The MetalSucks Podcast

Filter's Richard Patrick takes over the podcast this week -- and when we say "takes over the podcast," we mean it! Filter's new record, Crazy Eyes, is out... but we talk about the new music for maybe two seconds before the conversation shifts to the nature of art, Patrick's belief that music and art should be subversive, how the radio hit "Take a Picture" exemplifies this belief, and the U.S. Presidential election (spoiler: Richard does not like Mr. Trump very much). We also discuss Metal GF's recent MetalSucks editorial,  "Is Metal Still Counterculture? Is Anything?", and how it seems that metal has been not just accepted by, but adopted into, the mainstream (see: Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Paris Jackson, etc.)  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dez Fafara puts in his second appearance on the podcast. DevilDriver's new record Trust No One will be the first in a decade with new personnel playing and writing music for the band. We talk in depth about Dez's work ethic, his view of the lineup changes, what that means for this album and the band going forward and how his attitude changes without negative influences working against him.   We also get to hear David Draiman go after a fan in the audience who he claimed was texting the entire show. Although the woman says she was texting her scared daughter, and Draiman apologized, was he in the right for calling out someone for not paying attention to the show? Or is he in the dark about how audiences operate in the new world order? The time may be here to put away the phones, stop texting at shows and experience the reality of... reality. Songs: DevilDriver - "Daybreak"Architects UK - "A Match Made In Heaven" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The legendary Ihsahn guests on the podcast this week. We talk about his new album Arktis being a departure from his last experimental album, working with Trivium’s Matt Heafy and his love for black metal, the differences between writing music in a band setting versus the creative process as a solo artist, and if he would ever entertain returning to a "band" or he's too comfortable working independently. Also: find out why he isn't really interested in the business side of the music industry. We couldn’t let the flap with Gloria Cavalera go unnoticed either: in a recent post to Facebook, she called out some other band that may or may not be Sepultura (she never named a name). Godless seems to think she is just doing her job telling it like it is in a time where too many people sit back and get walked over, in stark contradiction with others in the MS family. Songs:Ihsahn – "Mass Darkness"Walls of Jericho – "Reign Supreme" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Otep Shamaya, known for her outspoken and honest nature, brings it to the podcast this week. We talk about her new record Generation Doom and how it almost didn't happen, how her history informs her present, how the music industry almost ruined her passion for music, her work as a voiceover artist and what it feels like to have regained the passion for her art. We could only fit in part of our lengthy interview, but we talked at length about politics and the state of the union. The full interview, including her take on the current U.S. Presidential race, is available to members of our Patreon family at chuckandgodless.com. Chuck and Godless talk about crowd funding fatigue; are you tired of being the go-to source for funds for your favorite bands? With more and more artists attempting to monetize their work individually -- to record, tour, buy a new van or pay for their medical bills -- have we reached a tipping point, or are those things what we should be spending our money on in the first place? Perhaps that money you've been saving on music the last two decades by downloading it for free needs to be put to better use than picking up a grande latte if you really want your favorite band to make a new album. Songs:Otep - "Zero"Killswitch Engage - "Quiet Distress" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Anthony Notarmaso, vocalist for the embattled After the Burial, guests this week with one of our most heart-wrenching interviews to date. It's unfortunate that the band can't do interviews without talking about their late guitarist Justin Lowe, who tragically passed away last year, but that enabled the band to reach into spaces not many can comprehend. We talk about Justin, how the band decided to carry on in spite his absence, how the loss continues to effect them every day, what it meant to try and move on so quickly and how they struggled with this new album Dig Deep and ultimately released their highest debuting release to date. We also talk about how a bunch of teenagers could possibly be suffering through their sophomore slump. The new Babymetal song is out and isn’t as aggressive as their last record; does this signal a shift in their approach? are they trying to go more mainstream? does anyone even care? It would appear that a softer image might play better in the US as they are poised to start doing more shows in the States, or perhaps this is where the rubber meets the road for a band whose debut everyone praised. Songs: After the Burial – "Laurentian Ghosts"Babymetal – "Karate" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week's guest on the podcast is Johan Hegg of the mighty Amon Amarth! Listen in as we discuss why he the band's new album, Jomsviking, may quite possibly be the band's finest work to date, the story behind the band's first concept record, the cause of their first line-up change in twenty years, and their decision not to hire a new permanent drummer. Plus: Eyal Levi is back again for another installment of One Minute to Midnight! Two unsigned bands have their material examined by one of the finest producers in metal today, who offers up tips to help them continue to grow their careers. On this episode, Sweet Little Machine and Plagued by Humanity face the chopping block, and... well, let's just say they have some work ahead of them.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Steve Austin, vocalist and guitarist for Today is the Day, recently formed a new band called UXO with his longtime friend Chris Spencer of Unsane. We invited Steve to chat with us and wound up having one of the longest, most interesting discussions we've had in a long time. We talk about how the UXO project came together, where his drive to create introspective, destructive music comes from, how his relationship with his family molded the person he is today and how his children changed his outlook on life and music. We also try and figure out whether or not Bring Me the Horizon's Oli Sykes really has beef with Chris Martin and Coldplay or if he's just trying to get more people to pay attention to him. He claims he did not know that his stunt at the NME Awards was directed at the band, but we're not necessarily buying it. Also, just to warn you, there will be graphic depictions of a surgical procedure one of us had in this episode... let's just say the results were unexpected. Songs:UXO - "Trauma"Toothgrinder - "The House (That Fear Built)" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week we were recovering from our trip to the Caribbean on the 70000 Tons of Metal cruise. The floating festival is in its sixth year, offering 60 bands over the course of four days, and somehow we survived our third trip. Whether you love to see the crowd, the destinations or the bands you will have a spectacular time. As part of the press corps, we got the opportunity to talk to some of the bands on board in an "official" capacity, and this can present some challenges for your hosts who tend to talk without end. The guitar shredder Herman Li of the mighty Dragonforce took some time to speak with us. They had a tough go of it -- their first performance was cut due to tech problems, then rescheduled, and their final show was booted from the main stage by the weather -- but he was in good spirits the whole trip and we were able to have an in-depth chat with the man behind the guitar. We had been working to get Alexi Laiho of Children of Bodom to guest on the show when their latest album dropped and couldn't make it work, but he had nowhere to run on the cruise ship. You may forget how long Children of Bodom have been bringing the metal, and his history with the band is obviously interesting, so we pick his brain to find out what drives him to keep moving forward, both personally and musically. Songs:Dragonforce - "The Game"Rotting Christ - "Tou Thanatou"Children of Bodom - "I Worship Chaos" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week we invited Steve "Stevic" MacKay of the genre-bending Twelve Foot Ninja to the podcast for one of our favorite interviews to date. Shamelessly outspoken about music, the business side of things and the media, Stevic tells us all the things that are haunting him as a person, and the obstacles the band has encountered from the other side of the globe in Australia. His unique perspective is quite a bit different than what we had expected, and we were impressed with how candid and concerned the person behind the music really is. We spent a lot of time with Stevic in this interview, and we are currently sailing the seas on the 70,000 Tons of Metal Cruise, so we left our weekly topic at the door. Don’t worry, there really isn’t anything to talk about in metal right now anyway, right?  Songs:Twelve Foot Ninja – "One Hand Killing"Amon Amarth – "First Kill" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Steffen Kummerer, guitarist and vocalist of Obscura, guests this week. With their first new album in five years, Akroasis, coming out this week, we talked to Steffen in depth about his approach to writing the new album, his experience and education, how the shifting membership in the band shaped where they are today and whether having a master's degree or being a metal vocalist gets more traction with the ladies. We also invited Mike Schleibaum of Darkest Hour back for another edition of our political segment "Sadist Nation" to talk before today's Iowa Primaries. We also couldn't ignore the controversy involving Phil Anselmo and his Nazi salute and "white power" scream at Dimebash; you may have read the statement about the incident from Darkest Hour last week, but Mike elaborates further about what it means for the metal community. (Note: we recorded this episode before Anselmo's apology video, but we got a feeling his sentiment did not change much). Songs:Obscura - "The Monist"Darkest Hour - "Painkiller" Follow us on Twitter: @BeardedApe and @GodlessSpeaksFollow us on Instagram: @chuckandgodlessSupport us on Patreon: chuckandgodless.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices