It was a pleasure to welcome Ross Daly (IRL) & Marvin Silva (USA) onto the show to talk about their profession as tattooists and the influence that Metal has in their lives in part 4 of a series I have done dedicated to artists that create art and love Metal. A friendship formed out of working as professional tattooists, I talk to Ross and Marvin about their love of art, how they got into the world of creating tattoos for paying customers, what inspires them and some of the music that influe...
May 19, 2023•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 229
It was a pleasure to welcome back Alex and Kieran of TOOMS to the podcast. TOOMS have released a killer 3 song ep that literally will make you smash stuff up! Myself and Evan chat to the lads about the ep and cover alot of topics including touring, music influences on 'The Scmeckoning'. We take a look forward in relation to what to expect from TOOMS for the rest of 2023 and as usual there's plenty of banter from the lads. Special shout out to Anto on bass who couldn't make the interview. 'The Sh...
May 12, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 228
It was a pleasure to welcome Daire, John & Lachlan of Fornoth, Brendan from Black Shuck and Praetorian from Eternal Helcaraxe to the show. They were all on the show to discuss the upcoming Four Provinces Tour in May, which features seven bands and different line-ups every night over five shows in Dublin, Belfast, Galway twice and Limerick. A tour featuring this amount of heft plus the fact that it's all Irish bands; hasn't happened in a while so we discuss this and the other acts completing ...
May 05, 2023•42 min•Ep. 227
The Forums: Join myself, Danielle, Evan & guest co-host Steve Walsh (Grey Stag) as we talk about topics related to our favorite music...METAL! We reviewed five new tracks from Cursed Sun, Tusk, Settler, Shadows Calling & Outsound. There was a few topics that came up during the night, we took a look at digital fanzines and Sarah Nuttall work Machina Kore (link below). Naturally we re-visited the wonderful Siege Of Limerick Festival and discussed the many aspects of it, from working with i...
Apr 28, 2023•1 hr 42 min•Ep. 226
It was a pleasure to welcome back Aaron Loughnane (Vox/Guitars) & Eoghan Galligan (Bass) of sludge/stoner band Slung From A Tree. The four piece which is made up of fellow members; Andrew Hayes (Drums) Steve Loughnane (Guitars) have finally got their debut release out called 'Voyage Into Cosmos' on the Cursed Monk Records label. Trying to capture Slung From A Trees live sound was always going to take time whilst recording and operating on a shoestring budget. Aaron, who produced the entire a...
Apr 21, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 225
It was a pleasure to welcome Nathan (Vocals) & Ocean (Guitars) of War Of Attrition to the show. The band play a ferocious mixture of thrash, groove and gritty metal that hits all the sweet spots especially when witnessed live. I caught up with the lads just before they do their debut EP launch of 'The Social Apocalypse' in their favourite city, Limerick. Having blasted their way through a serious amount of gigs during 2022, War Of Attrition are perfectly poised to have another impressive yea...
Apr 14, 2023•56 min•Ep. 224
The bi-yearly Siege of Limerick EARRACH MMXXIII is almost upon us! Hosted in Dolans on the Dock Road of Limerick, it is always the first important festival date on every Irish Metal fans calendar! I was delighted once again to welcome John Real of Bad Reputation/Siege of Limerick onto the show, joining John was Jamie Clarke, vocalist with Razor Sharp Death Blizzard from Edinburgh, Jack O'Neill, guitarist with Coroza and Daniel Howard, vocals/guitars with Partholón/Magnapinna. We take a look at t...
Apr 07, 2023•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 223
It was a pleasure to welcome back Roni MacRuairi (Vocals) & Jason Christy (Drums) of Words That Burn to the podcast. The four piece from Dundalk which also feature Ger Murphy (Bass) and Shane Martin (Guitars/Synths) have released a blistering follow up to Pyres which came out in 2019. 'Mixed and mastered by Josh Schroeder [Lora Shore, King 810], ‘Cut Throat Culture‘ sees the rising Irish four-piece embrace a variety of styles that range from alternative, to metal-core, and electronic fusion,...
Mar 31, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 222
Declan Beare (Bass/Vocals/Drone Zone) & Charlie Appleby (Drums/Percussion) of True Home, blend the perfect mixture of psychedelic doom, drone and ambient music to create their own niche in the Irish Metal Scene with plenty of support slots racked up. An invitation to play at next months Siege of Limerick festival and progressing to the next round of Metal 2T Masses certainly has them showing up on a lot more peoples radar. I talk to the lads about finding their unique sound, signing to Curse...
Mar 24, 2023•59 min•Ep. 221
It was a pleasure to welcome sludge merchants, Steve (Riffs), Matt (Bass/Vocals) & Daragh (Drums) of Grey Stag to the podcast, their debut album 'Call of the Mountain' drops on St.Patricks Day. 'Grey Stags raw and stony dark riffs and crushing percussions seem to interweave and rumble through each and every knot that Colin Bolger of Dabulga Design carves into paper, becoming an aural tapestry of groove and folklore, all underpinned by thickened sludge and relentless energy. Grey Stag unearth...
Mar 17, 2023•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 220
It was a pleasure to welcome Dave Slattery of instrumental Tech Metal band Ropemaker to the show. Dave, a multi-instrumentalist enrolled the talents of former Ilenkus drummer Rory Guyett for an instrumental album that's laden with huge slabs of riffs and unpredictable arrangements. 'Interwoven' is Ropemakers debut LP and certainly caused a stir in the Irish Metal Scene, myself and Danielle have a brilliant chat with Dave & Rory about song composition, life as a solo artist and an in depth lo...
Mar 10, 2023•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 219
After some great interviews over the last few weeks and some chart success as well it was nice to kick back and relax with Evan and Joe on The Forums. Unfortunately Danielle had to drop out, due to work commitments but as they say the show must go on! We reviewed four new tracks from Collapser, Ropemaker, Terror Syndrome and Nebularis. The topic of the night was a really interesting chat about the options out there for music education, roles in bands and band management. So hopefully you'll enjo...
Mar 03, 2023•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 218
The Metal Cell Podcast and The Smashing Skull Sessions have come together once again to showcase yet another one of Ireland's metal powerhouses. Raum Kingdom are one of the finest sludge/post-metal bands on the scene today, and have been causing rumblings within music circles right here at home and further afield as well. Since the release of Everything And Nothing back in 2019, a lot has happened within the Raum Kingdom family. The sad and sudden passing of bassist Ronan "Bones" Connor back in ...
Feb 24, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 217
It was a pleasure to have Conor McGouran (Guitars/Keyboards) & Ronan Burns (Bass/Keyboards) of The Enigma Division on the Podcast. The lads along with Ben Wanders (Drums/Vocals) have unleased one of the best debut albums onto the Irish Metal for many a year! Self released on the 27th January of this year, it's a musical odyssey that defies categorization however their influences range from 80s synth music, film scores, progressive rock to tech metal. All the members of the band have been cre...
Feb 17, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 216
Max (Vocals), Tristan (Guitars) and newest members Deb (Bass) & Tonci (Drums) join me as we go over a busy twelve months for Cell Games. Having won their first heat of Metal2TMasses blasting out their mix of Nu-Metal/Hard Rock and releasing their well received new single 'Here's to your Bones' I felt it was the perfect time to catch up with the band to discuss their formation, recording new songs and future gigs that may be on the horizon. Cell Games offer an exciting new mix of Metal to the...
Feb 10, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 215
It was a pleasure to welcome Ewan (Guitars/Backing Vocals) and Zack (Drums) of Scottish Doomsters, Dusk Amadeus onto the podcast. The four piece which are completed by Sasha (Vocals/Guitars/Cow Bell) and Morris (Bass) certainly impressed me when I saw them opening 'The Crypt of the Riff' festival in Belfast last December. The band play this sublime blend of Doom, where the influences of Monolord get mixed with Mazzy Star (courtesy of Belfast born Sasha's vocals) and Dusk Amadeus emerges. Ewan fi...
Feb 03, 2023•45 min•Ep. 214
It was great to be back doing the first Forums of the year with Danielle and Joe. Unfortunately Evan had to drop out, literally at the last minute, due to tech problems but as they say the show must go on! We reviewed three new tracks from Cell Games, Machina Kore and Raum Kingdom. The topic of the night was a really interesting chat about the formation of Bandcamp, the advantages and disadvantages compared to other music platforms, the influence it has on both bands and the people that use it. ...
Jan 27, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 213
I was delighted to welcome Aaron (Vocals/Guitars), Sean (Guitars) & Jake (Drums) of thrash/groove metal band Unmaker to the show. The three piece have had an incredible year with plenty of gigs under their belts. An impressive debut on the main stage opening up The Siege of Limerick, releasing three singles, completing an album and being awarded 'Best New Metal Act' from us here at The Metal Cell are a few examples of a busy 2022 for the band. We get an exclusive track by track on the brutal...
Jan 20, 2023•57 min•Ep. 212
It was a pleasure to welcome Fredy (L.Guitars/Vocals), Neil (R.Guitars), Carl (Bass) & Brett (Drums) of Nomadus on to the Podcast. When Nomadus unleashed their crushing thrash infused debut album 'Axis Primordial' on November 25, 2022, it was the album I always hoped they would make! With stellar performances from all the band members it quickly jumped up to number one on my album of the year playlist. But things were a lot different when I first met Fredy and Neil many moons ago on their fi...
Jan 13, 2023•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 211
It was a pleasure to welcome Jim Hodge (Vocalist) of sludge, grind and hardcore band Mastiff. I witnessed Jim and his band Mastiff put on a face melting performance at Damnation Festival in 2022. Mastiff have had the music press across the UK bestowing praise on them for the 2021 release, 'Leave Me The Ashes Of The Earth'. It's a crushing mixture of raging doom/hardcore/sludge that builds upon all their previous releases since they formed in 2013. I happened to met Jim after the gig and ended up...
Jan 06, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 210
The best of Irish Metal in 2022! This episode was pre-recorded on the 12.12.22. Join myself, Danielle, Joe & Howard as we try to figure out who impressed us the most in the various categories listed below, throughout the year and what an incredible year it was! There was absolutely loads of releases, gigs and activity in our scene in 2022 compared to the previous problems through Covid related issues in 2021 so it really was something to celebrate as we got down to the difficult choices we f...
Dec 30, 2022•1 hr 50 min•Ep. 209
It was a pleasure to welcome back Molarbear on the podcast. Adi (Drums), Andy (Riffs), Dave (Bass) & Rowan (Vox/Riffs) have released one of my favorite albums of the year 'You will need Gods'. The five piece completed by Darragh (also Riffs) smashed 'The Crypt of the Riff' festival in Belfast with huge slabs of riffs, infectious grooves, a rhythm section like a Panzer tank division and vocals that whipped and sliced through the baying crowd. It was an incredible night to witness Molarbear at...
Dec 23, 2022•1 hr 35 min•Ep. 208
Kevin Byrne it's fair to say is a veteran of the Irish Metal Scene stretching back to the formation of Valediction in 2005. Myself and Kevin cover those years leading up to the release of their acclaimed debut album 'The Primitive Architecture' recorded in 2010/20011, by a relatively young Mick Richards at Track Mix Studios. In fact that bond with Mick was to prove fruitful when Valediction went their separate ways, with Kevin approaching Mick with plans for his solo project 'Sonus Mortis'. Six ...
Dec 16, 2022•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 207
James McBain of Hellripper makes a welcome return to The Metal Cell Podcast. Myself and Joe have a great chat with James about the latest Hellripper tour, which included seventeen dates across Europe and of course the tour Hellripper did around the UK supporting Joes band, Gama Bomb. It's been an incredible 2022 for Hellripper with the band getting some incredible write ups and shirt sales in the Metal Scene. I was delighted to get an exclusive low-down with James about the new album that has be...
Dec 09, 2022•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 206
The first part of two episodes with bands from Scotland that have formed strong bonds with Irish Metal bands. This episode myself and Evan catch up with Keith and Luke of Dog Tired. The band have announced two dates in Ireland with local supports from Nomadus, Gravity Well & Lock Horns (The Deers Head, Belfast), Slung from a Tree & TOOMS (Dolans, Limerick). They have also been busy completing an album, so we get some updates on that and I surprise them with a quiz to test their knowledge...
Dec 01, 2022•56 min•Ep. 205
It was a pleasure to welcome back Jack Penders of Rotlaust to the podcast. Jack's an incredible musician and we talk about his new release 'The Dirge' which will be up there competing for the Irish Metal album of the year for me. A lesson in sheer brutal Death Metal and a sharp contrast to his last compelling release 'Covenant' which dwelled a lot in the post rock genre. I talk to Jack about this change in style, we talk about the guest musicians on 'Dirge' and Jack shares his insights into each...
Nov 25, 2022•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 204
The Metal Cell Forums. Join myself, Danielle, Evan and Joe as we talk about the Metal Scene and discuss topics related to our favorite music....METAL! In this episode we have a look back at The Siege that myself & Danielle attended and Evan played in. Having returned from Damnation Festival in Manchester, I give my thoughts on both nights. The main topic of the night was cash vs cashless for punters/bands in relation to gigs and festivals. We reviewed five quality releases from Apogean Tide,...
Nov 18, 2022•1 hr 30 min•Ep. 203
Myself and Howard talk to Sam Ellis the guitarist/vocals of Ilenkus about his new project 'Apogean Tide'. Sam did everything himself - writing, recording, mixing, mastering and brought in Rory of Ilenkus to help with the drums/programing. We cover a lot of subjects in this chat, his time touring with Ilenkus, how he approaches his new solo work, what's it like to work on his own away from the dynamics of a band and what forms his ideas for lyrics. He readily admits that this is a learning experi...
Nov 11, 2022•1 hr•Ep. 202
Myself and Howard welcomed the three sonic elders of Yurt to the show: Boz (Bass/vocals), Bushey (Drums) and Steve (Guitars/backing vocals). The lads are veterans of the Dublin underground punk/metal scene, having played in so many different bands and having being able to go to gigs since their early teens. It was almost inevitable that their paths would cross through their love of music. From creating fanzines and incredible art, Boz gives us an insight into his creative side along with his uni...
Nov 04, 2022•1 hr 52 min•Ep. 201
Two hundred podcasts on Irish Metal are now officially done and we are joined by one half of The Siege of Limerick team, Mr.John Real. It's always a pleasure to have John on the show and his immense contributions to the Limerick scene and beyond always makes for a interesting episode. Steve Walsh of Grey Stag is another friend of the show so it was brilliant to catch up with the Riff Lord as they prepare for a main stage slot in the Siege. I run through my picks of the day and there's plenty of ...
Oct 28, 2022•57 min•Ep. 200
