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 of Abnormality: A living contrast to the norm

Otep Shamaya is perhaps the only true protest artist in metal. On the heels of her seventh studio album, “Generation Doom,” Otep talks about her politics, her bouts with the music industry, the deep personal impact she’s had on her fans and the biases against women she sees and experiences within the metal.


Otep Shamaya: Metal's leading protest artist

Kristof Bathory recently became an Ambassador with the Greater Church of Lucifer, so it would be easy to cast the music he creates as evangelistic evil. But in this conversation, Bathory describes his personal and creative turns as positive maturity and, today, he views his band, Dawn of Ashes, as working to lead listeners to self-empowerment.

Kristof Bathory and the new evangelism of Dawn of Ashes

In 2001, the band Ill Nino released its debut album “Revolution”—and at the time, a revolution is exactly what it seemed like, an American band of Hispanics performing a melodic, Latin-inflected metal. Ill Nino bassist Lazaro Pina talks about reviving that album on the band's current US tour, along with the band's artistic evolution and current cultural relevance.

Lazaro Pina of Ill Nino: Remembering and re-igniting 'Revolución'

Jesse Zuretti suffered such a deep and suffocating depression that it threatened his livelihood and his life. He channeled much of what he experienced into his guitar, and the music he created became “Moonsblood,” the new technical, melodic death album from the New Jersey outfit Binary Code. Hear Jesse talk in detail about pouring his pain into his music.

Jesse Zuretti of Binary Code and the 'Moonsblood' of depression

If National Public Radio had a show about heavy metal, it would be "Metal Brainiac." Host Matt Peiken treats metal as an art form filled with expression, imagination and virtuosity. In every half-hour podcast, Peiken and his guests dive deep into the artistic process through intelligent, revealing conversations. 

Metal Brainiac

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