Hell Bent For Metal

Latest Episodes:

#35 – Wake Up Gay Jul 05, 2021

Show notes

The LGBT+ heavy metal podcast invites on a straight cis male guest for the first time, in the fascinating form of Chris Harms from industrial metallers Lord Of The Lost. And when he's a vocal ally, and is talking about gender nonconformity, and how he realised he was definitely straight by giving homosexuality a try, it turns out to make a hell of a lot of sense.

The risqué queer interpretation of 'Wake Up Dead' is given a thorough seeing-to, as this week's Camp Classic sees the hosts reveal that Dave Mustaine may have accidentally written a song about the experiences of a closeted gay man in the 1980s.

Plus The Nightmare Of Being by melodeath legends At The Gates, and Consolamentum by French post-metal instrumentalists Year Of No Light get added to the jukebox in the Hate Crew Gaybar.

#34 – Kvelertak's Homorotic Horror Jun 28, 2021

Show notes

The LGBT+ heavy metal podcast takes a long, lingering look at the long, lingering close-ups in the video to Kvelertak's breakout video, 'Mjød', and thinks they look more than a lot suggestively homoerotic. Before the horror sequence starts, anyway.

A hidden gem from Greek black metal legends Rotting Christ is also looked at to show why it's gloriously, fabulous relevant to us as queers – and may just be perfect for something we've committed to making happen.

Plus there's a packed Hate Crew Gaybar, as we take a look at Enslaved's Cinematic Tour 2020 live recordings to see if they're good for showing in the bar. Meanwhile Urne's Serpent & Spirit and Amenra's De Doorn are this week's albums for the jukebox.

Meanwhile Tom's in an especially gay mood, and Matt's inner Poirot is at work as his deduction skills are in top form.

#33 – Diamond In The Scruff Jun 21, 2021

Show notes

This week on the LGBT+ heavy metal podcast, we celebrate the time Icelandic post-metal cowboys Sólstafir helped queer representation in metal with their video for 'Love Is The Devil (And I Am In Love)'.

We also take a good gaze into Deftones' 'Diamond Eyes', and reveal the reason Tom immediately thought it was extremely gay .

Plus the additions for the Hate Crew Gaybar jukebox this week are Awakened by Vorvan, and Silver Lake by Esa Holopainen.

Somehow this episode also sees discussions of queer representation in Star Trek: Discovery and Emmerdale, because why on Earth wouldn't it?

#32 – Heavy Rucking Metal Jun 14, 2021

Show notes

Matt talks to Chris Gregory from Belted Sweater, a proudly gay and stylistically unusual project with highly unambiguous lyrics. They chat about why it was so important for the lyrics to be quite so blunt, for the project's style to be what it is, and Chris' concern (or lack thereof) of how the audience might take it.

We discuss two very different queer interpretations of Black Sabbath's classic 'Die Young', one very positive, and the other absolutely not. And one of which Tom owes to the Blood & Mud podcast making a joke about a Welsh rugby union coach. Sort of.

There's also some news about the man from the Caucasus who Matt's trying to singlehandedly bankroll, and some responses to our discussion of Pride from last week's show.

Plus Flyblown Prince by Code and …And Again Into The Light by Panopticon are this week's pick for the Hate Crew Gaybar jukebox, and after a lot of agreeing this week, we finally have a good old bicker.

#31 – We Don't Belong At Pride Jun 07, 2021

Show notes

The LGBT+ heavy metal podcast celebrates Pride month… by explaining why we two metalheads don't feel welcome there, and why being metalheads is a big part of this. We also suggest what we could do to improve this – and accidentally commit to one of those steps.

We also take a look at the most famous song from Dimmu Borgir's classic Death Cult Armageddon, the anthemic 'Progenies Of The Great Apocalypse', and why it speaks to us as queers, in this week's Camp Classic feature.

Plus All My Dreams Came True by Wreche and Solace by Neurotech are this week's addition to the Hate Crew Gaybar jukebox.

#30 – Why Does Metal Attract So Many Homophobes? Jun 01, 2021

Show notes

Fashionably late, the LGBT+ heavy metal podcast takes a little diversion from the usual format to field your questions, such as just why metal has so many homophobes, how other queers react to finding out we're metallers, and how easy it is for us gays to meet potential partners.

We still take our usual visit to the Hate Crew Gaybar though, where Es Grauet by Ungfell and Wretched Abyss by Noctule are added to the jukebox.

Oh, and we've got a fairly major announcement about the future of the podcast…

#29 – "Keep Quiet About That Gay Stuff" May 24, 2021

Show notes

Hal Sinden, Talanas frontman and Eulogy Media head, talks to Tom about becoming progressively more overt about his sexuality. He also recalls some of the bad experiences he's had along the way, including when a publicist told him not to discuss "that gay stuff".

Tom and Matt also take a look at 'Enchantment', the opening track on Paradise Lost's goth metal classic Draconian Times, about the myriad ways it speaks to us as queers.

Plus the HCGB jukebox gets two new additions, in the shape of Ice Fleet by Kauan, and Culling Culture by Vexed.

Bizarrely, this episode contains surprisingly little discussion of the Eurovision Song Contest.

#28 – In My Kingdom (Violet) Cold May 17, 2021

Show notes

The LGBT+ heavy metal podcasts gets emotional as Matt & Tom discuss a brand new statement of support for the LGBT+ community, in the shape of Violet Cold's new album Empire Of Love.

The title track from Oceans Of Slumber's album Winter is also revealed to have not one but two separate ways it spoke to us as queers.

Plus the Hate Crew Gaybar jukebox this week has three new additions, with Fixation by The Ember, The Ash, The Baring Of Shadows by Kardashev, and Har by Dordeduh all get discussed and admitted.

Which does mean we may have set a record for the most languages mangled by Tom in an episode…

#27 – Man On Man II: The Happy One May 10, 2021

Show notes

We discuss Man On Man again – but unlike the last time, this one's for positive reasons, as we talk to Roddy Bottum and Joey Holman about their gloriously gay project, and why it matters.

Our Camp Classic this week is the time-travelling oddity 'Save Us From Those Who Would Save Us' by Hell (the NWOBHM act Andy Sneap revived) from their 2011 via 1983 album Human Remains. And while this one has wide queer relevance, it's of particular relevant to the experience of one half of the podcast.

Plus the HCGB jukebox sees Matt add Fortitude by Gojira, and Tom add VII – Kenoma by Fyrnask.

#26 – Buffy The Vampire SLAY-ER! SLAY-ER! May 03, 2021

Show notes

There's a twist on the LGBT+ metal podcast this week, as having spent ages explaining bits of metal we hear differently because we're queer, this week we're going to talk about something queer we see differently because we're metalheads, starting off with Buffy The Vampire Slayer, with its groundbreaking lesbian representation.

This week's Camp Classic sees Tom inevitably talking about Immortal, as 'Damned In Black' gets looked at through gay eyes.

Plus the HCGB jukebox gets new additions in the shape of Benthos' debut album II, and the long-awaited third Ageless Oblivion album, Suspended Between Earth And Sky.

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