Mixtape 30 - Impaled

Here is the 30th installment of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with Doktor Ross Sewage of Impaled.

Mixtape 29: Mark Rudolph

Here is the 29th installment of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with illustrator and podcaster Mark Rudolph.

Hate Storm Annihilation Interview

I saw Hate Storm Annihilation on my most recent NY trip, when they opened for Master and Solstice at the Acheron in Brooklyn. Despite their young age and relative newcomer status, they held their own admirably with the veterans. Since I've always been a sucker for this kind of brain melting, unrelenting death metal, I e-mailed some questions to the band, which guitar whiz/vocalist Craig Schmuhl was kind enough to answer (the band is completed by drummer Konstantin Dermendjiev).

Mixtape 26 - The Road to MDF XIII, Part Two

Here is the 26th installment of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring a conversation with my friends Scott Colvin and "Metal Mike" Dabaie as we made our way to Maryland Deathfest.

Mixtape 25 - The Road to MDF XIII, Part One

Mixtape 25 - The Road to MDF XIII, Part One by Dreams Of Consciousness on Mixcloud

Here's the 25th installment of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring a conversation from my ride down to Maryland Deathfest with Josh Landes (Limbs Bin/Infinite Distortion Radio), Jesse Bagels (Spite/Stygian Black Hand Records) and Henry Yuan (Electric Assault Records).

Mixtape 24 - Ghoul

Here is the 24th installment of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with Cremator of Creepsylvanian thrashers Ghoul.

Aesthetic Meditations of Death

As I've pointed out before, the larger culture seems to find much amusement when metal is combined with a seemingly unrelated term; "black metal+chef", "metal dudes+cats", and so on. So it's no surprise that "metal yoga" is not only a thing, but a thing that gets reported on with increasing regularity in the mainstream press. It takes two things that are ripe for parody and combines them in one Mr. Show-ready concept. Let the memes begin.

Mixtape 23 - Cryptopsy

Here is the 23rd installment of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with Matt McGachy of Canadian death metal legends Cryptopsy.

Full of Hell & The Body @ABC No Rio; Cryptopsy & Disgorge @ Nihil Gallery 5.16.2015

The last time I was in ABC No Rio was 13 years ago; there was a hole in the floor near the back of the performance space roughly the size of the average foot. Stare at it for a few seconds and it would spell out "L-A-W-S-U-I-T". Luckily, it's been fixed in the intervening years. Also new: Separate cans for trash and recyclables, showing that anarchy and organized waste management are not mutually exclusive...except in Malaysia, where I've been told that having recycling bins in Rumah Api will not work. Clearly it works for ABC No Rio; are New York punks that different?

Antigama, Drugs of Faith, The Communion & Buckshot Facelift @ Nihil Gallery, Brooklyn 5.13.2015

The Nihil Gallery is a new(ish) venue south of downtown Brooklyn; formerly an art gallery, it's got a bar, some picnic tables to sit around and an adorable little pug who scampered around before the show started, but that's about it. [It's also got a front door without a handle, which I stared at for a full minute before being instructed to get in by pulling on the mail slot]. Which makes it perfect for a metal show. Who needs all the tchotchkes in Saint Vitus or the Acheron's kvlter than thou clientele? The sound at Nihil was great, the space was big, and the bands more than made up for the commute from Woodside.

Mixtape 22: Master

Mixtape 22: Bow to Your Fucking Master by Dreams Of Consciousness on Mixcloud

Here is the 22nd installment of the Dreams of Consciousness podcast, featuring an interview with death metal godfather Paul Speckmann of Master, Death Strike, Krabathor, Abomination...the list goes on.