Radical Research Podcast

For its 112th episode, Radical Research travels to balmy Greece to investigate the cryptic evildoing of Hail Spirit Noir, whose hellbroth of black metal, prog, psychedelia, and witchery strikes a special chord with your hosts. We take a deep look at the band’s first four albums and find ourselves more spellbound than ever before. There is no warding off the spell, so give in and join us in this most dangerous of meetings.  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: “Mountain of Horror” (Pneuma, 2012) “Into the Gates of Time” (two moments) (Pneuma, 2012) “Blood Guru” (Oi Magoi, 2014) “Satan is Time” (Oi Magoi, 2014) “The Mermaid” (Oi Magoi, 2014) “Mayhem in Blue” (Mayhem in Blue, 2016) “Lost in Satan’s Charms” (Mayhem in Blue, 2016) “The Cannibal Tribe Came from the Sea” (Mayhem in Blue, 2016) “Alien Lip Reading” (Eden in Reverse, 2020) “Crossroads” (Eden in Reverse, 2020) “Automata 1980” (Eden in Reverse, 2020) “On the Loose Again” (Mannequins, 2021) ep. 113 preview: Thief, “Prankquean” (Bleed, Memory, 2024) 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.

For episode 111, Radical Research returns to its spiritual homeland of Norway. But on this trip, RR steers clear of the usual avant suspects and instead climbs the Mountains of Might to take a closer look at Immortal’s twisted and divisive fourth album, 1997’s Blizzard Beasts. Though optically outside of RR’s usual territory, the hosts make a compelling case for the album’s inclusion in the annals of the weird. Please tune in but beware of Nebular Ravens and Frostdemons. Note I: Although we failed to mention it, along with a resemblance or two to various riffs from Hellwitch’s Syzygial Miscreancy, we find parallels between Blizzard Beasts and any given Order From Chaos era, both vocally and musically. Not that Hellwitch or Order From Chaos directly influenced this album, but if Immortal had said so, we could see it. As you were. 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: [all songs are from Immortal’s Blizzard Beasts, 1997] “intro” “Blizzard Beasts” “Nebular Ravens Winter” “Suns That Sank Below” “Battlefields” “Mountains of Might” “Noctambulant” “Winter of the Ages” “Frostdemonstorm” 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.

We continue our wander through the 4CD Intrigue compilation. This installment features 15 UK bands, several which we’d never heard of before (Art Nouveau, New Musik, Section 25). We hope this episode helps prove curator Steven Wilson’s note that Intrigue operates on the “idea that conceptual thinking and ambition didn’t suddenly evaporate after ’77…ambitious, weird and thrilling music was all around you in the ‘80s – if you looked in the right places.” Amen. 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: Intro: Brian Eno, “Third Uncle” (Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy), 1974) [all snippets below are taken directly from the Intrigue compilation; the following indicates where the songs originally appeared] The Sound, “I Can’t Escape Myself” (Jeopardy, 1980) Joy Division, “The Eternal” (Closer, 1980) Swell Maps, “Big Empty Field” (…In “Jane from Occupied Europe”, 1980) Art Nouveau, “Enemies” (unreleased, 1980) Gary Numan, “The Joy Circuit” (Telekon, 1980) 23 Skidoo, “The Gospel Comes to New Guinea” (single, 1980) Echo and the Bunnymen, “All My Colours” (Heaven Up Here, 1981) The Specials, “Ghost Town” (single, 1981) New Musik, “They All Run After the Carving Knife” (Anywhere, 1981) New Order, “The Him” (Movement, 1981) The Associates, “White Car in Germany” (single, 1981) Section 25, “Hit” (Always Now, 1981) Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, “Sealand” (Architecture & Morality, 1981) Japan, “Talking Drum” (Tin Drum, 1981) The Cure, “Faith” (Faith, 1981) 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.

Sigh is unquestionably one of the weirdest bands in the metal realm. And since Radical Research skews weird, and since we are both fans of Sigh since the mid ‘90s, it seemed obvious that we would eventually do an episode featuring some of the very weirdest of Sigh’s weird moments. So…if you are down with our motto of Keep Metal Weird, you know what to do. 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: "Hail Horror Hail" (Hail Horror Hail, 1997) "A Sunset Song" (Imaginary Sonicscape, 2001) "Scarlet Dream" (Imaginary Sonicscape, 2001) "Heresy II: Acosmism" (Heir to Despair, 2018) "Satsui - Geshi No Ato" (Shiki, 2022) "12 Souls" (Hail Horror Hail, 1997) "Amongst the Phantoms of Abandoned Tumbrils" (In Somniphobia, 2012) “Invitation to Die” (Hail Horror Hail, 1997) “Diabolic Suicide” (Scenario IV: Dread Dreams, 1999) “The Molesters of My Soul” (Graveward, 2015) "Seed of Eternity” (Hail Horror Hail, 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.

The body of critical study - and fan adoration - around the music of Napalm Death has concerned itself principally with the band's pioneering grindcore and its transition into the death metal of Harmony Corruption. But what of the band's wilderness years, the mid- to late-1990s? The 108th episode of Radical Research digs into what its hosts consider to be Napalm Death's most radical music, the four-album futurist blitzkrieg spanning the years 1994-1998. Get ready for some serious side-eye, Legions, as we cross over into the torn apart.   Note I: In the episode, Hunter mentions Ian Christe's writing on the band's 1994 album, Fear, Emptiness, Despair. In Christe's Sound of the Beast, he writes that the album, "...started a fresh chapter in the history of a band whose membership half-life had once lasted no longer than an album side. Previous urban hardcore noise blasts were mowed by sophisticated guitar layering and innovative drum patterns. Their dissonance became a conscious component of the composition, not merely a side benefit of chaos, and the marriage of intense anger and calculation yielded a masterpiece of passionate, politically minded, negative realism." Note II: In an act of gall, the scalar dimensions of which could only be compared to the Pacific Ocean, Mont Blanc, and John Holmes' ballistic member, Christe includes Fear, Emptiness, Despair in his list of the 25 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums of All Time. The list includes other controversial entries, such as Morbid Angel's Formulas Fatal to the Flesh, and Dream Death's rarely-trumpeted but mighty Journey Into Mystery.  Note III: In our excitement, we failed to mention the men who produced these albums. All were produced by the estimable Colin Richardson, except Fear, Emptiness, Despair, which was handled by Pete Coleman. Only one of these gentlemen have played flute on a Skyclad album. 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, many of them recently restocked: http://radicalresearch.org/shop/ Music cited in order of appearance: “The Infiltraitor” (Words from the Exit Wound, 1998) “Plague Rages” (Fear, Emptiness, Despair, 1994) “Primed Time” (Fear, Emptiness, Despair, 1994) “Fasting on Deception” (Fear, Emptiness, Despair, 1994)  “Ripe for the Breaking” (Diatribes, 1996) “Take the Strain” (Diatribes, 1996) “Diatribes” (Diatribes, 1996) “Birth in Regress” (Inside the Torn Apart, 1997) “Prelude” (Inside the Torn Apart, 1997) “Lowpoint” (Inside the Torn Apart, 1997) “None the Wiser?” (Words from the Exit Wound, 1998) “Trio-Degradable / Affixed by Disconcern” (Words from the Exit Wound, 1998) “The Infiltraitor” (Words from the Exit Wound, 1998) 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.

For a podcast that traffics in all things wild and mind-expanding, the subject of our 107th episode makes everything else feel stone-cold sober by comparison. The fifth album by Sweden's Tiamat, A Deeper Kind of Slumber, luxuriates in the wan, reclined possibilities of Leary biscuits and Psilocybin dreams. This episode paddles along the hallucinatory waters of Tiamat's final masterpiece and resolves itself to the album's irreconcilable mysteries.  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: Intro: “The Ar” (Wildhoney, 1994) “The Southernmost Voyage” (The Astral Sleep, 1991) “A Caress of Stars” (Clouds, 1992) “Do You Dream of Me?” (Wildhoney, 1994) “Cold Seed” (A Deeper Kind of Slumber, 1997) “Teonanacatl” (A Deeper Kind of Slumber, 1997) “Trillion Zillion Centipedes” (A Deeper Kind of Slumber, 1997) ‘The Desolate One” (A Deeper Kind of Slumber, 1997) “Atlantis as a Lover” (A Deeper Kind of Slumber, 1997) “Alteration X 10” (A Deeper Kind of Slumber, 1997) “Four Leary Biscuits” (A Deeper Kind of Slumber, 1997) “Only In My Tears It Lasts” (A Deeper Kind of Slumber, 1997) “The Whores of Babylon” (A Deeper Kind of Slumber, 1997)  “Kite” (A Deeper Kind of Slumber, 1997) “Phantasma De Luxe” (A Deeper Kind of Slumber, 1997) “Mount Marilyn” (A Deeper Kind of Slumber, 1997) “A Deeper Kind of Slumber” (A Deeper Kind of Slumber, 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.

We tend to skew toward the past in our explorations with Radical Research, uncovering sounds we feel are overlooked and/or underrated. We’re breaking our usual time travel approach and focusing solely on some new metal music that thrilled us in 2023 and one very fresh entry for 2024. It’s not 1986 or 1991 anymore, obviously, but 2023 was a great year for new music, metal and otherwise. Herein, we delve into the greatness that is Ontological Mysterium (Horrendous), In But Not Of (Afterbirth), Andermans Mijne (Laster), and The Deepening (Vemod). Metal lives? Metal lives!!! 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: Horrendous, “Neon Leviathan” (Ontological Mysterium, 2023) Horrendous, “Preterition Hymn” (Ontological Mysterium, 2023) Horrendous, “Exeg(en)esis” (Ontological Mysterium, 2023) Afterbirth, “Devils With Dead Eyes” (In But Not Of, 2023) Afterbirth, “Vivisected Psychopomp” (In But Not Of, 2023)  Afterbirth, “Hovering Human Head Drones” (In But Not Of, 2023) Laster, “Poëtische Waarheid” (Andermans Mijne, 2023) Laster, “Onzichtbare Muur” (Andermans Mijne, 2023) Laster, “Doodgeboren” (Andermans Mijne, 2023) Vemod, “Der Guder Dør” (The Deepening, 2024) Vemod, “The Deepening” (The Deepening, 2024) Ep. 107 preview: Tiamat, “Atlantis as a Lover” (A Deeper Kind of Slumber, 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.

For Episode 105, Radical Research follows the lead of musical polyglot and overachiever, Steven Wilson. Inspired by Wilson's recently-curated, Intrigue: Progressive Sounds in UK Alternative Music 1979-1989, this episode traces out the music found on the first disc of this four-volume edition, digging into such varied artists as Public Image Ltd., John Foxx, In Camera, and This Heat. This constitutes the first in a four-part series around Wilson's collection, which we will revisit occasionally throughout 2024. Should you have any interest in the rich mosaic of the late 1970s/early 1980s UK underground, tune in, turn on, and experiment out.  Note I: As mentioned late in the episode, here is further reading on the Durutti Column’s sandpaper packaging of their Return of the Durutti Column album: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Return_of_the_Durutti_Column 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: intro: Peter Hammill, “Nobody’s Business” (Nadir’s Big Chance, 1975) [all snippets in this episode are taken from the Intrigue compilation; the following indicates where the songs initially appeared] Wire, “I Should Have Known Better” (154, 1979) Bill Nelson’s Red Noise, “A Better Home in the Phantom Zone” (Sound on Sound, 1979) Magazine, “Back to Nature” (Secondhand Daylight, 1979) XTC, “Complicated Game” (Drums and Wires, 1979) Public Image Ltd, “Careering” (Metal Box, 1979) The Stranglers, “The Raven” (The Raven, 1979) Punishment of Luxury, “Puppet Life” (Puppet Life 7”, 1979) Ultravox, “Astradyne” (Vienna, 1980) Gang of Four, “Contract” (Entertainment!, 1979) Simple Minds, “I Travel” (Empires and Dance, 1980) The Durutti Column, “Sketch for Summer” (The Return of the Durutti Column, 1980) This Heat, “Health and Efficiency” (Health and Efficiency [EP], 1980) John Foxx, “Burning Car” (Burning Car 7”, 1980) Robert Fripp and the League of Gentlemen, “Cognitive Dissonance” (The League of Gentlemen, 1981) In Camera, “The Fatal Day” (Fin [EP], 1982) 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.

As is so often the case, Radical Research, for its 104th episode, finds itself in Norway, only this time to investigate the psycho-necrotic brutality of Oslo’s Diskord. At once garage-y, asymmetric, and morbid, Diskord hawks death-wares that invite listeners to stroll through the hallways of the weird metal madhouse. Only death and Norway are real. Note I: Thanks to Tim Hammond for the Oscillations mp3s. We only had the vinyl and no digital version, and we knew who to turn to. Thanks Tim, you are a fucking champ! Note II: Wagner was thinking “Funebrarum” but said “Encoffination.” Please forgive a mind way too filled up with this otherworldly nonsense. Thank you. The point still stands, re: the rise of Funebarum and other similar combos in early Incantation mode around 2007. Note III: Wagner and Ginn are both huge fans of Autopsy up to and including Tourniquets, Hacksaws and Graves (2014). In fact, both, weirdly, believe that album to be the best of Era II Autopsy. Things after that are fine if all you want is more of that. But we wanted more than that. But goddamn we love the fuck out of Autopsy. Fiend for Blood FTW. 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, many of them recently restocked: http://radicalresearch.org/shop/ Music cited in order of appearance: “Pervasive Discreetness” (Doomscapes, 2007) “Reptilian Ancestry” (Doomscapes, 2007) “Instauration” (Doomscapes, 2007) “Overseer” (Dystopics, 2012) “Psychotic Process” (Dystopics, 2012) “Rambling Words from a Sore Throat” (Dystopics, 2012) “Horrid Engine” (Oscillations, 2014) “Hermit Dream” (Oscillations, 2014) “Loitering in the Portal” (Degenerations, 2021) “Dragged for Coronation” (Degenerations, 2021) “Gnashing” (Degenerations, 2021) 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.

Death, humor, society? Who doesn't love these things? Radical Research certainly does! So, it should come as no surprise that we chose the second album by Houston, Texas' Dead Horse as the subject of our 103rd episode. Peaceful Death and Pretty Flowers, released by Big Chief Records in 1991, plunders the remotest corners of thrash, hardcore, and mangled death as fodder for its singular brand of knee-slappin' brutality. Join us for this rather less than peaceful episode. 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 tracks from Dead Horse’s Peaceful Death and Pretty Flowers, 1991 “Cod Piece Face” “Turn” “La La Song” “Like Asrielle” “The Latent Stage” “Peaceful Death” “Eulogy” “Snowdogs” “The Lark Nest” “Medulla Oblongata” “Aplo” “Rock Lobster” “Sawbone” 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.

Forged in the crucible of the Tri-State hardcore and thrash scenes, New York City's Into Another released three genre-defying albums that blend together -- seemlessly -- the disparate sensibilities of its members. The band's membership boasts a heritage that includes such stalwart acts as Whiplash and Youth of Today, though Into Another's rich, mystical rock hardly betrays those roots. Episode 102 of Radical Research does its best to reveal the treasures of this tragically-overlooked band.  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: “Robot Whales” (Into Another, 1991) “Underlord” (Into Another, 1991) “While I Die” (Into Another, 1991) “As It Were” (Into Another, 1991) “Laughing at Oblivion” (Ignaurus, 1994) “Maritime Murder” (Ignaurus, 1994) “William” (Ignaurus, 1994) “Mutate Me” (Seemless, 1995) “Locksmiths & Lawyers” (Seemless, 1995) “For a Wounded Wren” (Seemless, 1995) “Crossed” (Omens, 2017) 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.

HUNTER's NOTES After several years of perdition, silence, and melancholy, Oslo’s Ulver, a totem of the Radical Research faith, released, in 2005, its sixth full-length album, the manic and panicked Blood Inside. The album has inspired divisive opinions and obsessive worship. Its nine songs come together like a house of mirrors, where every lunatic fantasy, every fear, every shameful ecstasy, is reflected and refracted back into the listener’s ears. Radical Research takes a firm position in defense of the album’s genius.  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: “Not Saved” (Silencing the Singing, 2001) “Surface” (Svidd Neger, 2003) “Doom Sticks” (A Quick Fix of Melancholy, 2003) “Dressed in Black” (Blood Inside, 2005) “For the Love of God” (Blood Inside, 2005) “Christmas” (Blood Inside, 2005) “Blinded by Blood” (Blood Inside, 2005) “It Is Not Sound” (Blood Inside, 2005) “The Truth” (Blood Inside, 2005) “In the Red” (Blood Inside, 2005) “Your Call” (Blood Inside, 2005) “Operator” (Blood Inside, 2005) / 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!!! 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 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 listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it.

For 98 episodes, the pilots of Radical Research have gone it together. Mind you, the hosts have had some curatorial help along the way (Jason William Walton and Forrest Pitts, please take a bow). But on the eve of episode 100, Radical Research has called on two of its most stalwart allies, the estimable Thomas Nul and Brian Grebenz. Over the course of almost two hours, this veritable Roman Senate chews on the hard-hitting issues that occupy the minds of all right-thinking citizens of the Research Republic. We invite you to turn on and tune in to this symposium of sickness.  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: Genesis, “Dodo / Lurker” (Abacab, 1981) Black Sabbath, “The Eternal Idol” (Eternal Idol, 1987) King Crimson, “Discipline” (Discipline, 1981) Celtic Frost, “(Once) They Were Eagles” (Cold Lake, 1988) A Forest of Stars, “Premature Invocation” (Grave Mounds and Grave Mistakes, 2018) Jethro Tull, “Thick as a Brick” (Thick as a Brick, 1971) Slayer, “The Final Command” (Show No Mercy, 1983) Acanthus, “Le Frisson des Vampires” (Le Frisson des Vampires, 1971) Journey, “Of a Lifetime” (Journey, 1975) Unearthly Trance, “Penta(grams)” (In the Red, 2004) episode 100 preview: Voivod, “Temps Mort” (Phobos, 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.

Formed in 1998 in the Hertfordshire region of England, The Meads of Asphodel are a special, experimental heavy metal band with many distinctive and beguiling qualities. So why did it take one of the Radical Research hosts 24 years to acquire a taste for the Meads? We don’t have the answer, but in this episode, Jeff runs down all his favorite aspects of Meads while Hunter listens, corroborates and discusses this better-late-than-never obsession.   Note I: This is from the main page of the Meads of Asphodel website, https://www.themeadsofasphodel.co.uk/: “Experimental extreme metal band The Meads of Asphodel believe in all peoples’ right to live in peace, free from the shackles of inflicted dogma and servitude.” Damn straight! 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: “Psalm 666” (Damascus Steel, 2005) “Christ’s Descent into Hell” (Brittania Infernus compilation, 2002) “A Healer Made God” (Exhuming the Grave of Yeshua, 2003) “Send My Love to Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz” (Sonderkommando, 2013) “Jezebel and the Philistines” (The Excommunication of Christ, 2001) “On Graven Images I Glide Beyond the Monstrous Gates of Pandemonium to Face the Baptized Warriors of Yahweh in the Skull-Littered Plain of Esdraelon” (Exhuming the Grave of Yeshua, 2003) “Boiled in Hell Broth and Grave Dust” (The Murder of Jesus the Jew, 2010) “Jew Killer” (The Murder of Jesus the Jew, 2010) “Sword of the East” (Damascus Steel, 2005) “Hourglass of Ash” (Sonderkommando, 2013) “Black is Black & White is White” (Running Out of Time Doing Nothing, 2019) “Like Blood Shaped Flakes of Snow” (Running Out of Time Doing Nothing, 2019) “Nazi” (English Punk Black Metal, 2010 split) “My Psychotic Sand Deity” (The Murder of Jesus the Jew, 2010) “Addicted to God” (The Murder of Jesus the Jew, 2010) “Weeping Tears of Angel Light” (The Excommunication of Christ, 2001) 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.

Is heaviness a quantifiable aspect of music? Can a piece of music display such weight, such heft, that the listener can only accept its heaviness as fact? Radical Research says “Yes,” and we are here to offer evidence. For our 97th episode, we take our second trip down under to survey the concise but mighty discography of Disembowelment. We invite you to join us as we dig into the cryptic horrors of this otherworldly music. But be warned: research rarely gets this heavy.  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: “Intro – Mourning September” (Mourning September demo, 1990) “Impoverished Filth” (Mourning September demo, 1990) “Thou Messiah” (Mourning September demo, 1990) “Extracted Nails” (Pantalgia – An International Death Metal Compilation, 1992) “River of Salvation (My Divine Punishment)” (Deep Sensory Procession into Aural Fate demo, 1991) “As Your Soul Befalls…” (Deep Sensory Procession into Aural Fate demo, 1991) “The Tree of Life and Death” (Transcendence into the Peripheral, 1993) “Your Prophetic Throne of Ivory” (Transcendence into the Peripheral, 1993) “Excoriate” (Transcendence into the Peripheral, 1993) “Nightside of Eden” (Transcendence into the Peripheral, 1993) “A Burial at Ornans” (Transcendence into the Peripheral, 1993) “The Spirits of the Tall Hills” (Transcendence into the Peripheral, 1993) “Cerulean Transience of All My Imagined Shores” (Transcendence into the Peripheral, 1993) “Outro” (Mourning September demo, 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.

The Southeastern United States, from whence Radical Research is broadcast, has long prided itself on its sundry wrestling traditions. From the bare-chested hectoring of the SoCon to the gator-tangling of Central Florida, southerners approach wrestling with a sense of birthright authority. But today we face a new challenger: taxonomy. The second full-length album by Germany’s Disillusion, the forbidding Gloria, is an oil-rubbed beast that slips away from our every attempt to ensnare it with our inadequate classifications. We invite you to tune in to our 96th episode and declare, once and for all, a victor in this battle of equivocation. 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 selection from Disillusion, Gloria, 2006] “The Black Sea” “Dread It” “Don’t Go Any Further” “Avalanche” “Gloria” “Aerophobic” “The Hole We Are In” “Save the Past” “Lava” “Too Many Broken Cease Fires” “Untiefen” 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.

Herein we present the third and likely final installment of our Bad-Ass Fusion Decapitations series. We repeat two bands previously featured on other episodes (Kraan, King Crimson) and bring you eight more missives from the deepest cosmos. Watch that noggin of yours -- the headhunters are abound tonight! Note I: As noted within the episode, here’s that link to “Study the Greats”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIXBu_uoCQk Note II: As this is likely the final installment of Bad-Ass Fusion Decapitations, here are the first two, in case you missed them or want a refresher course: Part 1: https://radicalresearch.org/episode-5-ten-bad-ass-fusion-decapitations-mahavishnu-orchestra-return-to-forever-colosseum-area/ Part 2: https://radicalresearch.org/episode-73-bad-ass-fusion-decapitations-part-2/ 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, many of them recently restocked: http://radicalresearch.org/shop/ Music cited in order of appearance: Al Di Meola, “Flight Over Rio” (Elegant Gypsy, 1977) Bruford, “Beelzebub” (Feels Good to Me, 1978) Ian Carr, “Remadione” (Belladonna, 1972) Ain Soph, “Crossfire” (A Story of Mysterious Forest, 1980) Transit Express, “Disparition” (Opus Progressif, 1976) Herbie Hancock, “Palm Grease” (Thrust, 1974) Kraan, “Rund Um Die Uhr” (Wiederhoren, 1977) King Crimson, “Neurotica” (November 22, 2017, Ann Arbor, Michigan) Mats/Morgan Band, “Min Hast” (Live, 2001, recorded 1999) Soft Machine, “Hazard Profile, Part Five” (Bundles, 1975) Episode 96 preview: Disillusion, “Don’t Go Any Further” (Gloria, 2006) 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.

Over the course of its previous 93 episodes, Radical Research has banged, thrashed, and decapitated but never before has it waltzed. That ends now. Formed as Aslan in 1985, San Diego's Psychotic Waltz released four full-length albums in the ‘90s, each of which challenges all received notions of "progressive metal." Despite being one the most even-handed of metal bands -- not a weak link in the psychotic chain -- this episode pays particular attention to the uncanny, elegant guitar playing of Dan Rock and Brian McAlpin. Their entangled, spiraling guitar tendrils push the instrument to the point of apotheosis in the context of heavy metal. But there is room for all the rug-cutters at this hoedown. Put on your dancing shoes and come join us. Note I: Not anything to do with Psychotic Waltz, but we’ve been informed that….”Hunter Wagner” is protagonist’s name in a concept album by a band called Scapegrace and their The Abyss Swallows album. https://scapegracebc.bandcamp.com/track/the-abyss-swallows 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: “And The Devil Cried” (A Social Grace, 1990) “Another Prophet Song” (A Social Grace, 1990) “I of the Storm” (A Social Grace, 1990) “Out of Mind” (Into the Everflow, 1992) “Into the Everflow” (Into the Everflow, 1992)  “Little People” (Into the Everflow, 1992) “Haze One” (Mosquito, 1994) “Cold” (Mosquito, 1994) “Only Time” (Mosquito, 1994) “Faded” (Bleeding, 1996) “Bleeding” (Bleeding, 1996) “Northern Lights” (Bleeding, 1996) “My Grave” (Bleeding, 1996) 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 a member of a fringe Swedish death metal band makes a request, Radical Research heeds the call. To that end, RR episode 93 is a response to Philip Von Segebaden’s (Afflicted) appeal for a song-by-song analysis of Swallowed in Black by California’s preeminent thrash metal assassins, Sadus. Though apparently a bit outside of the RR wheelhouse, our dissection will reveal traces of the weirdness upon which this house is built. Should poser-killing, gravity-defying metal violence be your poison, consider this your invitation to the Last Abide. If not, then Good Rid’nz. Note I: The Steve DiGiorgio playlist from the History of Metal magazine (1994) mentioned around the 15-minute mark is as follows: Psychotic Waltz – A Social Grace Black Sabbath – Never Say Die Voivod – Nothingface Ozzy Osbourne – Bark at the Moon D.B.C. – Universe Possessed – Beyond the Gates Anacrusis – Screams and Whispers Rainbow – Rising Judas Priest – Screaming for Vengeance Savatage – Sirens Note II: As mentioned, the name Sadus comes from the Frank Herbert novel, Dune. It appears to be the plural form of Sadu. The definition, from the Dune fan wiki: “among the fremen the blessed company of heavenly judges. A Sadu presided over the traditional scales, which here weigh either the soul or the water rendered from the dead, for the scales formed the T of the Tau.” 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, many of them recently restocked: http://radicalresearch.org/shop/ Music cited in order of appearance: All songs from Swallowed in Black, 1990: “Black” “Man Infestation” “Last Abide” “The Wake” “In Your Face” “Good Rid’nz” “False Incarnation” “Images” “Powers of Hate” “Arise” “Oracle of Obmission” 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.