Radical Research Podcast

12 ripping snippets from 11 fusion ragers spanning 1972 to 1982. We did the first one in 2018, episode 5, and it was high time we returned to the madness! We herewith present a variety of displays from various American, Danish, German, Japanese and Spanish artists. Rip it apart!!! Note I: Here’s the first installment of this occasional series: http://radicalresearch.org/episode-5-ten-bad-ass-fusion-decapitations-mahavishnu-orchestra-return-to-forever-colosseum-area/ 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: Mingo Lewis, “Frankincense“ (Flight Never Ending, 1976) The New Tony Williams Lifetime, “Fred” (Believe It, 1975) Secret Oyster, “Astarte” (Vidunderlige Kaelling, 1975) Jean-Luc Ponty, “Egocentric Molecules” (Cosmic Messenger, 1978) Chick Corea, “Nite Sprite” (The Leprechaun, 1976) Kraan, “Borgward” (Tournee, 1

Formed in the Czech Republic in 1987, Master’s Hammer summoned a singular, constantly mutating approach to black metal over two distinct lifetimes (1987-1995, 2009-2020). The band’s debut album, Ritual (1991), is described by Darkthrone’s Fenriz as “the first Norwegian black metal album, because it sounded incredibly Norwegian to many of us.” We celebrate the entire discography and, with this episode, scattershot a few of our favorite moments from their compelling discography. Note I: Hunter has appeared on a couple podcasts lately, we invite you to check these out: CaliDeath Podcast https://soundcloud.com/calideathpodcast/ep-53-hunter-ginn-canvas-solaris-radical-research-podcast I Hate Music https://hatepod.podbean.com/e/episode-57-hunter-ginn-and-gael-pirlot-canvas-solaris-plague-psalm-gorging-shade/Note II: Jeff misspoke regarding Franta Storm. He is a typographer, not a typesetter. Who's a typesetter these days?! Note III: Please consider donating if you listen to Radical Research often: https://www.payp

Paul Chain’s Illogical Slow EvolutionRadical Research interrogates, with few exceptions, the work of artists who operate in the darkest, most cryptic corners of the rock and metal multiverse. The music of Italy's Paul Chain, however, puts to test the inquiry even of the most rigorous and probing minds. For our 71st episode, we engage in a mystery jukebox journey through the vast and often-treacherous topographies of the Paul Chain landscape, and find ourselves reveling in the magic of familiar sounds and speechless in the awe of unidentifiable surprises. Through halls of mirrors and vortices of molten and spectral sounds alike, here we flirt with life and death as it takes on the music and philosophy of Italy's darkest magus.  Note I: Other Paul Chain recordings that we didn’t even mention this episode, which we highly recommend: Opera 4th (1987), Ash (EP, 1988), Mirror (compilation spanning 1985-1996, released 1997) Note II: Please consider donating if you listen to Radical Research often: https:/

Extant since the mid 1990s, Solefald may have been the first Norwegian black metal band to entirely bypass the necro stages of development and arrive fully formed as a "post"/"avant" type mischief-maker on their debut album, The Linear Scaffold (1997). We have watched and listened from our perches as Cornelius Jakhelln and Lazare Nedland have evolved, escalated, provoked and pontificated through myriad stylistic vistas. ALL of it is highly recommend by Radical Research and celebrated on this, our 70th episode. Note I: In March 2020, we posted Hunter’s essay on Solefald’s Neonism. It’s always available for your perusal here: http://radicalresearch.org/solefalds-neonism/ Note II: All drums on Solefald’s recordings are played by keyboardist/vocalist Lazare, except eighth album, World Metal, on which drums are performed by Baard Kolstad of Leprous.Note III: Other bands the Solefald duo have been a part of: [Cornelius] Sturmgeist, G.U.T. / [Lazare] Borknagar, Age of Silence, White Void, Carpathian Forest, Asmegi

Often overlooked relative to Gothenburg luminaries such as At the Gates, In Flames, and Dark Tranquility, Eucharist, whose entire legacy hinges upon two full-length albums and a clutch of compilation tracks, recorded some of the most vibrant, imaginative melodic death metal of the era. It’s that second album that we zoom in on with episode 69 of Radical Research, those luxurious curves of the band's swansong, Mirrorworlds. Join us as we venture into the cosmic sphere and greet immortality.  Note I: Contributed by Radical Research listener Chris Warunki, you can read a Eucharist interview from 2016 right here:  http://radicalresearch.org/eucharist-interview-circa-march-2016/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: “Wounded and Alone” (W.A.R. Compilation, 1995) “The Predictable End” (W.A.R. Compilation

The occasion of Radical Research's 68th installment could have been marked in one way only – with a full-force exaltation of music's deadliest, most head-snapping time signature, 6/8! On this episode, we survey a vast range of metal subgenres to demonstrate the ways in which artists as disparate as Realm, Order From Chaos, and Solefald have deployed 6/8 to maximum effect. Keep the ibuprofen and Ben Gay within reach. After 24 clips of the most lethal metal, you're going to need some relief! 24 in 6/8! Note I: Camel are the first rock band, in our awareness, to literally refer to the 6/8 time signature in song, with “Six Ate” from 1973’s Camel debut. There are probably earlier examples, but they aren’t Camel so fuck them. Note II: We disagree on a few items in this episode (Canvas Solaris’s best album; best Dark Tranquillity album; Sinister in general). Stop the presses.Note III: Please consider donating if you listen to Radical Research often: https://www.paypal.me/rrpodcast We also have a webstore where you

With this dispatch, we descend into the catacombs to examine France's heritage of musical terror. From the spectral melancholy of Pulsar to the howling conflagrations of Deathspell Omega, this episode provides a tour across four decades of music that commits itself to the most essential - and essentially Gaulic - notions of Grand Guinol and Fin de Siecle. We beckoned the uncanny, the psychically-tortured, the decadent, the unrepentant, and all invitations were accepted. We hope that you, too, will accept our invitation for this journey into the bleakest corners of the French imagination. Note I: In a rare occurrence, both hosts were in exceedingly good moods for this recording. Forgive our exuberance and multiple tangents.Note II: French Dread has haunted other episodes of Radical Research:Artcane featured in episode 3: http://radicalresearch.org/episode-3-gnidrolog-supersister-artcane/ Shub-Niggurath featured in episode 23.5: http://radicalresearch.org/episode-23-5-mystery-snippets/ Magma featured in episo

Have you even the slightest notion of mystical reincarnation? Unfortunately for you, as for the rest of we mortals, even after spending hours with the music of Houde-era Kataklysm, it is unlikely that you will have any tighter apprehension of the matter. On this, the 66th episode of Radical Research, we peel back the lacerating layers of one of Canada's most confounding exports. The music that Kataklysm issued from 1992 to 1996 was directed by the scorched, distorted vision of vocalist, Sylvain Houde, whose mongrel utterances vibrate at a pitch that is inaccessible to any other singer, past or present. The band's music, born of a furious confrontation with Houde's offensive, keeps pace with the vocalist's howling incantations, marshaling the cruel resources of the dreaded Northern Hyperblast. Tune in for a lesson in violence Quebecoise.  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:

Erupting from the wastes of Tallahassee, Florida, DVC (Darth Vader's Church) produced two long-players of low-slung filth and Southside mania. From 1989 to 1992, DVC explored the most shameful, subterranean grottoes of death/thrash and did so in almost categorical secrecy. On Episode 65, Radical Research opens the grave and digs into this band's modest but fascinating body of work. Join us on this adventure of descendant upheaval! Note I: Manufacture Sound Output Co. also released material by Insect Fear, Singing Spoons, Shatterposts and Gruel. Which doesn’t help anyone or anything, but it’s worth noting, we suppose. Note II: Go here to go to hell: https://www.discogs.com/artist/708784-DVC Note III: 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: “Cranium Overture” (Descendant Upheaval, 1989) “Eve Angel” (Descendant Upheava

No anniversaries, no deaths, no reissues, no birthdays, no arbitrary celebrations. This is Hackett for Hackett’s sake! Guitarist Steve Hackett is one of the most extraordinary musicians ever to wield the instrument. Herein we present a clutch of short, sharp shocks from the man’s prolific output, just a sampling of the curious magic he’s capable of. Hackett hacked to bits. Indulge!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: Genesis, “The Return of the Giant Hogweed” (Live, 1973) GTR, “Hackett to Bits” (GTR, 1986) Steve Hackett, “Ace of Wands” (Voyage of the Acolyte, 1975) Gordian Knot, “Muttersprache” (Emergent, 2003) Squackett, “A Life Within a Day” (A Life Within a Day, 2012) Steve Hackett, “Clocks – The Angel of Mons” (Spectral Mornings, 1979) Genesis, “…In That Quiet Earth” (Wind & Wuthering, 1976) Genesis,

There is simply nothing like Alchemist. Active throughout the ‘90s and into the aughts until their dissolution in 2010, the Australian quartet offered severe heaviness embellished by insanely loopy guitar weirdness and pounding aboriginal rhythms. Their psychedelic metal flew largely under the radar, despite linking with Relapse Records in the second half of their career. Radical Research brings you 15 slices of lysergic Alchemetal in celebration of this most intriguing band. Thank you, Adam Agius, Rodney Holder, John Bray and Roy Torkington. Be there or be cubed.Note I: We encourage anyone who 1) listens to Radical Research, and 2) wears clothes, to head over to https://www.earthinsound.org/store and buy their Confessor, Disharmonic Orchestra, Ras Algethi and Old Lady Drivers shirts!! Tell ‘em Radical Research sent you.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://radicalrese

Episode 62 of Radical Research challenges the notions of identity, probes at both the masks and the faces themselves. What biology occurs when the firstborn cleaves to the breast of another? This conversation claws at the God-playing reconstructions of Type O Negative, Ulver, Manfred Mann's Earth Band, and Gorgoroth, among others. To do or to undo? That is the question.Note I: Correction: Jeff quotes a line from A Perfect Circle/Failure’s “The Nurse Who Loved Me” as “say hello to the floor’s topography.” Obviously it’s “the rug’s topography.” We couldn’t be more embarrassed, because that is one of the greatest lyrics in rock history and it deserves better than us. Oops. Note II: Big Dumb Skulls is mentioned in this episode, by way of talking about our pal Matt Johnsen. If you’re uninitiated and curious about the ridiculous project Jeff dreamed up with Matt, check it out here: www.bigdumbskulls.com Note III: This is the fourth Radical Research episode to feature something about Norway’s mighty Ulver. For

Citizens of a scene that demands innovation and progress, Norway’s Dødheimsgard have assembled a body of work that evidences the evolutionary strides common to Norweird, but have nevertheless remained red in tooth and claw. Episode 61 provides a comprehensive survey of Dødheimsgard’s work, from the icy, elemental black metal of Kronet til Konge to the vast, unknowable psychic landscapes of A Umbra Omega. Over the span of their career, DHG has featured members of such luminary bands as Darkthrone, Fleurety, Ved Buens Ende, Strid, among many others, all galvanized by the leadership of the mysterious Vicotnik. The band’s work deserves celebration and study and, here, we make our best efforts at both. Note I: We note that Aldrahn appears on every Dødheimsgard album except Supervillain Outcast. While he's not technically a full member in that era, he does lend additional vocals to "Foe x Foe" and "Ghostforce Soul Constrictor." Note II: We encourage anyone who 1) listens to Radical Research, and 2) wears clothes,

We at Radical Research have made a habit of descending into the vortices of profound sound, but our adventures with the musical hijinks of Helios Creed make most other sojourns seem, by comparison, like empty gestures. On our 60th episode, we divest ourselves of empty words and, instead, dive headlong into the abysses of FX-saturated deep space sonix. From alien salutations to violet lactations, we invite you to join us on this most radical of research assignments. Note I: We encourage anyone who 1) listens to Radical Research, and 2) wears clothes, to head over to https://www.earthinsound.org/store and buy their Confessor and Disharmonic Orchestra t shirts!! Tell ‘em Radical Research sent you.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: “Un-Human Condition” (X-Rated Fairy Tales, 1985) “X-Rated Fairytales” (X-Rat

Even in the bizarro wilderness of Radical Research, Alf Svensson’s Oxiplegatz stands out in its peerless freakishness. A founding member of the epochal Swedish death metal band, At the Gates, Svensson used Oxiplegatz as a conduit for his most perverse cosmic fantasies. Built on a chassis of mangled guitar harmonies, “machine drums,” and an operatic battery of vocal styles, Oxiplegatz’s music defies even the most liberal definitions of “metal.” What results is some of the most personal heavy music ever to be committed to tape, produced and packaged with do-it-yourself, idiosyncratic love. If you value artistic bravery and the defiance of convention, we invite you to join us on this positively sidereal journey. 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: “Starseed” (Fairytales, 1994) “His Time Has Come” (Fairytales,

If the wild, transcendent music we exalt were a cluttered yet beautifully arrayed galaxy, the artists making that music would be planets and Rush would be its sun. So much of what ticks off all the right boxes for us is inherent in the music of the legendary Canadian trio. We can't imagine life without Rush, and realize we're hardly alone in our fealty. This episode, we explore 15 snippets proving the thread of Rush runs deeply within the molten cores of its orbiting planets. These 15 are only several of numerous examples we could have chosen. We will likely make this a semi-regular feature, as the mood strikes. Note I: This idea was originated by Radical Research listener/supporter Rob Noe. We asked other listeners to offer their suggestions, many of which are included in this episode. We can't thank our RR brethren enough...it's good to know we are hardly alone in this strange universe of ours!Note II: Please consider donating if you listen to Radical Research often: https://www.paypal.me/rrpodcast We also

Germany’s Atrocity have been plying their execrable goth-metal wares since 1994’s precipitously tragic Blut, but the band’s first two albums, 1990’s Hallucinations and 1992’s Todessehnsucht (aka Longing for Death), occupy space in the top tier of death metal’s golden age. Wild, technical, psychotic, and destructive, these two albums document the work of a young band hungry to bend minds and mock convention. On the 57th episode of Radical Research, your hosts offer a guided tour through a prison called Earth. If you’re agile of foot, you may avoid a fatal step and hold out to the end. Note I: Tangents ahead! Affliction Clothing; brief Galactic Cowboys reference; Tommy Victor serves Hunter food in a sewer (again); too much talk about Blut. Forgive us.Note II: The title of this episode comes from a lyric in Atrocity’s “Sky Turned Red.” Note III: 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: htt

“If you think it’s pretentious, you’ve been taken for a ride”With this episode, we look at the second half of Genesis’s 1974 double-album, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. Garnering a mixed reaction upon release, it eventually grew into a mammoth cult classic. But it still has its detractors -- or, at least, fans saying that it’s “front-loaded,” “top heavy,” “falters in the last half” or other such nonsense. Clearly we disagree! We believe it is utterly fantastic – exactly as it all should be -- in its entirety. We celebrate the Lamb’s hindquarters with this 90-minute episode. Note I: You’d think by episode 56, we’d have the technical issues ironed out. But…clearly Jeff’s mic is farting out, making him sound like he’s encased in wool the entire episode. "Turn down that gain, boy!" (We'll get it next time.) It was less shitty before editing and the adding of song snippets, but something happened in that process and it got worse. Perhaps it’s a “black cloud descending on Manhattan” sorta thing, which would at le

Herewith we present an overview of one of the most beguiling bands to emerge from American soil. Part doomed epic metal, part gothic grandeur, peppered with prog, and very much in the spirit of our other chameleonic favorites, we run through Hammers of Misfortune’s works beginning in 1998 -- when they were called Unholy Cadaver -- and ending with their most recent work, 2016’s Dead Revolution. We hail leader John Cobbett and his revolving cast of mischievous misfits. As ever, this should be considered an overview only. We leave the serious deep diving up to you. Note I: You can buy all Hammers of Misfortune albums at the band’s own Bandcamp page, where the money goes directly into their pockets. There is no better way! https://hammersofmisfortune.bandcamp.com/musicNote II: Check the Radical Research Blog on www.radicalresearch.org in a week or two:  we’ll have an interview with Hammers of Misfortune ship captain John Cobbett up there as a supplement to this episode. Note III: Please consider donating if

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