It has taken light years of travel, but we’ve finally reached Arcturus. For our 140th episode, Radical Research dives into the catalog of one of Norway’s longest-running institutions. Over the course of five full-length albums and a clutch of odds and sods, Arcturus has defined and redefined the possibilities of experimental heavy metal. This episode goes all-in, exploring the entire body of work of this beacon of Norweird.

When we first announced this episode several weeks back, we received several queries from listeners all around the globe who phrased their questions similarly: "Realm? The Milwaukee Realm?": Oh yeah, freaks, the one and only. Near and dear to our hearts, as with other Wisconsin RR favorites Die Kreuzen and Last Crack, this one-hour and 14-minute episode explores, expounds and exhorts the mighty Realm…the Milwaukee one!

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This short episode is one that Jeff has been promising Hunter we’d get to eventually…and we finally did. Herein, Hunter is granted 12 minutes to make a case for this lost and mostly-forgotten ‘90s alterna-metal album, 'Dead to the World' by West Virginia's Chum.

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“And she became a completely different woman…” With that line, Italy’s Monumentum sums up the Radical Research Christmas spirit circa 2025. Supernatural hokum or divine prophecy told by madmen? Either way, screw all this shopping nonsense and screw your reason for the season: this 1995 album by one of the most enigmatic of all Italian enigmas blasts a blasphemous light on everything sacred. And we, here, right now, at the end of a year that began in torture, shine a light. We don’t celebrate anniversaries -- not of the musings of Mammarella & company nor of the birth of the bastard child. Still, we acknowledge the 30 years this uncanny album has sustained us in a way no other can.

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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.

Led by the estimable Percy Jones on bass and supported by a cast of elite co-conspirators, England's Brand X released a covey of essential fusion albums in the '70s and early '80s. Blending rock and jazz with uncommon aggression and dexterity, Brand X cuts across genres and decapitates rivals. Join us on this deep dive into one of fusion's oft-overlooked champions.

Jeff’s Voivod book, Always Moving: The Strange Multiverse of Voivod, is finally available. Taking orders now for this 540-page, 3-pound behemoth…ONLY available HERE: radicalresearch.org/voivod

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For years (yes, we've been doing this a while now), various Radical Research listeners around the globe have asked us, "When is the Dark Millennium episode coming?" For Hunter, this would have been an easy answer: Anytime! For Jeff, a crash course in this interesting, challenging, wholly unique band was in order. Having boned up on the details, Jeff joins Hunter and those RR freakazoid listeners in hailing this band's first two albums, which we dissect readily in this episode. Tangents on Therion and graphite included...

Voivod' is ONLY available HERE: https://www.radicalresearch.org/voivod

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Listener and friend Paul Stolp prompted this conversation/episode, mentioning how he thought a “course correction” episode would be fun. What is a course correction? Paul offered the example of Judas Priest’s Ram it Down being the wipeout and Painkiller being the glorious correction. Naturally, this got our gears turning, and this is the conversation that resulted. As Hunter notes in this episode, “a course correction is not necessarily an achievement, but more that you got back on your path.” (Driving mishap analogies abound in this episode.) And we want to hear from you: what are YOUR favorite examples of the Course Correction?

2023 marks the 40th anniversary of Voivod, a band that are at the very heart of everything we do at Radical Research and everything we listen to as incorrigible music obsessives. In celebration, Voivod released Morgoth Tales, which finds the Mark V lineup (Snake, Away, Chewy, Rocky) covering songs from various past eras. For ourselves, we pay tribute by offering our longest and most in-depth episode yet, while also celebrating a landmark of our own. We invite all chaosmongers, nothingfaces, cockroaches and diehards across the schizophere to join us in celebration of the one, the only, the eternal VOIVOD!!!

The reason for this relaunch of this episode is simple: Jeff's Voivod book ('Always Moving - The Strange Multiverse of Voivod') is imminent! You can reserve your copy of this 3 lb., 540-page behemoth here and ONLY here: radicalresearch.org/voivod/

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Wartech, “Virtual Reality” (demo 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.

Although Ukraine’s Drudkh may be best known for its trance-inducing, minimalist black metal, Radical Research makes a case for the band’s divisive 2009 and 2010 recordings, Microcosmos and A Handful of Stars, which explore new sonic geographies. We believe these oft-maligned records are worth your attention and hope that our discussion will convince you so.

All past Radical Research episodes can be found here, where you can also find Jeff’s Peter Steele book, Soul on Fire…and more to come soon! Radicalresearch.org

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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.

Jeff got this text from Hunter a couple months ago: "Gorguts 'Nostalgia' is a fascinating piece of music. A slice of late '90s avant-death that refers to Pearl Jam, nu metal, noise rock and Indian raga. I mean, Damn!" And I responded, "I mean, damn, that's a great idea for a Point 5 episode." We finally tackle this most important of observations...

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