Shows
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 133.5 – Gorguts, “Nostalgia”…and Pearl Jam?Jeff got this text from Hunter a couple months ago: "Gorguts 'Nostalgia' is a fascinating piece of music. A slice of late '90s avant-death that refers to Pearl Jam, nu metal, noise rock and Indian raga. I mean, Damn!" And I responded, "I mean, damn, that's a great idea for a Point 5 episode." We finally tackle this most important of observations...
Note I:
The Radical Research Patreon page is now set up and ready for your patronage. We offer tiered subscription levels for those who want a set-it-and-forget-it donation option. As ever, if you choose to...
2025-09-2220 min
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 133.5 – Gorguts, “Nostalgia”…and Pearl Jam?Jeff got this text from Hunter a couple months ago: "Gorguts 'Nostalgia' is a fascinating piece of music. A slice of late '90s avant-death that refers to Pearl Jam, nu metal, noise rock and Indian raga. I mean, Damn!" And I responded, "I mean, damn, that's a great idea for a Point 5 episode." We finally tackle this most important of observations...
Note I:
The Radical Research Patreon page is now set up and ready for your patronage. We offer tiered subscription levels for those who want a set-it-and-forget-it donation option. As ever, if you choose to...
2025-09-2220 min
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 133 — Depth of Memories: The 3rd and the Mortal 1994-2002If this conversation seems easy, it's because we are back in the cold waters of our favorite nation. Herein, we dig into the good deeds of Norway's often vexing but always pleasing The 3rd and the Mortal. We attempt to peel away the band's many layers and untangle its knotty evolution. Should you care about cutting-edge Norweird - and if you have stuck with us for all this time, surely you do - please join us on this most titillating conversation.
Note I:
After all that flugelhorn talk, turns out Jeff mis-horned. It’s actually a crumhorn on...
2025-08-271h 27
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 133 — Depth of Memories: The 3rd and the Mortal 1994-2002If this conversation seems easy, it's because we are back in the cold waters of our favorite nation. Herein, we dig into the good deeds of Norway's often vexing but always pleasing The 3rd and the Mortal. We attempt to peel away the band's many layers and untangle its knotty evolution. Should you care about cutting-edge Norweird - and if you have stuck with us for all this time, surely you do - please join us on this most titillating conversation.
Note I:
After all that flugelhorn talk, turns out Jeff mis-horned. It’s actually a crumhorn on...
2025-08-271h 27
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 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 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 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!
Note I:
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 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!
Note I:
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,
Note I:
The Radical...
2025-03-241h 03
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,
Note I:
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.
Note I:
We were stoked as hell to have Agalloch’s John Haughm with us...
2025-03-031h 52
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.
Note I:
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.
Note I:
The Radical Research Patreon page is now set...
2025-02-131h 19
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.
Note I:
The Radical Research Patreon page is now set...
2025-02-131h 19
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 123.5 – 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 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.”
Note I:
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 122.5 — 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.”
Note I:
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 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.)
Note I:
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 121.5 – 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.)
Note I:
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 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…
Note I:
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 Research episodes can...
2024-09-1917 min
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…
Note I:
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 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…
Note I:
All Ye Who Enter: Tangents on other Canadian metal bands wi...
2024-09-1056 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…
Note I:
All Ye Who Enter: Tangents on other Canadian metal bands wi...
2024-09-1056 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…
Note I:
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!
Note I:
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 117.5 – 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!
Note I:
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.
Note I:
The Radical Research Patreon page is now set up and re...
2024-07-251h 15
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.
Note I:
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.
Note I:
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 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.
Note I:
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….”)
Note I:
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!
Note I:
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 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!
Note I:
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.
Note I:
The Radical Research Patreon page is now s...
2024-05-2058 min
Radical Research PodcastEpisode 108 – Non-Classic-Logo-Era Napalm Death, 1994-1998The body of critical study - and fan adoration - around the music of Napalm Death has concerned itself principally with the band's pioneering grindcore and its transition into the death metal of Harmony Corruption. But what of the band's wilderness years, the mid- to late-1990s? The 108th episode of Radical Research digs into what its hosts consider to be Napalm Death's most radical music, the four-album futurist blitzkrieg spanning the years 1994-1998. Get ready for some serious side-eye, Legions, as we cross over into the torn apart.
Note I:
In the epi...
2024-02-141h 07
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.
Note I:
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!
Note II:
Wagner wa...
2023-11-191h 07
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.
Note I:
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!
Note II:
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 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.
Note I:
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 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.
Note I:
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 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 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.
Note I:
We meant to bring it up in the conversation, but simply overlooked this fasc...
2023-01-111h 28
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.
Note I:
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 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.
Note I:
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.
Note I:
We re...
2022-08-1953 min
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.
Note I:
We re...
2022-08-1953 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 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 81 – Dave Murray, Drummer! (Traun, Estradasphere, Tholus, Sculptured)How California-based drummer, Dave Murray, has escaped the notice of several more tens of thousands of people worldwide, we cannot say. We recognize an extraordinary talent in Murray, not only as a musician, but as a composer and crucial cog in a small but rarefied selection of projects. In our 81st episode, we try our best to give Murray his due. You can do your job by lending an ear to our musings and ramblings, and then, if you’re so moved, opening your wallet to support his work if you have not already done so.
Note I:
There’s no...
2022-06-091h 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.
Note I:
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.
Note I:
Plea...
2022-03-3158 min
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.
Note I:
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.
Note I:
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 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.
Note I:
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 70 – Solefald 1996-2015: A Red Episode With Black EdgesExtant since the mid 1990s, Solefald may have been the first Norwegian black metal band to entirely bypass the necro stages of development and arrive fully formed as a "post"/"avant" type mischief-maker on their debut album, The Linear Scaffold (1997). We have watched and listened from our perches as Cornelius Jakhelln and Lazare Nedland have evolved, escalated, provoked and pontificated through myriad stylistic vistas. ALL of it is highly recommend by Radical Research and celebrated on this, our 70th episode.
Note I:
In March 2020, we posted Hunter’s essay on Solefald’s Neonism. It’s always available for your perusa...
2021-08-241h 25
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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 23.5 – Mystery SnippetsThis game originates from one Jeff plays semi-regularly with our pal Tim Hammond, where CD-Rs fly back and forth between the Boros (States and Greens), and one has to puzzle out the other's mystery tracks. It's been an effective way to both discover new stuff and learn about things to avoid. This episode Jeff and Hunter play mystery tunes for each other. We'll likely repeat this point-5 feature on occasion, so if we're keeping score, it's Jeff 1, Hunter 0. But maybe Hunter gets .5 for his guess of...oh wait, it's a secret.
Music cited, in order of appearance:
sorry...nothing...
2019-01-2209 min
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 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 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 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 16 – Synth WhoresFew things in life get the hosts of Radical Research as excited as the squishy, otherworldly sounds of the analog synthesizer. For our 16th episode, a special detour from our typical musings, we sort through the decades in search of some of the deepest, wildest, most thrilling synthesizer sounds in the rock and metal kingdoms. So, please, meet us at the wormhole and tag along for this investigation into radical, electronic sound.
Note I: Kim Rantala, whose playing is featured here on Amorphis’ “The Orphan,” is also an accomplished accordion player and professional DJ. We’re happy that he...
2018-10-1655 min
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 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 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 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 4: Where the Weirdos are Dishing it Out – Disharmonic OrchestraEpisode 4 of Radical Research explores the surreal work of Austrian metalunatics, Disharmonic Orchestra.* Our conversation exposes the psychic tensions and psychedelic grottos of this extraordinary band, one whose music was ignored largely during its heyday and continues, for the most part, to be bereft of appreciation. From the gnashing death/grind of their early output to the strange emotions and nuanced geometry of their mature work, your hosts ask that you listen with perishing passion and immerse yourselves in the addicted seas of Disharmonic Orchestra.
Note I: D’Orch’s third album, Pleasuredome, was released by Steamhammer Reco...
2018-05-011h 23
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 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