Radical Research Podcast

Rarely can a rock or metal band be described in terms of open-heartedness, nostalgia, or compassion. But the subject of Radical Research’s 92nd episode defies convention in nearly every way. Madison, Wisconsin’s Last Crack was a band that seemed on the brink of breakout success but, ultimately, condemned to wander the corridors of obscurity. They recorded their second album at Eldorado Studios in Hollywood, and released the results via Roadracer/Roadrunner in 1991. To our ears, Burning Time is a masterpiece of left-field hard rock/metal. A mesh of razor-sharp guitars, a deft rhythm section, and the magisterial wailings of the group’s master of ceremony, Buddo, Burning Time embraces the listener and brings us into its enchanted Midwestern fantasia.Note I:Our apologies to Last Crack: ”Mini Toboggan” deserves so much better than some kind of crass comparison to a ridiculously-titled Cannibal Corpse song. We were feeling plucky on this night. But seriously, we do so love this song to the utter ends of our lives,

Occasionally, Radical Research dares to tackle the big questions: what is time, and can we have a piece of it? Can a psychic saw perform brain surgery? Can a metal album have a samba track and several bars of Miami bass hip-grind? On episode 91, a look into the works of Florida’s seminal tech titans, Atheist, we take on these and other pressing matters. Pull up a chair and strap on your trustiest pair of headphones: it’s pizza time. Note I:We meant to bring it up in the conversation, but simply overlooked this fascinating, Atheist-related trivia:  Atheist’s Kelly Shaefer auditioned for Velvet Revolver, the band formed by members of Guns ‘N Roses. You can check out some Blabbermouth reporting on this event here: https://blabbermouth.net/news/atheist-frontman-talks-about-his-velvet-revolver-auditionhttps://blabbermouth.net/news/velvet-revolver-2002-kelly-shaefer-vocalist-audition-tape-posted-onlineNote II:Hunter misspoke, and Jeff mis-agreed with him: Kelly Shaefer didn’t stop playing guitar due to tinnit

This installment finds Radical Research in familiar territory, in the wilds of Scandinavia, this time in pursuit of progressive rock luminaries, Anekdoten. Our study covers not only the group’s six full-length albums but also their inspired, ghostly collaboration with fellow Swedes, Landberk, under the Morte Macabre moniker. Should you be interested in the evolution of one of modern prog’s most serious practitioners, we invite you to join us, as ever. Up the Mellotrons, legions!Note I: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, many of them recently restocked:http://radicalresearch.org/shop/Music cited in order of appearance:[all by Anekdoten except where noted] “The Flow” (Vemod, 1993)“The Old Man and the Sea” (Vemod, 1993)“Harvest” (Nucleus, 1995)“This Far from the Sky” (Nucleus, 1995) Morte Macabre, “Sequenza Ritmica e Tema” (Symphonic Holocaust, 1998)Morte Macabre, “Quiet Drops” (Sympho

It’s the gutsier, uglier, unwieldier alternative to the heavy metal guitar solo: The goddamn heavy metal BASS guitar solo! We have collected 20 beautifully behemoth examples, laid bare for you to ponder. Sightings are rare, but they’re out there…and we love the hell out of them. Note I:As noted in the intro of this episode, RR favorites Hammers of Misfortune have a new album out! Info on Overtaker can be found here: https://hammersofmisfortune.bandcamp.com/ 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, many of them recently restocked:http://radicalresearch.org/shop/ Music cited in order of appearance:Motorhead, “Keep Us On the Road” (Lemmy Kilmister, Motorhead, 1977) Motorhead, “Stay Clean” (Lemmy Kilmister, Overkill, 1979)Armored Saint, “Released” (Joey Vera, Delirious Nomad, 1985)Manowar, “Sting of the Bumblebee” (Joey DeMaio, Kings of Metal, 1988)Manowar, “Mountains” (Joey DeMaio,

We admit that, in all our geographic music spelunking, we haven’t scaled many of the mountains offered by Russian noisemakers. So, if we say that “Hieronymus Bosch is our favorite Russian band,” it’s true, but it’s also based on a slight bit of ignorance. If we say that “Hieronymus Bosch is our favorite Dutch artist of the late 1400s/early 1500s,” we can rest easy knowing that will probably hold for the rest of our lives. But c’mon, we think H.B., the band, are outstanding!!! Show us a Russian band that’s better. Bet you can’t. Here, we survey their output, from early demo emanations to their final album, the great Equivoke, of 2008.Note I: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, many of them recently restocked:http://radicalresearch.org/shop/Music cited in order of appearance:“Near Death Experience” (Petra Scandali demo, 1994)“The Apogee” (The Human Abstract, 1995)“Mental Perfection” (T

When onetime Acid Bath and Agents of Oblivion vocalist Dax Riggs took himself to the outermost reaches of his imagination with Deadboy & the Elephantmen, he reached the highest of creative and emotional heights. After the first Deadboy album (If This Is Hell Then I’m Lucky, self-released, 2002), Dax and band went through a number of changes before arriving at the more stripped down and, in our opinion, disappointing We Are Night Sky (Fat Possum, 2006). This episode focuses on the incredible material Dax/Deadboy were working on in their most transitional and obscure phase. The total godhead. Note I:We urge you to witness this performance of “Evil Between the Numbers”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIaA387CnXA 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:http://radicalresearch.org/shop/ Music from a Dream in Which We Die Before We Wake:“Evil Between the Numbers,” Grant St. Danc

We know many Radical Research listeners partake in music we’re not totally familiar with. As much weird/left-field/inventive rock/metal as we digest or are aware of, there’s so much more that we have no experience with. Thus, we invited listeners to submit samples of an artist, or multiple artists, they’re certain we have no familiarity with. So it is that Mr. Forrest Pitts -- writer, thinker, dreamer, master of disaster, headspinner general – fucked with our heads this entire episode. Five snippets each by three different artists. We had a blast, and think you’ll find this a rather fresh and unusual episode. Come with us!Note I: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:http://radicalresearch.org/shop/You can go directly to the purchase page if you're interested in Jeff's new Fates Warning book, 'Destination Onward': www.fateswarningbook.comMusic cited, in order of appearance:We will refer

Miles away from the torchlight of Norway, Austria’s mysterious Abigor spent their time in the ‘90s not generating headlines but rather plying their heretical craft in virtual secrecy. The band’s album-to-album evolutionary leaps bear the mark of restless and visionary minds. This notion is confirmed by the group’s radical reinvention of itself in the mid-aughts. The 85th episode of Radical Research takes a close look at Abigor’s progress over the course of a decade-and-a-half of three-dimensional blasphemy.  Note I:The beginning of this episode wasn’t planned but we decided to keep it in, regardless of it probably sounding wildly out of context. It just had to be said, about the Wario/Abigor thing, the joys of salted watermelon and other whatnots. If you want to skip all the nonsense, we begin proper Abigor discussion at the 8:15 mark. And here’s a link to that Super Mario Wiki page, regarding the Wario/Abigor image and info we stumbled upon: https://www.mariowiki.com/AbigorNote II:Jeff guesses that last year

Radical Research spends much of its time plundering the most mind-bending sounds in rock and metal. On our 84th episode, we go several light years farther in our quest for psychic devastation as we survey and discuss the improbable body of work amassed by Chicago’s Gigan. As forbidding and violent as the character from which it derives its name, Gigan’s music blends savagery and psychedelia with skill and compositional might that have no peers. If you survive this episode, you can consider yourself a veteran of the psychic wars.  Note I:We recorded this together, at Jeff’s place, in Greensboro, NC. Hence some occasional volume differentiation on our voices. It was a completely off-the-cuff, hardly-formal approach.Note II: We contacted Eric Hersemann after recording this episode. The Gigan mastermind tells us that the band is alive and well, and will be entering the studio this fall for album #5.Note III:If you knew immediately that Jeff was wrong when referring to Steel Attack as German (they’re Swedish), yo

Metal is serious business. So why so much laughter? We don’t really have the answer, but here’s the first installment of some of our favorite metal laughs. There are more and we’ll revisit this silly topic at some future point in time. Note I:As promised in the episode, here’s a link to a wealth of laughs by Mr. King Diamond. Praise be to the person who built this insane collage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qh3juX_RdQ0 Note II:We enjoyed getting back to the bite-size point-five episode format. Here are our other ones from the distant past, still worth a listen, wethinks!5.5 (7 min, 10 sec) https://radicalresearch.org/episode-5-5-calling-dr-morpheus-the-kiss-nuclear-death-convergence/17.5 (10 min, 59 sec) https://radicalresearch.org/episode-17-5-the-curious-the-uncanny/23.5 (9 min, 28 sec) https://radicalresearch.org/episode-23-5-mystery-snippets/41.5 (13 min, 51 sec)https://radicalresearch.org/episode-41-5-mystery-snippets-pt-2/ Note III:Please consider donating if you listen to Radical Research often: h

The soils of Seattle rock have been tilled to ruin, the same seeds planted season after season. Radical Research has come to rotate the crops. Of the artists to emerge from the primordial welter of 1980s Seattle, few have been neglected so criminally as Skin Yard. The band's membership forms a constellation the likes of which can hardly be rivaled -- Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Screaming Trees, Gruntruck, C/Z Records, The Deep Six compilation, and the production empire of guitarist Jack Endino. Our 83rd episode takes a long, hard look at the collective works of Skin Yard, evaluated on their own merit and also set against the kaleidoscopic backdrop of the American experimental rock boom of the late ‘80s and early’ 90s. Please join us as we do our best to give bandwidth and volume to an unsung great. Note I: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:http://radicalresearch.org/shop/Music cite

In anticipation of Destination Onward – The Story of Fates Warning and its publication in July, 2022, the author, Jeff Wagner, and Radical Research co-host, Hunter Ginn, sit down and talk about Fates Warning. It’s far from the first time we’ve discussed Fates Warning together, but it’s the first time we’ve gone into an episode of Radical Research with absolutely no plan. We didn’t even know what snippets we’d feature until after the conversation wrapped up. This is not intended to be an exhaustive or final-word survey on this legendary band’s output. It is, quite simply, and like many of our episodes, a love letter. Note I:You can buy Jeff’s book, Destination Onward – The Story of Fates Warning, right here:www.fateswarningbook.com Note II:Of all the ridiculously nerdy things we’ve said over 82 episodes, perhaps the nerdiest comes in this episode, at 11:05, courtesy of Hunter. The “Borivoj Krgin 1990 to mid-1994” comment. “Mid”??? That’s incredibly specific, Radish. Note III:Please consider donating if you li

How California-based drummer, Dave Murray, has escaped the notice of several more tens of thousands of people worldwide, we cannot say. We recognize an extraordinary talent in Murray, not only as a musician, but as a composer and crucial cog in a small but rarefied selection of projects. In our 81st episode, we try our best to give Murray his due. You can do your job by lending an ear to our musings and ramblings, and then, if you’re so moved, opening your wallet to support his work if you have not already done so. Note I: There’s no excuse for not clicking these links and buying/supporting these projects:Tholus, Constant:https://www.discogs.com/master/1096046-Tholus-ConstantTraunTraun, Bandcamp:https://traun.bandcamp.com/Note II:Dave's also in a band called High Castle Teleorkestra. We have yet to explore, but you know we will sooner than later. Note III:This episode has a few peculiar diversions, tangents and surprises. First, we really do want to release a Coroner 10” on Radical Research Records one day,

For our 80th episode, Radical Research detaches itself from the icy grips of Norway and takes a sojourn southward to France, a country whose history with death metal gives priority to quality over quantity. From 1990-1994, the chronically-underrated Supuration were busy at work creating their own, private death metal universe, in which brutal churning, otherworldly melody, robotic vocals, and psychedelic drift collided to create a new kind of Science Friction. This episode traces the band’s evolutionary arc from the Sultry Obsession demo to the Still in the Sphere EP, which concluded Supuration’s first phase. As is the case with many of Radical Research’s favorite artists, we are saddened by Supuration’s lack of critical and popular acknowledgement and are here to bring truth to the Legions. Note I: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:http://radicalresearch.org/shop/Music cited, in or

For the final installment of our 6-episode Norwegian tour across this most creatively-fertile country, Radical Research surveys the career of Simen Hestnaes. Working both under his given name, as well as his better-known nom de l'acier, ICS Vortex, Simen has assembled a large and exceptional body of work that stakes claim in the metallic regions of black, doom, prog, avant, and beyond. Episode 79, accordingly, finds Radical Research operating in its most voluptuous mode, suited to indulge this similarly-Rubenesque assemblage of Simen-splashed audio titillation.Note I:That’s Jeff’s cat, Cora (aka Corgoroth), mewing at the 1:30:32 mark.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:http://radicalresearch.org/shop/Music cited, in order of appearance:Lamented Souls – “Var” (1995 recording) Lamented Souls – “Essence of Wounds” (1997 recording) Borknagar – “Oceans Rise” (The Archaic Course, 1

We love Enslaved. They are a rare long-running band that, in our estimation, have not released a bad album. Of their 15 full-lengths to date, your Radical Research hosts highly rank their sixth album, 2001’s Monumension: it’s Ginn’s #2 (just behind Eld, 1997) and Wagner’s #1 (in front of Isa, 2004). Curiously, it was perhaps the most lambasted, misunderstood and contentious of Enslaved’s early era. But we don’t much care about all that: we place it on pedestals most high. It’s certainly good enough for us. Join us in a celebration of the mighty Monumension. Note I: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:http://radicalresearch.org/shop/ Music cited, in order of appearance:[all titles from Enslaved – Monumension, 2001]“Convoys to Nothingness”“The Voices”“Vision: Sphere of the Elements – A Monument Part II”“Hollow Inside”“The Cromlech Gate”“Enemy I”“Smirr”“The Sleep: Floating Diversity – A

To date, Radical Research has made more trips to Norway than any other country. But, typically, we spend our time in the shadowy realms of post-black metal. For our 77th episode, we travel to the green pastures of Honefoss, in search of Wobbler, Norway’s preeminent progressive rock export. Having made five albums since forming in 1999, which at once pay homage to the legends of the '70s and occupy a thoroughly contemporary space on the rock spectrum, the time has long come for a proper investigation into the band’s work. All travelers are welcome but synth whores should take particular note.Note I: Visit Laser’s Edge for all your Wobbler needs: https://www.lasercd.com/search_results?fulltext=Wobbler 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: http://radicalresearch.org/shop/Music cited in order of appearance: “Hinterland” (Hinterland, 2005) “Rubato Industry” (Hinterland, 2005) “Cl

We know and love him as Garm, the frontman in Ulver since that pioneering band’s very beginnings. He has also fronted Norwegian luminaries Arcturus and Borknagar. All this alone would be enough to place him in our hall of infamy, yet he has given so much more. Through a variety of cameos and side projects, Garm, or Kristoffer Rygg, or Trickster G, has stamped his white-hot brand on a variety of other artists, within and outside of Norway. In this episode, we listen to some of his contributions outside of Ulver…and be assured, there will likely be a second part of this episode somewhere down our long and winding road.Note I: Other artists Rygg has performed guest vocals for: Ava Inferi, Dimmu Borgir, Gehenna, Nidingr, Obsidian Kingdom, V:28, Zyklon.Note II: We failed to note this during the episode, but The Gathering track featured, “A Life All Mine,” is split into two moments. Hence the odd sounding edit. Note III: Next episode, we nerd out hard on Wobbler. Join us. Note IV: Please consider donating if you

At the dawn of the 21st century, strange sounds brewed in the Southeastern corner of Norway -- musical paths cobbled together with the tortured echoes of second wave black metal, the ambitious, borderless miscellanea of progressive rock and metal, and the hostile liberalism that is indigenous to Norway’s pioneer enclave. Operating outside the radar of media glare, and attracting scant attention even from the most well-heeled metal travelers, Ansur and Frantic Bleep created a modest but potent body of work that at once suggests both a long view of metal history and a fiercely contemporary spirit. The 75th episode of Radical Research is a tangential, anecdote-laden conversation about the work that Ansur and Frantic Bleep performed, in virtual secrecy, between 2002 and 2008. The time is long past to pay tribute to these unsung pioneers and their contributions to the art that we love. Note I: Beware:  this is an episode of many tangents and sideroads. Note II: 16 years and not a bleep? Don’t hold your

In our 39th episode, we explored the family tree of Kristiansand, Norway collective In the Woods... Here, in our 74th episode, we go straight to the source to explore and exalt the work of In the Woods…, proper, between 1993 and 2000. Over the span of three full-length albums and a series of 7" singles, In the Woods... set about documenting the bucolic wonders of its homeland, charting astral voyages, and plotting out brave, new psychic territories. We, again, travel northward in search of mystery and revelation and find both illuminated by the psychedelic musings of Kristiansand's bravest cartographers. Come, meet us on the floor between our room and the comets… Note I: In The Woods family tree episode link: http://radicalresearch.org/episode-39-in-the-woods-family-tree/ 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: http://radicalresearch.org/shop/Music cited, in order of appe