Diary of Doom

Ah, the 90s. A time when heavy metal was trying to figure out just what the hell it was actually doing. As nu-metal became the reigning champ of the time, a holdover from the 80s went in another direction. Twisted Sister's own Dee Snider wrote and starred in a horror movie entitled Strangeland. It is arguably the first flick to boast a largely nu-metal soundtrack which also features the likes of Megadeth, Pantera, and Nashville Pussy somehow. Directed by a fella named Pieplower, it follows the capers of one sadistic dude named Captain Howdy (yep, that's Dee Snider) as he bounces around the early days of the internet to torture his victims in manners inspired by the modern primitive movement. We just think Dee Snider was watching a lot of Ripley's Believe It or Not. Joining Dylan for this barrel of laughs is Shayne Mathis as they bear witness to Bile not performing while performing, dead wife puppets, bedpans full of piss, and Dee Snider's big rubber chest.

Ever wonder how Danzig perceives the world? If you watch Verotika, as we did, you might find out. Happy Halloween and up yours, Glenn.

Hoo boy, where do we even start with this one? In 2017, Ash Avildsen, the head of Sumerian Records and son of the guy who directed Rocky, conjured into this world American Satan against all of our wishes. Chronicling the rise of badly named fake band The Relentless, it is posited as a retelling of Faust. It's more or less a teenage male's fantasy of being a rockstar, and a surprisingly low-quality one at that, in as much as it looks like shit. This flick's morals are dubious at best and it boasts some absolutely bonkers covers, in addition to a full roster of Sumerian Records bands and Larry King in his final screened appearance. You'll learn how to fail upward with the Devil and you get Bill Goldberg as a tour manager. All the while excusing and encouraging straight-up misogyny and pushing the ew factor out the wazoo. Did we mention mega creep Drake Bell is in this too? In order to see how this stacks up against actual life on the road as a touring band, Dylan brought on Connor Appleton from Come Mierda to suffer Sumerian-style through the trials and tribulations of The Relentless.  Content warning: sexual assault discussed Track featured is "Warzone" by Come Mierda off their demo. Check em out here!

Diary of Doom rises from its October grave to pilfer weed resin from an uncleaned bong and to talk about this year's edition of DesertFest 2023. August West, Vater Boris, and Vater's one and only Boo are along for the ride as Dylan recaps his weekend between Saint Vitus Bar and the Knockdown Center. Along the way, they discuss if there are any Melvins fans in Hawaii, Colour Haze eating hearts, how to get so drunk you forget who Black Sabbath is, strapless amps, and various tales of Dave Wyndorf. Thanks again to the DesertFest crew for having me out to photograph this year's festival!

Irene the Black Metal Pastry Chef is back to chaperone Dylan through the bluest movie of all time and the inspiration for countless internet fiction, Underworld. Directed by Len Wiseman, who stole Kate Beckinsale from Michael Sheen, it's a tale of romance and violence, goth cryptid violence that is as vampires battle w̶e̶r̶e̶w̶o̶l̶v̶e̶s̶ lycans while destinies unfold and all manner of complicated love plays out. To complement the drama, it boasts a moody soundtrack courtesy of Danny Lohner featuring Page Hamilton of Helmet, David Bowie, Skinny Puppy, and A Perfect Circle. Even better, the flick's got UV bullets, early 00s vampire fashion, silver goo bullets, shooting out floors to get downstairs, wrist blades, and lycans that learn the hard way why you shouldn't rub-climb on walls. Dylan and Irene also discuss when it is appropriate to cover Nine Inch Nails and when it is not and how Krallice opened for Krallice. Check out and support Irene's bands: Heretic Bodyhammer ("Severing the Godhead" featured in the closing) and High Cost Note: At 01:58:08, no idea fuckin' clue what that noise is. Possibly aliens warping into our dimension. 

Kit from I Hope You Suffer is back and this time, they watched a real movie! This month's film is 2015's The Devil's Candy, the motion picture meeting point of art, heavy metal, and Satan. It cannot be stressed how intrinsic heavy metal is to this movie's existence. Sunn O))) is literally part of this film, not to mention the soundtrack features Metallica, Queens of the Stone Age, Goya, Pantera, and Slayer. Ethan Embry stars as an extremely greasy and extremely cringy artist who moves his metalhead family into a cursed house so naturally, he crafts a really fucked up painting and runs afoul of a nasty fellow with a penchant for playing a Flying V and killing people with a big rock. Dylan also pitches Danzig to be the next celebrity featured in Dead by Daylight.

Dylan welcomes Andy Davis of the band EAT to tackle (with extreme frustration) the 2005 grimfest that is Alone in the Dark. Directed by notorious internet celebrity turned restauranteur and boxer, Uwe Boll, this cinematic equivalent of a conspiracy theory somehow boasts an immense roster of metal bands for its soundtrack and manages to completely squander it. Despite featuring such talent as Mastodon, Meshuggah, and The Dillinger Escape Plan, it goes 57 minutes before any metal shows up. Instead, we are subjected to Christian Slater's amazingly billowy trench coast, Dr. Tara Reid, Ph. D, Stephen Dorff's hair, monsters named after eating, and one of the most baffling and ineptly edited gunfights ever. This movie's poster also looks a lot like Goatse. Track featured is "The Actress" by EAT off their album Songs of Thanks. Check out their Bandcamp here. Note: There was some new recording equipment being used and wasn't fully fine-tuned. Apologies for the background noise int his one, hoping to have it resolved for the next one!

Green movie for the green podcast. This month, Dylan is talking about one of the best fake band movies, Green Room, with returning guest Jeremy Hunt of Qoheleth. Released in 2015 not far ahead of when the pitiful, bigoted underbelly of the country would start forcing its way into the spotlight, the movie follows touring punk rock band The Ain't Rights (perhaps the only band that has never had an Instagram account) as they find themselves embroiled in a tense standoff with an absolutely terrifying Patrick Stewart, turning in an about-face role as the leader of a skinhead group. In addition to the great cast, the film boasts an incredible soundtrack that is actually used in the movie, captures the spirit of being in a touring band, shows off some genuinely grisly gore and carnage, and acts as a good reminder that nazis suck and that's why they're the villains.

Dylan welcomes Chris and Jon from the Cinema Duel podcast to talk about how horror and metal went hand-in-hand for them in their youths, much like a certain Terry Chandler in today's movie, The Gate. Tibor Takacs' 1987 jaunt helps keep things very Canadian in this episode (the Great White North is a haven for metal and horror) as they discuss a metal movie that ostensibly features very little actual heavy metal music, trading that in for Stephen Dorff before he became a blood tornado in Blade, a good use of geodes, and some incredible special effects that include demonic mole people, serpentine monstrosities, melting dads, melting phones, wall zombies, hand eyeballs, and a waltz with a dead pooch. 

Dylan and Nathan continue on with their quest to put Charles Band in The Hague by closing the book on the Evil Bong franchise with Evil Bong 777 and Evil Bong 888. These "movies" find the FMCU troupe jumping from Las Vegas to a thrilling finale in... a restaurant. A green screen restaurant at that. Would you believe there's even more doll sex? These weed movies have forgotten they're about weed and replaced it with an Elvis puppet that truly fucks along with a dude from Tiger King, Karens, rednecks, a chef named Sal Monilla, and hot dog bean soup. Our brains were melted, so we decided to talk about Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 for a bit at the end as a cleanse. 

It's 4/20 and as is tradition, we're dipping back into the Evil Bong waters to finally put this bad bong to bed. Dylan and Nathan from I Hope You Suffer band together once more against the power of FMCU (Full Moon Cinematic Universe). All your favorites, least favorites, and newcomers are here: EB, Rabbit, Larnell, the Gingerdeadman, and the Gingerweedman (arguably the only good thing about these "movies). Summarizing these films was akin to the ravings of a madman, so we broke it up into two parts for you. In the first installment, Dylan and Nathan tackle Evil Bong High-5 and Evil Bong 666. Suspecting that at least two of these entries started out as one movie, they stumble their way through a shitty weed store, the Gingerdeadman's horrible CGI mouth, doll sex, grave levels of bigotry and stereotypes, and flaming pussy portals to "Sexy Hell", a place where they still need a BIC lighter to smoke. Part 2 is available right now if you're still with us!

It's time to get down in the club and spin-kick some zombie dogs to "Fist Fuck" by Nine Inch Nails. Dylan takes a break from the Resident Evil 4 Remake to welcome Kat and Jazz from Girl, That's Scary to stan for the 2002 film adaptation of the hit video game series (adaptation used pretty lightly). Passing over George Romero for Paul W.S. Anderson and regretfully scored by Marilyn Manson, the soundtrack also featured Slipknot, Coal Chamber, Rammstein, Fear Factory, Mudvayne, a really bad Depeche Mode song, and a wicked appearance by Method Man. As the trio dives into The Hive of Raccoon City, they discuss how this almost starred ski resort legal nightmare Gwyneth Paltrow, videotaping video games, zombies that follow the creed of Chef Boyardee, and, of course, the laser grid meat cuber. Stay tuned for some more 4/20-themed episodes coming up later this month.

Before he was a terrible CGI scorpion centaur, The Rock was The Scorpion King. For the first fresh episode of Movies from Green Hell, Kit from I Hope You Suffer returns to join Dylan in revisiting this incredibly early 2000s flick that was written by Solid Snake. Sporting an aggressively nu metal soundtrack that barely shows up in it, this is a film plagued by fire ants, yak piss, skullets, magical editing, and stolen Chinese dynamite powered by salt.  This episode is proudly sponsored by the Bad Neighbors of I Hope You Suffer Association. Note: Due to lag, we talk over each other a bit. I tried to edit it to the best of my abilities. And a lot of Hooch (dog) jangling.

Revenge gets ugly? More like revenge gets shitty. Dylan makes Kit from I Hope You Suffer finally face down a film that Warner Bros. probably wants to forget exists: Jonah Hex. Despite boasting a $47 million budget and a soundtrack from Mastodon, Jonah Hex manages to fail on an immaculate level. Just a sampling of the weirdness this movie offers includes John Malkovich looking like Jon Schaffer, bowler hat magic, a guy named Slocum, would-be hellhounds, snake men, a truly baffling take on "limbo", Eli Whitney's WMDs, and a lot of crows. This was recorded sometime in May 2022, but just got released now. Actual new episode coming at you on the first Friday of March!

Dylan welcomes Bryan and Ryan from Doomsday Profit back to the podcast to talk about a movie inspired by Dungeons & Dragons. No, not THAT Dungeons & Dragons movie, we're talking about Tom Hanks' first film: Mazes & Monsters, made for TV in 1982 as the Satanic Panic was on the rise and featuring the Mayor from Jaws. Our heroic party attempts to see how just how bad DND is for the rest of us as well as wear a lot of hats, drink wine from the future, become guitar lecturers, and steal from the DTH department. Also Tom Hanks makes a lot of weird noises. TW: We will be discussing suicide in the context of the film and the history surrounding it. This was originally released on May 9, 2022 on Patreon.

In Episode 2 of MFGH, during the highest time of the year, Dylan watched some more of the lowest flicks of all time with the only host of I Hope You Suffer willing to return, Nathan Sizemore. The disappointed duo tackled three more entries in this unfortunate series: Evil Bong 3D: The Wrath of Bong, Gingerdeadman vs. Evil Bong, and Evil Bong 420, during which they highlighted space bongs, getting off at the bakery counter, a pastry tribunal, topless bowling alleys, quite possibly the most audacious scene in cinema history featuring the most hideous character ever, and a whole lot of cum for movies about weed. If you want to get the whole bong rip, check out Chapter 73 of Diary of Doom where the first two Evil Bong movies were derided. We have one more episode coming at you on Monday before the "fresh" ones start dropping on Friday, February 3. This was originally released on April 19, 2022 on Patreon.

The once-Patreon exclusive and then Toilet ov Hell featured podcast will now live here on the Diary of Doom feed for your listening displeasure. Today we debut it with not one, but two episodes to get the ball rolling. For anybody that does not know the schtick, Movies from Green Hell joins the detritus of a wasteland of movie podcasts that will focus on the discussion of (and probably lambasting) movies that feature heavy metal music in some capacity, no matter how tenuous, and terrible stoner flicks as Dylan forces others to join him on this very stupid quest. Movies from Green Hell will be released once a month on the first Friday, but we've got one more in the can for you on Monday before the freshies start dropping.  In the debut episode, Dylan tackles a true cult relic of the 90s: Freaked! Along with him for round one are fellow freaks Jeremy Hunt (Qoheleth), Jon Michael (Cinema Duel), and Nathan Sizemore (I Hope You Suffer). As they toss back some Zygrote 24, they discuss this ooey-gooey masterpiece as well as Bob Vila, The Idiot Box, The Butthole Surfers connection, Rat Fink, and whatever Alex Winter is up to now. This was originally released on April 4, 2022 on Patreon.

Cough, cough, cough, Merry Kyuss-mas! Diary of Doom is closing out 2022 with our seemingly omnipresent guest, August West, by talking about a band that nobody has ever heard of before: Kyuss. After paying tribute to our friend, John Hopkins, and his mother, Reita, and running through some of their favorite albums of the year (highlighting Steve Albini's love for Dead Meadow), the dank duo delves into the short but sweet discography of one of the cornerstone bands of heavy music, touching on how exactly to say Kyuss, why legal battles suck the air out of bands, Kyuss Lives!, petition for John Garcia to front Danzig, how many Allen wrenches they have laying around, and a five-way battle of "Yeah!" Oh, and Dylan nearly passed out (again!) at some recent concerts. Albums covered: Sons of Kyuss (1990) Wretch (1991) Blues for the Red Sun (1992) Welcome to Sky Valley (1994) ...And the Circus Leaves Town (1995) Hope everybody is braving the cold right now and has a safe and happy new year!

Where do we even start with this episode? Back in May, longtime returning guest August West agreed to join Dylan in talking about a band crucial to his formative years as a metal fan. This seemingly mundane task was upended by a tornado (no joke) and massive fatigue (likely a symptom of being forced to listen to Dylan ramble), resulting in an episode recorded over the course of three sessions. But eventually, they got their shit together to talk about Atlanta, GA sludge outfit, Zoroaster. They delve into their discography and also manage to tell Dylan's mom about Come to Grief, get Mortiis to give DOD the thumbs up, vacuum up rattlesnakes, get Mike IX's approval of Bud Light Seltzer, praise Fred Ward's finest role as the Night Vulture, learn all about Master Therion, find out why Dylan doesn't listen to singles, get old with Clutch, and get ripped off by Skillet.  Albums Covered: Zoroaster (2005) Dog Magic (2007) Voice of Saturn (2009) Matador (2010) Happy holidays everybody! Stay safe out there, smoke weed, and be good to each other.

"And this is Glamdring, the Foe-Hammer, sword of the King of Gondolin. These swords were made for the Goblin Wars long ago..." Not quite sure if the Goblin Wars ever ended since everybody seems to be diving into goblin mode these days. But on Diary of Doom, we are taking it low and slow, which doesn't seem to line up with the proprietors of said goblin mode. Dylan welcomes Jay Cardinell of Foehammer, one-half of the truly mammoth Virginia doom duo. They've got a new album out this year called Monumentum and if you're in the market for something really fucking heavy, it's probably your ticket. Amidst a whole lot of chatter about Tolkien and Ursula K. Le Guin, they get into the trve nature of Metal Archives, why Jay digs Sleep's Volume 1 so much, being in a band called The Bible (and many others), Gandalf's sword, toxic fan culture, the challenges of crafting lore in song form, if Hobbit metal exists, and a bad time at Hammerstein Ballroom. Support Foehammer Track featured is "The Great Cortège I - Accession Of The Elder" off Monumentum, out now!

After watching Freaked! and deciding it had the greatest theme song of all time, Dylan invited Jeremy Hunt from experimental noise rock band, Qoheleth, back on to discuss one of the coolest bands on the planet, Blind Idiot God. They're not exactly doom metal, but they fit very comfortably into the lexicon of heavy, underground music. From their collaborations with John Zorn to getting down with the dub, they delve into why this band rules as well as a possible Undertow conspiracy theory and if anyone actually refers to them as BIG. They close out by seeing if Jeremy really is "The One" that Skillet is singing about in their song... "The One." You can check out Qoheleth's music over at their Bandcamp page.  Albums Covered: Blind Idiot God (1987) Undertow (1988) Cyclotron (1992) Before Ever After (2015) Note: this episode was originally released on Patreon on May 1st, 2022.

The card has been drawn by a single hand. The hand of one Nick Bain aka The Magician Reversed. Pulling across the board from goth and doom to the occult and the influence of tarot, Nick juggles it all as the sole force behind this musical endeavor. With his debut album, And Deeper Still, out earlier this year, Nick delves into the metaphysical nature of his music and what it all means, showing praise for Justin Broadrick, Esoteric, and Portal, as well as getting banned from Napster for downloading Metallica, broadening his horizons with album review submissions, the oh so controversial backing tracks, reckoning with his cover band days (and the song he hated to play), and the trickiness of funeral doom. Support The Magician Reversed Track featured is "The Incantation" off And Deeper Still, out now!

Well, shit, here we are, just a week or two after the actual anniversary of launching the Diary of Doom podcast, and we've got ourselves to chapter 150! It's been three years since then. I'm sitting here, thinking: Why on Earth did you think launching a podcast right before Thanksgiving was a good idea? Brilliant move there. But, self-deprecation aside, the fact that I am at 150 of anything is still pretty cool. For that, I have to thank everybody who has tuned in for the ride so far as well as all of the guests who were willing to be hectored with poorly articulated questions for an hour and anybody who helped contribute to fleshing out the podcast. To help celebrate, we've got Sean McVay from heavy psych masters King Buffalo joining us. King Buffalo has been nothing short of busy for the last few years, making the absolute best use of time by releasing a trio of records and juggling tours along with buckets of new songs to break out on the road. Sean guides us from the days of being just a humble Clutch fan to actually joining the Elephant Riders themselves on tour, along with how the Mortal Kombat soundtrack broke him in, when he found the distortion button, turning a keyboard spot into a guitar spot, clearing out old record stock with All Them Witches, possibly playing in Batman's cave and definitely playing Burning Man, stan for Third Eye Blind, and the similarities of fishing and music.  Support King Buffalo Track featured is "Mammoth" off their latest release, Regenerator. Thanks to Mona Miluski over at All Noir and J.J. Koczan from The Obelisk for helping to set this up. No new chapter next week since it is Turkey Day weekend. We'll be back at the start of December!

Dylan welcomes his longtime podcasting buddy Mike Crandall of Jim's BBQ POD to make his DOD debut as they try to appeal to old wooks while they talk about Earthless. Mike and Dylan go way back as Kevin Smith fans and delve into some of their joint excursions including a Monster Energy drink festival, Waffle House, getting diarrhea of doom at Dark Lord Day, and bitch about bitching about festival lineups. Albums Covered: Sonic Prayer (2005) Rhythms from a Cosmic Sky (2007) Live at Roadburn (2008) From the Ages (2013) Acid Crusher/Mount Swan (2016) Black Heaven (2018) Night Parade of One Hundred Demons (2022) Dylan closes out by subjecting Mike to another round of Finding Jesus with Skillet with "Heaven in My Veins" in which John Cooper says he needs it, whatever IT is. You can check out more of Mike's podcast endeavors at Jim's BBQ Pod, w.W.o. (Wrestling World Order Podcast), and Willing Snackrifice. Note: this episode was originally released on Patreon on April 1st, 2022.

We've got Jersey in the house! Sultry singer Jillian Taylor of NJ/Philly rockers Ruby the Hatchet joins us in the doom cave to chat about their recently released album, Fear is a Cruel Master. Naturally, Dylan can't help himself from getting Jillian's opinions on all things Jersey and Philly (potholes, Gritty, pork roll, you know, the usual fare), but thankfully they do talk about other things like when to burp on stage, Fleetwood Mac being heavy as shit, creeping clouds of fear, cults, duets, a dubious fecal-focused rap project from a certain Boston-based psyche rock band, and making a cameo in the Dio doc, Dreamers Never Die. Featuring an appearance by Charlie the Snake Support Ruby the Hatchet Tracker featured is "Soothsayer" off their new album, Fear is a Cruel Master, available now!

Thirty-five years ago, somewhere in Italy, a dark ritual was held and ExpiatoriA was ushered into this world. Thirty-five years later, the restless spirit of the band rises again, this time to release its first-ever actual album. In this chapter of the Diary, Dylan sits down with Edoardo Napoli, guitarist in the latest lineup for ExpiatoriA, who explains how the band got back together and what it was like to be recruited into it as a fan first, plus hiding the devil's music from his nona, the Italian metal scene waking up, why we're all sinners, and a different view of horror. Support ExpiatoriaA Track featured is "When Darkness Falls" off of their upcoming release, Shadows, their first album in 35 years as a band! It comes out on November 4th. Special thanks to Enrico Meloni from Ikitan (Chapter 94 of the podcast) for setting this up!

In this episode of divin' deep, we're joining the Satanic Temple of Gucci and getting sexy with REZN. Ivana DeCaro makes her return to delve into the Chicago psyche rock band's discog as well as other nonsense like Skyrim being a broke-ass game, Steve-O's 40-foot balls, Mikael Akerfeels, and garish 00's movies. Albums covered: Let It Burn (2017) Calm Black Water (2018) Chaotic Divine (2020) Dylan and Ivana also attempt to find Jesus with Skillet, in which they suffer through "The Thirst is Taking Over" where it really sounds like frontman John Cooper wants to fuck God. Note: This episode was originally released on Patreon on March 1st, 2022.

A fixture of the Salt Lake City music scene, Andy Patterson has been active in music production behind the controls at his studio, The Boar's Nest, and making his own brand of heavy since the 90s, starting off by going on tour with Iceburn and then drumming in previous bands SubRosa and Insect Ark. His latest outfit, The Otolith, sees him reunited with fellow members of SubRosa and their debut record comes out very soon. You could not find a more fitting nickname than "The Loud Guy" for Andy, when it comes to his music and production anyway (Spoiler alert: he's pretty mild-mannered). Dylan and Andy explore his origins as a musician and get deep into the nitty gritty of his tried-and-true production approaches, plus getting a drum kit by searching for Satan, playing eight sets as the mayor of Crucial Fest, recognizing a genuine take versus a perfect one, Frankensteining the Iceburn remasters, how to really say Cirith Ungol, bailing out Visigoth at Fire in the Mountains, chasing the dragon for horror movies, and recounts his lost year of 2020. And of course, we talk about SLC Punk! Support The Otolith over at Blues Funeral Recordings Track featured is "Hubris" off their upcoming debut, Folium Limina, out on October 21st!  

We are featuring our friends over at Satanik Royalty Records again, this time with their first non-Seattle-located and freshly signed band, Ugly. Bassist and vocalist Brandon Hay phones in from the dubiously pronounced Prescott, AZ (is it Press-Kit or Press-Scott?) to talk about his epic run of exploring punk, crust, and grind in his early days and ultimately crossing paths with the NW hesher legend Freiburger. Brandon elaborates on the trial-and-error origins of forming a small town band (involving a transient member of Graf Orlock) and how Ugly has evolved since its inception, as well as how it all comes back to GWAR once again, winding up in a band with one of his all-time influences, unexpected Jack Johnson jams, reverse engineer songwriting, whether he's a Luddite or not, if they feel obligated to like every band from their home state, and aspirations to be the heaviest band in the Tri-Walmart Area. Stick around for some bonus Maryland Deathfest chatter at the end too. Support Ugly, who has a new album coming out in 2023. Track featured is "Grateful" off Ugly's split with Life's Torment Thanks to Freiburger and Satanik Royalty Records for helping to set this interview up! NOTE: This episode has a lot of garbled echo on my end, so apologies for the unfortunate listening experience!

With a new record out and 20 years' worth of caveman battle doom under his belt, the only sign of slowing down for Conan's Jon Davis is his riffs. Fresh off from a trek to Poland, Jon guides us through his history of crafting one of doom's heaviest bands, from when they were initially known as Here Lies the Body to now with the release of Evidence of Immortality. During his chat with Dylan, they cover all sorts of topics including a cock-emblazoned guitar cab, counter fit cassettes, seeing Sepultura, L7, and Nirvanna on The Word, posh jacket power chord lessons, why they've only adapted one actual Conan story, gettin' high and killin' crabs in Skyrim, and Tony Roberts' wickedly fitting artwork. Support Conan on their Bandcamp and Big Cartel shop Track featured is "Levitation Hoax" off Evidence of Immortality, available now for purchase!

Dylan gets to galaxy brain levels of being stoned as he and August West chat about the only psychedelic rock band with a connection to Jimmy McNulty, plus other nonsense like RoboCop, drugs Dylan has never done, Bob Einstein, and the movie Drive. Albums covered: Dead Meadow (2000) Howls from the Hills (2001) Shivering King and Others (2003) Feathers (2005) Old Growth (2008) The Nothing They Need (2018) Levitation Sessions (2021) Photo by Tim Bugbee (Tinnitus Photography) If you want to see the cyclops bigfoot performance, go here. Note: This episode was originally released on Patreon on February 1st.

In this week's chapter, we welcome Zach Amster from the Denver, CO band, Abrams. Abrams has been going strong as a tank since its inception and has just released their fourth album, In the Dark. Zach delves into why they wanted to inject some melody and catchy riffs in the vein of Hum and Cave In as they've chugged along since their first release, as well as Kyuss on the jukebox, confirming that Reddit fans are real people, being the odd duck on the stoner rock label, LaserDisc, getting Uncle Acid's visual artist to work on a music video, and playing along to stick and poke tattoos. Support Abrams Track featured is "In the Clouds" off their latest album, In the Dark, which is out now!

Diary of Doom is reaching across the proverbial bowel of cyberspace in order to get a proper flush from the Toilet ov Hell. Ambassador 365 Days of Horror, or Jordan as you may know him in reality, joins Dylan to regale him with some Toilet origins and how they have thrived within heavy metal's internet by turning into a respected hub for new music and talking about the things nobody wants to. Along the way they dig deep into heavy metal fan culture as well as discuss heavy metal message boards, why we will never run out of metal, the Heavy Metal 2000 soundtrack, Scott Kelly's wretched behavior, keeping it low-key as a fan, what really makes a good metal band, and some genuinely outlandish website submissions. Check out the Toilet ov Hell website where you can hear Jordan every Wednesday on Toilet Radio and they also have a Patreon you can support.

We're back in upstate NY with this week's guests, Nine Layers Deep. Alaysa, Dan, and Jim are dialing in from Buffalo as they keep busy working towards the release of their upcoming album, Impermanence. They practiced so hard that people thought a gig started in the rehearsal building! As they show how deep the layers go to Dylan, they broach the topics of FM radio lullabies, declare Fush Yu, Meng! a classic, bring in Korn's Issues to show and tell, baritone guitars, why it feels good on the brain to play, getting sweaty with Crowbar, and get Reel(s) about the 'Gram. Support Nine Layers Deep Track featured is "Open Secret" off their forthcoming album, Impermanence.

Janys-Iren Faughn embodies all facets of getting involved in the heavy metal scene through touring, booking shows, and remaining a true fan of all things heavy and noisy, lusting for pops and crackles all the while. In addition to their solo act, Entresol, and now a member of noise doom act, Body Void, Janys also runs Flossless Presents, allowing Dylan a peak behind the curtain of the day-to-day elements of booking shows, a crucial role in any heavy music scene. They also delve into heshers rocking a Metallica AND a Garth Brooks patch, booking Wolves in the Throne Room for $5, Bell Witch donuts, somehow getting to play with Candlemass, alternate reality horror books, flossing on tour, hating cold weather, and writing your setlist on a frisbee. Support Body Void and Entresol Track featured is "Burn" off the new Body Void EP, Burn the Homes of Those Who Seek to Control Our Bodies, available now!

No new chapter this week; instead, Diary of Doom is putting out one of its previously Patreon-exclusive episodes in which Dylan delves into the deeper catalogs of doom, stoner, and sludge bands that aren't Electric Wizard, Sleep, or Eyehategod. We've got a few more of these that we will be putting out over the coming months and hope to do more down the line. From the original post: The first deep dive chapter chronicles the discography of Cape Fear sludge band, Sourvein. Dylan and frequent guest, August West, dissect the band from their dirty southern roots to their current aqua-sludge themes. Albums covered: Sourvein (2000) Will to Mandle (2002) Emerald Vulture (2005) Ghetto Angel (2008) Imperial Bastard (2008) Black Fangs (2011) Aquatic Occult (2016)   This episode was originally released on Jan. 1, 2022.

Dean Rispler has been involved in crafting and playing music for over 30 years, but even to this day, he remains a fan above all. In addition to hosting and producing Gimme Metal, he's played or worked with bands such as Witch Taint, The Dictators, The Brought Low, Mighty High, and in his free time likes to collect records that he may not actually have the time to listen to. During his chat with Dylan, Dean talks about loving the oldies, hating the 90s, how Ozzy and Pink Floyd "ruined his life", recruiting his friends to occupy record stores, being an EXTREME but self-aware vinyl addict, listening ears vs. production ears, and producing Ross the Boss' show on Gimme Radio. You can check out Dean on Gimme Radio every other Thursday at 5 PM EST, 2 PM PST, 11 PM CET.

Diary of Doom is back! After a brief pilgrimage to parts unknown (read: the couch), Dylan is back at it again and he's brought along a trve mad scientist for the return episode: Timo Ellis of the experimental noise sludge act, Netherlands. Timo's been in the music game for a long time now, with many releases under his own name and countless collaborative projects. Recorded at his studio, The Meadow, Timo elaborates on audience reactions to their first Netherlands set, playing with Yoko Ono and Sean Lennon, why space colonization is whack, how he feels about getting to share the stage with his idols, and playing the game of eternal distractions that is social media. Support Netherlands and all of Timo's other projects which you can find at his website. Track featured is "So Sick" off of Netherlands' upcoming album, Kali Corvette, dropping on September 9th!

Extreme B.O. Short biker dudes picking fights. Italian horror film composers. Circle pit cunnilingus. Cat puke. These were just some of the things Dylan experienced while attending what will probably be the last Maryland Deathfest. At least for a while. Diary of Doom briefly rears its ugly head from its respite as Dylan recounts his journey into darkness and grime to Nathan from I Hope You Suffer, who also attended MDF in years past. Trigger Warning: We do discuss suicide in this episode per the tragic event that occurred at the festival. If you would like to further support the family during this time, you can do so at their GoFundMe. Track featured at the top of the episode is "Inner Paths (to Outer Space)" by Blood Incantation off their album Hidden History of the Human Race and the track featured at the close is "Mystery's Apotheosis/City of the Living Dead Theme" by Fabio Frizzi as performed by Frizzi 2 Fulci. Music featured throughout includes Yautja, Primitive Man, Frizzi 2 Fulci, Atheist, Suffocation, Obituary, Enforced, Cerebral Rot, November's Doom, Cancer, Coroner, Autopsy, Triptykon, Blood Incantation, and Triumph of Death.

After a Desertfest NYC recap with August West, Dylan dives into his chat with Kent Stump of Texas' Wo Fat. Beyond being riff master general in the band, Kent is also a studio engineer, having recorded everything from stoner metal to show tunes and classical guitar. In addition to the ups and downs of touring life versus studio life, we also chat about Blues Manchu, the legacy of Stonerrock.com, what it's like having a second guitarist again, seeing stoner rock go global, if he's been feeling The Singularity in the studio, and writing a song for an RPG. Support Wo Fat The track featured during the DF NYC recap is "Samhain Dawn" by Mother Iron Horse off their album, Under the Blood Moon, and the track featured at the end is "The Snows of Banquo IV" by Wo Fat off their new album, The Singularity, available now! As of this episode, Diary of Doom will be going on hiatus. Long story short, I've been dealing with burnout, lack of a secure job, creative ruts, and depression. There is a much more detailed explanation at the tail-end of the episode. All that combined is resulting in me not putting in the 100% I should be doing and that's just not fair to the listeners and the guests. So with that said, consider this the season finale of the first season of DOD, all 133+ episodes of it. Thank you again to all of the guests, listeners, and folks who helped out, wouldn't be anywhere without either of you. I'll see you all in a little bit!

There are few artists who are capable of rendering an image that channels both the weight of heavy metal and the beauty of religious mysticism and nature. If there were one to be defined by this gift, it would be David D'Andrea. Alongside fellow artists Brian Mercer, Santos, and Arik Roper, he has helped define the iconography of Sleep and OM through his studio, Samaritan Press, and also lent his talents to countless other bands, including Dinosaur Jr., The Jesus Lizard, Arthur Brown, Queens of the Stone Age, Windhand, and Triptykon. In this chapter, David speaks about his early days in punk and skate zine culture and his artistic process from pen and ink to digital and print, as well as knowing exactly what works for a band stylistically, Vedanta symbols, 80's photocopiers, the difficulty of fonts, navigating festival commissions, and his third-entity creation with Jondix: The Astral Mind. You can find David's work at his website, Samaritan Press. *Note: There is some unfortunate static through most of the first 30 or so minutes. Apologies for that!

Cowards & Thieves dial in from the literal road for a chat with Dylan in anticipation of their album release on Friday the 13th (ch ch ch, ah ah ah...). Chip and Stefan manage to power through some questionable venue Wi-Fi to talk about the band and turning their debut EP into a short film as well as the bird sound at the end of "Layla", if you're an old head if you went to Ozzfest, pop punk cover sets, legal wedding parties, and why "Desperado" is the saddest song ever. You can preorder Cowards & Thieve's LP, Dedicated to Dead People, on their Big Cartel and also check out their Bandcamp. Track featured is "Desirous" off of Dedicated to Dead People out May 13th.

Brandishing perhaps the greatest handle in photography history, Dylan sits down with Tomoko Inoue, perhaps better known by her moniker, The Tinfoil Biter, to delve into her history as a concert photographer. A chance opportunity to photograph Down while in Japan opened the gate and her dynamic shots have highlighted the already heavy presence of such artists as Crowbar, High on Fire, Child Bite, Weedeater, and Osees. We go through some select sets of her photos while also touching on the highs and lows of living in Michigan in the 90s, how drawing lead her to photography, the dreaded purple light, knowing when to put the camera down, and randomly becoming acquainted with Henry Wilson from Floor*. You can check out more of Tomoko's photography over at her website. *NOTE: There was a slip of the tongue and we meant to say Henry WILSON of Floor. Mr. Vasquez is correctly from Saint Vitus, not Floor. Our bad!

We're taking a trip to the bog for this week's chapter. After a quick chat with our weed field correspondent, August West, about heading out to Colorado to see Sleep after their hibernation period, we jump right into our chat with Harlen Linke from Bog Wizard. When he's not pounding the drums, Harlen is crushing it as a video game designer for games like Team Fortress 2. More importantly, Bog Wizard and UK doom eccentric Froglord have a new split out. Dylan and Harlen get into how they managed to produce that split and their earlier one with previous guest Dust Lord as well as abandoned high school bands, committing to mispronunciations, the Satanic Panic over DnD, video game artist collabs, and the most metal tabletop game ever, MÖRK BORG.  Support Bog Wizard Track featured is "Reptilian Death Squad" off of Bog Wizard vs. Froglord: A Frog in the Bog Join the Diary of Doom PATREON! Buy some MERCH! Follow us on INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK!

DOD takes its first trip across the pond to the UK for the first time to feature the band with the greatest name ever queried from the internet: Steak. For anyone who has been following the stoner and desert rock scene for a while, you're probably familiar with fellow member Reece's little pet project, DesertFest. Kip and Cam phone in to talk about not just their recently released album, but also the coinciding short film, Mad Lord. And the comic book. And the action figures (just kidding, none of those YET). All that plus snowboarding to Queens of the Stone Age, preferred cuts of the cow, working titles for songs about custard, boozer rock, drinking Elephant Tree under the table, and US culture shock. Support Steak Track featured is "Mono" from Acute Mania, which is available now! Join the Diary of Doom PATREON! Buy some MERCH! Follow us on INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK!

Dylan and August are back for their annual 4/20 album commentary bonus chapter and this year they are tackling the OG kush monster, Bongzilla, and their hallmark stoner metal album, Gateway. While navigating their way through a mire of murky riffs, they talk about opening up for .38 Special, Relapse's Contamination Festival, top tier Newark gangster bud, Dylan's dad greening out at Roger Waters, toking up with Bernard the House Elf, and Aqua Teen Hunger Force. The commentary kicks in at 00:08:14 for you to line it up with the album. Unless you're a weirdo who wants to listen to it without the tunes. Join the Diary of Doom PATREON! Buy some MERCH! Follow us on INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK!

We are speaking with the dude of Nuclear Dudes as we welcome Sandrider's Jon Weisnewski back to the podcast to talk about the marriage of synths and blast beats in his new solo project. Jon sheds light on whether he has the grit to take it live and what a real dude of the nuclear variety would look like as well as getting inspired by NJ shark attacks (and subsequently ruined by Snooki), Scary Numan, what it was like to be a tester for Nintendo back in the day, Elden Ring, and a truly insane cops and cannabis story. Support Nuclear Dudes and you should also check out Jon's other band, Sandrider, and his own podcast, Tomorrow We Die! Track featured is "Bad at Sleep" off the album of the same name, available now! Join the Diary of Doom PATREON! Buy some MERCH! Follow us on INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK!

If you tried to articulate an acid trip sprinkled with a few other substances into a song, it might sound like BÜZÊM. A one-man noise outfit headed up by mad scientist Finn, BÜZÊM taps into the loose flow of bass distortion and control of reverb to create music from a dream state. As Finn delves into his experimentations, we also touch on pawning his first bass, why he went with a potentially troublesome name, growing up in a Harmony Korine landscape, bolstering the Portland, ME local scene, wooks blowing balloons outside Billy Strings, if concert streaming will continue to be a thing, and Dylan's stupid concert superstitions. Support BÜZÊM You can check out their live Spore Music performance here. Track featured is "The Angelic Number" off of SRUIN. Join the Diary of Doom PATREON! Buy some MERCH! Follow us on INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK!

We are pleased to welcome Eight Bells to the doom cave. Melynda Jackson, Matt Solis, and Brian Burke are all present to talk about surviving the past two years against Portland, OR's apocalyptic backdrop, and putting out a killer new record with the help of the tireless Billy Anderson. During our chat, we also babble on about nu-metal JNCOs, getting kicked out of high school band, Blockbuster music, Meta-Licka, nautical themes, getting busted at the border, and why sad songs make for good company. Support Eight Bells Track featured is "Nadir" off Legacy of Ruin, available now! Join the Diary of Doom PATREON! Buy some MERCH! Follow us on INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK!

This week, we are reclaiming the troll! Moe from Troll Teeth is dialing in straight from the New Jersey Pine Barrens and on this year's Pi Day no less. Once determined where they fall on the pie vs. cake debate, Moe gets into how the troll's teeth started growing into a band and up to their latest released, Hanged, Drawn, & Quartered. During this joint Jersey venture, they also follow the Star Trek holistic calendar, figure out the statistical chances of the bass player showing up for practice, bag on The Boss, overthink music way too hard, necropolitics, and offering up their studio to other bands. Support Troll Teeth Hanged, Drawn, & Quartered is out now on Electric Talon records! Check it out! Join the Diary of Doom PATREON! Buy some MERCH! Follow us on INSTAGRAM and FACEBOOK!

Stomping into the guest seat for this week's chapter is Hudson, NY's Titanosaur! One-man wrecking crew Geoff Saavedra breaks down the lore of the saur(ian) and the ups and downs that come with handling all band duties solo, as well as playing alongside Debbie Does Dallas, Killing Joke: unsung heroes of heavy, using music to cope with and be representative of his journey through his heart condition and autism, the sludgiest Godzilla flick, and why the Hudson Valley is an ideal doom climate. Support Titanosaur Track featured is "Shut Off the Voices" from Absence of Universe, available now!