The Metal Cell Podcast

Two hundred podcasts on Irish Metal are now officially done and we are joined by one half of The Siege of Limerick team, Mr.John Real. It's always a pleasure to have John on the show and his immense contributions to the Limerick scene and beyond always makes for a interesting episode. Steve Walsh of Grey Stag is another friend of the show so it was brilliant to catch up with the Riff Lord as they prepare for a main stage slot in the Siege. I run through my picks of the day and there's plenty of great contributions from the guests and co-hosts. Hope you enjoyed the episode and I think it's rather fitting that the 200th one falls on the weekend of The Siege of Limerick. Remember to 'SUBSCRIBE' to the show and thanks for your support! Richie.

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It was a pleasure to welcome Peter Humphries of stoner/sludge/doom band Godless Suns to the show. The three piece from England, completed by Sarah on Bass/Vocals and Dan on Drums/mixing/mastering are putting the finishing touches to what promises to be a massive riff laden self titled debut album. The band are well respected veterans of the Greater London scene having played in bands like Zolcalo and Season of the Witch. They have a few appearance racked up in Bloodstock and both Pete and Sarah are also judges on Metal2TheMasses so we get a good insight from Pete about what it takes to catch the judges eye. We discuss plenty of interesting subjects from theology, religion and their upcoming debut appearance in Galway, Ireland. Myself and Danielle really enjoyed Pete's company and it's fair to say his knowledge and passion for Metal knows no boundaries. The album 'Godless Suns' will be released on 25/11/22. Hope you enjoyed the interview and hit that 'SUBSCRIBE' button on the YouTube channel to catch more interviews like this.

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It was a pleasure to welcome Torsten Kinsella (Guitars/Pianos/Synths) of God is an Astronaut to the show. The Irish instrumental/post-rock behemoths have been around for over two decades, and for this special podcast we get to discuss and celebrate the 20th anniversary of their debut album 'The End Of The Beginning'. Myself and Pat O' Regan of The Smashing Skull Sessions chat to Torsten about the latest live interpretation of the album, where the band breathe new life into the record, showcasing how God Is An Astronaut have evolved since their inception.

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The Metal Cell Forums. Join myself, Danielle, Evan and Joe as we talk about bands and discuss topics related to our favourite music....METAL! In this episode we are joined by one half of the organisers of Damnation Festival, Gavin McInally. Damnation Festival is a one-day heavy metal music festival that was annually at the University of Leeds in England, and is organised by Gavin and Paul Farrington. The festival was originally held at Jilly's Rockworld in Manchester in 2005 and this November, it is moving back to the BEC Arena Manchester, which can hold over 4,500 people. We talk to Gavin about this years line-up, the ups and downs of organising such an impressive festival over the years and we get an insight into how bands make the line-up of Damnation.

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It was a pleasure to welcome Eternal Helcaraxes, Praetorian (Guitars/Vox) & Tyrith (Drums) to the Podcast. The Black Metal three piece along Oceans on bass, have released one of the best albums of 2022 in my opinion, with 'Drowned in Ash'. To quote Pat O' of The Smashing Skull Sessions: 'Eternal Helcaraxe have mastered and tailored the black metal genre by crossing imaginary boundaries of blackgaze, post-metal and even classical music to bring us an album that doesn't follow the pack, but leads by example.' The lads give us a track by track preview of all the songs on the new album, along with a brief history of the band and what to expect from them in the next few months. Eternal Helcaraxe take their name from a Tolken book, which means 'grinding ice' and it's very fitting for this new release, so enjoy the interview with Praetorian & Tyrith, check out their link below and buy 'Drowned in Ash', you won't regret it! Please 'SUBSCRIBE' to The Metal Cell YouTube channel for more video interviews. Many thanks Richie.

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It was a pleasure to welcome Daire (Vox/Bass) Charlie & John (Guitars) and new drummer Lachlan of Fornoth to the show. Fornoth have been building up a large following of fans over the past year with an well received appearance in Bloodstock coming off the back of with two terrific releases in April: 'From Across the Moors' e.p and 'Whispers Among the Trees' acoustic e.p. They lay claim to the term 'Bog Metal' but their sound is far more expansive than that as you can imagine; with influences ranging from Agalloch, Mastodon and Horselips thrown in for good measure. We cover a lot of subjects, including a conversation about their new release 'The Ferryman & The Lock Keeper' along with another track 'Stranger to the Sea'. Exciting things are on the horizon for fans of this brilliant Irish Metal band and I hope you take the time to check out their releases on the Bandcamp link I've posted below. If you enjoyed the episode please 'SUBSCRIBE' to The Metal Cell YouTube channel to get more interviews like this. Thanks, Richie.

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HAINT. It was a pleasure to welcome Ian Booth (guitars/vocals) & Steve Hobson (Drums) of the immense Haint. The trio including Darren Lavery (Bass/Vocals) are steadily crafting songs in the background for the last three years and it's only now we are able to hear the fruits of their intense labour. I talk to Ian & Steve about the reasons why it's taken so long to get these tracks out, a well received debut appearance on Bloodstock and some insights into how they go about writing songs. Haint are almost impossible to pin down in relation to their sound but certainly if you are a fan of Mastodon riffs along with Neurosis/Tool you should find comfort within the Haint vortex. Fans of the Northern Ireland based band will be delighted to know that a new single is coming out called 'Hal' along with some exciting gigs on the horizon, so if you enjoyed the interview please 'SUBSCRIBE' to the show! Thanks Richie.

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Myself and Danielle had a brilliant chat with Avi, Killian & Sean guitarists of The Sluagh! The mystique of the band considering they all wear masks along with the ferocity of the music had us intrigued. The Sluagh or Sluagh na marbh ('host of the dead'), were the hosts of the unforgiven dead in Irish and Scottish folklore. The Sluagh have released two studio albums as part of one album cycle, titled ‘Enivid Creatures’. The second album ‘Enivid Creatures 2’ is entirely instrumental and the lads explain their reasons for that and working with Micheal Richards of Trackmix Studios along with Michael La Viola at MLV studios. There was significant experimentation at the onset of writing both albums, drawing inspiration from both classical composers, while also strongly influenced by technical and progressive metal bands. It's an exciting time to chat with The Sluagh considering what they have planned for the next few months so I hope you enjoy the episode and please 'SUBSCRIBE' to The Metal Cell Youtube channel. Thanks Richie.

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It was a pleasure to welcome back Dave Hall (Guitar/Vocals) & Gareth Ruddock (Bass) of Skypilot to the show. We get an exclusive track by track overview of their critically acclaimed new album 'Simple Beasts'. The Northern Irish three piece with Garry McConnell (Drums) completing the line-up have worked hard to get this riff laden eight track album over the line. Recorded at Start Together Studios in late 2021, under the stewardship of renowned engineer and producer Rock O’Reilly, ‘Simple Beasts’ highlights the band’s darker hue, and is their most dramatic work to date. The album was released worldwide via The Distortion Project and Code 7 Distribution on a limited edition digipack CD and all digital formats on Friday 19th August 2022. If you liked this episode please leave a rating on which ever platform you use or simply subscribe to the channel. Thanks Richie.

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It was a pleasure to welcome Saul McMichael & new singer Madre Tortura to the Metal Cell Podcast. Drakonis released an incredible debut album 'Blessed by Embers' in 2020 but the campaign trail for the album got swallowed up by the pandemic. Though their soul is steeped in Black Metal, Drakonis play a fluid version of it, embracing both melody, distorted guitars, blast beats and some tranquil sections which add to the theatre & storytelling aspect of the band. Saul talks about the impact that made on Drakonis and losing two members of the band. However in the murky waters of uncertainty, they found the jewel that is Madre Tortura, who added a new dynamic to the band along with new bassist Chris King. Drakonis have a busy few months ahead of them and the first big date is playing a 12th century church in Cork on 27th of August through Relapse Promotions. It will be the perfect setting to see the band in all it's glory. Hope you enjoy the episode and hit 'SUBSCRIBE' on The Metal Cell YouTube channel for more content like this. Thanks Richie.

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