Radical Research Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Episode 85 – 3D Blasphemy: Abigor’s Infernal Reaping Sep 15, 2022

Show notes

Miles away from the torchlight of Norway, Austria’s mysterious Abigor spent their time in the ‘90s not generating headlines but rather plying their heretical craft in virtual secrecy. The band’s album-to-album evolutionary leaps bear the mark of restless and visionary minds. This notion is confirmed by the group’s radical reinvention of itself in the mid-aughts. The 85th episode of Radical Research takes a close look at Abigor’s progress over the course of a decade-and-a-half of three-dimensional blasphemy.

Note I:

The beginning of this episode wasn’t planned but we decided to keep it in, regardless of it probably sounding wildly out of context. It just had to be said, about the Wario/Abigor thing, the joys of salted watermelon and other whatnots. If you want to skip all the nonsense, we begin proper Abigor discussion at the 8:15 mark. And here’s a link to that Super Mario Wiki page, regarding the Wario/Abigor image and info we stumbled upon: https://www.mariowiki.com/Abigor

Note II:

Jeff guesses that last year’s first-ever vinyl issue of Channeling the Quintessence of Satan goes for about $80 now. Wrong. Try $300: https://www.discogs.com/release/17685616-Abigor-Channeling-The-Quintessence-Of-Satan

Note III:

Tell us about your dragon magic, write: radicalresearchpodcast@gmail.com

Note IV:

Please consider donating if you listen to Radical Research often: https://www.paypal.me/rrpodcast We also have a webstore where you can find shirts, CDs, and books:

https://www.radicalresearch.org/shop/

We actually pay for music with our own personal finances, NOT Radical Research donations, as portrayed in this episode. Donations help defray hosting costs, Zoom costs, equipment costs, etc.

Music cited, in order of appearance:

“Temptation II: Stasis” (Leytmotif Luzifer, 2014)

“Eye to Eye at Armageddon” (Verwustung / Invoke the Dark Age, 1994)

“Part I” (Time is the Sulphur in the Veins of the Saint, 2010)

“Part II” (Time is the Sulphur in the Veins of the Saint, 2010) “As Astral Images Darken Reality” (Nachthymnen – From the Twilight Kingdom, 1995) “Cold Void Choir” (Fractal Possession, 2007)

“Mirages for the Eyes of the Blind” (Opus IV, 1996) “The Elder God (My Dragon Magic)” (Opus IV, 1996) “Eclipse My Heart, Crown Me King” (Supreme Immortal Art, 1998)

“Magic Glass Monument” (Supreme Immortal Art, 1998)

“Equilibrium Pass By” (Channeling the Quintessence of Satan, 1999)

Episode 84 – Gigan 2007-2017: A Decade of Brain-Frying Cosmic Escapism Aug 19, 2022

Show notes

Radical Research spends much of its time plundering the most mind-bending sounds in rock and metal. On our 84th episode, we go several light years farther in our quest for psychic devastation as we survey and discuss the improbable body of work amassed by Chicago’s Gigan. As forbidding and violent as the character from which it derives its name, Gigan’s music blends savagery and psychedelia with skill and compositional might that have no peers. If you survive this episode, you can consider yourself a veteran of the psychic wars.

Note I:

We recorded this together, at Jeff’s place, in Greensboro, NC. Hence some occasional volume differentiation on our voices. It was a completely off-the-cuff, hardly-formal approach.

Note II: We contacted Eric Hersemann after recording this episode. The Gigan mastermind tells us that the band is alive and well, and will be entering the studio this fall for album #5.

Note III:

If you knew immediately that Jeff was wrong when referring to Steel Attack as German (they’re Swedish), you definitely know too much.

Note IV:

Please consider donating if you listen to Radical Research often: https://www.paypal.me/rrpodcast We also have a webstore where you can find shirts, CDs, and books:

https://www.radicalresearch.org/shop/

Music cited, in order of appearance:

[all music by Gigan except where otherwise noted]

“The Oracle of Orson” (Footsteps of Gigan, 2007) “Space Coffin Hallucinations” (The Order of the False Eye, 2008)

“Hiding Behind the House of Mirrors” (The Order of the False Eye, 2008) The Universe Divide, “Day 4” (2014 demo)

“Suspended in Cubes of Torment” (Quasi-Hallucinogenic Sonic Landscapes, 2011)

“Skeletons of Steel, Timber and Blackened Granite” (Quasi-Hallucinogenic Sonic Landscapes, 2011)

“Influence Through Ritualistic Projection” (Multi-Dimensional Fractal Sorcery and Super Science, 2013)

“Mother of Toads” (Multi-Dimensional Fractal Sorcery and Super Science, 2013)

“Wade Forward Through Matter and Backwards Through Time” (Undulating Waves of Rainbiotic Iridescence, 2017)

“Hyperjump-Ritual Madness” (Undulating Waves of Rainbiotic Iridescence, 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.

Episode 83.5 – Metal Laughs Aug 10, 2022

Show notes

Metal is serious business. So why so much laughter? We don’t really have the answer, but here’s the first installment of some of our favorite metal laughs. There are more and we’ll revisit this silly topic at some future point in time.

Note I:

As promised in the episode, here’s a link to a wealth of laughs by Mr. King Diamond. Praise be to the person who built this insane collage. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qh3juX_RdQ0

Note II:

We enjoyed getting back to the bite-size point-five episode format. Here are our other ones from the distant past, still worth a listen, wethinks!

5.5 (7 min, 10 sec) https://www.radicalresearch.org/episode-5-5-calling-dr-morpheus-the-kiss-nuclear-death-convergence/

17.5 (10 min, 59 sec) https://www.radicalresearch.org/episode-17-5-the-curious-the-uncanny/

23.5 (9 min, 28 sec) https://www.radicalresearch.org/episode-23-5-mystery-snippets/

41.5 (13 min, 51 sec)

https://www.radicalresearch.org/episode-41-5-mystery-snippets-pt-2/ Note III:

Please consider donating if you listen to Radical Research often: https://www.paypal.me/rrpodcast We also have a webstore where you can find shirts, CDs, and books:

https://www.radicalresearch.org/shop/

Music cited, in order of appearance:

King Diamond, “Bye, Bye Missy” (Them, 1988) Testament, “C.O.T.L.O.D.” (The Legacy, 1987)

Lost Horizon, “Sworn to the Metal Wind” (Awakening the World, 2001)

Massacre, “Aggressive Tyrant” (Aggressive Tyrant demo, 1986)

Megadeth, “In My Darkest Hour” (So Far, So Good…So What, 1988) 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.

Episode 83 – Skin Yard 1986-1993: Fist Sized Snippets Jul 27, 2022

Show notes

The soils of Seattle rock have been tilled to ruin, the same seeds planted season after season. Radical Research has come to rotate the crops. Of the artists to emerge from the primordial welter of 1980s Seattle, few have been neglected so criminally as Skin Yard. The band's membership forms a constellation the likes of which can hardly be rivaled -- Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Screaming Trees, Gruntruck, C/Z Records, The Deep Six compilation, and the production empire of guitarist Jack Endino. Our 83rd episode takes a long, hard look at the collective works of Skin Yard, evaluated on their own merit and also set against the kaleidoscopic backdrop of the American experimental rock boom of the late ‘80s and early’ 90s. Please join us as we do our best to give bandwidth and volume to an unsung great.

Note I:

Please consider donating if you listen to Radical Research often: https://www.paypal.me/rrpodcast We also have a webstore where you can find shirts, CDs, and books:

https://www.radicalresearch.org/shop/

Music cited, in order of appearance:

“Skins in My Closet” (Skin Yard, 1987) “The Blind Leading the Blind” (Skin Yard, 1987) “Jabberwocky” (Skin Yard, 1987) “G.O.D.” (Hallowed Ground, 1988) “In the Blackhouse” (Hallowed Ground, 1988) “Slow Runner” (Fist Sized Chunks, 1990) “No Control” (Fist Sized Chunks, 1990) “Gentle Collapse” (Fist Sized Chunks, 1990) “River Throat” (1000 Smiling Knuckles, 1991) “Words on Bone” (1000 Smiling Knuckles, 1991) “Burn a Hole” (1000 Smiling Knuckles, 1991) “Wait for More” (Inside the Eye, 1993) “Slow Dive” (Inside the Eye, 1993) “1000 Smiling Knuckles” (1000 Smiling Knuckles, 1991) 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.

Episode 82 – Fates Warning: An Impromptu Discussion Jun 27, 2022

Show notes

In anticipation of Destination Onward – The Story of Fates Warning and its publication in July, 2022, the author, Jeff Wagner, and Radical Research co-host, Hunter Ginn, sit down and talk about Fates Warning. It’s far from the first time we’ve discussed Fates Warning together, but it’s the first time we’ve gone into an episode of Radical Research with absolutely no plan. We didn’t even know what snippets we’d feature until after the conversation wrapped up. This is not intended to be an exhaustive or final-word survey on this legendary band’s output. It is, quite simply, and like many of our episodes, a love letter. Note I:

You can buy Jeff’s book, Destination Onward – The Story of Fates Warning, right here:

www.fateswarningbook.com

Note II:

Of all the ridiculously nerdy things we’ve said over 82 episodes, perhaps the nerdiest comes in this episode, at 11:05, courtesy of Hunter. The “Borivoj Krgin 1990 to mid-1994” comment. “Mid”??? That’s incredibly specific, Radish.

Note III:

Please consider donating if you listen to Radical Research often: https://www.paypal.me/rrpodcast We also have a webstore where you can find shirts, CDs, and books:

https://www.radicalresearch.org/shop/

Music cited, in order of appearance:

[all songs by Fates Warning unless otherwise noted]

“Damnation” (Night on Brocken, 1984)

“The Apparition” (The Spectre Within, 1985)

“Don’t Follow Me” (Parallels, 1991) “Part of the Machine” (Perfect Symmetry, 1989)

“Shades of Heavenly Death” (No Exit, 1988) While Heaven Wept, “To Wander the Void” (Vast Oceans Lachrymose, 2009)

John Arch, “Relentless” (A Twist of Fate, 2003)

“Monument” (Inside Out, 1994)

“Still Remains” (Live Over Europe, 2018)

“A Pleasant Shade of Gray, XII” (Still Life, 1998) “River Wide, Ocean Deep” (FWX, 2003)

“Like Stars Our Eyes Have Seen” (Theories of Flight, 2016) “Exodus” (Awaken the Guardian, 1986) 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.

Episode 81 – Dave Murray, Drummer! (Traun, Estradasphere, Tholus, Sculptured) Jun 09, 2022

Show notes

How California-based drummer, Dave Murray, has escaped the notice of several more tens of thousands of people worldwide, we cannot say. We recognize an extraordinary talent in Murray, not only as a musician, but as a composer and crucial cog in a small but rarefied selection of projects. In our 81st episode, we try our best to give Murray his due. You can do your job by lending an ear to our musings and ramblings, and then, if you’re so moved, opening your wallet to support his work if you have not already done so. Note I: There’s no excuse for not clicking these links and buying/supporting these projects:

Tholus, Constant:

https://www.discogs.com/master/1096046-Tholus-ConstantTraun

Traun, Bandcamp:

https://traun.bandcamp.com/

Note II:

Dave's also in a band called High Castle Teleorkestra. We have yet to explore, but you know we will sooner than later.

Note III:

This episode has a few peculiar diversions, tangents and surprises. First, we really do want to release a Coroner 10” on Radical Research Records one day, as well as the first-ever physical manifestations of Traun’s works. We also stump/surprise ourselves with the parallels revealed between Traun’s “The Uncompromising Blizzard” and Tholus’s “Involuntary” (and then even later in Traun’s “Brig to Nowhere”). Finally, not having a plan for episode 82, we map out the next four episodes on the spot. So now you know which ones to skip and which ones to listen to. (We hope you check all of them out.)

Note IV:

Please consider donating if you listen to Radical Research often: https://www.paypal.me/rrpodcast We also have a webstore where you can find shirts, CDs, and books:

https://www.radicalresearch.org/shop/

Music cited, in order of appearance:

Estradasphere, “The Bounty Hunter” (Buck Fever, 2001) Estradasphere, “Millennium Child” (Buck Fever, 2001)

Tholus, “Protocultures” (Constant, 2007)

Tholus, “Involuntary” (Constant, 2007)

Tholus, “Speculum of the New Race” (Constant, 2007)

Sculptured, “Taking My Body Apart” (Embodiment, 2008)

Traun, “Escape from the Crystal Caverns” (Part III: The Lilac Moon, 2003)

Traun, “The Uncompromising Blizzard” (Part III: The Lilac Moon, 2003)

Traun, “Inn of the Dreaded Hippie” (The Lilac Moon, 2017)

Traun, “Brig to Nowhere” (The Lilac Moon, 2017)

Traun, “An Undisclosed Location” (The Black Metal Princess, 2017)

Traun, “The Terrace Computer” (The Black Metal Princess, 2017)

Traun, “Making Haste” (Escape from Spa 9, 2017)

Traun, “Mayor of Ghost Town” (Escape from Spa 9, 2017)

Traun

Episode 80 – Supuration 1990-1994: Sojourns in the Absurd May 16, 2022

Show notes

For our 80th episode, Radical Research detaches itself from the icy grips of Norway and takes a sojourn southward to France, a country whose history with death metal gives priority to quality over quantity. From 1990-1994, the chronically-underrated Supuration were busy at work creating their own, private death metal universe, in which brutal churning, otherworldly melody, robotic vocals, and psychedelic drift collided to create a new kind of Science Friction. This episode traces the band’s evolutionary arc from the Sultry Obsession demo to the Still in the Sphere EP, which concluded Supuration’s first phase. As is the case with many of Radical Research’s favorite artists, we are saddened by Supuration’s lack of critical and popular acknowledgement and are here to bring truth to the Legions.

Note I:

Please consider donating if you listen to Radical Research often: https://www.paypal.me/rrpodcast We also have a webstore where you can find shirts, CDs, and books:

https://www.radicalresearch.org/shop/

Music cited, in order of appearance:

“Sultry Obsession” (Sultry Obsession demo, 1990) “Ephemeral Paradise” (August 1991 sessions) “In Remembrance of a Coma” (August 1991 sessions) “Isolated” (August 1991 sessions) “Sojourn in the Absurd” (August 1991 sessions) “1308.Jp.08“ (May 1992 recording) “The Elevation” (The Cube, 1993) “The Cube” (The Cube, 1993)

“The Accomplishment” (The Cube, 1993) “4TX.31B” (The Cube, 1993) “The Cleansing” (Still in the Sphere, 1994)

“Back from the Garden” (Still in the Sphere, 1994)

“Shout” (Still in the Sphere, 1994)

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.

Episode 79 – Simen Hestnaes aka ICS Vortex: 25 Years of Agility and Quirk Apr 26, 2022

Show notes

For the final installment of our 6-episode Norwegian tour across this most creatively-fertile country, Radical Research surveys the career of Simen Hestnaes. Working both under his given name, as well as his better-known nom de l'acier, ICS Vortex, Simen has assembled a large and exceptional body of work that stakes claim in the metallic regions of black, doom, prog, avant, and beyond. Episode 79, accordingly, finds Radical Research operating in its most voluptuous mode, suited to indulge this similarly-Rubenesque assemblage of Simen-splashed audio titillation.

Note I:

That’s Jeff’s cat, Cora (aka Corgoroth), mewing at the 1:30:32 mark.

Note II:

Please consider donating if you listen to Radical Research often: https://www.paypal.me/rrpodcast We also have a webstore where you can find shirts, CDs, and books:

https://www.radicalresearch.org/shop/

Music cited, in order of appearance:

Lamented Souls – “Var” (1995 recording) Lamented Souls – “Essence of Wounds” (1997 recording) Borknagar – “Oceans Rise” (The Archaic Course, 1998)

Borknagar – “Universal” (The Archaic Course, 1998)

Borknagar – “The Black Token” (The Archaic Course, 1998) Borknagar – “Colossus” (Quintessence, 2000)

Borknagar – “Revolt” (Quintessence, 2000) Borknagar – “Up North” (True North, 2019) Dimmu Borgir – “The Insight and the Catharsis” (Spiritual Black Dimensions, 1999)

Dimmu Borgir – “Kings of the Carnival Creation” (Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia, 2001) ICS Vortex – “Storm Seeker” (Storm Seeker, 2011)

Arcturus – “The Chaos Path” (La Masquerade Infernale, 1997) Arcturus – “Shipwrecked Frontier Pioneer” (Sideshow Symphonies, 2005) Arcturus – “The Arcturian Sign” (Arcturian, 2015) Arcturus – “Crashland” (Arcturian, 2015) Arcturus – “Pale” (Arcturian, 2015) Lamented Souls - "Hybris" (1997 recording)

Episode 78 – Enslaved’s Monumension: Floating Diversity & Monumental Dimensions Mar 31, 2022

Show notes

We love Enslaved. They are a rare long-running band that, in our estimation, have not released a bad album. Of their 15 full-lengths to date, your Radical Research hosts highly rank their sixth album, 2001’s Monumension: it’s Ginn’s #2 (just behind Eld, 1997) and Wagner’s #1 (in front of Isa, 2004). Curiously, it was perhaps the most lambasted, misunderstood and contentious of Enslaved’s early era. But we don’t much care about all that: we place it on pedestals most high. It’s certainly good enough for us. Join us in a celebration of the mighty Monumension.

Note I:

Please consider donating if you listen to Radical Research often: https://www.paypal.me/rrpodcast We also have a webstore where you can find shirts, CDs, and books:

https://www.radicalresearch.org/shop/

Music cited, in order of appearance:

[all titles from Enslaved – Monumension, 2001]

“Convoys to Nothingness”

“The Voices”

“Vision: Sphere of the Elements – A Monument Part II”

“Hollow Inside”

“The Cromlech Gate”

“Enemy I”

“Smirr”

“The Sleep: Floating Diversity – A Monument Part III”

“Outro: Self – Zero”

“Sigmundskvadet”

Episode 79 preview: Lamented Souls, “Essence of Wounds” (1997 recording) 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.

Episode 77 – Wobbler 2005-2020: Seeing the Forest & the Trees Mar 21, 2022

Show notes

To date, Radical Research has made more trips to Norway than any other country. But, typically, we spend our time in the shadowy realms of post-black metal. For our 77th episode, we travel to the green pastures of Honefoss, in search of Wobbler, Norway’s preeminent progressive rock export. Having made five albums since forming in 1999, which at once pay homage to the legends of the '70s and occupy a thoroughly contemporary space on the rock spectrum, the time has long come for a proper investigation into the band’s work. All travelers are welcome but synth whores should take particular note.

Note I: Visit Laser’s Edge for all your Wobbler needs: https://www.lasercd.com/search_results?fulltext=Wobbler Note II: Please consider donating if you listen to Radical Research often: https://www.paypal.me/rrpodcast We also have a webstore where you can find shirts, CDs, and books: https://www.radicalresearch.org/shop/

Music cited in order of appearance: “Hinterland” (Hinterland, 2005) “Rubato Industry” (Hinterland, 2005) “Clair Obscur” (Hinterland, 2005) “Imperial Winter White” (Afterglow, 2009) “In Taberna” (Afterglow, 2009) “La Bealtaine” (Rites at Dawn, 2011) “This Past Presence” (Rites at Dawn, 2011) “The River” (Rites at Dawn, 2011) “From Silence to Somewhere” (From Silence to Somewhere, 2017) “Fermented Hours” (From Silence to Somewhere, 2017) “Foxlight” (From Silence to Somewhere, 2017) “Five Rooms” (Dwellers of the Deep, 2020) “Merry Macabre” (Dwellers of the Deep, 2020)

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