As we talk about Afflicted’s 7” era in this episode, we discuss an insane haul both of us made at Manifest Records in Charlotte, NC back in 2003. In the hauls, Hunter bought Primordial’s A Journey’s End, original vinyl pressing, for $4. It’s now going for around $90...2018-10-301h 08
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 12 – Out There: The Works of Mind Over FourFor our 12th installment, your intrepid hosts sift through time and dust in search of Orange County’s Mind Over Four. Bridging an unknown gulf between cutting edge alternative rock and hyperkinetic tech/prog metal, Mind Over Four was poised for a breakthrough to the mainstream. But the stars never aligned and Mind Over Four has mostly been forgotten. Radical Research celebrates the timelessness and innovation of the band’s first four albums and invites you to play Dante to our Virgil as we navigate the barriers and passages of Mind Over Four.
Note I: If you like...2018-08-211h 39
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 10 – Let Go and Let Ginn: A Ginncore PrimerThe 10th installment of the Radical Research odyssey pries into the amorphous body of work that has been known to your hosts privately as “Ginncore.” Based around a loosely-connected confederacy of artists — mostly American and mostly active during the difficult-to-define ‘00s — Ginncore has come to embody for Messrs. Wagner and Ginn a cryptic and subversive narrative in modern rock’s often-blighted history. Over the course of two hours, your hosts examine the work of 9 artists, whose music often wrestles with the tensions between commercial ambition and the pursuit of rarified expression. In this shadowy space, deep hooks are draped over thorny...2018-07-241h 55
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 7 – Wishful Dreaming: A Study of My Dying Bride’s Urban DetourWishful Dreaming: A Study of My Dying Bride’s Urban Detour
Join Radical Research hosts Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn in a spirited discussion on the fifth album from English death/doom maestros My Dying Bride. 34.788%…Complete was met with quizzical confusion upon its release in 1998, but we feel it was always one of the band’s finest hours. We’re here to proffer evidence of its worth. As usual, we sweat the small stuff.
Note I: Jeff forgot about 2004’s Songs of Darkness, Words of Light in the final minutes of our discussion. Unless that’s you...2018-06-121h 14
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 6: Band in the Trees — Among the Ruins of Die KreuzenBand in the Trees: Among the Ruins of Die Kreuzen
Episode 6 of Radical Research finds your intrepid hosts deep-diving into the discography of Milwaukee’s cult heroes, Die Kreuzen. Over the span of a decade, Die Kreuzen created four records that propose a hostile challenge to easy categorization. Their discography tests the boundaries of punk and metal and accounts for one of the most fascinating morphologies in all of rock music. As always, we invite you to join us in our immersion and wander the ruins of Die Kreuzen.
Note I: The band’s Gone Away...2018-05-291h 22
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 3 | Breathless Silence Sped to Violence: Gnidrolog, Supersister, ArtcaneEpisode 3 of Radical Research covers three progressive rock bands from the glorious ‘70s era that often don’t come up in the usual ‘70s prog conversations. But they should, and this is our little way of correcting that. Please drop your prejudices and Yes albums, just for a little while, and explore further: meet Gnidrolog (UK), Supersister (Netherlands) and Artcane (France).
Note: We wonder in the episode what an original vinyl copy of Gnidrolog’s In Spite of Harry’s Toe-Nail might go for. Jeff researched: looks like about $100 minimum for a copy in acceptable condition.
Note II...2018-04-171h 12
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 1 | It Ulver IsFor the inaugural episode of Radical Research, we delve into the mysterious, magnificent William Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1998), the fourth album by Norwegian shape-shifters Ulver.
Note: The sound quality of RR1 isn’t exactly superb, especially Jeff’s mic in the intro. This was our first time in the lab. Our apologies. Our next two episodes are already recorded and edited; the improvements will be immediately noticeable. We also apologize for slaughtering the pronunciation of various surnames and nicknames in this episode. [‘It Ulver Is’ was recorded in September 2017]
Note: We talk about...2018-03-2750 min