Feckin’ Metal Podcast

I catch up with Rob, Tim, and Jarvis from Cirith Ungol/Night Demon regarding recent happenings with both bands, and look towards next week's Frost & Fireland Festival in Limerick, Ireland. Learn how the fellas nearly caught Venereal Disease in Australia, made women cry in China, and what James Bond has in common with Cirith Ungol. We also discuss Night Demon's recent touring activity and support slots with Bruce Dickinson and Michael Schenker. 

On this episode, I chat to Dave Morrissey: guitarist, and founding-member of Irish trad-metallers Celtic Legacy. This band have been around the block more than a few times and have suffered numerous setbacks, but they're still standing. Dave and his counterpart, Dave "Slim" Boylan have kept the ship afloat during many trials and tribulations, also known as the "Celtic Legacy Curse". Throughout all of this, they have continued to release excellent albums, and kept a positive attitude. Celtic Legacy are survivors. They will not back down and will not take no for an answer. And they may just have their best line-up yet. 

On the latest episode of Feckin' Metal, I chat to Graham Killin, one of the two guitarists of NWOBHM band, Bleak House. If you're not familiar with the band, this is the perfect place to start. Formed in the early 1970s, in Hertfordshire, England, they survived many name changes, and the emergence of punk, to release two critically-acclaimed, but relatively-obscure EPs in the 1980s, then disappeared. That was until singer Graham Shaw received a phonecall from Oliver Weinsheimer, organiser of the Keep It True Festival, in early 2021. Since then, they've been on the up and up, and we cover all bases in between.

On the latest episode of Feckin' Metal, I catch up with Steven Waddell from Oath Sc, and we discuss recent activity from his band, then delve into recent releases by Blaze Bayley and Bruce Dickinson, with a brief chat about the latest Judas Priest album/tour as well.

I also give a detailed rundown of my recent trip to Germany to attend Keep It True XXIV, and a swift rundown of Bruce Dickinson in Glasgow!

On this episode, I chat to Yves Bradler, guitarist from up-and-coming traditional heavy metal band Amethyst. Amethyst made waves in 2023 with their excellent debut EP "Rock Knights". I chat to Yves about his early exposure to rock music from listening to his parents' record collections, starting to play guitar in his teens, feeling isolated at this time due to lack of likeminded friends, then meeting a new group of people in his 20s when he started attending metal festivals. We also discuss the upcoming Amethyst album, and upcoming festival appearances and gigs for this year. Amethyst are definitely one to watch.

On this episode, I join forces with my friend Melissa from the Metal Chat Podcast to delve into the discography of the original incarnation of Sortilège. We discuss how we discovered the band, rate them against their contemporaries, and examine each of the first three releases: Sortilège, Métamorphose, and Larmes de Héros, playing clips from some of our favourite songs along the way. An ideal introduction for the uninitiated. 

This is the third and final part of my interview with DJ Neal Kay. Here, like in previous installments, we discuss many topics, including:

-Getting white labels from record companies

Buy Neal's book!

Contact Stjepan Juras at [email protected]

Clips featured in episode:

1. Iron Maiden - "Iron Maiden" - The Soundhouse Tapes (1979)

Continuing on from last week, here Neal covers his first interactions with Iron Maiden, and what set them apart from the rest of the NWOBHM pack. He also talks about his various dealings with record labels and A&R folk (that's artist and repertoire, you know), how Glenn Miller's Orchestra and Buddy Holly influenced heavy metal, Def Leppard's place in the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, and a lot more.

Buy Neal's book!

Contact Stjepan Juras at [email protected]

Clips featured in episode:

1. The Damned - "Love Song" - Machine Gun Etiquette (1979)

This episode features the first part of a lengthy interview I conducted with DJ Neal Kay back in December of last year. Famous for his involvement in Iron Maiden's early success, Neal's name will be familiar to many. Here, Neal discusses the early start of his DJing career, and brings us right up to the point where he got a five days per week residency in The Bandwagon, home of the Heavy Metal Soundhouse, in Kingsbury, London. Along the way he tells numerous stories of his early DJing career, mentioning how he felt Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band changed the face of popular music, the influence of Leo Fender and Les Paul, working the Berlin club scene in 1969, music changing again with the evolution of disco and punk, and a serendipitous event which resulted in his five nights per week slot in the Bandwagon. Enjoy!

Buy Neal's book!

Contact Stjepan Juras at [email protected]

Clips featured in episode:

1. Iron Maiden - "Prowler" - The Soundhouse Tapes (1979)

This episode brings to a close my 2023 wrap-up with George Silano. Here we discuss more releases from 2023, including Tomb Mold, Green Lung, Amethyst (I know it was 2022, before you write in), King Gizzard And The Wizzard Lizard, and more.

Also featuring: Death metal chat, ennui in Swedish metal, Jim Ross references, more learning for me, ridiculous album names, and enormous discographies. Enjoy!

Clips featured in episode:

1. Tomb Mold - "Will Of Whispers" - The Enduring Spirit (2023)

2. Heavy Load - "Ride The Night" - Riders Of The Ancient Storm (2023)

3. Green Lung - "Maxine (Witch Queen)" - This Heathen Land (2023)

4. Green Lung - "One For Sorrow" - This Heathen Land (2023)

5. Amethyst - "Chasing Shadows" - Rock Knights (2022)

6. King Gizzard & The Wizard Lizard - "Witchcraft" - PetroDragonic Apocalypse; Or, Dawn Of Eternal Night: An Annihilation Of Planet Earth And The Beginning Of Merciless Damnation (2023)

7. High Spirits - "Til The End Of Time" - Safe On The Other Side (2023)

8. High Spirits - "Now I Know" - Hard To Stop (2020)

9. Night Demon - "Obsidian" - Outsider (2023)

10. Black Sabbath - "Cross Of Thorns" - Cross Purposes (1994)