This week, Dream Theater frontman James LaBrie and songwriting partner Paul Logue join us! We celebrate James’ new solo album Beautiful Shades of Grey and discuss how they got James’s son Chance to work on drums for the album, and why they decided to cover Led Zeppelin’s “Ramble On." We also talk about how the album was originally just acoustic guitars and vocals, life advice from our fathers that has stuck with us, and the powerful tribute James wrote for his late brother. Petar and Sylvia also...
May 02, 2022•1 hr 33 min•Season 1Ep. 436
This week, Darkest Prince of All Rebellion from Philly’s Devil Master is our guest! We discuss him losing band members during the pandemic, regrouping to create the band’s new album Ecstasies of Never Ending Night, the difficult transition of balancing “adventure time” to “business time” on tour, landing stadium gigs opening for My Chemical Romance, and Gerard Way buying all their merch at an L.A. performance. We also discuss whether or not the band’s setlist will cater to the MCR crowd, recordi...
Apr 26, 2022•1 hr 39 min•Season 1Ep. 435
Maylene and the Sons of the Disaster frontman Dallas Taylor is our guest this week! We discuss the long road to recovery following his life-changing accident, the mental state he was in prior to it, how getting off medication allowed him to truly focus on his return to music, and being haunted by the ‘what if’ that motivated his creative life. Dallas also talks about noticing that people are embracing the real less and escaping more, learning that the majority of the things we worry about don’t ...
Apr 18, 2022•1 hr 20 min•Season 1Ep. 434
Destruction frontman Schmier is our guest this week! We discuss the 40th anniversary of the band, how writing music for their new album Diabolical was his personal savior, how influential GBH was during the the early days of Destruction, if the punks vs. metalheads feud of the ‘80s was a positive for thrash's image, and how Destruction got hate from their South American fanbase for canceling shows in Russia. He also discusses his thoughts on how social media became nothing more than a propaganda...
Apr 11, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 433
Lord Ahriman of satanic black metallers Dark Funeral is our guest this week! We discuss his thoughts on Shakespeare and memorable theatrical performances, why the rhythms on the band’s new album We Are The Apocalypse were a primary focus, and being unable to leave Cancun, Mexico, when the pandemic hit the world. We also talk about how someone stole Dark Funeral’s stage armor the last time they toured America, how the philosophy and vision of the band has changed in the last 30 years, and how fin...
Apr 04, 2022•1 hr 18 min•Season 1Ep. 432
Our guest this week is Symphony X guitarist Michael Romeo! In celebration of his new solo album War of The Worlds Part II, he tells us about his first memories of the H.G. Wells classic that inspired the work, if the record is a part of a trilogy that he has planned, changing vocalists between Parts I and II, the CGI-inspired videos that he has released to promote the new album, and keeping the lyrics in the science fiction realm. He also discusses his favorite kaiju character of all time, the r...
Mar 28, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Season 1Ep. 431
Sen Dog of the legendary Cypress Hill is our guest this week! We discuss the positive effects of the pandemic in regards to creating new music, how the legalization of marijuana turned out differently than the public thought it would, his crew’s upcoming tour with Slipknot, and how a heavy metal audience changes their setlist. He also talks about the upcoming Showtime documentary on Cypress Hill celebrating hip hop at 50, some of the difficulties of looking back on his career for the documentary...
Mar 21, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 430
This week, Periphery guitarist Mark Holcomb joins the show! We discuss the debut full-length album from his project Haunted Shores, how the band’s formation led to him join Periphery, the riff graveyard that he uses to create songs, and on treating music for Haunted Shores like a 9-to-5 job. We also talk about how to deal with writer’s block to meet deadlines, how ‘Mario Party’ was a big part of writing ‘Periphery 4’ (not to mention who his Mario Party character was and how it caused anger withi...
Mar 14, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 429
Sabaton vocalist Joakim Brodén is our guest this week! On this episode, we discuss the stories behind three of the tracks on the band’s new album The War to End All Wars, the history and research behind those songs, and why he decided not to watch recent hit films on WWI. We also discuss almost coming to the states for the Judas Priest tour that was eventually postponed, developing the storytelling process with each album before recording, his favorite source of research, creating the Sabaton Hi...
Mar 08, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 428
The mighty Kirk Windstein is back on the show! This week, we discuss Zero and Below, the new album by Kirk’s band Crowbar. We also talk about writing the record back in 2019 prior to the pandemic, the rehearsal process and livestream reunion he has planned with southern metal act Down, the 20-year anniversary of the second Down album, the making of the record as a follow-up to NOLA, and his current tour package with Sepultura and Sacred Reich being rescheduled three times. Other topics include h...
Mar 01, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Season 1Ep. 427
Mike Hranica of The Devil Wears Prada is on the show this week! We discuss releasing the standout alone singles “Watchtower” and “Sacrifice, what they’re looking forward to on their upcoming tour with Silverstein and Beartooth, his being a passionate hockey lifelong hockey fan, and the mental health aspect of playing hockey as part of his routine. He also discusses doing a podcast with the band when the pandemic hit and its importance to him, how important therapy has been in helping him underst...
Feb 21, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Season 1Ep. 426
Olli-Pekka Laine of Amorphis is our guest this week! On this episode, we discuss the band's new album Halo and completing the trilogy they started with Under The Red Cloud. Also covered on this episode: using a separate lyricist to write all the lyrics for the band, the complex process of getting Finnish lyrics translated into English, their upcoming North American tour and the visa process post-pandemic, creating an Amorphis wristwatch for the fans, playing in the snow for eight straight hours ...
Feb 14, 2022•1 hr 11 min
Mark “Barney” Greenway of Napalm Death is back on the show! This time around, we discuss getting visas post-pandemic on tour in the states, getting COVID aboard during their tour with GWAR and Eyehategod, how we need to focus on the venerable at this time before getting back to a new normal, and how he feels he's not influenced by marketing or misinformation in modern times. Petar, Brandon, and Sylvia discuss Eddie Vedder’s comments about Mötley Crüe, Rob Halford admitting that four-piece Judas ...
Feb 07, 2022•1 hr 9 min
Cannibal Corpse frontman George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher is back on the show! We discuss his new solo album, titled simply Corpsegrinder, why he finally decided the time was right for a solo album after all these years, working with Jamey Jasta on the effort, his work with Dee Snider on the Twisted Sister frontman's own solo album, and how his artwork requirements for his solo material differ from those for his main band. We also talk a whole lot of NFL football -- including his take on the curren...
Jan 31, 2022•1 hr 24 min
This week our guest is Michel “Away” Langevin of the legendary Voivod! We discuss how the band wanted their new album Synchro Anarchy to be more thrash metal than their previous record The Wake, how the band barely rehearsed and wrote the album as they recorded, the band's recent live record Lost Machine, the upcoming Voivod documentary that was funded on Kickstarter, and the 40th anniversary Voivod book they're putting together for fans. Michel also tells us about his Phil “Philthy Animal” Tayl...
Jan 24, 2022•1 hr 7 min
Will Putney joins us again this week! We discuss Fit For an Autopsy's latest album, Oh What The Future Holds, producing the latest Every Time I Die record, Radical, the importance of having a message in his lyrical output, how he finds it difficult to support artists whose messages misalign with his own, why he is happy to be “a little dumber” so modern issues don’t consume him, his upcoming tour cycle with END, and what his home stereo system is like as a music producer. Petar and Brandon discu...
Jan 19, 2022•1 hr 9 min
Shadow of Intent guitarist Chris Wiseman is our guest this week! We discuss their brand new album, Elegy, his lyrical approach to the record, and how he got Chuck Billy and Phil Bozeman as guests. We also talk about postponing their European tour due to rising Covid cases, what they learned on their recent U.S. tour with Born Of Osiris, the big spectrum of how headlining bands set rules for modern touring, the pros and cons of self-releasing the band's music, why signing to a label feels like “g...
Jan 11, 2022•1 hr 2 min
Venom Prison vocalist Larissa Stupar is our guest this week! We discuss the challenge of making their new album, Erebos, as the world continued to change around them, recording vocals at her home studio, why the artwork is such an important piece of Venom Prison's presentation, the healing effect of writing “Pain of Oizys” about past trauma, returning to the stage at the Bloodstock festival after over a year off, and how Brexit has affected bands from the U.K. touring in Europe. We also talk abo...
Jan 03, 2022•1 hr 5 min
On our final episode of the year, we continue our Best of 2021 recap (stream part 1 here), revealing our top 5 albums of the year and chatting with some of the artist that made our list, including Chevelle's Pete Loeffler, Zao's Scott Mellinger and members of Green Lung. Don’t miss out on celebrating the music that left the biggest impression on us and broke through all the noise of 2021. Until next year, friends... thank you for every minute you gave us, and we are excited to jump back into it ...
Dec 20, 2021•1 hr 38 min
2021 is almost behind us, so this week on The MetalSucks Podcast we celebrate all the hope and despair that our favorite artists gave us in a year of comebacks and the new normal we collectively felt. We play one track from every record we loved and praise those artists for giving us music that has been unforgettable. Please join us in celebrating the first half of our top 15 albums of the year and gain some insight into those releases through featured interviews with some of the artists that br...
Dec 13, 2021•2 hr 12 min
Jami Morgan from Code Orange is back on the show! We discuss the recent standalone single "Out For Blood," his perspective on the growing importance of singles in rock and metal, the reality of having to create new music faster in the current landscape, how being a frontman is more exhausting than being a drummer, Max Portnoy becoming a full time member of the band, why he feels Code Orange are in it for the long game and how they are intentionally polarizing. Petar and Brandon tackle the police...
Dec 07, 2021•1 hr 22 min
Imperial Triumphant guitarist Zachary Ilya Ezrin is our guest this week. We discuss the band's latest album, Alphaville, his thoughts on NFTs in music, embracing all the changes that come into the industry, making the band's new live album available only on vinyl, the band's relationship with New York City, and completing their first headlining tour since the pandemic began. Petar and Brandon tackle the jaw-dropping Lars Ulrich toilet, Kid Rock’s latest misfire, and Danko Jones calling out fello...
Nov 29, 2021•1 hr 16 min
Death Angel riff master Rob Cavestany is our guest this week! We discuss the Grammy nomination of their last record, Humanicide, performing acoustic songs on the band's latest live album, The Bastard Tracks, and what it was like revisiting deep cuts for it, fan backlash for having to reschedule the Bay Strike Backs tour with Testament and Exodus again, the precautions he and Death Angel will take once they're back on the road, and how he wants to get out there just as badly as the fans want him ...
Nov 22, 2021•1 hr 20 min
Converge frontman Jacob Bannon is our guest this week! We discussed the band's forthcoming 10th studio album, Bloodmoon: I, and the story of how he finally got to collaborate on it with Chelsea Wolfe, Cave In's Stephen Brodsky and multi-instrumentalist Ben Chisholm, how the songs evolved with everyone’s contributions throughout the process, how each participant pushed one another's creative boundaries for the better, the music he's been listening to lately, the negativity of making music a compe...
Nov 15, 2021•1 hr 10 min
Khemmis co-guitarist and co-vocalist Phil Pendergast is our guest this week! We discuss the band's new album, Deceiver, the long and difficult process of writing lyrics for it, fighting through a lack of motivation and depression during the pandemic, how Deceiver connects to the band's breakthrough album, Hunted, the exit of bassist Dan Beiers during the record's creation, and why they are planning their touring schedule for the next year especially carefully. Petar, Brandon, and Jozalyn discuss...
Nov 08, 2021•1 hr 31 min
Whitechapel vocalist Phil Bozeman is our guest this week! We discuss the band's new record, Kin, the challenge of revisiting his childhood for its lyrical themes, the necessity of tackling your past and forcing yourself to face it regardless, the music videos that accompany the storytelling on the album, and how his perception of reality has changed dramatically as he grows into his 30s. We also talk about how he doesn’t get TikTok, how social media has become our main news source and how that a...
Nov 02, 2021•1 hr 10 min
Steve "Stevic" MacKay of Twelve Foot Ninja is our guest this week to discuss the band's new album, Vengeance, sitting on it for over a year while the pandemic raged on, the new novel and graphic novel connected to the album, teaching himself how to code to build a Twelve Foot Ninja video game, working with Huey Lewis and Jinjer's Tatiana Shmayluk on music videos, and a session gig he took working on a season of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, among other topics. Petar, Brandon, and Jozalyn dis...
Oct 25, 2021•1 hr 20 min
Melvins drummer Dale Crover is our guest this week! We discuss the band's new album of acoustic re-imaginings, Five Legged Dog, how the band narrowed down the song list for it, which songs the band attempted to rework but failed, and his thoughts on doing an acoustic tour. We also talk about the recent passing of Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts, how he found out fellow Melvins drummer Coady Willis got the job with High On Fire, his new pandemic hobby of golfing, and an update on his solo ma...
Oct 18, 2021•1 hr 9 min
Lewis and Henry de Jong, the brothers behind Alien Weaponry, join us this week! We discuss the the band's new album, Tangaroa, the record's themes of environmental awareness and how everyone needs to do more, why they felt writing about their Maori heritage was extremely important, how touring has changed their perspective on major issues affecting the world, how to fix mistakes made by previous generation by being vocal, and their recent performance with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Peta...
Oct 12, 2021•1 hr 9 min
Jeremy Spencer, aka Grim Synner from Psycho Synner (the band formerly known as Psychosexual) -- and former drummer for Five Finger Death Punch -- is our guest on this special half-episode of the podcast! We discuss why the band rebranded from Psychosexual to Psycho Sinner, his plan to release nine albums on the same day (and when that will happen) and the visual aesthetic of the band changing along with its name. We also talk about the horror film script he is currently working on, creating thre...
Oct 07, 2021•49 min
