Metal Brainiac

Mallika Sundaramurthy, vocalist of Massachusetts technical death band Abnormality, talks art, politics and working like an athlete to develop her sub-guttural growl. The band has just released its second full-length album, "Mechanisms of Omniscience."

Mallika Sundaramurthy, vocalist of Massachusetts technical death band Abnormality, talks art, politics and working like an athlete to develop her sub-guttural growl. The band has just released its second full-length album, "Mechanisms of Omniscience."

Nate Garnette and his bandmates in Skeletonwitch fired Nate's brother, vocalist Chance Garnette, after 11 years together. That was in April 2015, prompting a deep gut check within the band. In this interview, Nate and fellow guitarist Scott Hedrick talk about the emotional, psychological and artistic impacts of the split and where Skeletonwitch is today.

Chaney Crabb’s audition video for Veil of Maya didn’t land her the microphone in that band, but it did catch the attention of a lot of other musicians—including her bandmates in the new outfit Entheos. Chaney’s deep vocal growl and register have crushed any doubters who might believe her gender keeps her from anyone’s definition of heavy.

Over three decades of near misses and missed trends, New York band Prong has found new life with stellar back-to-back albums. Prong mastermind Tommy Victor talks about the band's past and present and how Glenn Danzig and Al Jourgensen rescued him at his darkest hour.

Marc Görtz, the guitarist, songwriter and mastermind of Caliban, orbits the creative process behind the German band's 10th album, "Gravity." The album hits stores March 25.

Robin Staps, guitarist and songwriter for the German band The Ocean, bristles at the description of his music as progressive. But there’s no denying the thoughtful, technical and conceptually rich music Staps creates. We talk with Robin about life and art in Berlin and how his academic background in geography plays into the oceanic themes of his music.

Holy Grail guitarist Eli Santana has a background in classical music and reggae and he’s even performed on a country music album. Still, as you'll hear in this interview, there’s no confusing where his heart resides. The progressive, melodic thrash band is touring to support its new album, "Times of Pride and Peril."

Singer Michael Ciccia initially wanted nothing to do with Canadian progressive outfit Mandroid Echostar. Now their chemistry has given birth to a rising metal upstart. Also, in this episode, learn about L.A. metal band Toothgrinder. Both bands have just turned out their first full-length albums.

Astrophysics, philosophy and religion aren’t everyday explorations in death metal. But as we find out in this fascinating conversation, German guitarist, vocalist and composer Steffen Kummerer is no ordinary death metal musician. We dive deep with Steffen about his band Obscura and their fourth and brand new album of heady death metal, called “Akroasis.”