Hell Bent For Metal

The LGBTQ+ heavy metal podcast welcomes Tom's friend (and former guest) Benjamin into the co-host chair for one week only, to discuss how George from Deafheaven and Johannes from Cult Of Luna helped provide the male role models they didn't see elsewhere, and how that helped them come to terms with their gender identity.Also, there's a brief discussion about how a Fever Ray show made Benjamin see some trans parallels (and also what Fever Ray has to do with the metal crowd), and digressions for potato waffles and an infuriating trend amongst hipster hairstyles.Plus there's the usual visit to the Hate Crew Gaybar, where Chrysalis by Finnish heavy psychedelists Polymoon, and A Violent Truth by Kentish shouty/smashy metallers Allfather, both go into the jukebox.

Hell Bent For Metal favourites Amon Amarth are back under discussion again, this time explaining why breakthrough song 'The Pursuit Of Vikings' makes them think about coming-out experiences, something gay men are surprisingly comfortable discussing that most folks aren't, and, er, Destiny's Child.It's a surprisingly well behaved Camp Classic (by HBFM standards, anyway), but maybe it's because it's the summer and the cricket season in Britain, but Matt and Tom are in surprisingly thirsty form. And not just for Pimm's.This week's visit to HCGBs sees Matt put Plagueboys by Finnish post-punks Grave Pleasures into the jukebox, while Tom's plumped for Saturnian Bloodstorm by Lamp Of Murmuur… although you could be forgiven for thinking it's by someone else, according to the guy picking it.

Hell Bent For Metal speculated in episode #99 that Hellish Form's new album Deathless may be heavily talking about LGBTQ+  – and, especially, trans – themes. And when HBFM asked Willow Ryan from the band about this, the confirmation naturally demanded that they invite Willow back to talk about this.This week, Tom sits down with Willow to talk the surprisingly hopeful (well, by funeral doom standards, anyway!) message behind Deathless. Perhaps inevitably, the conversation takes in trans persecution, the toxic media narratives on both sides of the Pond surrounding the trans community and trans healthcare, and the involvement of ultra-conservative Christianity in both.While there are some heavy,  less than optimistic elements to the discussion, and while politics is an unfortunately necessary topic for part of it, there is also plenty of love and hope found within it all.

Hell Bent For Metal seldom needs much reason to see something metal as hella gay, actually, but even by those standards, singalong stoner anthem 'St Peter' by British band Black Spiders is an easy target.Tom and Matt manage to find multiple ways it sits firmly in their areas of experience, and none of them are subtle or difficult to deduce. Who takes which interpretation, however, is not what you might expect.This week's visit to the Hate Crew Gaybar sees two albums for the jukebox. First up, Matt picks The Loss Of Beauty by Italian purveyors of melodic blackened misery Shores Of Null. And in a radical yet predictable change of pace, Tom plumps for The Awakening by prog-power masters Kamelot.And it's 100 shows not out for HBFM.

Hell Bent For Metal host Tom has been back to Roadburn to host another panel about queerness in heavy music, and reports back on how the festival's efforts to make themselves a welcoming, inclusive place have clearly, visibly paid off.The show's been on hiatus due to a bereavement, with Roadburn being the one bright light in the dark. And while the panel (which featured Body Void, Pupil Slicer, Backxwash, and OvO) was a great moment for queerness in heavy music – and Tom personally – it wasn't the only reason that was the case, as the hosts discuss.There's also a rundown of the musical side of a unique festival, including unexpected joy found in Sangre de Muérdago and Oiseaux-Tempête (spelling FAO Matt), and the more expected highlights of the four days in Tilburg.Plus this episode's visit to the Hate Crew Gaybar sees Heimdal by Enslaved and Deathless by Hellish Form added to the jukebox.

The vast expanse and crushing weight of 'Stillness' by post-metal/everything band Inter Arma seems an unlikely Camp Classic, but Hell Bent For Metal have somehow found a way to see not one but two entirely separate ways in which that song speaks to their gay sides. Brace yourself.This show's visit to the Hate Crew Gaybar sees Suffocating Hallucination by Primitive Man/Full Of Hell, IX by Host, and Voices In The Sky by Brymir added to the jukebox.Plus rambling digressions on conservative Republican politicians with amusing names, new euphemisms for intimate waxing, and why there are so many words for "river" in England. Y'know, the usual.

Hell Bent For Metal give 'Carbon Based Anatomy' by queer metal royalty Cynic the Camp Classic treatment, and explains why that song speaks to their queer sides. And no, it has nothing to do with the sexualities of the band members.This week's visit to the Hate Crew Gaybar sees Matt put Den Tapte Krigen by Bizarrekult in the jukebox, before Tom goes full meme, and puts in At The Gates Of Dusk by Ultar, Anthronomicon by Ulthar, and All That Has Never Been True by Ultha. And if you can follow which one is which, well done.Plus Matt tells us about going to see Leprous and getting a little emotional, and there's a promise about something important the show will do as soon as it can.

Hell Bent For Metal returns from a health-imposed break, and begins by explaining what they've been up to in the interim, starting with a trip to see an unusual Clutch show in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.The Camp Classic this week is 'Split My Tongue' by evil-sounding Swiss black metallers Schammasch, from their 2014 album Contradiction. And while Matt's initially not got a clue what Tom's on about (standard), he quickly gets on board with how lyrics seemingly about Satan might relate to the queer experience.Plus this week's visit to the Hate Crew Gaybar sees Woe by An Abstract Illusion, The Coral Tombs by Ahab, and Sky Void Of Stars by Katatonia go into the jukebox. With a little help from Phil Collins. Yes, that one.

When two-thirds of Mountain Caller were on the Hell Bent For Metal, Tom described them as a majority queer band. Max Maxwell, the band's drummer, is on the show this week to explain why the "majority" bit of that statement wasn't precisely true. It's an extended chat that also takes in the imposter syndrome that comes with being newly out and trying to talk about your queerness.Plus Emma Wilkes (of Kerrang! and other places) joins Tom to put four very different albums in the the Hate Crew Gaybar's jukebox. They are Celebrity Therapist by The Callous Daoboys, Morbidity Triumphant by Autopsy, Love, Death And Decay by Stake, and Pagans Rising by Hexed.

The gayest straight man in metal, Abhi Ahluwahlia, returns to Hell Bent For Metal. Matt's unwell (get well soon), so the music journalist turned broadsheet journalist is back for a show heavily focused on two of his favourite things: nu metal and deathcore.First up, Abhi and Tom remember 'All In The Family' by Korn, the alcohol-induced rap battle between Jonathan Davis and Fred Durst (of Limp Bizkit) that includes more homophobia than your average English football match. It's a moment that was not helpful to at least one gay kid who heard it at a fairly delicate stage of development – and one that Korn themselves have since disowned.This week's Camp Classic is 'The Past Shall Haunt Us Both' by All Shall Perish, the now-defunct deathcore band who once had the world at their feet. And while it's a fairly small section of the song that Tom's honed in on as being relevant to queer experiences, that doesn't stop a fairly long, sensible (yes, really) conversation happening about it.Plus this week's additions to the Hate Crew Gaybar jukebox are Patient Number 9 by Ozzy Osbourne, Data Renaissance by The Algorithm, and Dedication to Flesh by Spite.

In a perhaps unlikely #yeshomo, HBFM this week explain how Ivan Moody of Five Finger Death Punch (and possibly Germany's football team, apparently) erroneously appeared on their gaydars. And no, this isn't some meta irony. They're quite serious.Gojira's last album may have been divisive among Tom and Matt, but the song 'Into The Storm' from it was instantly nominated by both as a Camp Classic – one that's up for discussion this week. And there isn't a speck of disagreement over why in sight.Plus this week's sojourn in the gaudy lighting of the Hate Crew Gaybar sees Gold by Unprocessed, Sunrise On Slaughter Beach by Clutch, and Divine Council by Psycroptic all go into the jukebox.

Hell Bent For Metal never needs much persuasion to talk about things phallic, but even their interest may be stretched to breaking point this week, as 'Jawbreaker' by Judas Priest is analysed for all the euphemisms for something to do with members. Because, oh my, are there a lot. And somehow there's a connection to daft attempts at censorship from the 1980s.Technical brutal death metal band Nile write incredibly crushing, virtuoso songs about ancient Egypt, and its mythology. So they're perhaps an unlikely candidate for a Camp Classic, but nonetheless, their song 'Evil To Cast Out Evil' is this week's nomination. And it turns out to be an uncontroversial one, as its metaphors are immediately and obviously relevant to the experiences of many queer folk.Plus there are three albums for the jukebox in the Hate Crew Gaybar this week, with Heroine by Thornhill, Survival Of The Sickest by Bloodbath, and BlackBraid I by BlackBraid all going in.

Hell Bent For Metal has been hinting at what they think about Sex Education, the LGBTQ+-friendly comedy drama smash hit, for months now. Now they dive deep into the show, and explain how their view on it has been affected by being metalheads.The Camp Classic this week comes from Czech metalcore band Skywalker, and their song 'Justify Me', and it's an unusual one, as the queer relevance is so explicit there is no room for misunderstanding, so the discussion focuses more on the insight shown than differing interpretations.Plus this week's visit to the Hate Crew Gaybar sees Narrative by 156/Silence, and Heavy Pendulum by Cave In added to the jukebox.

Hell Bent For Metal digs into why 'Death To All But Metal' by hair metal parody troupe Steel Panther really isn't a helpful set of lyrics to the LGBTQ+ community within metal, whatever the intention behind it is.This week's Camp Classic comes from Asira, a criminally under appreciated British black metal band with no respect for genre boundaries. 'This Hollow Affliction' somehow contrives to lead both hosts to the same conclusion through totally different routes.Plus there are three albums for the Hate Crew Gaybar jukebox this week, with Metempiric by Knoll, Vol I: A Frith Befouled by Aeir, and Gnosis by Russian Circles.

Hell Bent For Metal joins forces for the second time with Riot Act, the alternative music podcast, as their host Steve Hill joins Tom and the returning Matt Rushton to present you with the LGBTQ+ metalhead guide to the Eurovision Song Contest. The annual celebration of kitsch, camp, and occasionally, a good song or two, has long had a huge queer following, and it's even flirted with metal from time to time.The hosts (the ones who like Eurovision, anyway) present their favourite ever performances, and also pick out some of their most hated. And there's obviously chat about the biggest metal moment in the competition's history, a huge queer pioneer winner, some "interesting" UK entries, and the biggest act ever to come out of the contest – themselves a massive gay icon.There's also a round up of a couple of news items from Riot Act's world, plus the Hate Crew Gaybar is open once again, with albums from Muse (at Riot Act's suggestion), Ether Coven and Soilwork going in.It's an epic show, but for a 66-year-old competition that's iconic for the queer communities of entire continent, it's comparatively restrained.

Hell Bent For Metal finally gets around to talking about Napalm Death, as the grindcore gods' song 'Suffer The Children' turns out to be super relatable to the LGBTQ+ metal fan, as Tom, Matt D and Charlie all confirm. Plus there's a full rundown of the myriad weird ways Tom's seen Napalm Death, and an explanation as to exactly why he describes the band a very specific way.Plus there's an amusing if rambling explanation as to why the wardrobe choices of stoner metal legend and all-round rifflord  Matt Pike (Sleep, High On Fire) wardrobe choices, in context, has occasionally confused the hell out of some gay onlookers' gaydars.There's no HCGBs this week due to a twink-related incident explained in the show, but there is news on something cool coming from HBFM on Friday.

Hell Bent For Metal takes a look at Brooklyn Nine-Nine, the US sitcom based in the 99th precinct of the New York Police Department, to analyse how the show handles queer representation and LGBTQ+ issues, and also discusses how being a metal fan can affect the way someone could view it – including how metal is represented in the show itself. Plus there's an origin story for one of HBFM's [stolen] running gags.This week's Camp Classic is 'And Then There Was Silence', the epic song about the fall of Troy by legendary German power metallers Blind Guardian. And while there's the entirely predictable chat about how the song's camp as tits (which you already guessed), there's some rather more deep-and-meaningful reasons it's relatable to from a queer perspective.Plus the Hate Crew Gaybar has no less than five albums for the jukebox this week, as They Fear Us by Ithaca, Body Prophecy by Black Magnet, Roman Candle by Funeral Chic, God's Country by Chat Pile, and Born Into Chaos by Yatra all going in. It's a bumper crop, but a more streamlined way of discussing them to go with it.All in all, it's a far more cheerful show than #86.

Hell Bent For Metal is back after a break due to illness, and kicks it off by inviting Connie Sgarbossa from SeeYouSpaceCowboy to talk about being out in the scene, as well as breaking down stigmas about mental illness and addiction.This episode's Camp Classic is the shred-tastic 'Blood On Your Hands' by Arch Enemy. And perhaps understandably, given what's happening in LGBTQ+ news right now, this one's far from cheerful, and leads to a long discussion about the worrying state of affairs happening around us.Plus this week's visit to the Hate Crew Gaybar sees Darwin by Red Sun Atacama, From Without by Zetra, and Páthos by Conjurer go into the jukebox.(CW: descriptions of anti LGBTQ+ hate)

Hell Bent For Metal chats about how Bring Me The Horizon's Oli Sykes and Mat Nicholls are doing a charity triathlon for Ukrainian LGBTQ+ charity Ukraine Pride. Which you can donate to here: https://justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ukraineprideKatatonia provide the Camp Classic this week, with 'Liberation' being shown to have three separate queer interpretations. But it's the massively trans interpretation that gets the main focus.Plus this week's visit to the Hate Crew Gaybar has three releases for the jukebox, with The Ruination Of Imperialism, the split EP from Terminal Nation and Kruelty, An Endless Static by Gozer, and the self-titled debut album from Final Light all going in.

Tom explains why the Oslo terrorist attack is so terrifying to the LGBTQ+ community, both in terms metal fans will understand, and in the wider context for anti-LGBTQ+ hate crime.