Radical Research Podcast

On their 2010 album, 'Angst,' German band Todtgelichter presented a song called "Oblivion," including the lyric "Dead night comes near, this is the fear of being forgotten." Here, on our 152nd episode, we try our best to let them know that they are hardly forgotten: the 'Angst' album is one we both hold in extremely high regard. Join us as we plow through highlights of that album, and also look at where they came from and where they went after this most singular work of metal art. Note I: Very soon we will finally be offering the second batch of Radical Research t-shirts! After several years of drought, we answer the demand and have added two new designs. Show your love for the greatest musick on earth and support our podcast at the same time. These designs will only be available here, radicalresearch.org, so please keep checking, as they will indeed be posted for sale very soon. Choose from: KEEP METAL WEIRD; KEEP PROG WEIRD; PAN.THY.MONIUM FIRST, FAMILY SECOND; and SORRY MARTY Note II: Jeff’s Voivod book, ‘Always Moving: The Strange Multiverse of Voivod,’ is now available. You can purchase a copy of the 540-page, 3-pound behemoth HERE: radicalresearch.org/voivod Note III: The Radical Research Patreon page is now set up and ready for your patronage. We are offering tiered subscription levels for those who want a set-it-and-forget-it donation option. As ever, if you choose to support us, we are humbled and grateful! patreon.com/RadicalResearchPodcast Music cited in order of appearance: “Von Hass Und Trauer” (Was Bleibt…, 2005) “Aschentraum” (Schemen, 2007) “Café of Lost Dreams” (Angst, 2010) “Bestie” (Angst, 2010) “Oblivion” (Angst, 2010) “Phobos & Deimos” (Angst, 2010) “Neon” [two moments] (Angst, 2010) “Subway” (Angst, 2010) “Moloch” (Angst, 2010) “Allmählich” (Angst, 2010) “Expectations” (Apnoe, 2013) “Ghost” (Rooms, 2016) 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.

Our third in the Permeable Lines series takes a query from a Radical Research listener regarding Voivod's "Rise" and Dodheimsgard's "The Snuff Dreams Are Made Of." We're game...and we invite you to send in your bids for comparison in this ongoing Point 5 series. Music cited in order of appearance: Voivod, "Rise" (Phobos, 1997) Dodheimsgard, "The Snuff Dreams Are Made Of" (Supervillain Outcast, 2007) Stay tuned for episode 152, on Todtgelichter's 2010 opus, 'Angst,' with discussion on the worthiness (or lack thereof) of the albums that bookend it.

Much like their hometown of London, England, Akercocke at once embody urbanity and the bucolic, depravity and erudition -- constantly blurring the lines between seemingly opposite poles. In Akercocke’s world, nothing is quite as it seems. Herein, we dissect the most recent half of their discography, which is some of the most adventurous, beguiling metal we have EVER heard. Note I: Jeff’s Voivod book, ‘Always Moving: The Strange Multiverse of Voivod,’ is now available. You can purchase a copy of the 540-page, 3-pound behemoth HERE: radicalresearch.org/voivod Note II: The Radical Research Patreon page is now set up and ready for your patronage. We are offering tiered subscription levels for those who want a set-it-and-forget-it donation option. As ever, if you choose to support us, we are humbled and grateful! patreon.com/RadicalResearchPodcast Music cited in order of appearance: “Verdelet” (Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone, 2005) “Shelter from the Sand” (Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone, 2005) “Eyes of the Dawn” (Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone, 2005) “Words That Go Unspoken” (Words That Go Unspoken, Deeds That Go Undone, 2005) “Axiom” (Antichrist, 2007) “My Apterous Angel” (Antichrist, 2007) “Man Without Faith or Trust” (Antichrist, 2007) “The Dark Inside” (Antichrist, 2007) “Familiar Ghosts” (Renaissance in Extremis, 2017) “A Final Glance Back Before Departing” (Renaissance in Extremis, 2017) “One Chapter Closing for Another to Begin” (Renaissance in Extremis, 2017) “A Particularly Cold September” (Renaissance in Extremis, 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.

We conclude our 2-part, 4-hour deep dive into one of our favorite bands in the universe, the mighty Anathema. This second part looks at their 2001-2017 phase, surveying the six albums they released in that 18-year span. They are no longer active, but they’re very much alive in our hearts and sound systems, an eternal source of inspiration for the hosts of this podcast and their legion of fans across the globe. This is a love letter.   Note I: As we were perusing the list of inspiring songs listed on Judgement, in the early part of this episode, we concluded that “Albatross” had to be the Corrosion of Conformity song. While that would certainly track, we’ve come to think it was maybe this Fleetwood Mac song Anathema were referring to instead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QooCN5JbOkU Note II: We mention Antimatter, where we saw bassist Duncan Patterson go after leaving Anathema. It should be noted that while Duncan was a huge part of that band’s early years, Antimatter has been driven since inception by co-founder and longtime leader of the band, Mick Moss. Note III: At the 1:01:55 mark, Hunter makes a slight error in the title of the Sieges Even album he’s referring to. It’s ‘The Art of Navigating by the Stars’ (2005). No biggie, but as sticklers for detail, we had to correct that. Note IV: Jeff’s Voivod book, ‘Always Moving: The Strange Multiverse of Voivod,’ is now available. You can purchase a copy of the 540-page, 3-pound behemoth HERE: radicalresearch.org/voivod Note V: The Radical Research Patreon page is now set up and ready for your patronage. We are offering tiered subscription levels for those who want a set-it-and-forget-it donation option. As ever, if you choose to support us, we are humbled and grateful! patreon.com/RadicalResearchPodcast | Music cited in order of appearance: “Looking Outside Inside” (A Fine Day to Exit, 2001) “Leave No Trace” (A Fine Day to Exit, 2001) “A Fine Day to Exit” (A Fine Day to Exit, 2001) “Closer”  (A Natural Disaster, 2003) “Flying” (A Natural Disaster, 2003) “Violence” (A Natural Disaster, 2003) “A Simple Mistake” (We’re Here Because We’re Here, 2010) “Universal” (We’re Here Because We’re Here, 2010) “Untouchable Part 1” (Weather Systems, 2012) “The Storm Before the Calm” (Weather Systems, 2012) “The Lost Song Part 1” (Distant Satellites, 2014) “Anathema” (Distant Satellites, 2014) “Springfield” (The Optimist, 2017) “Can’t Let Go” (The Optimist, 2017) outro: “Restless Oblivion” (The Silent Enigma, 1995) 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.

Liverpool, England’s Anathema are one of the bedrocks of the Radical Research musical adventure. It’s why we’ve chosen to commemorate our 150th episode with a two-part dive into their entire catalog, from the harrowing wretchedness of their early demo work to the graceful final statement of 2017’s The Optimist. We rejoice and weep, praise and cry, as we explore all of their 1990s output in episode 1 of this 2-part indulgence. Note I: As explained in this episode, we aren’t giving short shrift (whatever shrift is!) to the Eternity album. It’s just that we covered it in great detail on episode 125, which you can find right here: https://www.radicalresearch.org/episode-125-do-you-think-were-forever-anathemas-eternity/ Note II: We’ve been doing this for years now, and after 150 episodes, Jeff still can’t get it right: the lack of fidelity on his voice in the first half of this episode is because he had the microphone backwards. He finally corrects this around minute 59. C’mon, Wagner, get with the program already! Note III: Jeff’s Voivod book, ‘Always Moving: The Strange Multiverse of Voivod,’ is now available. You can purchase a copy of the 540-page, 3-pound behemoth HERE: radicalresearch.org/voivod Note IV: The Radical Research Patreon page is now set up and ready for your patronage. We are offering tiered subscription levels for those who want a set-it-and-forget-it donation option. As ever, if you choose to support us, we are humbled and grateful! patreon.com/RadicalResearchPodcast Music cited in order of appearance: “The Lord of Mortal Pestilence” (An Iliad of Woes demo, 1990) “At One With the Earth” (All Faith is Lost demo, 1991) “…And I Lust” (The Crestfallen EP, 1992) “Crestfallen” (The Crestfallen EP, 1992) “Sweet Tears” (Serenades, 1993) “Sleepless” (Serenades, 1993) “We, the Gods” (Pentecost III, 1994) “Memento Mori” (Pentecost III, 1994) “Shroud of Frost” (The Silent Enigma, 1995) “Cerulean Twilight” (The Silent Enigma, 1995) “The Beloved” (Eternity, 1996) “Re-Connect” (Alternative 4, 1998) “Inner Silence” (Alternative 4, 1998) “Pitiless” (Judgement, 1999) “Judgement” (Judgement, 1999) “Wings of God” (Judgement, 1999) 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.