Welcome one and all to episode 449 of Signals
from Mars. I'm your host, Victor. And this episode,
we have our February 2026 album reviews. This
episode to me is super important because it helps
keep the music that we love alive and in the
vernacular or the everyday conversation of you
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You get access to polls, questions, videos that
are posted daily and a lot of great music banter,
troll free music banter. You get turned on to
a lot of bands that we talk to during these episodes.
And you find out about, as I like to say with
these episodes as well, new music from bands
you love, bands you may have heard of but never
gotten a chance to check out their music, and
new bands altogether. So the whole idea here
is just to spread the wealth and get the word
out there for hard rock and metal to keep this
music that we love alive. Because obviously,
if we the listeners stop paying attention, There's
no way the masses are going to pay attention.
It's got to be us. It's got to be grassroots.
It's got to be DIY. I almost said DUI. It shouldn't
be DUI. So anyway, these episodes are always
fun to record with Jeremy and with Ed. We have
different perspectives and we're going to talk
about stuff that's kind of off the beaten path
this week. But I think that our audience is kind
of. mature enough that if music is good, regardless
of the genre, it's good. Music is bad. It's just
bad. It needs to speak to you. And we get into
some stuff that isn't exactly hard rock or metal.
We get into some stuff that would be categorized
more as indie rock or maybe alternative rock,
which to me is fine because I have a wide palette
of music that I enjoy listening to. And sometimes
you need to take a break from the heavy stuff.
And it's funny because you hear people talk about,
well, you know, I need to hear a ballad here
and there. And you guys know if you've been listening
to this long enough. Yeah, I'm not a ballad guy.
But there are other forms of music that I'll
listen to to kind of get away from certain things
and then come back to it. Um, at the end of the
day, you like what you like, uh, it connects
with you. However, music connects with you and,
and that's it, man. Whatever sounds good to you,
go for it. If you don't like it, there's always
other shit you can listen to. So anyway, let's
get on with the episode. Welcome one and all
to the latest episode of Signals from Mars. I'm
your host, Victor, and joining me for the recap
of albums that were released in February of 2026,
as usual, in the UK, Jeremy Weltman, and in bourbon
country, we have Ed Ferguson. How are you guys
doing tonight? Yeah, good. Thanks. Really good.
Hanging in there. No snow or any type of freezing
weather right now? Where, here or there? Either
place. Well, it's cold here, but there's no snow.
What about you, Ed? Well, we had our first spring,
and then now we're back to winter weather, and
we've got apparently extremely bad weather coming
over the weekend that might blow us away. You
got high winds out there, so, yeah, it might
be time for tornadoes. Oh, boy. You're in Tornado
Alley, correct? That's correct, yeah. I've never
had to experience one, thank God. But, actually,
the house that I'm in I know was damaged once
by high winds to the point that she had to replace,
like, the HVAC and everything upstairs. Yeah,
you never know, man. That win can be something
else. Well, let's hope that lightning does not
strike twice. Yeah, that's right. Oh, boy. Edgar
is being positive at the beginning of the show.
No, we hope for many appearances more. So anyway.
We are here to do our monthly review of albums.
A lot of stuff has come out. And there will be
a lot more even in March and April. There's a
lot of stuff that I've been listening to already.
But anyway, let's focus on February, which is
the task at hand here. On the 6th, we had new
albums from Tail Gunner, Full House Brew Crew.
All the Damn Vampires. Jack Harlan and the Dead
Crows. Tardigrade Inferno. Aginbite Mystery.
Probably butchered that. Mayhem, which Edgar
Winterson already mentioned. Induction. Blazoner.
Big Big Train. Assignment. Carnival. Pussifer.
Silver Sun Pickups, KMFDM. The debut solo album
from Rival Sons frontman Jay Buchanan. Fendrina,
I guess is how you pronounce that. EPs from Cyclone
and Capsize. Reissues from Earthless. And live
albums from Hermano, you would say in English.
Hermano is how you would say it in Spanish. That's
kind of a... Arrested Development joke as well.
Hermano. Anyway. And Visions of Atlantis also
released a live album. Ed, let's pick things
up with you. What did you listen to this month?
Or this week? I'm sorry. That would be a big
chore there. Okay. The only thing that. I enjoyed,
and I'm happy that I did, was the new Silver
Sun pickups. Okay. So that's an indie rock alternative,
post -grunge kind of pick for you. Right. So
I remember I bought their record from back in
2009, was it? Swoon? That had probably, no, no,
no, no. Back in 2006, they had Carnivus. That's
probably their best record, which has some hits
on it, like Lazy Eye. And they have an EP before
that that was really good. But then when they
came out with Swoon, I kind of lost interest.
I listened to maybe the next album after that.
Still wasn't very exciting. So I kind of gave
up on listening to them. But put this in my iTunes
to listen to. And I noticed that from the notes
that they're working with Butch Vig. Okay. It's
a great producer who's worked with a lot of good
alternative acts, I believe like Sonic Youth
and maybe Nirvana and different acts like that.
And I think that's helped because this record
seems to have much better songs, much better
melodies, more like they did on that first. record
that they produced um and uh what else i haven't
today when i had some time i went back and i
listened to the last couple of records that i
had not heard and they they both seem kind of
dull to me as well so whatever they've done here
they've really kind of brought it back together
And I bet you it has to do with working with
Butch. And I thought the songs were just a lot
better. And I'm looking forward to listening
to it throughout the year. Did you have a chance
to listen to any of it? Yeah, I listened to it
because you had pointed it out. I didn't know
that Butch worked with them on the album. I mean,
obviously, he's also worked with Foo Fighters
and coincidentally, the last Foo Fighters album
that I actually like he produced. He's also the
drummer in Garbage as well. So I, he's always
good for providing clean sounding albums. Like
even the Nirvana isn't nevermind. Isn't a muddy
album. You know, that's maybe one of the kind
of knocks on that album from the diehards is
that that album is a big sounding album. Uh,
that has a lot of melodies and different things.
Um, to be honest, this is the first time that
I recall listening to silver sun pickups. Uh,
there are songs that I really enjoyed and there
are other ones that, um, just weren't my cup
of tea, but it's just because, you know, I've
always said this, I'm not a ballady slow song
type of a person. And there's quite a few on
there, but that doesn't mean that they're not.
good sounding or that they're not put together
well. It's just that it's not my thing. So you
haven't heard their first record? No. I'm surprised.
So you're a Smashing Pumpkins fan. Yes. Listen
to that. You'll enjoy it. To me, the Silver Sun
pickups, when they're writing good songs, it's
almost a better version of the Smashing Pumpkins
because it's very similar. you know, with the
melodies and the sound and the production, but
their vocals are a little less whiny sounding
than, you know, as smashing can be sometimes.
So yeah, that one and their first EP both have
really great songs that you'll enjoy the whole
record. Okay. So I take that as a tip and going
back on their discography. Okay. Jeremy, what
did you get a chance to listen to that stood
out? Yeah, so the first album was the Tail Gunner
album, Midnight Blitz. Obviously, it's the British
new wave band that everyone's kind of talking
about, I guess. It's out on Napalm Records. It's
produced by KK Downing, as you know, of course.
So it's got a little bit of a touch of KK Priest
about it, I think. I know you... You had an interview
with them as well, Victor, which everyone should
check out. I think in the interview you mentioned
there's a lot of Halloween in the band. And I
think you're right. They do have that sort of
fast -paced power metal kind of riffing. The
tempo is kind of Halloween. So, yeah, what I
like about the guys is that they've got a lot
of enthusiasm. They really make me want to see
them live. And it's the kind of album that...
you know, I sort of got into in the 1980s. So
I reckon if they'd have come out in that era,
you know, I'd still be talking about them because,
you know, you kind of got into them then and
you kind of followed their career path through
to now. So, yeah, I reckon they would have been
fairly big stars now if they'd have come out
then. But, you know, obviously they're just sort
of recreating what we went through at the time.
And it's just enjoyable stuff. Definitely want
to see them live because I just think that, you
know, Good act. And I also listened to Jay Buchanan,
Weapons of Beauty, a solo album from the Rival
Sons singer. It could have gone horribly wrong,
this kind of album, but it doesn't, fortunately.
It kind of begins with a very hauntingly beautiful
track called Caroline, and then I realized what
it was all about. It was going to be sort of
an album that brings out the best of his voice,
which is what I really wanted. You know, there's
very folky elements to it, soul, country, that
kind of thing. And apparently he spent a bit
of time in the desert writing the songs and thinking
about what he wanted to put on the album. So
you kind of get the gist of what it's all about.
I mentioned this album to a friend of mine and
he spread this one more widely as well. And everyone
seems to like it. It's not a metal album. It's
not really, you know. a rock album of sorts,
but it's just very, very good. And it really
showcases his voice. Um, which one of the two
I'd pick as my album of the week, I probably
picked tail gunner just because, you know, they're,
they're, they're pushing what we like. I thought
that was a pretty good album too. The tail gunner
album you're saying. Yeah. I listened to that
some and I enjoyed it. Okay. Um, I listened to
a bunch of different things. I did get to listen
to the J .B. Cannon, and much like you said,
I mean, a lot of the album is an acoustic album.
It's probably closer to a Mark Lanigan solo album
than it is to a Rival Sons album. And it makes
sense that... that he recorded it in the desert
because that's where Mark Lanigan did a lot of
his stuff as well. What else did I listen to?
I listened to the new KMFTM. I'm a big fan of
theirs from way back when, but this album kind
of left, it's the first album that I've listened
to in a long time by them where there wasn't
like at least one track that stood out to me
to say, ah, that one's going into my KMFTM playlist.
The album is OK, but it's kind of like we've
already been there already. You know, the kind
of nothing new, no melodies or anything that
really stood out to me with this one. Listen
to the Pussifer album, which was OK as well.
That's Maynard James Keenan from Tool. That's
one of his bands. And also listen to the Jack
Harlan and the Dead Crows, which is a. A doom
metal stonery type album. And of course, since
I got to interview Bones and Rhea from Tailgunner,
as Jeremy alluded to, I listened to Midnight
Blitz from Tailgunner. I'd listened to that a
few months back because I received the promo
quite a while back. I listened to it quite a
bit before I did the interview and the interview
has been out for over a month now. So I interviewed
them in early January. I'm not mistaken. And
I hadn't listened to the album in a while. And
when readying myself for this program, I went
back and I listened to it. And I think I enjoyed
it more now than I did. And maybe because I wasn't
in a rush to listen to it like I was before the
interview. And because I had read a lot of comparisons
and, oh, they're obviously the next Judas Priest.
This is Judas Priest all over it. And I listened
to it and I'm like, man, there's some galloping
Halloween parts all over this. There's stuff
that, yeah, it sounds like Priest, but there's
other stuff there as well. The ballad that they
do reminds me more of Crocus than it does Judas
Priest. It's my pick of the week as well. For
anyone that, you know, is looking for something
to listen to that's a lot more modern, that's
in that Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Halloween
vein, without being... way over the top because
there's a lot of bands that are doing the power
metal thing, but they kind of have no brakes
on them. So like the choruses are way over the
top. The soloing is way over the top and doesn't
fit with a lot of the songs. This, I think if
this band can stay together and continue to put
out music like this, they should have a long
career ahead of them. They could easily be like
what a Trivium was at the turn of the century,
where they were a young band that was, even though
they were playing things that we'd heard before,
they were still writing quality material. I think
Tailgunner can be a band like that, that in 2026,
you know, when we look back in 15, 20 years,
if they're still together putting out music like
this. You know, we could easily say, wow, you
know, we were lucky to be there at the start.
We were you know, we caught them when they first
started coming out. So I think they're a band
that will make noise moving forward, making good
noise for us. So. So do you think there's a revival
kind of of some of those classic heavy metal
bands and sounds? Or is it that there it's always
been there and I just don't. know about it as
much until i'm doing like these album reviews
and listening to everything that's coming out
yeah it's it's always been there really specifically
from sweden there have always been swedish power
metal bands doing this type of thing but sometimes
it's the lyrics are just kind of wonky and you
know because of the language difference sometimes
And even this has happened with Halloween where
some of the lyrics are kind of nonsense because
they don't, they're, they're proficient in English,
but they're not perfect. You know, so there are
some things that maybe aren't as good as they
could be. I think that there are a lot of, a
lot of Swedish power metal bands that just, and
Scandinavian in general, and even German. Because
there's Primal Fear, there's Hammer's Fall, there's
a lot of other bands that have been kind of waving
the flag of power metal. And the difference between
them and Priest or a Maiden or even a Halloween
is that each one of those bands, for the most
part, know how to dial it back. Maybe Maiden
not so much on these last two albums, but there's...
Just some bands that, you know, their choruses
are just like two words and it's over and over
again. You know, it just they're regurgitating
things. Tailgunner, again, not original, but
they're doing it in a way that it's entertaining,
I think. Yeah, they're still doing something
fresh. Yeah. Yeah. And they're getting a lot
of marketing because they look the part as well.
Some of the bands out there don't look the part,
but they kind of got the image as well, which
has helped. And that's funny because when I interviewed
them, Bones looked more like Kurt Cobain with
his ripped up sweater and Ria the guitarist had
a surfing sweatshirt on. And then you see like
all of their promo pictures and they're all in
leather and this. Yeah. And, and I follow them
on Instagram and even Ria posted something yesterday.
I think it was, and she's wearing an Alice in
Chains dirt t -shirt. So it was, um, so, so,
so it was funny that, uh, You know, you get them
one way in an interview and then, you know, all
the PR stuff is is a little different, but that's
fine. So as long as the music is there, that's
that's what's important. So. All right. So let's
move on to February 13th. So this next week,
this next week has a band that I want you to
interview. Oh, OK. So go on your list here. OK.
And when you get to it. There you go. I found
that you got to interview these guys and ask
them questions. You got to interview him, Victor.
We don't know who he is yet. I've already interviewed
two bands. You're going to know which one it
is when you say it. This week. But yeah, so we
have Greyhawk with Warriors of Greyhawk, who
I interviewed Darren from the band. Space of
Variation, Hoaxed, where I interviewed Cat from
the band. Malefic, I guess how you pronounce
that. Austin Star, Blood Red, The Browning, Converge,
Worm, Slaughter Day, Temple Balls. There you
go. Whoa. You want me to interview the Finnish
band Temple Balls? And ask them how they got
that name, how they came up with that name. We've
always asked that question. It's one of the most
interesting band names I've ever come across.
Yeah. How'd you get the name Temple Balls? Oh,
well, this happened. All right. Thanks for the
interview. No, obviously there'll be more, but.
I reckon it's Indiana Jones. He had those big
balls coming out. Could be. Could be, but I think
that they're more along the lines of big brass
balls. But anyway. We won't know until you do
the interview. I have Blazender on here as well.
So they either released their album on the 6th
or the 13th. Let's see. Leatherhead with Violent
Horror Stories. We had a reissue from Enough's
Enough and a compilation from The Helicopters.
Ed, what did you take a listen to this week that
stood out to you? This week, the only thing besides
the name of that band, that's just funny. Slaughter
Day, that's a death metal suggestion for anybody
that is wanting an extreme metal suggestion.
I still didn't really have a whole lot that caught
my attention this week except for Converge. And
this is kind of the first time that I've been
so impressed with Converge. I've checked them
out in the past, and they're kind of basically
a metalcore band. But they shake it up some.
They get kind of chaotic at times. Or sometimes
they'll go in a more heavy direction. This album,
though, is super heavy. The album's called Love
Is Not Enough. And it kind of starts off reminding
me of one of my favorite bands, Zayo, who's been
around since the 90s on Solid State Records.
And for Zayo fans, if you're listening, if you
like the Funeral of God album, this kind of reminded
me of that, the way it starts off. But they're
very diverse with their songs. When you get to
the second track, Bad Faith, everybody needs
to check that out. The way they produce that
song, I even told you guys one day about it to
listen to it. When I heard it in my car, it just
had a massive, massive hardcore metalcore sound.
And it's not like they've got their gain turned
way up. When you listen to their songs, they
don't have tons of gain, but it's still very
loud, very heavy. It's got some sludge and doom
and some parts that kind of drone. They'll slow
it down and give you some kind of droning tunes
that build some intensity for them to jack it
back up. There's even a couple of songs that
even sounded like Grindcore in the middle. So
all throughout the record from the first to the
last track, they're kind of shaking it up. It's
got a good production. Everyone that I'm seeing
out there that's a Converge fan thinks it's an
excellent record. I'm reading most people say
it's one of their favorites, you know, from that
fan group. So, yeah, if you're a, you know, metalcore
is something that I listened to a ton of in the
90s when thrash started getting kind of boring.
Right. But now I'm to the point to where metalcore
kind of bores me unless I hear something extra
good. Yeah. And this will be a record that I'm
looking forward to exploring a lot more. Okay.
Jeremy, how about you? Yeah, I mean, this entire
month was a really good one for me. And I've
got four, so I'll just kind of flick through
them fairly quickly. First one was the hoaxed
album, Death Knocks. Obviously a band from Portland
that you featured in an episode, Victor, an interview,
should I say. Sort of, I guess it's a bit of
a sort of haunting ethereal sound. They describe
it as dark rock. quite stripped back at times
definite sort of 60s folky influences lurking
underneath I found it with it my big issue though
is that many of the songs sounded quite similar
I mean you could say that about many bands I
guess but I was hoping they'd shake it up a little
bit so I'm hoping for a bit more on the next
one but it was okay it was listenable and I enjoyed
it Greyhawk I also listened to another band you
interviewed Victor Warriors of Greyhawk power
metal band from Seattle Very frenetic, fast -paced
guitars, had some good solos on there, had very
high -pitched vocals. It's all very well produced.
And from start to finish, I enjoyed it because
it's the kind of music I like. Again, was there
enough variation? Maybe not quite, but that doesn't
detract too much from it because I enjoyed it.
I did listen to the Temple Balls album as well,
Ed. Um, as we know, it's very oddly named band
from Finland, very melodic, hard rock. So obviously
it's, yeah. Yeah. Um, they did it in the wake
of the death of their guitarist, Nico Varela.
Um, apparently he's had cancer. He features on
the album, but he's died since, uh, before they
even released it. So, um, it's kind of sad really,
but, um, you know, they, uh, they've released
it as sort of, you know, a tribute to him. And
the only thing is it sounded a little bit like
Heat, the band Heat from Sweden, but a little
bit harder, a little bit heavier. And to be honest,
Heat have got the earworm songs. You know, they've
got those very well produced melodic tracks that,
you know, very, very good songs. This didn't
quite have it. So not quite there. So really,
I'm going to go for Leatherhead, Violent Horror
Stories. This is an album I think that you guys
are going to kind of like in parts, which is
kind of what I did. I didn't like every song
on it, but it's thrash metal. It's got sort of
speed metal stuff on there as well. Very similar
to sort of Overkill, touches of the Queensryche
debut album, the very first one that they ever
did. So it's got a high -pitched singer. It's
a little bit Halloween style. It's got some of
that sort of amateur dramatics you get from sort
of very youthful newcomers on the scene. It's
their second album, and they're Greek, by the
way. Oh, wow. But that's kind of immaterial.
It's a great sound, and I liked a lot of the
songs on there, so it's very well worth a listen.
So I'm going to go for Leatherhead, Violent Horror
Stories. Yeah, you described that pretty well.
I remember hearing some of that too. Okay. Cool.
So I got to listen to a bunch of different things.
Uh, I listened to the, uh, new album from worm,
which is a death metal band. Uh, got to listen
to the converge, uh, which Ed talked about. And,
uh, converge for me has always been a band that's
been hit or miss either. I really like a track.
As you said, it just sounds like another metal
core band or another metal core song from, from
the pile. You know, um, they've always had massive.
a massive following, especially in the press.
Um, so it was cool to listen to this album and,
and find things that I really enjoyed off of
it. Um, what else? I listened to the blood red,
which was extreme metal as well. And then the,
um, the two bands that I interviewed, the hoaxed
and, uh, gray Hawk. Obviously I listened to both
preparing for, the interview, there are two completely
different things. Uh, as you mentioned the, um,
um, a hoax that's, uh, yeah, uh, it is hoaxed.
I don't know why. Um, before doing the interview,
I was scared that I was going to call it, call
the band hexed instead of hope. But anyway, um,
it's definitely a goth rock feel. Uh, it really,
you know, uh, feels like onto others, which is
also from Portland, Oregon. Like they are feels
like, um, like there's inspiration from like
joy division and sisters of mercy and stuff like
that. Um, there's some like kind of horror themes
to some of the, the songs as well. The album
is called death knocks. Um, I really liked the
album, uh, the gray Hawk. has, as you mentioned,
a lot of stuff that, you know, they're from Seattle.
They sound like a Fates Warning. They sound like
a Queensryche. They sound like a Sanctuary. You
know, they're a mix of a bunch of different things
from the area. I like both albums a lot, but
I think I'm going to go with the Hoaxed album.
only because I do think it is a little bit more
original than the other one is, and they're honestly
not reinventing the wheel. But that said, I've
really enjoyed the album. I've listened to it
quite a bit since. So let's see here. The 20th.
Edgar, you're getting ahead of us here. He's
listening to a lot of music. Yeah, he's listening
to a lot of music as well. He needs to come on
Patreon. I'm the fourth guy talking about new
releases here. Anyway, so February 20th, we have
new albums from Psilosis, Veer Union, Horseman,
Eon Gods, Clawfinger. Necronomicon, Ex Mortis,
Transatlantic Radio, Eye of Million, Michael
Monroe, Suplex, Rectify, Newfound Glory. What
else? Hellstead, Love Bites, Exhumed, Zepter,
Nightlin. Lead Injector, Serpent Gates, Lightning
Strikes, and Deeper Graves. EPs from Descentience,
I guess is how you pronounce that. Reissues from
Game Over. Two reissues from Six Feet Under,
Candaria, Dangerous Toys, and a live album from...
Ed, what did you listen to that stood out to
you? Well, I started with Exhumed. It's good,
but there's nothing that's that catchy to me.
They have an album, Necrocracy, I think from
2013 that I love. One of my favorite death metal
records. But from what I understand, they experimented
some with their riffs on that record. That album,
different from the others in a sense that, or
in a way that it has more like maybe breakdown
parts and some, you know, parts that add a groove
that, you know, carries you along or just more
dynamics to it. This record doesn't have a lot
of that. So it was like less fun to listen to
in the car. But it was it's good enough for me
to put on in my office and listen to while I'm
working and still enjoy it. You know, it's got
a Exhumed always has a pretty cool old school
sound to their production. They only have like
one original member, though. But from what I've
listened to throughout their discography, most
of that, their production usually seems to be
about the same. So they kind of, Exhumed is a
good band that they fall well in between old
school death metal and some of the modern stuff.
It's got a modern sound to it, but without the
modern production. So someone that likes Exhumed,
you might want to know that that one's out and
check it out. Red Asphalt's the name of the album.
My next pick is kind of funny. I got a pop punk.
band for you all uh newfound glory have we ever
had any pop punk discussions on signals from
mars in our groups before i can't i was trying
to recall if we had yeah we haven't posted videos
from newfound glory um previous to the release
of this album because if i'm not mistaken they
covered ace of spades for a motorhead tribute
album And it's because leading into that, I was
like, yeah, who, this is going to suck. You know,
who's going to want to listen to this? And I
listened to the cover and it was actually pretty
cool the way that they did it. Okay. I haven't
heard that, but you know, I'm interested to check
it out because apparently they, they do lean
into some, you know, they dip their toes in metal
here and there with some of their riffs. They,
man, they got like 14 records too. Yes. And it's
all pop punk. You know, when it comes to pop
punk, it's like there's never a new song that
I feel like I haven't heard before. Right. But
with that genre, I think we just forgive that.
You know, we don't give that as hard of a time
as we would our metal band sounding that much
the same. But one of the reasons why when I heard
the songs on this record that I kept listening
to it, a lot of it's kind of taken me back to
when my daughter was a teenager. Pop punk was
such a big deal during that time. So a lot of
that's kind of sounding like a soundtrack to
when I was raising her. And but what I liked
about this album and this and this kind of gives
me some hope for a pop punk revival that I know
will be coming probably after the new metals
revival. Right. One thing, you know, I think
that their songwriting is maturing a lot. They're
learning what's good and what's not. to put on
a record and what i'm most excited about and
i hear that in this record because i went back
and i listened to like the first song off all
the records throughout their 14 catalog and the
vocals don't sound as whiny as they did when
they were younger right you know a lot of that
music back when my daughter was that age you
know it's i like the music but the vocals kick
in it's just too it's just whiny teenage too
much of that And it's hard to listen to it. But
now these guys are growing up. You know, their
songwriting is maturing. And also their lyrics
are applying to, you know, middle -aged folks
now, the things they're having to write about.
So I was surprisingly impressed with that. But
my favorite thing, I think, and I'm hoping you
guys, I think you posted a video by Zepter. Okay.
Didn't you post a video by them the other day?
I may have, yeah. Did you hear that, Jeremy Zepter?
Did you listen to that? You got to listen to
it. You go back to like 84 or 85, and you're
a teenager, and you're just sitting in your room
writing classic heavy metal songs, whatever pops
out of your head. You're not straining too hard
to write good melodies or anything. One riff
after another and you're putting them together.
You got your heavy metal band and then you go
play at the Battle of the Bands at your school.
And you're in that auditorium with the reverb
turned way up on the vocals. That's what this
sounds like. It's like when I first heard it,
it sounded so much like, you know, a DIY production
that I started to remove it. But it sounded so,
I don't know, I couldn't stop listening to it.
It sounded so interesting. And the more I listened
to it, the more I felt like I was watching my
friends who had a heavy metal band back in high
school. They played in the Battle of the Bands.
And they also made a demo tape in somebody's
basement. It sounds like this. Although this
sounds more better produced than that, of course.
But just the way it sounds, man, it will take
you back to being a teenager. In the mid -80s,
just trying to have a heavy metal band. So that's
called Zepter? Yeah, Zepter. You're going to
like that, Jeremy. It's fun to listen to. Z -E
-P -T -E -R? Z -E -P -T -E -R. T -E -R. So two
E's. Yeah. And they're from Austria. Okay. And
the vocals... He must be intentionally making
them sound that way to kind of get that, you
know, that feel to the music. Because, yeah,
he really lays on the reverb big time. Jeremy,
what did you listen to this week? Yeah, so, I
mean, this is the month that keeps on giving.
If we're going to carry on this way, Victor,
we're going to be ending up at the end of the
year. struggling to pick our top 10 for the end
of the year because I thought this month was
amazing. I listened to Lightning Strikes, The
King is Victorious. I don't know if you guys
have heard this one. It starts off, I mean, the
very first song starts off with a very little
sort of choral sound. Then that sort of slightly
down -tuned riff kicks in. Then there's some
1970s bass. It sounds a little like Free. There's
a keyboard solo, a really, really good vocalist.
It's wonderful. And that's just the first of
seven songs on an LP of 37 minutes that kind
of peaks with the nine -minute title track, Epic.
It's kind of Iron Maiden proportions. It features
a 45 -piece Moscow Symphony Orchestra. So, you
know, you're kind of getting what's going on
here. I delved into it. I discovered that the
band actually released a debut album in 2016,
which I... Maybe I heard it at the time, but
I don't remember it. And the band actually used
to feature Tony Martin. Okay. So there's something.
They now have a newish sort of Argentinian vocalist.
They've got a Japanese guy, a guitar whiz. And
wait for it, the ivory tinkler is Derek Sherinian.
Oh, wow. So, you know, you get into a little
flavor of what's going on here. There's a lot
of stuff all mixed in, and it's a very interesting
listen. Yeah, I kind of liked it. So the other
album I listened to was Serpent Gates, The Veil
of Darkness. This kind of will appeal to both
of you, I think, as well. It's kind of if you
mix Bruce Dickinson with Judas Priest. Imagine
Bruce joins Judas, which isn't a bad thing, of
course. It's kind of a weird mixture, but it's
never been done. It's a debut album from a Finnish
band, kind of on fussy, heavy riffs, very clear,
very powerful vocalist in Bruce's style. And
if you don't like what Maiden have kind of become
now, which I know Victor is on this one because
he doesn't like the latest couple of albums.
The first track, Metamorphosis, is kind of what
Maiden might have become. So, you know what I
mean? It's kind of like, you remember Maiden
in the early days, they played that sort of more
metal -y stuff. Imagine if they brought it forward
and sort of refined it and given it a little
bit more of a polish and this, that and the other.
And it's kind of like that. There's also a song
on there called Down the Cross, which is kind
of more priest -y. And I kind of imagine Rob
Halford singing it. And if he did sing on it...
it would be an amazing song. So it's kind of,
it's an album where not every song is amazing.
You know, there's three or four songs you can
go through and you think, oh, it's much for a
muchness. But then you get to that kind of killer
song on it and you think, yeah, turn it up. It's,
yeah, it's a good listen. So just for that reason,
I'm going to pick that one as my album of the
week. All right. So I listened to a bunch of
different things. This week, I listened to the
Psilosis and my opinion of the band continues
to be the same in that I think that they released
a brilliant first album, changed singers, and
then they became just another metalcore band.
What else did I listen to here? The Clawfinger.
Which is, as Ed alluded to before, a new metal
band that gotten back together again. New metal
in 90s. Hard rock and metal is having a resurgence.
So what you said, Ed, about having a pop punk
resurgence afterwards makes complete sense because
in chronological order, that's kind of what happened.
That's what's going to happen. Yeah. Yeah. I've
been watching it ever since, you know, I turned
30. you've been seeing that happen. Yeah. Um,
the claw finger album was, was okay. It was kind
of goofy in spots. I don't know if they purposely
wanted to do that or not. I listened to the new
found glory, which, which is on par with what
I've heard from them in the past. And very much
in that, as you're saying, uh, like one of the
bands that sprouted up after blink one 82. Kind
of did because, I mean, there were a bunch of
different like pop punk bands that that came
out of that era. But I think a lot of people
don't realize how much Blink 182 actually influenced
a big majority of them. I think you could probably
say because the the biggest bands to kind of
do that was Green Day, them. And there's a few
others that are probably like a tier below them.
But I think Blink -182 probably doesn't get the
notoriety that they should receive for actually
having so many bands come on after them. And
you mentioned it with the whiny vocals, with
the simple songs, with the sing -along choruses
and stuff like that. That's very much them. What
else? I listened to Love Bites, Outstanding Power,
a Japanese band that's been around for quite
some time. They just signed to Napalm and released
this album. They're fantastic musicians. They're
ridiculous musicians, but the music is just a
little too cliched for me. Once I start to hear
the symphonic keyboards and the melodrone or
whatever that's called, or the specific keyboard
that sounds like it, but it just kills me. They're
great musicians, but there are too many things
in the album that just make it sound like just...
another band trying to play fast and proficient.
Nothing wrong with it, but just something that
doesn't hold my attention very long. I listened
to The Exhumed, and I have to say that, much
like you said, Ed, I prefer some other albums
that they've released over the years to this
one. I think you summed it up great. The album
doesn't sound bad, but there's really nothing
to say, oh, wow, that track's great. Yeah. that's
the one that's going to stick out. It's, it's
all like kind of an even plane without anything
like really stepping forward and being the, the
big, um, you know, I read like a three or four
interviews, uh, reviews on that record today.
And it was interesting that every single interview
focus more on how they like the lyrics, uh, as
opposed to the music. Um, and one guy even said
that he, praised the lyrics but felt like the
music didn't really hold up to the level of the
lyrics so um yeah i think every i think most
people are kind of feeling the same that it's
it's a good record but there's nothing too creative
going on yeah and so um my album of the week
is going to coincide with A band that you'll
be hearing an interview from shortly. It is Deeper
Graves, and the album is called Pulled Me Towards
the Dark. Interestingly enough, two straight
weeks, I'm picking something that's in a goth
rock kind of a vein. This is a one -man band,
basically. The name of the guy that's behind
everything is Jeff Phillips, if I'm not mistaken.
Let me just make sure I got that right. Yeah,
Jeff Phillips. He's in a bunch of different bands,
but this really stood out to me for its sound.
Again, if you like On to Others, if you like
some of the heavier side of The Cure, if you
like Joy Division, stuff like that, Sisters of
Mercy, this is something that's right up your
alley. And this is one of five albums that he's
releasing this year. So it's good to own your
own label. That is... Yeah, that's a lot. Album
of the week. What's that, Ed? That's a lot. Yeah.
Yeah, the interview touches upon this band, Deeper
Graves, and also touches upon a death metal band.
that he's a part of, which is called bringers
of death. Who's releasing an album called sulfur
in April, actually. So we'll have to talk about
that then. And, and we'll see, uh, uh, if Ed
enjoys that album, we'll see, um, how he rates
that on his extreme metal, um, charts. Glad to.
Cool, so February 27th, we had new albums from
Black Swan, A Wilhelm Scream, It's a Lie, Joel
Hoekstra's 13, Locus Noir, Necrophire, NMB, which
is Neil Morris Band, which is what they're called
now, Rob Zombie, Weedpecker, The Sheepdogs. Kevin
Steele. The Gloom in the Corner. Burials. Unbarrier.
Slagmore. Cryptic Shift. Nerve Star. EPs from
Philip Schaus. And Jonathan Cain from Journey
Fame reissues from Psy, Autumn, and The Ultimate
Tribute to Rush. That's reissued. And there was
a compilation from Killing Joke called... The
Etromites, the Albini Demos, and Live Beginnings
88. So, Jeremy, let's go with you this time around.
What did you listen to this week? Yeah, it's
right up my ballpark this week. I mean, I started
off with Joel Hoekstra's 13 from The Fade. This
one, again, has Girish Pradhan on vocals, who's
kind of trying to outdo Ronnie Romero for being
Ronnie Romero, and he's doing a good job at it
because he's in a lot of bands, as we know. You
know, Hoekstra, obviously, ex -Whitesteak and
other stuff, undeniably sort of melodic edge
to his hard -rocking stuff. I always find I'm
comparing his albums now to Running Games, which
I thought was a really, really good solo album
by him. I thought he did two other albums, apart
from this one, which are a bit hit and miss and
I didn't like as much. But I think this one is
a pretty decent workout. I think he's back up
to form on this. You know, some really good songs
on here. There's a half -decent ballad, which,
you know, won't appeal to you, Victor, because
I know you don't like ballads, but, you know,
a lot of us rockers like the odd ballad here
and there. And there's a lot of proficient guitar
work on there, you know, which is to be expected
from a guy, you know, at his stage of his career,
really. One of the songs I like, Start to Fight,
very good. uh has sort of some of the songs like
that have sort of a few little key changes in
there and so they add a little bit of interest
so yeah it was a very very uh enjoyable album
you know it's a good sort of hard rocking album
which is nothing out of the ordinary but it was
good i also listened to black swan paralyzed
we've got uh we're going from one ex white snake
man to another here because obviously red beach
who's been in other bands as well. And you've
got Jeff Pilsen on there and you've got Matt
Starr and you've got Robbie McCauley on vocals,
of course, which we all kind of like. More of
the sort of the same classic rock that the band
has been crafting over, I think now three albums.
So it's probably a little bit harder edge than
the Hoekstra album. So if you're looking for
a little bit more harder guitar, it's on this
album rather than that one. You know, it had
some really good melodies. They're writing some
good songs. They're really creating their own
sound as well, which I kind of like because although
I wouldn't say it's all memorable stuff, at least
it's, you know, you listen to a Black Swan album
now and you kind of know it's Black Swan rather
than being, you know, just a collection of artists
from other bands doing something. So, yeah, it's
kind of they're creating something that's a little
bit more unique. So, you know, I liked it. It
was fine. But my album of the week is going to
NerveStar with an album called White Hot. This
is a kind of new wave of British heavy metal
style type of album. It's by a band that's a
mixture of British and Swedish elements. I think
they started off as a British band and then they
got a Swedish guitarist in. The reason why I
got into it, they included a cover of one of
my very favorite new album singles, Black Ice
by Aragorn. which I actually bought back in 1980.
And I've still got, I play it quite a bit. It's
a really, really good song. But I discovered
later on, after listening to the whole album
and then digging a little deeper, that apart
from the two short instrumentals, every song
on this album is a cover. But they're covers
by bands that you've probably never heard of.
Right. Which makes it interesting. I don't know
how they've done it or why they've done it. And
I don't know much about, you know, the band itself
or why they've not sort of written their own
stuff, but it's kind of good because it's bringing
forward a lot of songs that you've kind of either
never heard before, or you might've heard once
in the past, maybe 1980, 81 or whatever. And
it's all that sort of early made and it's all
leopard. It's all that sort of influences all
mixed in. So it's kind of really fun and it kind
of feels new. Yeah, it is a really good idea,
yeah. There's a really sort of funkier track
on there called Black Jack that sounds a little
bit more Vandenberg Moon Kings as well. But also
one of the, I think it's the last, yeah, it's
the last song on the album. It's called Richard
III, and it's by Tony Borgia of Budgie. And he
had a band called, I think it was Tredega. He
went on and went into another band. So it's a
song from Tredega, which he wrote, but he's actually
playing on it as well. So he's doing the guitar
soloing on there. So yeah, like you say, Ed,
it's, it's just an interesting concept. It sounds
good. It's, it's well, you know, it's well sort
of produced and I enjoyed it. So I'm going to
pick that as my album of the week. Okay. It's
interesting. Cause that's kind of what Metallica
did initially with a lot of their covers, like
with the diamond head stuff and, and. Tweet Savage
and stuff like that. They were bands that were
obviously known commodities in the UK, but not
so much in the US. So they were covering a lot
of these bands and people thought that they were
Metallica's own music because they weren't aware
of the fact that they were covered. So it's an
interesting concept, no doubt. Ed, what did you
get a chance to listen to this week and what
stood out? Well, I listened to pretty much everything
and not a whole lot stood out. Again, the Wilhelm
Scream that you interviewed, that was good. I
got another funny pick for you probably this
week. I was in a mellow mood one day. I guess
it was, you know, late afternoon, sunny evening
with spring coming in. And that song by the Sheepdogs
came on. OK. And I really enjoyed that. But the
funny thing about that band is, I mean, it's
not metal at all. It is. It sounds exactly like
a band from the 1970s. Yeah. This is a pick for
Brad Dahl. I think he would like this band a
lot. And apparently they're from Canada. from
what i saw on their band camp page right uh but
boy they they sound like uh just a good old down
home you know southern you know american 70s
band and uh just kind of you know laid back uh
rock you know with just enough pop you know to
keep it interesting um that was fun hey do you
mind if i break the rules a bit here um i completely
forgot a record from the beginning of the month.
Okay. That I don't want to overlook. I actually
think I had it as my pick for this last week
and I got my dates wrong. Okay. But there's this
band called it's this one was not on your list.
I don't think, well, no, it was night of the
vampire. Did you, do you remember if that was
on our list? Vampire. No, it was. There was something
else. So there's this band called Night of the
Vampire. And I think they're from Texas. They
don't sound like they're from Texas, but that's
what it says on their band camp page. You may
have to copy and paste this title into your notes.
The album is called The Enchanting Winds of the
Dreamweaving Masquerade. And we're not only getting
into a subgenre, it's more like a micro subgenre.
And you would like this one a lot, Victor, because
this one is taking you back to the early to mid
80s synth wave dark. It's mostly like dark wave.
OK. And then they and then they add and layer
other sounds. You know, it's goth. It's post
-punk. Um, it's got all of those, you know, dark
descent wave foundations with other things added
to it. And, um, you know, I'm, I'm, it probably
got into my list from the metal encyclopedia
page because I will look for post black metal
bands to listen to. And, um, this one has kind
of a post black metal flavor to it in that the
vocals are Much of the time, a black metal vocal.
So he's kind of merging, you know, dark wave
and some, you know, post -punk sounds and such
with some black metal vocals. Although it's not
so black metal that it would turn you off if
you don't like that kind of thing. It's not like
the witchy demon sounding. It's just kind of
going in that black metal direction. And, of
course, he's got the whole vampire thing going,
too. On their band camp page, there was one guy
that made this comment that I thought describes
it perfectly. He says, you get synthwave, goth
pop, post -punk, and 80s VHS -bound heavy metal
all blackened with a strangely joyful approach
to the darkness that they seek to explore. I
like that because it points out the contrast
between the themes of their music and the sounds.
Right. So I meant for this to be my pick of the
week for one of the weeks, and I totally left
that out. Well, that's fine. I can still include
that. That one came out at the beginning of the
month, actually. Okay. But since I don't really
have anything as a pick for the week on that
last week, you could use that one if you don't
mind. I can include more than one. That's fine.
Okay, cool. Um, okay. So I listened to, I listened
to the black Swan. I listened to, I thought the
black Swan was okay. Where I liked the album
the most is where they swerve from kind of the
norm. Um, to me, I just felt like a lot of the
album, like there's a lot of been here, done
that, you know, where, where I want, Yeah, I
get these players are going to do certain things
that are close to where they hung their hats
on previously. But I think that there's a point
where some of the songs where they're just imitating
themselves, where they're kind of cheap copies
of like other things that they've done in the
past, which is fine. I mean, and I get it because
there's a big pocket of their audience. which
is that there's nothing after 89 that's worth
listening to. So this is kind of right up there
alley. And, um, you know, that's just kind of
my opinion. No disrespect, Jeremy. I know that
you like it and that's, that's quite fine. I've,
I have no problem with anyone disagreeing with
my opinion and liking things, even though I don't.
So that's cool. Um, I do have to say, Wait, let
me find what I'm looking for here. No, that's
not the one. The new Rob Zombie, Great Satan,
is boring and extremely bad. I've been a fan
of Rob Zombies for the longest time. And it's
funny because people have, as always, asked him
if he's ever going to revisit White Zombie. And
he said something to the effect of, no, I've
already done that. There's no need for me to
go back. I've moved on. And so one of the appeal
of mine to his music was having John 5 on his
albums for a long time because John 5 was doing
just. some outrageous shit on his guitar and
working on some really unique melodies. And you're
like, wow, this shouldn't work. But this damn
song is now stuck in my head. I listened to this
album. He's brought Riggs back. He's brought
Belasco back. And I think he's still got Ginger
Fisk on the drums. And there is zero originality
on this album. It just sounds like he's trying
to regurgitate Hellbilly Deluxe. It feels to
me like Riggs hasn't written a new riff since.
As much as I've given Rob Zombie a pass and talked
up his albums in the past, this just ain't it,
folks. If you want to cleanse your palate, listen
to those first few Rob Zombie albums. those first
few solo albums, listen to the last, to the last
white zombie album, because this is him retreading
those waters and not doing it very well at all.
I mean, this stuff is just predictable and boring.
It's like, okay, I've heard this riff. I've heard
this melody. I've heard this chorus before. It's
like, really? We've waited like five years for
this. You know, it doesn't make a whole heck
of a lot of sense. And it's funny because he's
been out on tour playing one of, if not the first,
the second solo album that he released. Because
they're popular, but honestly, they're not that
good. You know, he's got songs off of them that
are really good, but the rest of the albums are
just kind of boring for me. Yeah, when that one
came up in my iTunes, I didn't last long with
that one. A couple of minutes and I was done.
You guys get the CD or the vinyl? The 8 -track.
I pre -ordered the 8 -track. Yeah, and it sucks
because I've really wanted to like this. And
it's funny because there's so much comparison
between Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson because
of the shock rock value. But I do think that
Marilyn Manson has continuously put out good
music over the years. He's almost become like
a... like a David Bowie to an extent and I'm
not saying he's like as big or talented or anything
like that but in the sense that every album sounds
different the singles that he releases sounds
different he sometimes leans into the persona
sometimes doesn't so he's doing a lot of different
things that I think has kept his music entertaining
and relevant to me this to me is like The Rob
Zombie is like a band that got a hit single years
ago, and they're trying to retread and redo and
get back on radio. But to each their own. If
it works, and he's still popular as hell. If
it works for him, good on him. What else did
I listen to? Yeah, I listened to the Philip Schaus.
uh, side one EP. I interviewed Philip. Uh, this
is a really cool album. It's, um, it's just four
songs. It's an EP. It really shows how the stones
and Beatles were a huge influence on him. Um,
if you're into seventies rock, if you're into
late sixties rock, this is an album you should
check out. Um, It has those influences without
ripping them off too much. You know, it's got
the flavors there, but it's not where you say,
oh yeah, that sounds like wild horses. Oh yeah.
This sounds like, you know, whatever, like Blackbird
or whatnot. It's there. It's upbeat music. And
I think it works. I think it sounds really cool.
I'm interested to see what he's going to do.
He's out on tour in Scandinavia right now. And
he's got some well -known musicians playing with
him that are supposedly going to work on new
music with him. And that's exciting in and of
itself. So I'm excited to see what he's going
to do next. My pick of the week, though, is a
Wilhelm scream with cheap heat. This is one of
my favorite interviews that I've done ever in
the 17 years that I've been podcasting. It was
really a lot of fun. The album is a lot of fun
as well. We've talked about this ad nauseum this
year where the album is, I think, 32 minutes
long. Before you realize it, if you've got the
album on repeat or whatever, you're already listening
to it a second, third, fourth time all the way
through. Catchy choruses, really cool riffs.
There are some things that border on metal. There
are other things that are just straight up. punk
rock on here. I really enjoy it. You know, when
there's, when there's a good, when there's good
punk rock to be heard, I'm, I'm always usually
a fan of it. So that's, that's my pick of the
week. I was, I was thrilled that even, you know,
what originally got me to, to listen to them
was the fact that the, the, the title of the
album is a wrestling reference. And I was like,
wait a second. Are they wrestling fans or are
they not? And when I started listening to the
music, I was like, oh yeah, they are because
of just some of the lyrical content. I mentioned
that in the interview. But Really Good Guys is
what I got from the interview and a fun album
to listen to. So let's just recap the albums
that we picked here. Um, for the week of February
6th, um, Ed actually picked two things here.
He picked the silver sun pickups with, uh, tenterhooks.
And, um, is that right? Or did I spell it wrong?
That's right. No. Okay. Um, and then he also
picked night of the vampire with the enchanting
winds of the dream weaving masquerade. And then
Jeremy and I both picked Midnight Blitz by Tail
Gunner. For the week of February 13th, Ed picked
Converge with Love Is Not Enough. And Jeremy
went with Leatherhead Violent Horror Stories.
And I went with Hoax and Death Knocks. For the
week of February 20th, Ed pointed out the self
-titled album by Zepter. And Jeremy went with
Serpent Gates and the Veil of Darkness. And I
went with Deeper Graves, Pull Me Towards the
Dark. And for the final week in February, Ed
went with, he pointed out the Sheepdogs with
Keep Out. of the storm. Jeremy went with nerve
star and white hot. And I went with a Wilhelm
scream and cheap heat. So, um, there's plenty
of stuff for you guys to listen to for those
that are watching, um, this episode or listening
to it. Um, we will be putting out a, uh playlist
shortly where we um where we're going to feature
tracks by bands that we're talking about to kind
of keep the conversation going and um for those
that uh listen to this show but don't have the
time maybe to search some of these albums out
hopefully if they listen to some of the tracks
off of it it will kind of ignite that spark for
them to check the album out um as well Edgar
posted here. And I believe this is from the Night
of Vampire comment. That was the comment that
I was reading to you all earlier. Gotcha. Gotcha.
He's fast. He's very fast. And we have FireDog99
saying hello. Well, hello there, FireDog99. Love
dogs around. Yeah. So, yeah, so it was a fruitful
month. March is shaping up to be a good month
as well. I've already started listening to some
of the things that have come out. And Edgar's
asking you, Ed, what's your favorite Kiss album?
Usually it's the first one. Usually it's the
first one, but there's so many to love there.
You know, Creatures and Destroyer. It's hard
to pick. A lot of times with Kiss, they can depend
on what mood I'm in, though, because they have
different sounds. If I'm on a Saturday morning,
I'm usually in the 80s mood. Play Lick It Up
and Animal Eyes and Asylum. Oh, wow. I didn't
realize that you like those albums. I like them
up to Asylum. Okay. That's how far I hung with
them as a kid. Yeah, yeah, yeah. After that,
it was Slayer all the way. Yeah, I couldn't get
on board of Crazy Nights myself. So I hear you.
I'd like to hear what I thought about the Testament
remaster. Yeah. Yeah. Let's let's give that a
quick shout out. So I went to the store. You
can see there's nothing different. So it was
hard to tell because it doesn't say remastered.
OK, I had to look up the code and go to the.
Front and have the guy front, you know, look
it up and make sure. But the one that I got here,
it's kind of got a. Yeah, I don't know how well
you can see the colors, but yeah, it's cool.
I like it. It's it's purple and blue and red
with a little bit of white in there. But I didn't
get the I have the original original copy and
I didn't get that out and listen to it side by
side yet. But I can't really tell a big difference.
I'm sure there will probably be some more volume
and clarity to some of this, but unlike a lot
of remasters where they might crank up the vocals
some more or the bass too much, they didn't do
any of that stuff. So you can't tell anything
too apparently different. I spent $30 on this,
so that wasn't too bad. You know, it's not so
different in sound that that's the reason to
run out and buy it. It might be something to
buy if you just need a new copy now. Because
I'm pretty sure anything they put out from this
point on is going to be that remastered sound.
And I think I'm probably going to go buy the
new order one, too, when I see it. Because I've
got to have both. And then I also saw today they
announced they're going to do practice what you
preach pretty soon. Yeah. And Souls of Black
as well. Yeah. So, yeah, it's one day I'll do
a side by side just to see what the difference
is. But and also when I've read other people
talking about it, I don't think anybody really
sees a huge difference. But man, this happens
so good. And the songs are so excellent. That
to me is surprising. I mean, I get it. For the
reasons that you mentioned, if people have worn
out copies of the album, also Brian Slagle on
his podcast on 100 Songs That Define Heavy Metal,
he talks about the fact that with Metal Blade,
they've released a bunch of remixes and remasters.
And what gets streamed the most and still bought
the most are the original mixes because that's
what people are... most used to. Now, the reason
that I bring this up is because when I interviewed
Chuck Billy years ago, he said that they hate
the sound of their first few albums because he
feels that, you know, they had, I think, Alex
Perialis did the first few albums. Is that who
produced that? The Legacy? I would look. It's
either Alex Perialis, Max Norman. Let's see.
Alex. Alex Perialis. Okay. Perialis, yeah. And
executive producers, the Zuzulas. Okay. So during
that interview, he mentioned the fact that they
had him foisted on them. that they didn't want
him as a producer. And they've always felt that
albums from Metallica and Megadeth and Slayer
and other thrash bands have aged a lot better
than the Testament albums because they feel that
it isn't representative of what the band sounded
like live. Right. And when they did the First
Strike Still Deadly, they felt that that's the
sound that the band has always had. And that's
the sound that they wanted on those first few
albums. So it's interesting that they're re -releasing
them, but I get it. The label is going to do
that regardless whether the band wants to or
not. For anyone that's bitched about Kiss or
Judas Priest or Ozzy or Maiden or Motley Crue
for re -releasing things or for putting out Crazy
Tits albums or live albums, a lot of times it's
not the band. It's the label wanting to make
more money off of the band. The band, for the
most part, says more money for us as well. OK,
you know, they go along with it. So I'm not saying
that's the case with the Testament, but I'm guessing
that the label probably has a bigger to do with
them releasing that than the band actually actively
looking to have that released. And that's a really
touchy thing is most remasters. I don't. Or when
they do remasters where they do, like I said
earlier, if they make the vocals louder than
you remember them, that annoys me. Or like Dave
Mustaine did with the bass on some of those remixes.
I thought that was just overboard. So I like
it if you can add some more volume, but still
keep everything at those volumes that are in
your memory. Or, and here's a great example.
A band that I used to listen to called The Crucified.
Okay. They have an album they released in 91.
And around 2008 or so, they got the tapes and
they baked them and saved the music and remastered
them. Okay. And it's amazing how much more clear
they made every single instrument. And I was
able to hear the guitar riffs in a way that I
never could on that first mix. But they still
kept the volume levels as far as the relationship
to each instrument was intact. So I like a remaster
that way. But yeah, most of the time, I want
just what I remember growing up on. I don't want
them to change it. I have all these KISS and
ACDC remasters. But they didn't change any volumes
on things or make it sound different in that
way. Well, with the Kiss they did, I wouldn't
like it at all. Yeah, with the Kiss, for example,
with Creatures, they kind of went back to the
original sound because they did release another
version of Creatures where they toned all the
drums down and like... kind of tried to mix it
more like a mid eighties album and it kind of
killed that whole sound. I used to have that
on CD and I got rid of it. Um, now I wish I still
had it. Yeah. It's probably worth $500 now. Yeah.
Who knows? But, um, and then it's funny because
that cover has Bruce Kulik on and people will
say both albums of creatures, the both covers,
neither one has, uh, the actual band that plays
on it on the cover. But, um, uh, the, the one
that's kind of a sticking point for a lot of
kiss fans is, uh, Bob Ezrin going back and remastering
destroyer and doing destroyer resurrected. And
not listen to that one. Yeah. Okay. I actually
really liked that variation of the album. Because
there are certain things that are there in the
music that are hard to decipher with the original
mix, like some of the layerings that were done
with the instruments. So I think that's cool.
I think that he made the album louder and made
it clearer at the same time. Where I think the
vocals are in the same spot. raise the volume
on everything. So everything is in the same place,
but at the same time, he's separated a lot of
the instrumentation where the guitars, where
you can hear all the various guitar parts, you
know, I think that sounds cool. And to your point
with the Megadeth, the Megadeth is just overkill
because I mean, if, if you listen to, for example,
a Holy Wars on something that, has, you know,
a good low end on it. The sub will turn all that
down going crazy because of all of the, um, the
base and the, uh, and the double bass that Nick
Menza is playing. Yeah. And that's without even
touching upon all the stuff that he re -recorded
on there, you know? So you remember that band,
uh, POD payable on death. Yeah. Yeah. Uh -huh.
I like their first couple of records and they
remastered South Town or something like that.
And yeah, they ruined it for me by making the
vocals too loud. And I've, you know, seen that
happen more than once. And yeah, just it's annoying
that that album. See, that would ruin it because
that album is very. like satellite which is the
next album is very clean very polished very loud
whereas that album is hails from the from the
south town or something like that i think is
the title remember actually the one that i'm
thinking of is probably the one their first debut
album which was had probably some of my favorite
my favorite style of pod and um I listened to
that record a lot about the remaster. The vocals
were so high that it just kind of ruined the
music behind it. They may have done the same
with the next one, Southtown. Yeah, the album
with Southtown is where I kind of jumped on with
them. And it's got a certain feel to that album
where I get it. If they've altered the sound
too much, it kind of loses kind of the essence
because they were a hungry. poor band at the
time that was trying to make it. And, and that
song South town and, um, and their cover of U2's
bullet, the blue sky really kind of broke them
out at that time. Yeah. That was a good, yeah.
If you're a POD fan, what my favorite, I think
is an EP, the warriors EP. Okay. 98. Yeah. Yeah.
It's the debut. The Fundamental Elements of Southtown.
That's the album. Yeah, that's their second full
length, and that came out after the EP. Yeah,
I don't know if they remastered that one yet
or not. They probably have by now. Could be.
Jeremy, anything you want to add to the whole
remix -remaster conversation here? Well, I actually
do get... the remastering and i do get a few
of the albums that have been remastered and i
think that you know that the sound quality can
be overall better but i get what you know ed's
saying you know some you've got to compare the
two which i don't always do um but yeah i've
bought a few remastered copies i was just looking
at the testament stuff now while you you guys
were talking and thinking I'd like to get one
or two of those, but sometimes you just wonder
whether you kind of get it because the vinyl
looks amazing and you kind of just want to get
an upgraded copy, but you're not sure whether
the sound is that amazing. Sometimes the original
versions of albums just sound great, don't they?
Yeah. That's how they should sound. Yeah. There's
also the whole factor of, especially the albums
that came out in the 90s where vinyl wasn't coming
out. for some of those albums where now they're
repressing them on vinyl and you're wanting to
get a copy of that on vinyl because it was an
album that you listened to quite a bit at the
time. You know, we're talking about Testament.
I'd really love to get the low album on vinyl,
which I think is a really good album. And I don't
think that was ever released on vinyl. So it'll
be interesting. As the band moves forward with
releasing the remasters and reissues of these
albums to see how far they go. Because also for
a lot of bands, the 90s was a low point and maybe
some of the albums didn't do as well as they
wanted. I was surprised when The Cult released
Beyond Good and Evil last year because for the
longest time they had no... um, ability to get
their hands on that. And once I knew that was
coming out, I knew I had to get, um, cause again,
the band's sign, whatever deals at the time,
and maybe they aren't able to hold onto their
music because of that. You know, they're just
trying to put that album out at that time and
sign some crappy deal and it just doesn't work.
But, um, regardless. We're hoping that you guys
have enjoyed this episode. We hope that some
of the albums that we talked about will, will
turn you on to some new bands. We'll make you
think about some of these bands and maybe some
that we didn't speak as highly of speaking of
myself. Maybe even you listen to some of those
and think, what the hell is he talking about?
I love this album. So the whole idea here is
to, get the discussion going, get you to check
out new music, keep the ball going, you know,
keep the ball rolling and keep interest in this
music that we all love. So on that note, I do
want to thank both Jeremy and Ed. I want to thank
Edgar. I should say Edgar Winterson, who's in
the chat for the most part of the episode. And
anyone else that's here that didn't pronounce
themselves. And that is pretty much it, folks.
Thank you so much for joining us tonight. And
we will see you next time right here on Signals
from Mars. See you, folks. Thank you for listening
to the Signals from Mars podcast. You can subscribe
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for more information. This concludes our show.