Ultimetalcast

Justin and Alex discuss Lucifer I and Pallbearer's "Foundations of Burden" before delving into a grab bag of good-not-great.

Justin and Alex discuss Gorguts' Pleaides Dust and Rishloo's Feathergun, two complete polar opposite albums as the previous week's assigned listening. Justin then attempts to defend Babymetal while still expressing overall frustration with gimmicks and music that can't possibly hold up over a long period of time. The new single from doom metal startups Khemmis is also discussed before deciding that May will be focused on doom metal to prepare for the litany of upcoming releases in the genre. More on that next week.

Justin and Alex discuss Midori and Bathory as last week's assigned listening. The exuberance can barely be contained as multiple (!!!) singles have been released for upcoming albums that have drawn considerable excitement. Ghost's new single, "Rats," along with Yob's "The Screen" are discussed and hyped beyond reason. Finally, progressive metal month ends with a discussion on the merits of other prog bands and if "cheese" is really the genre indicator that many like to throw around.

Justin and Alex discuss the previous week's assigned listening before embarking on the band that brought them together in the first place. The once-mighty, still pretty decent Dream Theater.

Justin and Alex discuss the previous week's assigned listening and discuss early metal and the merits of progression in proto metal. Alex's ongoing crusade to listen to every Buckethead Pikes release brings forth a long-stading conspiracy that only seems more likely by the day. 

Justin and Alex discuss a grindcore gem and a somewhat lackluster follow-up to a wonderful avant-garde album before embarking on a heavily requested "subgenre of the month," the enigmatic, barely-defined world of progressive metal. Also included is Alex's update on the first 20-ish Buckethead Pikes releases.

Justin and Alex discuss the previous week's assigned listening, in addition to Alex's ongoing quest to listen to all 300-ish of the Buckethead Pikes releases. The episode proceeds with a stream of consciousness approach to further defining the positive and negative qualities of avant-garde metal and its influences and influencers.

Much like the genre discussed, this week's discussion bounces around to different avant-garde metal bands and their impact on the loosely-defined genre. The jumping off point is Wikipedia's utterly horrendous list of so-called "avant-garde metal" artists...

Justin and Alex discuss Ningen-Isu's 3rd album as well as Aevangelist's most recent mindfuck. The main discussion begins with a brief overview of avant-garde metal as a whole, with their respective introductions to the wide world of weird music, before turning into a full-on circle jerk of one of the premier Japanese acts, the legendary SIGH.

Justin and Alex discuss The Ocean's monumental "Precambrian" album and the thunderous "Sinister Ceremonies" by Domains before embarking on the all-too-common quirk of bands that appear out of nowhere, release an incredible album or 2, and then disappear for years before attempting a renaissance to...varied degrees of success.

CONTROVERSIAL TOPIC ALERT BEEP BLOOP BEEP. Justin and Alex discuss Demilich's discography and Maximum the Hormone's "Yoshuu Fukushuu" from the previous week's assigned listening, before answering a listener's question regarding genre differences. The episode's main topic focuses on the validity of the oft-maligned nu-metal explosion of the early 2000s and if there was any positive influence from one of the darkest sagas of metal history.

Justin and Alex discuss Trivium's "Shogun" and Gotsu-Totsu-Kotsu's "Mouryou" as the previous week's assigned listening, before embarking on the rather broad topic of death metal as a whole. Join the duo as they explore the history of the genre and some of the most notable bands in the industry, along with a curious career trajectory that seems all too common within the genre. Author's Note: Justin was sick as hell during this recording, so he's a bit nasally here. Additionally, Justin makes a huge deal about how difficult the MTH album was to find, but he noticed it was actually on Spotify about 2 hours later and now he feels incredibly stupid. The Demilich compilation is also on Spotify, and they will probably end up discussing the whole thing, so get on it.

The metalheads continue the odyssey of dissecting every big 4 album from 1983-1990. Allegiances are questioned, Metallica is made fun of. Par for the course, really.

Justin and Alex discuss Inter Arma's "Paradise Gallows" and Watchtower's "Control and Resistance" before embarking on easily the most focused discussionin the history of the podcast. The goal? Dissection of each of the Big 4 of Thrash Metal albums in release order up to 1990's Seasons in the Abyss. Opinions are had, some shocking, and thrash metal month will never be the same.

Justin and Alex discuss the previous week's assigned listening, diving further into thrash month by exploring the so-called "Big 4" of German thrash, the "Next 4" of American thrash, and then decide that this Big 4 crap is ridiculous. Concert stories abound, too.

The metalheads ring in the new year and thrash metal month with two ripping albums. The discussion turns to the duo's history with one of the more popular subgenres, including stories from way back before the dawn of time when they were first discovering the magic of metal.

Justin and Alex talk about holiday acquisitions, life outside of podcasting, and the previous week's assigned listening. After a brief wrap-up of power metal month, the discussion turns to year-end lists and the struggle of composing a list of really good albums or slightly above mediocre ones.

Justin and Alex talk about the previous week's assigned listening before embarking on a Nevermore reminiscence to pay tribute to the almighty Warrel Dane (RIP). Ancient history is raised from the dead, such as a circa 2010 list of the 20 best Nevermore songs. Finally, the discussion evolves to talk about minute genre differences between European and American power metal.

Justin and Alex talk about the previous week's assigned listening before a brief detour from the ongoing power metal discussions. The new Morbid Angel has each of the metalheads in the mood to discuss Morbid Angel's history and multiple rise-and-falls. Naturally, the discussion careens around to other new releases such as Diablo Swing Orchestra and Cannibal Corpse.

Justin and Alex discuss two legendary records in accordance with the previous week's assigned listening, detouring around to other topics in the meantime. The main topic of the episode focuses on introducing Power Metal as the latest featured subgenre and their listening history, favorite bands, gateway bands, etc.

Justin and Alex talk about the previous week's assigned listening before embarking on the wankiest discussion yet: the merits of overly technical music (and if such a thing can truly exist). Other bands mentioned include Dragonforce, Dream Theater, Symphony X, Nevermore, Rhapsody, and a litany of your favorite neo-classical shred guitarists.

Justin and Alex talk about last week's assigned listening, before beginning an outright diatribe about the diminishing returns of Polkadot Cadaver spearheaded by their new album.

Justin and Alex talk about recent concert experiences and the merit of "solo influence" bands where one person writes the majority of the music.

Justin and Alex talk at length about the previous week's assigned listening, making several references to Sigh and Dream Theater in the process. Other discussion topics include the ongoing month of "Nothing But Black Metal November" and a brief dissertation on cover songs in metal (the good, the bad, and the Six Feet Under).