For years (yes, we've been doing this a while now), various Radical Research listeners around the globe have asked us, "When is the Dark Millennium episode coming?" For Hunter, this would have been an easy answer: Anytime! For Jeff, a crash course in this interesting, challenging, wholly unique band was in order. Having boned up on the details, Jeff joins Hunter and those RR freakazoid listeners in hailing this band's first two albums, which we dissect readily in this episode. Tangents on Therion and graphite included...

Note I: Finally, after years of toil, Jeff’s Voivod book is finally available. Taking pre-orders now for this 540-page, 3-pound behemoth…'Always Moving: The Strange Multiverse of

Voivod' is ONLY available HERE: https://www.radicalresearch.org/voivod

Note II: 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 III: We are regularly posting newer and older episode to our Youtube channel. Please check that out here and please subscribe if you wanna aid in getting all our coverage into more people's feeds: https://www.youtube.com/@radicalresearchpodcast4942

Music cited in order of appearance: “Below the Holy Fatherlands” (Ashore the Celestial Burden, 1992) “Spiritual” (Ashore the Celestial Burden, 1992) “Inside the Sunburnt Thoughts of Frost” (Ashore the Celestial Burden, 1992) “The Atmosphere” (Ashore the Celestial Burden, 1992) “Dead in Love” (Diana Read Peace, 1993) “Brotherhood Sleep…Back to Treasureland” (Diana Read Peace, 1993) “Fatehistory” (Diana Read Peace, 1993) “Peace in My Hands” (Diana Read Peace, 1993) episode 137 preview: Brand X, “Not Good Enough…See Me!” (Product, 1979) Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it.

Listener and friend Paul Stolp prompted this conversation/episode, mentioning how he thought a “course correction” episode would be fun. What is a course correction? Paul offered the example of Judas Priest’s Ram it Down being the wipeout and Painkiller being the glorious correction. Naturally, this got our gears turning, and this is the conversation that resulted. As Hunter notes in this episode, “a course correction is not necessarily an achievement, but more that you got back on your path.” (Driving mishap analogies abound in this episode.) And we want to hear from you: what are YOUR favorite examples of the Course Correction? Note I: Finally, after years of toil, and then a tragedy, Jeff’s latest book (Always Moving: The Strange Multiverse of Voivod) is finally available. We're taking  pre-orders now for this 540-page, 3-pound behemoth…ONLY available HERE: radicalresearch.org/voivod

Note II: 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 III: We are regularly posting newer and older episode to our Youtube channel. Please check that out here and please subscribe if you wanna aid in getting all our coverage into more people's feeds: https://www.youtube.com/@radicalresearchpodcast4942

Music cited in order of appearance: Celtic Frost, “Dance Sleazy” (Cold Lake, 1988) Celtic Frost, “Nemesis” (Vanity/Nemesis, 1990) Leviathan, “True Whorror” (True Traitor, True Whore, 2011) Leviathan, “Dawn Vibration” (Scar Sighted, 2015) Savatage, “Lady in Disguise” (Fight for the Rock, 1986) Savatage, “24 Hrs. Ago” (Hall of the Mountain King, 1987) Deadboy and the Elephantmen, “Misadventures of Dope” (We Are Night Sky, 2006) Dax Riggs, “Didn’t Know Yet What I’d Know When I Was Bleedin’” (We Sing of Only Blood or Love, 2007) episode 136 preview: Dark Millennium, “Mechanismeffects” (Diana Read Peace, 1993) Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it.

2023 marks the 40th anniversary of Voivod, a band that are at the very heart of everything we do at Radical Research and everything we listen to as incorrigible music obsessives. In celebration, Voivod released Morgoth Tales, which finds the Mark V lineup (Snake, Away, Chewy, Rocky) covering songs from various past eras. For ourselves, we pay tribute by offering our longest and most in-depth episode yet, while also celebrating a landmark of our own. We invite all chaosmongers, nothingfaces, cockroaches and diehards across the schizophere to join us in celebration of the one, the only, the eternal VOIVOD!!!

Note I:

The reason for this relaunch of this episode is simple: Jeff's Voivod book ('Always Moving - The Strange Multiverse of Voivod') is imminent! You can reserve your copy of this 3 lb., 540-page behemoth here and ONLY here: radicalresearch.org/voivod/

Note II: 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 support us, we are humbled and grateful! patreon.com/RadicalResearchPodcast

Music cited in order of appearance: [all Voivod except where otherwise noted] intros from War and Pain, Killing Technology, Angel Rat, The Wake “Experiment” (Dimension Hatröss, 1988) “Blower” (War and Pain, 1984) “Ripping Headaches” (Rrröööaaarrr, 1986) Carnivore, “Carnivore” (Carnivore, 1985) “Forgotten in Space” (Killing Technology, 1987) Cave In, “Decay of the Delay” (Jupiter, 2000) “Cockroaches” (Killing Technology, 1987) “Psychic Vaccum” (Dimension Hatröss, 1988) “Brain Scan” (Dimension Hatröss, 1988)

Wartech, “Virtual Reality” (demo 1991) “Missing Sequences” (Nothingface, 1989) “Into My Hypercube” (Nothingface, 1989) “Inner Combustion” (Nothingface, 1989) King Crimson, “Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Part Two” (Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, 1973) “Nuage Fractal” (Angel Rat, 1991) Alchemist, “Escape from the Black Hole” (Organasm, 2000) “Clouds in My House” (Angel Rat, 1991) Die Kreuzen, “Best Goodbye” (Cement, 1991) “Best Regards” (Angel Rat, 1991) “Freedoom” (Angel Rat, 1991) “Horror” (Rrröööaaarrr, 1986) Rush, “Natural Science” (Permanent Waves, 1980) Van Der Graaf Generator, “Man-Erg” (Pawn Hearts, 1971) “Moonbeam Rider” (The Outer Limits, 1993) “Time Warp” (The Outer Limits, 1993) “Phobos” (Phobos, 1997) “Temps Mort” (Phobos, 1997) “Neutrino” (Phobos, 1997) “Aware” (demo for unrealized 10th album, 2000) “Facing Up” (Voivod, 2003) “Divine Sun” (Voivod, 2003) “Polaroids” (Katorz, 2006) “Corps Etranger” (Target Earth, 2013) “Iconspiracy” (The Wake, 2018) “Always Moving” (The Wake, 2018) “Quest for Nothing” (Synchro Anarchy, 2022)

Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the liste

Led by the estimable Percy Jones on bass and supported by a cast of elite co-conspirators, England's Brand X released a covey of essential fusion albums in the '70s and early '80s. Blending rock and jazz with uncommon aggression and dexterity, Brand X cuts across genres and decapitates rivals. Join us on this deep dive into one of fusion's oft-overlooked champions.

Note I:

Jeff’s Voivod book, Always Moving: The Strange Multiverse of Voivod, is finally available. Taking orders now for this 540-page, 3-pound behemoth…ONLY available HERE: radicalresearch.org/voivod

Note II: 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

Music cited in order of appearance: “Nuclear Burn” (Unorthodox Behaviour, 1976) “Smacks of Euphoric Hysteria” (Unorthodox Behaviour, 1976) “Disco Suicide” (Moroccan Roll, 1977) “Macrocosm” (Moroccan Roll, 1977) “Access to Data” (Masques, 1978) “The Ghost of Mayfield Lodge” (Masques, 1978) “Don’t Make Waves” (Product, 1979) “Dance of the Illegal Aliens” (Product, 1979) “Act of Will” (Do They Hurt?, 1980) “Fragile” (Do They Hurt?, 1980) “Triumphant Limp” (Do They Hurt?, 1980) Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it.

“And she became a completely different woman…” With that line, Italy’s Monumentum sums up the Radical Research Christmas spirit circa 2025. Supernatural hokum or divine prophecy told by madmen? Either way, screw all this shopping nonsense and screw your reason for the season: this 1995 album by one of the most enigmatic of all Italian enigmas blasts a blasphemous light on everything sacred. And we, here, right now, at the end of a year that began in torture, shine a light. We don’t celebrate anniversaries -- not of the musings of Mammarella & company nor of the birth of the bastard child. Still, we acknowledge the 30 years this uncanny album has sustained us in a way no other can. Note I: Jeff’s Voivod book, 'Always Moving: The Strange Multiverse of Voivod,' is now available. You can purchase a copy of the 540-page, 3-pound behemoth...Available HERE: radicalresearch.org/voivod

Note II: 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 Thank you to Rob Kachluba and Joe for recent donations! Note III: Any mention of John Norum and the Monumentum song “Terra Mater Ofranorum” are purely coincidental.

Music cited in order of appearance: all snippets taken from Monumentum, In Absentia Christii (1995), except where noted Visage, “Fade to Grey” (Visage, 1980) “Battesimo: Nero Opaco” “A Thousand Breathing Crosses” “Consuming Jerusalem” “Fade to Grey” “On Perspective of Spiritual Catharsis” “Σελυνης αγγελος” “From These Wounds” “Terra Mater Ofranorum” “Nephtali” “La Noia”

Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it.

It has taken light years of travel, but we’ve finally reached Arcturus. For our 140th episode, Radical Research dives into the catalog of one of Norway’s longest-running institutions. Over the course of five full-length albums and a clutch of odds and sods, Arcturus has defined and redefined the possibilities of experimental heavy metal. This episode goes all-in, exploring the entire body of work of this beacon of Norweird. Note I: We wondered who released the second Arcturus album, La Masquerade Infernale, in the US, and it turns out, no one did until 5 years after its initial release (Candlelight Records, 2002).   Note II: Jeff’s Voivod book, ‘Always Moving: The Strange Multiverse of Voivod,’ is finally available. You can purchase a copy of the 540-page, 3-pound behemoth HERE: radicalresearch.org/voivod Note III: 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 IV: we touched on Arcturus in these episodes, if you’re wanting more on these legends: Episode 76: Ulver’s Kristoffer Rygg Outside the Wolfpack https://www.radicalresearch.org/episode-76-ulvers-kristoffer-rygg-outside-the-wolf-pack/Episode 79: Simen Hestnaes aka ICS Vortex – 25 Years of Agility and Quirk https://www.radicalresearch.org/episode-79-simen-hestnaes-aka-ics-vortex-25-years-of-agility-and-quirk/

Music cited in order of appearance: “My Angel” (My Angel 7”, 1991) “Morax” (My Angel 7”, 1991) “Icebound Streams and Vapours Gray” (Constellation EP, 1994) “Naar Kulda Taar” (Constellation EP, 1994) “To Thou Who Dwellest in the Night” (Aspera Hiems Symfonia, 1996) “Du Nordavind” (Aspera Hiems Symfonia, 1996) “Master of Disguise” (La Masquerade Infernale, 1997) “Ad Astra” (La Masquerade Infernale, 1997) “Deception Genesis” (Disguised Masters, 1999) “Kinetic” (The Sham Mirrors, 2002) “For To End Yet Again” (The Sham Mirrors, 2002) “Evacuation Code Deciphered” (Sideshow Symphonies, 2005) “Hufsa” (Sideshow Symphonies, 2005) “Angst” (Arcturian, 2015) “Demon” (Arcturian, 2015) “The Journey” (Arcturian, 2015) Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it.

When we first announced this episode several weeks back, we received several queries from listeners all around the globe who phrased their questions similarly: "Realm? The Milwaukee Realm?": Oh yeah, freaks, the one and only. Near and dear to our hearts, as with other Wisconsin RR favorites Die Kreuzen and Last Crack, this one-hour and 14-minute episode explores, expounds and exhorts the mighty Realm…the Milwaukee one!

Note I: NO JOKE: if you can identify another Wisconsin band referenced in the description above, and explain the reference, RR will send you a Norweird prize package of CDs by Arcturus, Fleurety, Solefald, and Virus. Contact us if you decipher the code… Note II: We forgot to mention “Dick”! We had a blast recording this episode and listening back to the great Realm. And we turned over a lot of stones, but left this one unturned: “Dick”! It’s a song on Suiciety, and it’s easily the worst idea on either of the Realm albums. In fact, it’s the only truly lamentable moment. And really, it’s only the horrid chorus the ruins things. It’s an M.O.D.-wanna-be, and…well, it should be self-explanatory why it’s lame. Otherwise: HAIL REALM. Note III: Finally, after years of toil, Jeff’s Voivod book is finally available. You can purchase a copy of the 540-page, 3-pound behemoth…ONLY available in the US HERE: radicalresearch.org/voivod European distribution is here, please visit: https://rekviem.no/en-us/products/always-moving-the-strange-multiverse-of-voivod-book-preorder Note IV: 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 Music cited in order of appearance: “Second Coming” (Perceptive Incentive demo, 1985) “The Temple” (Final Solution demo, 1987) “Endless War” (Endless War, 1988) “Slay the Oppressor” (Endless War, 1988) “Root of Evil” (Endless War, 1988) “Eleanor Rigby” (Endless War, 1988) “All Heads Will Turn to the Hunt” (Endless War, 1988) “Cain Rose Up (Scream Bloody Murder)” (Suiciety, 1990) “Fragile Earth” (Suiciety, 1990) “Energetic Discontent” (Suiciety, 1990) “The Brainchild” (Suiciety, 1990) “La Flamme’s Theory” (Suiciety, 1990) “One More Red Nightmare” (demo, 1992) Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it.

If 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 Gryphon’s Red Queen to Gryphon Three album. A crumhorn!

Note II:

The Ulver song title we were trying to remember: “I Love You, but I Prefer Trondheim (Parts 1-4) (A. Wiltzie vs. Stars of the Lid remix)” (from First Decade in the Machines, 2003)

Note III: 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 IV:

All past Radical Research episodes can be found here, where you can also find Jeff’s Peter Steele book, Soul on Fire…and more to come soon! Radicalresearch.org

Note V:

We are regularly posting newer and older episode to our Youtube channel. Please check that out here and please subscribe if you wanna aid in getting all our coverage into more people's feeds: https://www.youtube.com/@radicalresearchpodcast4942

Music cited in order of appearance:

“Ring of Fire” (Sorrow, 1994) “Why So Lonely” (Tears Laid in Earth, 1994)

“Death Hymn” (Tears Laid in Earth, 1994)

“In Mist Shrouded” (Tears Laid in Earth, 1994)

“Neurosis” (Nightswan, 1995)

“Commemoration” (Painting on Glass, 1996)

“Persistent and Fleeting” (Painting on Glass, 1996)

“Veiled Exposure” [two parts] (Painting on Glass, 1996)

“Stream” (In This Room, 1997)

“Sophisticated Vampires” (In This Room, 1997)

“Did You” (In This Room, 1997) “Zeppoliner” (Memoirs, 2002)

“Spider” (Memoirs, 2002)

Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it.

part 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 brief look at a German drummer we have always appreciated and consider underrated in the grander scheme. We glance at a few snippets of his work in Mekong Delta, Helloween and Holy Moses, because it’s the right thing to do and the right way to do it.

Note I: Turns out, Hunter could’ve skipped a whole step! Ivar Bjornson and Einar Selvik have recorded together:  under both their names, they released Skuggsjá - A Piece for Mind & Mirror in 2016 and Hugsjá in 2018. But his assignment was seven degrees, not six, and he pulled through righteously. Note II: An unintentional link between this episode’s two parts: Uli Kusch now lives in Norway. We would love if he joined TNT and put more wheels within our other wheels within wheels. Note III: In the beginning of this episode we talk about the new Ulver book, Wolves Evolve. We urge all Norwegophiles to buy it here: https://www.indiemerchstore.com/item/90855

Note IV: 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 (more gear, music and literature to be added soon!): https://www.radicalresearch.org/shop/

Music cited, in order of appearance: part 1: Enslaved, “Mardraum” (Mardraum: Beyond the Within, 2000) Gorgoroth, “Incipit Satan” (Incipit Satan, 2000) Wardruna, “Hagal” (Runaljod - Gap Var Ginnunga, 2009) Exodus, “Pleasures of the Flesh” (Pleasures of the Flesh, 1988) Metallica, “Through the Never” (Metallica, 1991) TNT, “Desperate Night” (Tell No Tales, 1987) part 2: Mekong Delta, “The Gnome” (The Gnome [EP], 1987) Helloween, “Revelation” (Better Than Raw, 1998) Holy Moses, “Current of Death” (entire song) (Finished With the Dogs, 1987) Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it. This is Radical Research Podcast episode 54

We 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 take this one too seriously…even if we do. Note I: It truly all went weird on the back end. Hunter had to call in on his phone, a first...there was an issue with his laptop and microphone. As a result, Hunter sounds like he has either a lisp, a few missing teeth, or been shot full of novocaine. He makes his usual salient points with the expected degree of articulation you’ve come to expect. Thanks for suffering through it. Note II: 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 (more gear, music and literature to be added soon!): https://www.radicalresearch.org/shop/

Music cited, in order of appearance: Ved Buens Ende, “You, That May Wither” (Written in Waters, 1995) Virus, “Gum, Meet, Mother“  (Carheart, 2003) Ved Buens Ende, “Carrier of Wounds” (Written in Waters, 1995) Virus, “Be Elevator” (Carheart, 2003) Ved Buens Ende, “Coiled in Wings” (Written in Waters, 1995) Virus, “It’s All Gone Weird” (Carheart, 2003) Ved Buens Ende, “I Sang for the Swans” (Written in Waters, 1995) Virus, “Queen of the Hi-Ace” (Carheart, 2003) Ved Buens Ende, “Autumn Leaves” (Written in Waters, 1995) Virus, “Hustler” (Carheart, 2003) Jane’s Enslaved, “Fenris Size” (1988/1994) (our apologies to Enslaved and Jane’s Addition, and thank you Chris Maycock)

Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it. This is Radical Research Podcast episode 53.

A 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 with us into this quiet miasma. Note I: Hunter mentions in this episode De Facto, the dub/Latin band featuring Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Ikey Owens, and Jeremy Ward, who operated from 1998 to 2003. Incidentally, Ward provided the muse for the first Mars Volta full-length, De-Loused in the Comatorium, following his untimely death. Note II: John Frusciante, lynchpin in Red Hot Chili Peppers (a band uniformly disliked by the hosts of this podcast), has made numerous, godlike contributions to the music of The Mars Volta, and appears in fine form on Octahedron. Your sins are forgiven, Mr. Frusciante. We offer you absolution in return for your noble deeds.

Note III: Yeah, yeah…Jeff said “Cedric” at 59:32, but meant “Omar.” A bizarre sound glitch happens early on, too, and Jeff wants to confirm he said "crafty," not "crappy," re: Steve Zimmerman.

Note IV: 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 and books (more gear, music and literature to be added soon!): https://www.radicalresearch.org/shop/

Music cited, in order of appearance: [all from The Mars Volta, Octahedron, 2009] “Since We’ve Been Wrong” "Teflon” “Halo of Nembutals” “With Twilight As My Guide” “Cotopaxi” “Desperate Graves” “Copernicus” “Luciforms” episode 53 preview: Virus, “Dogs With Wheels” (Carheart, 2003)

Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it. This is Radical Research Podcast episode 52.

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: If you don’t want to hear us talking about dreams about Prong, Def Leppard album covers, our break in the once-mutual “favorite Queensryche album” topic, or Christmas at Jim Durkin’s house, skip to 18:08 to enter our discussion of Nocturnus’s Thresholds.

Note II: But if you skipped ahead, you might have missed us discovering the quite fascinating fact that both Thomas Dolby and Yes’s Tony Kaye are un-credited contributors to Def Leppard’s Pyromania album. Note III: And if you skipped ahead, you won’t care about this correction: Jeff said the Durkin Christmas gathering was in the mid/late ‘90s. He was so wrong. It was actually around 2003/04 or so. Note IV: 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 and books (more gear, music and literature to be added soon!): https://www.radicalresearch.org/shop/

Music cited, in order of appearance: [all from Nocturnus, Thresholds, 1992] “Climate Controller” “Tribal Vodoun” “Nocturne in Bm” “Arctic Crypt” “Aquatica” “Subterranean Infiltrator” “Alter Reality” “Gridzone” episode 52 preview: The Mars Volta, “Luciforms” (Octahedron, 2009)

Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it. This is Radical Research Podcast episode 51.

Storming 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, mischievous, path-finding demons… Note I: “Babylon Fell,” “Caress Into Oblivion” and “I Won’t Dance” are subtitled on some version of Into the Pandemonium thusly, parenthetically, and respectively: “Jade Serpent,” “Jade Serpent II” and “The Elders’ Orient.” Note II: Jeff misspoke slightly. The correct title of the Hieronymous Bosch painting that the band used for the album cover is The Garden of Earthly Delights.

Note III: As noted at the end of this episode, Radical Research will be on hiatus for a couple months. We love RR and are not letting it die. We are just letting it take a little nap. Please check out our older episodes until we resume with episode 51 sometime late spring 2020. And please check the Blog section on RadicalResearch.org as we will be posting an interview with Manes leader Tor-Helge Skei as well as Hunter’s thorough, thought-provoking essay on Solefald’s Neonism album. Thanks for your support and, especially right now, your patience. We will return!

Note IV: Please consider donating if you listen to Radical Research often: https://www.paypal.me/rrpodcast Music cited, in order of appearance: [all songs Celtic Frost, except where noted] Side A: Wall of Voodoo, “Mexican Radio” (Call of the West, 1982) “Mexican Radio” (Into the Pandemonium, 1987) “Mesmerized” (Into the Pandemonium, 1987) Christian Death, “Figurative Theatre” (Only Theatre of Pain, 1982) “Inner Sanctum” (Into the Pandemonium, 1987) “Eternal Summer” (To Mega Therion, 1985) “Sorrows of the Moon” (Into the Pandemonium, 1987) “Tristesses de la Lune” (Into the Pandemonium, 1987) Dead Can Dance, “Windfall” (Within the Realm of a Dying Sun, 1987) “Babylon Fell” (Into the Pandemonium, 1987) “Suicidal Winds” (Emperor’s Return, 1985)

Side B: “Caress Into Oblivion” (Into the Pandemonium, 1987) Anathema, “Shroud of Frost” (The Silent Enigma, 1995) “One in Their Pride” (Into the Pandemonium, 1987) Skinny Puppy, “One Time One Place” (Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse, 1986) “I Won’t Dance” (Into the Pandemonium, 1987) “Downtown Hanoi” (Cold Lake, 1988) (remixed version, with restored drum track and new guitars) “Rex Irae (Requiem)” (Into the Pandemonium, 1987) Believer, “Dies Irae (Day of Wrath)” (Sanity Obscure, 1990) “Oriental Masquerade” (Into the Pandemonium, 1987) “The Inevitable Factor” (Into the Pandemonium non-album track, 1987) Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it. This is Radical Research Podcast e

Many 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 and the disquieting, mutant sounds of Harmony Drinks of Me, we urge all who are strong of stomach and loin to join us as we descend into the aching hell that is the world of Nuclear Death. Note I: Thanks to Ted Tringo at Dark Symphonies/The Crypt for the demo era mp3s. Ted offers a ton of amazing items for the serious collector. Click here for a great deal on two mandatory recordings by Nuclear Death: http://darksymphonies.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=63

Note II: 12 Adjectives for Nuclear Death: Heinous. Vile. Fucked. Humiliating. Feral. Illegal. Diseased. Septic. Phantasmagoric. Dismissive. Harmful. Solar. Note III: Please consider donating if you listen to Radical Research often: https://www.paypal.me/rrpodcast Music cited, in order of appearance: “Necrobestiality” (Bride of Insect, 1990) “Shrieking Terror” (Wake Me When I’m Dead, 1986 demo) “The Third Antichrist” (Welcome to the Minds of the Morbid, 1987 demo) “Vultures Feeding” (Vultures Feeding, 1988 demo) “Fetal Lament: Homesick” (Bride of Insect, 1990) “The Misshapen Horror” (Bride of Insect, 1990) “Greenflies” (Carrion for Worm, 1992) “Vampirism” (Carrion for Worm, 1992) “Days of the Weak” (For Our Dead, 1992) “The Church of Evil Minds of Splatter Day Saints” (For Our Dead, 1992) “Bones of the Lip” (All Creatures Great and Eaten, 1992) “Aunt Farm” (All Creatures Great and Eaten, 1992) “Birthing of Slumberblood” (The Planet Cachexial, 1996) “Into Zyrèlyà,” (The Planet Cachexial, 1996) “Electric Spaceboy,” (Harmony Drinks of Me, 2000) “Sunless,” (Harmony Drinks of Me, 2000) “The Baths” (Harmony Drinks of Me, 2000) episode 50 preview: Celtic Frost, “Sorrows of the Moon“ (Into the Pandemonium, 1987)

Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it. This is Radical Research Podcast episode 49.

For 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 intensely personal relationship with heavy music. Defy the bigotry of those who’ve come before you and embrace the fascinating weirdness of Norway’s most unsung sons.

Note 1: Shout out to Lasse Marhaug, a celebrated experimental artist in his own right, for his invaluable insight and intel. Were it not for him, this episode would have been far more speculative. Thank you also to Veiko Rebane and Tom Clark!

Note II: We didn’t even reveal most of the names of those behind Albino Slug during the episode. Those are: Ove Hjelvik; Audun Eriksen; Mats Ivar Takle; Asgeir Rekkavik; Morten Fagervik. Thank you for your service!

Note III: Please consider donating if you listen to Radical Research often: https://www.paypal.me/rrpodcast CORRECTION: Jeff noted the title "Hnrr 8"...it's actually "Knrr 8." Old habits die hard. We still don't know its meaning. Music cited, in order of appearance: “Knrr 8” (Albino Slug, 1993) “Thorbud” (Albino Slug, 1993) “Du Må Ikke Sove” (Albino Slug, 1993) “Bring Water / Skinner Boxed (The Wavering Solipsist)” (Albino Slug, 1993) “Vaffel” (Albino Slug, 1993) “Bleeding” (Albino Slug, 1993) “Paradise Regained” (two passages) (Albino Slug, 1993) “Barabbas” (three passages) (Barabbas, 1994) episode 49 preview: Nuclear Death, “Spawn Song” (Carrion for Worm, 1992)

Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it. This is Radical Research Podcast episode 48.

After 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 Porcupine Tree shows up here only in fits and starts, but what a start…we find this album a fascinating view into the mind of a young genius and a curious portent of the colorful vistas Wilson would later visit with the band once he started actually taking it seriously. Note I: We apologize for the poor quality of the audio on this episode. Just when we think we’ve got it sorted out, some technical glitch conspires to make us look ridiculous. We’re diligently working on finding a better, more reliable way to record our Greensboro><Savannah transmissions. Note II: We absolutely love this fan site dedicated to all things Porcupine Tree: https://neuralrustsite.wordpress.com/ Note II: Please consider donating if you listen to Radical Research often: https://www.paypal.me/rrpodcast Music cited, in order of appearance: [all from On the Sunday of Life, 1992] “This Long Silence” “Space Transmission” “Message from a Self-Destructing Turnip” “Radioactive Toy” “Third Eye Surfer” “On the Sunday of Life” “Jupiter Island” “Linton Samuel Dawson” “Nine Cats” “The Nostalgia Factory” “Footprints” “And the Swallows Dance Above the Sun” “Queen Quotes Crowley” “It Will Rain for a Million Years” “Begonia Seduction Scene” episode 48 preview: Albino Slug, “Thorbud” (Albino Slug, 1993) Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it. This is Radical Research Podcast episode 47.

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 Somewhere to Silence.” It is, of course, called From Silence to Somewhere. And it is, indeed, one of the best progressive rock albums in decades.

Note II: Please consider donating if you listen to Radical Research often: https://www.paypal.me/rrpodcast Music cited, in order of appearance: Hoelderlin, “Deathwatchbeetle” (Hoelderlin, 1975) Ethos, “The Players (of the Game)” (Open Up, 1977) Labradford, “Splash Down” (Prazision LP, 1993) Tiamat, “Only in My Tears It Lasts” (A Deeper Kind of Slumber, 1997) Chroma Key, “America the Video” (Dead Air for Radios, 1998) Coil, “Red Birds Will Fly Out of the East and Destroy Paris in a Night” (Musick to Play in the Dark Vol. 1, 1999) Bjork, “Pagan Poetry” (Vespertine, 2001) Secret Chiefs 3, “Ritual of the Cup: Safina” (Book M, 2001) Wobbler, “La Bealtaine” (Rites at Dawn, 2011) Wobbler, “In Orbit” (Rites at Dawn, 2011) Perfect Beings, “The Love Inside” (II, 2015) episode 47 preview: Porcupine Tree, “The Nostalgia Factory” (On the Sunday of Life, 1992)

Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it. This is Radical Research Podcast episode 46.

For 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 regardless. Can you handle the truth? Be there or be cool.  Note I: As noted in the episode, Manes has a fascination with the end, an ever-present promise of the final nothing. To that end, we unveil the evidence: “Endetidstegn” (English translation: “End Time Signs”; song on Slow Motion Death Sequence) Be All End All (2014 album) How the World Came to An End (2007 album) these songs from 2003 album, Vilosophe: “Nodamnbrakes (One Zero / Endpoint),” “Terminus a Quo / Terminus ad Quem,” “Ende”

Note II: We don’t talk overmuch about record labels. We prefer the music to be front and center while the boringness of business and politics hums away in the background. But for the record, as it regards Manes, these companies have brought Manes music to interested enthusiasts: Debemur Morti; Candlelight; Aural Music; Code666; Hammerheart; Kyrck

Note III: We don’t mention it in this episode, but Manii did release a second album, 2018’s Sinnets Irrganger. Note IV: We had a little fun at our good friend Marty Rytkonen’s expense. He is one hell of a man and actually more open-minded than you know. Visit his Bindrune record label site, all you woodland denizens: https://bindrunerecordings.com/

Note V: BUY MANES MUSIC. There is no excuse for possessing and listening to someone else’s music for absolutely nothing (which includes most streaming services that pay artists a pathetic pittance, at best). Manes is not a charity organization. Buy Link on Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/artist/263927-Manes

Note VI: Please consider donating if you listen to Radical Research often: https://www.paypal.me/rrpodcast Music cited, in order of appearance: “Building the Ship of Theseus” (Slow Motion Death Sequence, 2018) “Night Vision” (Slow Motion Death Sequence, 2018) “Blanket of Ashes” (Be All End All, 2014) “Name the Serpent” (Be All End All, 2014) “I Watch You Fall” (How the World Came to An End, 2007) “My Journal of the Plague Years (Fuckmensch Warmensch)” (How the World Came to An End, 2007) “The Neoflagellata Revision” (View EP, 2006) “Nodamnbrakes (One Zero / Endpoint) ” (Vilosophe, 2003) “Diving With Your Hands Bound (Nearly Flying)” (Vilosophe, 2003) “Ende” (Vilosophe, 2003) “Uten Liv Ligger Landet Øde” (Under Ein Blodraud Maane, 1999) “Til Kongens Grav De Døde Vandrer” (Under Ein Blodraud Maane, 1999) "I Helvetes Haller” (Til Kongens Grav De Døde Vandrer, 1995 demo) “Dansen Gjennom Skuggeheimen” (Ned I Stillheten, 1994 demo) “De Mørke Makters Dyp” (Maanens Natt, 1993 demo) [intro and outro moments from, respectively, “Nodamnbrakes” and “Confluence,” both from Vilosophe]

Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we con

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, fire and death of this completely unique album in the Type O Negative discography.

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 be found here, where you can also find Jeff’s Peter Steele book, Soul on Fire…and more to come soon! Radicalresearch.org

Note III: Our Youtube channel is firing back up again. Please access it at the link provided and please SUBSCRIBE! You'll be helping us reach even more people with your subscription and views. We'll regularly be adding many more older episodes to the channel for your listening/viewing pleasure. https://www.youtube.com/@radicalresearchpodcast4942

Music cited in order of appearance:

[all from Type O Negative - Slow, Deep and Hard, 1991] “Unsuccessfully Coping With the Natural Beauty of Infidelity” “Der Untermensch” “Xero Tolerance” “Prelude to Agony” “Glass Walls of Limbo (Dance Mix)” “Gravitational Constant” Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it.

When 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 find refuge in the wild imagination of Xysma. If this is your first listen to this podcast, we hope it will be magical. For the veterans, go big and win the lotto. Yeah! Note I: We had some frustrating technical issues while recording this episode. We tried to clean it up as much as possible. Our apologies for some rough moments. Note II: Please visit https://www.radicalresearch.org/qa-with-mikko-mattila-on-xysma/ for our Xysma-centric interview with Isten mastermind, Mikko Mattila. Note III: Please consider donating if you listen to Radical Research often: https://www.paypal.me/rrpodcast

Music cited, in order of appearance: “Pulsating Cerebral Slime” (Swarming of the Maggots, 1989 demo) “Gripping Slaughter” (Swarming of the Maggots, 1989 demo) “Phrenetic Chainsaw Suicide” (Swarming of the Maggots, 1989 demo) “Entangled in Shreds” (Above the Mind of Morbidity, 1990 EP) “Dismemberment in Trance” (Above the Mind of Morbidity, 1990 EP) “Embodiment of Morbidity” (Fata Morgana 7”, 1991) “Aspirations b) First Sunbeams of the New Beginning” (Yeah, 1991) “Above the Horizon” (Yeah, 1991) “Until I Reach the Unattainable” (Yeah, 1991) “One More Time” (First & Magical, 1993) “Uranus Falls Again” (First & Magical, 1993) “Can’t Imagine Your Death” (First & Magical, 1993) “Nice Pale” (Deluxe, 1994) “Le Mans 66” (Deluxe, 1994) “So Divine” (Deluxe, 1994) “Shortest Route” (Lotto, 1996) “New Gel in Town” (Lotto, 1996) “Shoes” (Lotto, 1996) “Honest Love” (Singles, 1997) “Fit” (Girl on the Beach, 1998) “Life in the Sea” (Girl on the Beach, 1998) “I’m Not Ready to Dance” (Girl on the Beach, 1998) “Uranus Falls” (Yeah, 1991) episode 45 preview: Manes, “Death of the Genuine” (Vilosophe, 2003)

Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it. This is Radical Research Podcast episode 44.

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 swing-metal of “None of them Knew They Were Robots,” the torch-song noir of “Pink Cigarette,” and the cyborg future-funk of “Golem II: The Bionic Vapor Boy” and addresses such zesty topics as The Hidden God, ritual castration, and the nausea that underpins West Coast “fun in the sun.” One of the last grand analog production feats, we here at Radical Research feel it’s high time this record gets the laboratory treatment. Join us as we dive deeply into the air-conditioned nightmare. Note I: Please consider donating if you listen to Radical Research often: https://www.paypal.me/rrpodcast

Music cited, in order of appearance: [all from California, 1999] “Sweet Charity” “None of Them Knew They Were Robots” “Retrovertigo” “The Air-Conditioned Nightmare” “Ars Moriendi” “Pink Cigarette” “Golem II: The Bionic Vapour Boy” “The Holy Filament” “Vanity Fair” “Goodbye Sober Day” episode 44 preview: Xysma, “On the Hill of Desecration” (Yeah, 1991)

Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it. This is Radical Research Podcast episode 43.

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 Gauthier and Francois Auger, offers up the most confident set of arrangements of his career. Stand By harnesses the tactile synth textures of previous albums and binds them to songs that anticipate techno, home-listening electronica, doom rock, and other future sounds. Underrated at best, but mostly unheard altogether, Radical Research looks to settle the score and give these Gaulic Goliaths their proper due. Note I: Heldon was preceded by Schizo!, who released two singles and mined a heavy psych rock sound, with flourishes of proto-metal and electronics. Note II: Heldon employed a wider range of musicians than described above, including Jannick Top of Magma, who played on “Towards the Red Line,” the sidelong composition that concludes the band’s fifth album, Un Reve Sans Consequence Speciale.

Note III: Buy links to Discogs page for Stand By. Do it right! https://www.discogs.com/Heldon-Stand-By/master/28550 Note IV: Please consider donating if you listen to Radical Research often: https://www.paypal.me/rrpodcast

Music cited, in order of appearance: Heldon, “Bolero” (three moments) (Stand By, 1979) Heldon, “Une Drole De Journée” (Stand By, 1979) Heldon, “Stand By” (two moments) (Stand By, 1979) episode 43 preview: Mr. Bungle, “None of Them Knew They Were Robots” (California, 1999)

Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it. This is Radical Research Podcast episode 42.

Welcome to the second installment of this occasional episode in the margins...we have fun trying to fool each other by playing an unlabeled, unmarked piece of music. For diehard Radical Research enthusiasts only!

Music cited in this episode Sorry, you'll need to listen to find out.

Let’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/Demilich smear-tech of Embrionic Death, and much more. So, as a matter of moral obligation, please join us on this journey deep into the underground. Note I: Our title is somewhat of an homage to detestable-yet-lovable celebrity chef, Guy Fieri. We like a lot of his ridiculous phrases, and used that to create our own off-the-hook concoction. The real deal, bro. Note II: Buy links to several bands featured on this episode: Sindrome: https://www.discogs.com/Sindrome-Resurrection-The-Complete-Collection/master/967409 Embrionic Death: https://www.discogs.com/Embrionic-Death-Regurgitated-Stream-Of-Rot/release/3636297 Paraxism: https://www.discogs.com/Paraxism-Xism-Excursion/release/1376752

Note III: Please consider donating if you listen to Radical Research often: paypal.me/rrpodcast

Music cited, in order of appearance: Sindrome, “Rapture in Blood” (Into the Halls of Extermination, 1987 demo) Sindrome, “Astral Projection“ (Vault of Inner Conscience, 1992 demo) Epitaph, “Quantum of Solace” (1992 demo) Epitaph, “Inbred” (1992 demo) Mid-Evil, “Botanic Wisdom“ (1992 demo) Mid-Evil, “Memoirs“ (1992 demo) Embrionic Death, “Sperm to Egg“  (Stream of Solidarity, 1993 demo) Embrionic Death, “Savoir-Faire” (Stream of Solidarity, 1993 demo) Paraxism, “Smooth Hate“ (Selected Works, 1995 demo) Paraxism, “Values” (1997 demo) episode 42 preview: Heldon, “Bolero“ (Stand By, 1979) Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it. This is Radical Research Podcast episode 41.

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 Gaahl, who handles the music with Attila Csihar-like nuance and flexibility. Join us as we dig into this singular album from Norway’s most terrifyingly-depicted agents of destruction. Note I: In listing his favorite black metal bands during the episode, Wagner forgot Emperor. They’re firmly in that top 5:  Bathory, Deathspell Omega, Mayhem, Gorgoroth and Emperor. Hunter offers his 5 favorites as follows:  Emperor, Mayhem, Abigor, Bathory, Gorgoroth. Note II: Please consider donating if you listen to Radical Research often: paypal.me/rrpodcast

Music cited, in order of appearance: “Incipit Satan” (Incipit Satan, 2000) “A World to Win” (Incipit Satan, 2000) “Litani til Satan” (Incipit Satan, 2000) “Unchain My Heart!!!” (Incipit Satan, 2000) “An Excerpt of X” (Incipit Satan, 2000) “Ein Eim Av Blod Og Helvetesild” (Incipit Satan, 2000) “Will to Power” (Incipit Satan, 2000) “When Love Rages Wild in My Heart” (Incipit Satan, 2000) episode 41 preview: Paraxism, “Dive” (Selected Works, 1995 demo) Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it. This is Radical Research Podcast episode 40.

Greetings 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 tree that we didn’t focus on, including Animal Alpha and Soxpan. Members have also played in more well-known names such as Carpathian Forest, Manes and Atrox. Note II: How do we address the fact of this new In the Woods…, the one that returned around 2015 featuring the Botteri brothers (bass, guitar) and Anders Kobro on drums, and a vocalist that is not Jan Kenneth Transeth, and the one that now only features Kobro from the original lineup?!? We steer clear. Our In the Woods… is 1993-2000. We have difficulty enjoying or identifying with the current iteration.

Note III: We love the fact that In the Woods…/Drawn/ Stille Opprör man Christer-André  Cederberg was a de facto member of Anathema on their Weather Systems and Distant Satellites albums.

Note IV: “Naervaer” = “Presence” Note V: Please consider donating if you listen to Radical Research often: paypal.me/rrpodcast CORRECTION: Anders Kobro DOES play on Green Carnation's The Quiet Offspring. Music cited, in order of appearance: Green Carnation, “My Dark Reflections of Life and Death” (Journey to the End of the Night, 2000) Green Carnation, “Light of Day, Day of Darkness” (Light of Day, Day of Darkness, 2001) Green Carnation, “Purple Door, Pitch Black” (The Quiet Offspring, 2005) Stille Opprör, “L Tune” (S.o2, 2008) Stille Opprör, “Reconnect” (S.o2, 2008) Naervaer, “To Plan” (Skiftninger, 2001) Naervaer, “En Som…” (To Magic… compilation, 2000)

Transit, “Bleed on Me“ (Decent Man on a Desperate Moon, 2008)

Transit, “You and Me and Then Some” (Decent Man on a Desperate Moon, 2008) Drawn, “This is My Day” (Plan Be, 1998)

Drawn, “Rivawella Form“ (A New World?, 1999)

Drawn, “A-Scape“ (A New World?, 1999) episode 40 preview: Gorgoroth, “Will to Power“ (Incipit Satan, 2000)

Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it. This is Radical Research Podcast episode 39.

Toby 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 year’s very best albums, Blasphemy distills and refines the characteristics that have shaped the band’s last two albums, Coffins on Io and Plastic House on Base of Sky. Note I: As a supplement to the podcast episode, you’ll find our interview with Kayo Dot leader Toby Driver on the Radical Research blog: https://www.radicalresearch.org/an-interview-with-kayo-dots-toby-driver/ Note II: The title of this episode comes from a lyric within Blasphemy song “Turbine, Hook and Haul.” Note III: Please consider donating if you listen to Radical Research often: https://www.paypal.me/rrpodcast

Music cited, in order of appearance: [all Kayo Dot except where otherwise noted] Maudlin of the Well, “He Who Breathes the Soil” (Begat of the Haunted Oak: An Acorn, 1997 demo) “Magnetism” (Plastic House on Base of Sky, 2016) “Ocean Cumulonimbus” (Blasphemy, 2019) “The Something Opal” (Blasphemy, 2019) “Lost Souls On Lonesome’s Way” (Blasphemy, 2019) “Vanishing Act in Blinding Gray” (Blasphemy, 2019) “Turbine, Hook and Haul” (Blasphemy, 2019) “Midnight Mystic Rise and Fall” (Blasphemy, 2019) “An Eye For a Lie” (Blasphemy, 2019) “Blasphemy: A Prophecy” (Blasphemy, 2019) episode 39 preview: Drawn, “Marygold” (A New World?, 1999)

Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it. This is Radical Research Podcast episode 38.

Writing 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 Research. Note I: Mr. Doctor, aka Mario Panciera, wrote and published a book on 7” singles from the UK & Ireland circa 1976-1979. It’s called 45 Revolutions, and you can find out more here: http://www.45worlds.com/book/title/45-revolutions-1976-1979 Note II: After this episode went public, listener and noted album cover artist Eliran Kantor helped us solve a mystery discussed in this episode. He makes an excellent point! Eliran says: "One mystery I think can be easily solved about Devil Doll: you guys asked how such a lush orchestral production could be financed by an unknown musician. I think recording and recruiting in Yugoslavia might be your answer. Even today, the average wage in Croatia (just picking that one since DD had at least one Croatian musician) is 1/2 of that in Italy."

Note III: Please consider donating if you listen to Radical Research often: paypal.me/rrpodcast

Music cited, in order of appearance “The Girl Who Was…Death” (two passages) (The Girl Who Was…Death, 1989) “Mr. Doctor” (Eliogabalus, 1990) “Eliogabalus” (Eliogabalus, 1990) “Sacrilegium” (two passages) (Sacrilegium, 1992) “The Sacrilege of Fatal Arms” (The Sacrilege of Fatal Arms, 1993) “Dies Irae” (two passages) (Dies Irae, 1996) episode 38 preview: Kayo Dot, “The Something Opal” (Blasphemy, 2019)

Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it. This is Radical Research Podcast episode 37.

Melvins’ 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 '90s wilderness period and their mid-'00s absorption of the hefty Big Business. As always, we invite you to join us as we pick apart but a sliver of one of rock music’s most fascinating, and enduring, institutions.

Note I: In the first half of 2003, Melvins and their label, Ipecac, released Hostile Ambient Takeover as a 7-inch series. The album tracks are a-sides, while the b-sides are mostly cover versions, Melvins-ized songs by Mott the Hoople, Ramones, The Gun Club, Alice Cooper, Warlock Pinchers and The Tubes. Note II: We spend little time on the influence of Melvins, but their music has inspired artists working in math rock, sludge, doom, left-field art rock, desert rock, and beyond. The most well known Melvins devotee was Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, who played an indispensable role in the career of Melvins, evangelizing their cause in the early '90s and producing a portion of their major label debut, Houdini. Other artists inspired and/or influenced by Melvins include -- but are certainly not limited to -- Brutal Truth, Boris, Mind Over Four, Crowbar, Baroness, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Helmet, Eyehategod, High on Fire, Soundgarden, Mastodon, Strapping Young Lad/Devin Townsend, Zeni Geva, and Sunn0))). Note III: As hinted by the title of this episode, we hope to occasionally dig in to some other facet of planet Melvins in future episodes. Honky, Stag, Hold it In, Egg Nog...who knows?! Note IV: Please consider donating if you listen to Radical Research often: paypal.me/rrpodcast << Please paste in your browser window, link not working directly from RR site right now. Thanks!<<

Music cited, in order of appearance: “The Anti-Vermin Seed” (Hostile Ambient Takeover, 2002) “In the Freaktose the Bugs are Dying” (Honky, 1997) “See How Pretty, See How Smart” (The Maggot, 1999) “Black Stooges” (Hostile Ambient Takeover, 2002) “Dr. Geek” (Hostile Ambient Takeover, 2002) “Little Judas Chongo” (full song) (Hostile Ambient Takeover, 2002) “The Fool, the Meddling Idiot” (Hostile Ambient Takeover, 2002) “The Brain Center at Whipples” (Hostile Ambient Takeover, 2002) “Foaming” (Hostile Ambient Takeover, 2002) “The Anti-Vermin Seed” (Hostile Ambient Takeover, 2002) “A History of Bad Men” ((A) Senile Animal, 2006) episode 37 preview: Devil Doll, “Eliogabalus” (Eliogabalus, 1990)

Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it. This is Radical Research Podcast episode 36.

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 also failed to mention the time Hunter and I, in 2019, listened to Voivod’s Nothingface with Tom, all of us air drumming, air guitaring, air bassing and singing every bit of it, all the way through……these and many more memories only scratch the surface of our friend Tom and why we’re going to miss him so damn much.

Note I:

CLOVER CAT RESCUE donation link: https://tinyurl.com/donate-CCR Please note "In Memory of Tom Hailey" when you give

or VENMO @clovercatrescue

Note II:

We think Tom would be amused by the gaff of a gaff Hunter makes when talking about post-Confessor bands. He said he called Fly Wheel Fly Leaf, when that band was actually named Fly Machine. Hunter knows a lot, and we can’t fault him for not knowing the specifics of post-Confessor tree branches. Note III:

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 IV:

All past Radical Research episodes can be found here, where you can also find Jeff’s Peter Steele and Fates Warning books, Hunter’s Deserts of Hex Volume 2…and more to come soon! Radicalresearch.org

Music cited in order of appearance:

Die Kreuzen, “Elizabeth” (Century Days, 1988)

Forbidden, “Forbidden Evil” (Forbidden Evil, 1988) Confessor, “Condemned” (Condemned, 1991) Carcass, “Feast on Dismembered Carnage” (Reek of Putrefaction, 1988) The Champs, “Andres Segovia Interests Me” (III, 1997) The Chameleons, “A Person Isn’t Safe Anywhere These Days” (Script of the Bridge, 1983)

Everything Everything, “Pizza Boy” (Raw Data Feel, 2022) Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it.

The 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 of The Netherlands’ Supersister. Of all the non-English bands that showed Canterbury influence (or shared the same influences), Supersister’s quirk-and-stealth has to be acknowledged first and foremost. Seek out Present from Nancy and To the Highest Bidder for evidence. Note II: Please consider donating if you listen to Radical Research often: paypal.me/rrpodcast

Music cited, in order of appearance: Caravan, “Nine Feet Underground” (In the Land of Grey and Pink, 1971) Soft Machine, “Virtually, Pt. 1” (Fourth, 1971) Matching Mole, “Brandy as in Benji” (Smoke Signals, 2001, recorded 1972) Egg, “A Visit to Newport Hospital” (two moments) (The Polite Force, 1971) Egg, “Boilk” (The Polite Force, 1971) Caravan, “C’thlu Thlu” (For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night, 1973) Hatfield and the North, “Shaving is Boring” (Hatfield and the North, 1973) Hatfield and the North, “The Yes No Interlude” (The Rotters’ Club, 1975) National Health, “Squarer for Maude” (Of Queues and Cures, 1978) Khan, “Driving to Amsterdam” (Space Shanty, 1972) Steve Hillage, “Aftaglid” (Fish Rising, 1975) Steve Hillage, “Lunar Musick Suite” (L, 1976) Quiet Sun, “Bargain Classics” (Mainstream, 1975) episode 36 preview: Melvins, “The Anti-Vermin Seed” (Hostile Ambient Takeover, 2002)

Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it. This is Radical Research Podcast episode 35.

It 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 innovation. On this, the 34th episode of Radical Research, we survey the expanse of the band's four albums and hope to convert both initiates and skeptics to the Anacrusis faith. Note I: In 2010, Anacrusis independently released re-recorded versions of their first two albums, Suffering Hour and Reason, with the original lineup (Nardi, Heidbreder, Emery, Owen). While we understand their motives and find the re-recordings quite good, we chose to feature the originals in this episode. The re-recordings, titled Hindsight: Suffering Hour & Reason Revisited, were released again by Divebomb Records in 2011.

Note II: Please consider donating if you listen to Radical Research often: paypal.me/rrpodcast Music cited, in order of appearance: “Frigid Bitch” (Suffering Hour, 1988) “Present Tense” (Suffering Hour, 1988) “Fighting Evil” (Suffering Hour, 1988) “Stop Me” (Reason, 1990) “Afraid to Feel” (Reason, 1990) “Child Inside” (Reason, 1990) “Something Real” (Manic Impressions, 1991) “Explained Away” (Manic Impressions, 1991) “Idle Hours” (Manic Impressions, 1991) “Sound the Alarm” (Screams and Whispers, 1993) “Tools of Separation” (Screams and Whispers, 1993) “My Soul’s Affliction” (Screams and Whispers, 1993) Kenn Nardi, “This Killer in My House” (Dancing With the Past, 2014) Kenn Nardi, “Symbiotic” (Dancing With the Past, 2014) “Terrified” (Reason, 1990) Episode 35 preview: National Health, “Dreams Wide Awake“ (Of Queues and Cures, 1978)

Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it. This is Radical Research Podcast episode 34

Men 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 strangeness that occurs when men take to the studio and behave badly. Note I: There will likely, as with “Bad Ass Fusion Decapitations” (episode 5) and “Synth Whores” (episode 16), be a follow-up to this episode. The metal canon is full of weird productions, some wonderful, some acts of self-sabotage. Note II: Related to episode 32 and production/producers, Thought Industry chose to work with Dave “Rave” Ogilvie on their debut album. A curious choice, to be sure, having far more experience with electronic and dance music than with TI’s wild and unpredictable metal. Since then, he’s gone onto work with such pop acts as Carly Rae Jepsen, The Weeknd, and other names you will never find in connection with Radical Research. Note III: Please consider donating if you listen to Radical Research often: paypal.me/rrpodcast

Music cited, in order of appearance: Black Sabbath, “Trashed” (Born Again, 1983) Morbid Angel, “The Ancient Ones” (Blessed Are the Sick, 1991) Dark Angel, “Leave Scars” (Leave Scars, 1989) Mayhem, “Great Work of Ages” (Ordo ad Chao, 2007) Ulver, “VIII” (Nattens Madrigal, 1997) Suffocation, “Ornaments of Decrepancy” (Breeding the Spawn, 1993) Metallica, “Blackened” (…And Justice for All, 1988) Possessed, “The Heretic” (Beyond the Gates, 1986) Flotsam and Jetsam, “Burned Device” (When the Storm Comes Down, 1990) Eucharist, “Greeting Immortality” (A Velvet Creation, 1993) Episode 34 preview: Anacrusis, “Tools of Separation“ (Screams and Whispers, 1993) Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it. This is Radical Research Podcast episode 33

In 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 this episode was curated by our good friend, Jason Walton, brilliant bassist of Agalloch and Khorada, and host of the excellent podcast, I Hate Music. Hailz! Note II: Thought Industry stylized logo and song titles on their first two albums. Everything was lower case except the Os, which were capitalized. We don’t play that game, but if we did, it would look like this: thOught industry were sO tOtally bad-ass. Note III: If you’re reading this upon episode’s release and are in the Birmingham, England area, say hi to our sponsor, Jim Raggi/Lamentations of the Flame Princess, at the UK Games Expo! https://www.ukgamesexpo.co.uk/ Music cited, in order of appearance: “Songs for Insects” (Songs for Insects, 1992) “Ballerina” (Songs for Insects, 1992) “Alexander vs. the Puzzle” (Songs for Insects, 1992) “Horsepowered” (Mods Carve the Pig: Assassins, Toads and God’s Flesh, 1993) “Republicans in Love” ” (Mods Carve the Pig: Assassins, Toads and God’s Flesh, 1993) “Boil” ” (Mods Carve the Pig: Assassins, Toads and God’s Flesh, 1993) “Watercolor Grey” (Outer Space is Just a Martini Away, 1996) “Jack Frost Junior” (Outer Space is Just a Martini Away, 1996) “The Squid” (Outer Space is Just a Martini Away, 1996) “Pink Dumbo” (Black Umbrella, 1997) “December 10th” (Black Umbrella, 1997) “Earwig” (Black Umbrella, 1997) “Satan in the Gift Shop” (Short Wave on a Cold Day, 2001) “The Measure of Our Miles” (Short Wave on a Cold Day, 2001) “Lovers in Flames” (Short Wave on a Cold Day, 2001) Episode 33 preview: Dark Angel, “Older Than Time Itself” (Leave Scars, 1989) Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it. This is Radical Research Podcast episode 32

Crawling 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 Smith wasn’t mentioned in this episode, but should have been. He founded Van Der Graaf Generator with Peter Hammill in 1967, but left in 1968 after the recording of the band’s first single, “People You Were Going To” / “Firebrand”. He’s been recording as a solo artist since then, and as of 1994 has been simply known as Judge Smith. Note II: www.lotfp.com for all of your weird horror and fantasy role-playing needs! Music cited, in order of appearance: “A Place to Survive” (World Record, 1976) “Pilgrims” (Still Life, 1976) “The Emperor in His War Room” ” (H to He Who Am the Only One, 1970) “After the Flood” (The Least We Can Do is Wave to Each Other, 1970) “White Hammer” (two moments) (The Least We Can Do is Wave to Each Other, 1970) “Octopus” (The Aerosol Grey Machine, 1969) “Killer” (H to He Who Am the Only One, 1970) “A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers” (two moments) (Pawn Hearts, 1971) “Scorched Earth” (Godbluff, 1975) “The Sleepwalkers” (Godbluff, 1975) “Cat’s Eye / Yellow Fever (Running)” (The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome, 1977) “Man Erg” (Pawn Hearts, 1971) “Interference Patterns” (Trisector, 2008) Episode 32 preview: Thought Industry, “Third Eye” (Songs for Insects, 1992) Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it. This is Radical Research Podcast episode 31

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 history. Note I: Your LOTFP Weird Fantasy Role Playing discount code for this episode: www.lotfp.com Coupon Code: TRIOCTON Note II: Just like the good ol’ days of RadRe, lots of tangents here: Destruction, Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, Holy Terror, Kreator, Blind Illusion…it’s gonna happen when we’re talking Deathrow ’88. Note III: Markus and Sven of Deathrow are on record as disliking Deception Ignored. We respectfully completely disagree with their view. Music cited, in order of appearance: “Bureaucrazy” (Deception Ignored bonus track, 1988) “Slaughtered” (Satan’s Gift aka Riders of Doom, 1986) “Mortal Dread” (Raging Steel, 1987) “Events in Concealment” (Deception Ignored, 1988) “The Deathwish” (Deception Ignored, 1988) “Triocton” (Deception Ignored, 1988) “N.L.Y.H.” (Deception Ignored, 1988) “Watching the World” (Deception Ignored, 1988) “Narcotic” (Deception Ignored, 1988) “Machinery” (Deception Ignored, 1988) “Life Beyond“ (Life Beyond, 1992) episode 30 preview: Van Der Graaf Generator, “Cat’s Eye / Yellow Fever (Running)” (The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome, 1977) Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it. This is Radical Research Podcast episode 30

Under the guidance of bassist Ralf Hubert, Mekong Delta’s initial phase featured a revolving door lineup of Euro-metal luminaries. Adopting pseudonyms and lurking unseen in shadows, Mekong plied a brand of progressive metal that drew inspiration from composers such as Modest Mussorgsky, Aram Khachaturian and Alberto Ginastera, to name just a few. Never lacking in speed and intensity, Mekong Delta were the technical, antithetical other side of the coin to Germany’s more caustic thrash blitzkrieg. Note I: Your LOTFP Weird Fantasy Role Playing discount code for this episode: Broodmother SkyFortress https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse.php?discount=9484bab643 Note II: MEKONG DELTA PSEUDONYMS/MEMBERS, 1987-1994: Ralf Hubert aka Björn Eklund – bass. Leader/writer for all Mekong Delta albums. Peter “Peavy” Wagner aka Jake Jenkins – vocals/bass. Didn’t play on an album, left early but remained as lyricist for first two albums. Best known for his role as leader of long-running German band Rage. Jochen Schröder - guitar. Earliest lineup, left early, not on an album. Early member of Rage. No pseudonym. Wolfgang Borgmann aka Keil – vocals, first three albums Frank Fricke aka Rolf Stein – guitar, first three albums. Also member of Living Death. Reiner Kelch aka Vincent St. John – guitar, first two albums. Also member of Living Death. Jorg Michael aka Gordon Perkins – drums, first four albums. Also member of Rage, later Running Wild, Grave Digger and Stratovarius, among many others. Uwe Baltrusch aka Marc Kaye – guitar, third album to Visions Fugitives. No other major credits, although he did sub for Frank Blackfire on Sodom’s Agent Orange era touring. Doug Lee (no pseudonym) – vocals. American singer, comes in on 4th album, and on next two. From Florida band Siren, who were on Aaarg Records at some point, hence the connection. Peter Haas (no pseudonym) – drums, Kaleidoscope and Visions Fugitives. Perhaps the most interesting resume of any Mekong member: he was also in Babylon Sad, Poltergeist, Calhoun Conquer, Clockwork (mid ‘90s band of Coroner’s Tommy T. Baron), the Buddy Lackey solo album, and Krokus. honorary mention: Uli Kusch aka Patrick Duval. Drums on 1988 EP The Gnome (title track) and on 2007 album Lurking Fear. Best known for his work in Helloween, Gamma Ray, Masterplan and Holy Moses.

Note III: COMPOSERS and BANDS covered by MEKONG DELTA 1987-1994: Modest Mussorgsky (19th Century Russian composer): “The Hut of Baba Yaga,” “Night on a Bare Mountain,” “Pictures at an Exhibition” Marius Constant (20th Century Romanian/French composer/conductor): “Twilight Zone” Julio Sagreras (late 19th Century, early 20th Century Argentinian guitarist/composer): “El Colibri” Bernard Herrmann (20th Century American composer): “Interludium” (two versions/parts) Lead Belly (20th Century American folk/blues musician): “Black Betty” Alberto Ginastera (20th Century Argentinian composer): “Tocatta” (fourth movement of Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 28) Genesis (20th Century English progressive rock band): “Dance on a Volcano” Aram Khachaturian (20th Century Soviet Armenian composer/conductor): “Sabre Dance” Christopher Young (20th Century American Composer): “Dance” (part 4 of Hubert’s larger original piece, “Suite for Group & Orchestra” Music cited, in order of appearance: “The Hut of Baba Yaga” (Mekong Delta, 1987) “Nightmare Patrol” (Mekong Delta, 1987) “Shiva’s

As 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 handy and join us in the liberation from the tyranny of 4/4. Note I: Confessor’s “Condemned” features some of the mathiest metal ever mathed, with a puzzling drum part by Martian percussionist Steve Shelton. Let us know if this helps – mostly likely it will not: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_54BL0aOt5E

Note II: Makers of math rock tend to lean toward ridiculous song titles. Some are featured or mentioned in this episode -- here are a few more winners: Don Caballero “The Peter Criss Jazz”; The Fucking Champs “I Am the Album Cover”; Melvins “Eat Yourself Out”; Breadwinner “Kisses Men on the Mouth on the Mountain” Note III: Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Role-playing and Radical Research offer you the Tower of the Stargazer introductory adventure for a mere $1 US! ONLY AVAILABLE HERE: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse.php?discount=999b8ca14c

Music cited, in order of appearance: King Crimson, “Fracture” (Starless and Bible Black, 1974) Magma, “De Futura,” two passages (Udu Wudu, 1976) Melvins, “Exact Paperbacks” (Gluey Porch Treatments, 1986) Breadwinner, “Tourette’s” (232 S. Laurel St. 7”, 1990) Confessor, “Condemned” (Condemned, 1991) Slint, “Nosferatu Man” (Spiderland, 1991) Don Caballero, “Rollerblade Success Story” (2, 1995) Happy Family, “Kaiten (Ningen Gyorai)” (Happy Family, 1995) The Champs (aka The Fucking Champs), “Flawless Victory” (III, 1997) Minus the Bear, “Women We Haven’t Met Yet” (Highly Refined Pirates, 2002) Episode 29 preview: Mekong Delta, “The Jester“ (The Principle of Doubt, 1989) Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it. This is Radical Research Podcast episode 28

A 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 appearance: “Spinning” (A Skeptic’s Universe, 2000) “Excessit” (A Skeptic’s Universe, 2000) “Moving Spirit” (A Skeptic’s Universe, 2000) “Occam’s Razor” (A Skeptic’s Universe, 2000) “Insect,” two passages (A Skeptic’s Universe, 2000) “Cloud Constructor” (A Skeptic’s Universe, 2000) “Conjuring Collapse,” two passages (A Skeptic’s Universe, 2000) “Adaptability” (A Skeptic’s Universe, 2000) “Fountainhead” (A Skeptic’s Universe, 2000) “Prelude to Ruin,” two passages (A Skeptic’s Universe, Japanese version bonus track, 2000)

Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it. This is Radical Research Podcast episode 27

Angular, 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 traveled.

Note I: Caveat! We talk for 7 or 8 minutes at the beginning of this episode about drummer Vinnie Colaiuta before we get into Nomeansno. Note II: Due respect to Mama, Sex Mad, The Worldhood of the World (As Such) and Dance of the Headless Bourgeoisie. All Nomeansno albums are recommended by Radical Research! Note III: Rob Wright is the man. For a long time, he looked like Phil Donohue…and when he was raging on stage, singing with sardonic malice and playing bass like a god, it was a fantastic visual, both hilarious and terrifying. Music cited, in order of appearance: “The End of All Things” (Wrong, 1989) “Victory” (Small Parts Isolated and Destroyed, 1988) “It’s Catching Up” (Wrong, 1989) “Ghosts” (0+2=1, 1991) “I See a Mansion in the Sky” (All Roads Lead to Ausfahrt, 2006) “Forget Your Life” (The Day Everything Became Nothing, 1988) “Real Love” (Small Parts Isolated and Destroyed, 1989) “0+2=1” (0+2=1, 1991) “The Day Everything Became Nothing” (The Day Everything Became Nothing, 1988) “Teresa, Give Me That Knife” (Small Parts Isolated and Destroyed, 1988) “The Tower” (Wrong, 1989) “Under the Sea” (One, 2000) “Everyday I Start to Ooze” (0+2=1, 1991) “Mary” (0+2=1, 1991) “Small Parts Isolated and Destroyed” (Small Parts Isolated and Destroyed, 1989) “The River” (Why Do They Call Me Mr. Happy?, 1993) “Bitch’s Brew” (One, 2000) Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it. This is Radical Research Podcast episode 26

When 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 one of underground metal's true greats.  Note I:

The “pointless, ridiculous 7 inch" Hunter mentions in this episode is this one, a Coroner covers split between his band, Canvas Solaris, and our phurry phriends phrom Pharaoh: https://www.discogs.com/release/2586288-Pharaoh-6-Canvas-Solaris-Tribute-To-Coroner

Note II:

Speaking of covers: Jeff mentions Agoraphobic Nosebleed’s cover of Voivod’s “Forgotten in Space.” He says the cover if about 6 minutes long, but it’s actually a shorter 3:48. Don’t trust Jeff on ANYTHING he says about Voivod…

Note III:

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 IV:

All past Radical Research episodes can be found here, where you can also find Jeff’s Peter Steele and Fates Warning books, Hunter’s Deserts of Hex Volume 2…and more to come soon! Radicalresearch.org

Music cited in order of appearance:

“From this Day Forward” (From This Day Forward, 1990)

“Fiction of Veracity” (From This Day Forward, 1990)

“Access to the Acropolis” (From This Day Forward, 1990)

“Chronocraze” (From This Day Forward, 1990)

“Nemesis” (Nemesis, 1993)

“Obscure Mindways” (Nemesis, 1993)

“Factory of Delusions” (Nemesis, 1993)

“Strays of the Soul” (Nemesis, 1993)

Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it.

Pytten’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 as his cooperation with some of black metal’s most emblematic artists. Note I: We so appreciate our Sponsor, Lamentations of the Flame Princess, and urge you to go deep with their various RPGs! Get Frostbitten and Mutilated at a Triumphant Discount: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse.php?discount=9ff813a5db

Note II: There isn’t much interview documentation or footage on Pytten, but here’s a great video that reveals some details we weren’t aware of at the time we recorded this episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvQLSigwF2U Note III: Pytten, much like English producer, Colin Richardson, was dragged into the world of extreme music rather innocently. His first production, for Bergen’s Old Funeral, began as a favor to one of the band members’ fathers. Solid dad move.

Note IV: As we mention in our conversation, Pytten played bass in several rock bands in the ‘80s. Apropos of this episode, he also contributed fretless bass to Enslaved’s “Yggdrasil,” from their classic 1994 album, Frost, confirming his mettle as both producer and practitioner. Music cited, in order of appearance: Old Funeral, “Skin and Bone“ (Abduction of Limbs, 1990 demo) Burzum, “Det Som Engang Var” (Hvis Lyset Tar Oss, 1993) Mayhem, “Life Eternal” (De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, 1994) Emperor, “The Burning Shadows of Silence” (In the Nightside Eclipse, 1994) Hades, “Hecate (Queen of Hades)” (…Again Shall Be, 1994) Immortal, “Moonrise Fields of Sorrow” (Battles in the North, 1995) Borknagar, “Vintervredets Sjelesagn” (Borknagar, 1996) Gorgoroth, “Destroyer” (Destroyer, or About How to Philosophize with the Hammer, 1998) Aeternus, “Warrior of the Crescent Moon” (…And So the Night Became, 1998) Trelldom, "Slave Til En Kommende Natt" (Til Et Annet…, 1998) Mork Gryning, “Maelstrom Chaos” (Maelstrom Chaos, 2001) Enslaved, “The Cromlech Gate” (Monumension, 2001) episode 26 preview: Nomeansno, “All Lies” (Wrong, 1989) Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it. This is Radical Research Podcast episode 25

Emerging 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 as we disinter these savage gems and apply the RR scalpel. And remember: You Snooze, You Lose!

Note I: Nasty Savage was among the first metal bands to popularize the use of Morrisound Studio in Tampa, Florida, which would come to be known as the crucible of the then-primordial Florida Death Metal scene.

Note II: We briefly mention the cover art that attends the two subject albums, rendered by Lewis VanDercar. Your Radical Research hosts are passionate advocates of visual surrealism and VanDercar is one of the form's most unsung practitioners. You are urged, should you be so inclined, to investigate the man's work.

Note III: You could do way worse than buy this thing right now: https://www.discogs.com/Nasty-Savage-Indulgence-Abstract-Reality/release/3063475 Note IV: And you could do plenty worse than checking out LotFP’s RPG, Towers Two, with a special discount -- at this link only -- for Radical Research listeners: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse.php?discount=96d8ca0fe Note V: The steady band lineup of Galetti/Meyer/Austin/Beeson had trouble keeping a bass player for any length of time. The bassists on Indulgence and Abstract Reality were Dezso Istvan Bartha and Chris Moorhouse (RIP), respectively. Hail.

Music cited, in order of appearance: “Stabbed in the Back” (Indulgence, 1987) “Divination” (Indulgence, 1987) “Indulgence” (Indulgence, 1987) “Inferno” (Indulgence, 1987) “Hypnotic Trance” (Indulgence, 1987) “Incursion Dementia” (Indulgence, 1987) “Distorted Fanatic” (Indulgence, 1987) “?” (Indulgence, 1987) “Abstract Reality” (Abstract Reality, 1988) “Eromantic Vertigo” (Abstract Reality, 1988) “You Snooze, You Lose” (Abstract Reality, 1988) “Unchained Angel” (Abstract Reality, 1988) Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it. This is Radical Research Podcast episode 24

This 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 to see here...move along, you lookyloos!

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 the featured artists & foundational art rock gods mentioned above, more bands we recommend not featured in this episode: Alan Parsons Project, City Boy, Brian Eno (1973-1977), Phil Manzanera, Citizen Band, Angel (1975-1976), Manfred Mann’s Earth Band (1977-1980), Buggles, Japan, Sparks, Tubes, Eddie Jobson/Zinc, and even select Cheap Trick tunes. Blue Oyster Cult also intersect with this family of bands. And there are more… Note II: We’re proud to be sponsored for 2019 by Lamentations of The Flame Princess, Weird Fantasy Role Playing! We encourage you to check out their award-winning (and sometimes banned!) products here: www.lotfp.com/RPG/

Music cited, in order of appearance: Cheap Trick, “High Priest of Rhythmic Noise” (All Shook Up, 1980) Crack the Sky, “Ice” (Crack the Sky, 1975) Crack the Sky, “Nuclear Apathy” (Safety in Numbers, 1978) Be Bop Deluxe, “Sister Seagull” (Futurama, 1975) Be Bop Deluxe, “Kiss of Light” (Modern Music, 1976) Godley & Creme, “The Sporting Life” (L, 1978) Godley & Creme, “I Pity Inanimate Objects” (Freeze Frame, 1979) Split Enz, “Crosswords” (Dizrythmia, 1978) Split Enz, “In the Wars” (1980 b-side) Max Webster, “Toronto Tontos” (Max Webster, 1976) Max Webster, “Battle Scar” (Universal Juveniles, 1980) Blue Oyster Cult, “Hungry Boys” (Cultosaurus Erectus, 1980) Episode 24 preview: Nasty Savage, “Abstract Reality” (Abstract Reality, 1988) Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it. This is Radical Research Podcast episode 23

It would be inaccurate to say that Germany’s Pyogenesis is underrated because, in fact, they have hardly ever been rated at all. Over the course of their career – which is still in process – Pyogenesis worked across a wide swath of genres, including death/doom and alternative metal, before settling on a mostly-unsuccessful foray into pop-punk. The 22nd installment of Radical Research dedicates most of its time to the band’s finest piece of music, 1995’s inscrutably-titled, Twinaleblood. Our 70-minute conversation digs in deeply to the album’s daring mosaic of sounds and styles, which ranges from the Type O Negative grandeur of “Undead” to the hooky alternative rock of “Weeping Sun.” The album was an island in 1995 and remains so in 2018, bearing the visionary mark.

Note I: Immense appreciation to RR listener Giorgos Ketigenis for supplying mp3s of the early demo and 7 inch tracks.

Note II: Hunter knows The Archaic Course is a Borknagar album and not an Arcturus one. We both get excited and lose our minds a little when it comes to discussing the best performances of vocalist Simen Hestnaes. Incidentally, Jeff believes Simen’s performance on Arcturus’s Arcturian is one of the best in metal history. And there’s your Norwegian metal reference for this episode. Note III: Way back in episode 4 (Disharmonic Orchestra) we discuss the interesting heritage of the laugh in metal music. Listener and doggone brilliant observationist Forrest Pitts reminded us about Tim Asmodeus’s laugh on Pyogenesis song “In the End.” It’s not in the part we sample this episode -- we had already recorded -- but it's absolutely worth noting. Haw haw haw! Please keep the laugh-spotting coming, people. Might be a cool subject for a point-5 episode at some juncture. Note IV: Tim was also in a band called G.U.T. at the same time Pyogenesis was getting started. We wanted to mention that but conversation took us elsewhere. They were nuts. Check it out if you dare: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFvUB-y4Lz4

Music cited, in order of appearance: “Considering the Majesty of Doom” (Ode to the Churning Seas of Nar-Mataru demo, 1991) “Lowland of Impiety” (Sacrificious Profanity 7”, 1992) “Still Burn in Fire” (Ignis Creatio, 1992) “In the End” (Waves of Erotasia, 1994) “Fade Away” (Sweet X-Rated Nothings, 1994) “Undead” (Twinaleblood, 1995) “Twinaleblood” (Twinaleblood, 1995) “Weeping Sun” (Twinaleblood, 1995) “Every Single Day” (Twinaleblood, 1995) “Abstract Life” (Twinaleblood, 1995) “Those Churning Seas” (Twinaleblood, 1995) “God Complex” (Twinaleblood, 1995) “Mutz Umst Erben” (Twinaleblood bonus track, 1995) “Supavenus” (Twinaleblood, 1995) “Love Nation Sugarhead” (Love Nation Sugarhead - EP, 1996) episode 23 preview: Crack the Sky, “Virgin…No” (Animal Notes, 1976)

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 endeavor of Plotkin & Dubin, but the wealth of material and collaborations James Plotkin became involved in after OLD’s demise is impressive and worth mentioning. First is Flux, whose 1997 album, Protoplasmic, was a direct successor to the trail followed on OLD’s Formula. Not to mention membership in the short-lived Khlyst, supportive roles with Scorn and Namanax, and collaborations with Mick Harris, K.K. Null, Mark Spybey, and many other specimens.

Note III: Jeff said there’s nothing exclusive on the Grindcrusher compilation. Not entirely true: the version of Carcass’s “Exhume to Consume” is different than the Symphonies of Sickness version. Either way, Grindcrushergoes with us to our graves.

Note IV: We love Duran Duran (ref. “Marzuraan” intro). We own and listen to 21 Duran Duran releases between the two of us. (19 of those are Jeff’s)

 NoteV: Discogs Dot Com. Buy or Die.

Music cited, in order of appearance: “Peri Cynthion” (The Musical Dimensions of Sleastak, 1993) “Total Hag” (Old Lady Drivers, 1988) “Old Ladies Always Break Their Hips” (Old Lady Drivers, 1988) “Cocaine” (Old Lady Drivers, 1988) “Outlive” (Lo Flux Tube, 1991) “Citient Null” (Lo Flux Tube, 1991) “Marzuraan”(Lo Flux Tube, 1991) “Who Are You” (Masters of Misery – Black Sabbath: An Earache Tribute, 1992) “Two of Me (Parts One and Two)” (The Musical Dimensions of Sleastak, 1993) “Freak Now” (The Musical Dimensions of Sleastak, 1993) “Happy Tantrum” (The Musical Dimensions of Sleastak, 1993) “Last Look” (Formula, 1995) “Break (You)” (Formula, 1995) “Thug” (Formula, 1995) “Z.U.” (Lo Flux Tube, 1991) Episode22 preview: Pyogenesis, “Abstract Life” (Twinaleblood, 1995)

 Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it.

This is Radical Research Podcast episode 21

From 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 on to record two full-length albums, 2000’s black-tech masterpiece, Grand Declaration of War, and 2004’s steely Chimera.

Note 2: The EP’s final track, “Symbols of Bloodswords,” features a chord progression that would become a motivic device on Grand Declaration of War. Radical Research suggests a back-to-back listen for maximum effect.

Music cited, in order of appearance: “From the Dark Past” (De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, 1994) “De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas” (De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, 1994) “The Vortex Void of Inhumanity” (Wolf’s Lair Abyss, 1997) “I Am Thy Labyrinth” (Wolf’s Lair Abyss, 1997) “Fall of Seraphs” (Wolf’s Lair Abyss, 1997) “Ancient Skin” (Wolf’s Lair Abyss, 1997) “Symbols of Bloodswords” (Wolf’s Lair Abyss, 1997) “A Grand Declaration of War” (Grand Declaration of War, 2000) “Completion in Science of Agony (pt. II of II)” (Grand Declaration of War, 2000) episode 21 preview: OLD, “Backwards Through the Greedo Compressor” (The Musical Dimensions of Sleastak, 1993)

Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it.

This is Radical Research Podcast episode 20

Goodbye 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 distinction of having attended a listening party for DVC’s Molecular Shadow in Florida in 1992.

Note II: The Inquietum CD is the yellowest in either of our collections. It is also a mandatory Fleurety document. Buy it here: https://www.discogs.com/Fleurety-Inquietum/release/10711416

Music cited, in order of appearance: “Descent Into Darkness” (Ingentes Atque Decorii Vexilliferi Apokalypsis 7”, 2009, recorded 2004/05) “Profanations Beneath the Bleeding Stars” (A Darker Shade of Evil 7”, 1994) “Absence” (January 1995 demo) “Fragmenter Av En Fortid” (Min Tid Skal Komme, 1995) “Englers Piler Har Ingen Brodd” (Min Tid Skal Komme, 1995) “I Saw Claws” (Last-Minute Lies, 1999) “Face in a Fever” (Department of Apocalyptic Affairs, 2000) “Shotgun Blast” (Department of Apocalyptic Affairs, 2000) “Barb Wire Smile” (Department of Apocalyptic Affairs, 2000) “Summon the Beasts” (Evoco Bestias 7”, 2011, recorded 2008) “Degenerate Machine” (Et Spiritus Meus Semper Sub Sanguinantibus Stellis Habitabit 7”, 2013, recorded 2009/10) “Consensus” (two moments, Fragmenta Cuinsvis Aetatis Contemporaneae 7”, 2017, recorded 2011-2015) “The Science of Normality” (The White Death, 2017) “Future Day” (The White Death, 2017) “Facets” (Last-Minute Lies, 1999) episode 20 preview: Mayhem, “Ancient Skin” (Wolf’s Lair Abyss, 1997)

Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it.

This is Radical Research Podcast episode 19

From a kernel to a cosmos. Over the course of a decade and beyond, Germany’s Grobschnitt twisted and bent and stretched a piece of sound that would be known as “Solar Music.” An alchemical collision of Prog, Krautrock, psychedelia, and uncanny theater, “Solar Music” represents a fascinating evolutionary journey and, particularly in its live iterations, reveals a band at the height of its powers. Radical Research dispenses with the Prominence and aims to get to the Core of the matter.

Note I: We have to thank Tom Phillips for turning us on. Without him, we wouldn’t know “Solar Music,” and if we didn’t know “Solar Music,” we’d be malnourished. Hail Tom.

Note II: If you want to dive in, we recommend these fine releases: https://www.discogs.com/Grobschnitt-Solar-Music-Live/release/7026856

https://www.discogs.com/Grobschnitt-The-History-Of-Solar-Music-1/release/1957738

https://www.discogs.com/Grobschnitt-Ballermann/release/7026664

Music cited, in order of appearance: “Solar Music” (live in Berlin, 1977) “Sun Trip (On the Way)” (Grobschnitt, 1972) “Solar-Music, Part 1” (Ballermann, 1974) “Golden Mist” (Solar Music – Live, 1978) “Otto Pankrock” (Solar Music – Live, 1978) “Solar Music III” (Solar Music – Live, 1978) four moments from Warburg performance, 1978 four moments from Munster performance, 1979 final fade, from Warburg, 1978

Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it.

This is Radical Research Podcast episode 18