The annual Montreal black metal festival Messe De Morte is in the books. We never made it out to La Belle Province ourselves, but it's a yearly trek for our good bud and sister show Wrestling Night in Canada co-host "Ducky" Dustin Maruca.   So this week we sat Mr. Maruca in the hotseat to the get the 411 on the fest. We go over the line up, the highs and lows and and the presence of Antifa (!). We're already eagerly awaiting next year.   In our "News, Views and Tunes", we get reintroduced to the Partridge Family (!!) and pay tribute to a Canadian Punk legend. Musically, we crank Messe headliners Marduk and Ancient. Plus some Personality Crisis, Faithful Breath, Demon Bitch, Void, The Headless Ghost and introduce Canuck bashers CHUZO in our "Indie Spotlight".   Horns Up! 

Remember when you were a kid and you hated brussel sprouts? As you got older, your palette may change and evolve to where those evil little veggies may not taste so bad. The same can be said for musical tastes. Particularly towards specific artists or even entire subgenres.   We all have those specific bands that really didn't turn our crank at the time. But now you find yourself front row centre. What are some of those artists for you?   In our "News, Views and Tunes", we celebrate music pioneer Wendy Carlos, discuss Knocked Loose on Jimmy Kimmel and call out a domestic abuser! Musically, we crank some Massacre, D.R.I., Sarcofago, Havok, Mutank, Underdog (Ger.), Crossfire, Sidewalk and introduce Gravemass in our "Indie Spotlight".   Horns Up!!

Dec. 6th is the last Bandcamp Friday of the year.   One Friday a month, Bandcamp relinquishes their cut of all the sales on the site. Effectively giving the artists 100% of the profits. We've been big supporters of BCF for years now. So this week we figured we'd throw out some of our recommends to add to your collection. But don't just take our suggestions. Run, don't walk, to Bandcamp right now.   In our "News, Views and Tunes", we remember the Cabbage Patch Kid riots. Musically, we crank new Anialator (TX), Sign Of The Jackal, Evil Survives, Against Empire, The Pist, Hellfire Club '76, Leatherhead, Hippie Death Cult and we introduce folk metallers Mythbegotten in our "Indie Spotlight".   Snowy's Picks:

• Hippiedeathcult.bandcamp.com
• Witchesbrewthrashes.bandcamp.com (Spitfire)
• Middleearthrockss.bandcamp.com
• Hellfire76.bandcamp.com
• Thepist.bandcamp.com

  Aaron's Picks:

• Messer Chups - Don't Worry Be Creepy
• Rodrigo Y Gabriella
• Estaurio - Puerta al Sol
• Mythic - Anthology
• Echoes of Death  - In The Cemetery
• Shameless Plug - DiGregorio

      Horns Up!

It's no exaggeration when we state that we grew up in record stores. From our early teens right up to this writing, we had a variety of shops that were/are our homes away from home.

 

These hallowed halls come with a variety of memories you just don't get with streaming. So this week we figured we'd give these cherished shops a "Horns Up" and share some memories. For instance, some of the cool albums we found, autograph signings and the awesome interactions we had some of the awesome people behind the counters. What are some of your cool record store memories?

 

In our "News, Views and Tunes", we go off on the cancelled Canadian King Diamond dates and our friends appear in the new Toxic Avenger comics. Musically, we crank some new + used from Verbal Abuse, Living Death, Warcollapse, Sabire, Bitch School, Satan's Fall and introduce trad metallers Bronze in our "Indie Spotlight".

 

Horns Up!

We admit it. We're old.   Actually, we prefer "music veterans". We're veteran enough to have consumed out music on all three physical media formats - vinyl, cassette and CD (and even a few 8 tracks lol). So with these formats we have a number of special albums that we shelled out for all three. Generally the lineage would be from vinyl to cass. to CD. But of course there's no tried and true formula. So this week we'd figured we'd share a list of these special albums. How many albums made your special list?   In our "News, Views and Tunes", we discuss the aftermath of the election and hit up a new record shop. Musically, we crank some Slaughter (Can), Pounder, Hatchet, Asomvel, Poltergeist (Can) and Dissection (Can).   Horns Up!!

We here at RAM have always been vinyl conisseurs. But more and more people are discovering the joys of vinyl. It's really heartwarming when we see the youth of today (that was totally intentional lol) digging thru the racks. That means there's a lot of fertile minds that we feel, as veterans, should be doing our part to enlighten. Vinyl records have basic terminologies every collector should know. For instance: "LP", "hype sticker" and "deadwax". So we gathered a laundry list of said terms. Educational for the young'uns. Entertaining for the vets.   In our "News, Views and Tunes", we share our Halloweens and discuss A.I. "music". Finally, we crank some cool tunes from Sacred Reich, Overdrive (Swe.), Witchkiller, Meanstreak, Haunt, Spitboy and Phaethon.   Horns up!!

The passing of ex-Iron Maiden vocalist Paul Di'Anno was the major topic on the hearts and minds of Metal Heads the world over. Mr. Di'Anno wasn't just a great artist, he was a frontrunner and influence on an entire generation. So it's only appropriate we dedicate our discussion segment to this legend.   We go over how we first discovered The Man. Our fave tunes. And where we think he would be haunting.   In our "News, Views and Tunes", we attended the Winnipeg Comic Con and helped christen a new venue.   Musically, we crank Ancients, Castle, Phobia, Desultory, Tailgunner, Juggernaut and Paul Di' Anno's Warhorse and Killers.   Horns Up!

Happy Halloween!

We love this time of year. But not only for all the spooky season goodness. Our annual Halloween episode is always a barnburner. For the festivities this year we test Aaron's horror film knowledge with an appropriate number of 13 trivia questions. We also pose the question "Would you buy any records from a serial killer's collection?"

And of course, we discuss the Ozzy HOF induction. Musically, we crank a stack o wax with Warfare, MDC, House By The Cemetery, Sadist w/Claudio Simonetti, Vincent Crowley, Savaged, Texas Toast Chainsaw Massacre and Necronomicon Ex Mortis.

Horns Up and Happy Halloween!!

Love it or hate it, "Hair" Metal is always an interesting topic. Often the subject of ridicule from more modern fans, the impact the subgenre has had on music as a whole cannot be denied. So when Paramount+ dropped the new docuseries "Nothin' But A Good Time: The Uncensored Story of 80s Hair Metal", we jumped right on it.   We go over all three episodes. But not with a fine toothed comb, of course. As well, we use the opportunity to try to come up with our own Hair Metal Big 4. It's harder than you think.   In our "News, Views and Tunes", we discuss RelicRadio.com (old school radio horror) and acknowledge our 17th (!!) birthday. Musically, we crank some Bulldozer, Destruktor, Youth Brigade, Madam X, Warrant (Ger), Poison (Ger) and Toxikull.   Horns Up and Happy Halloween!!

Halloween isn't just about collecting candy and cringy Wednesday costumes. Music plays a big part of the spooky season.   Whether it's awesome horror film soundtracks or horror related guitar rock n roll, music provides the perfect atmosphere sounds for your October. But over the years we've noticed some people's idea of "Halloween" music doesn't quite cut a drunken teenager at Summer camp. So this week we compiled some songs that are debatable and we our "Yay" or "Nay".   In our "News, Views and Tunes", we're off and running with our annual October Horror Movie Challenge and address the Taylor Swift charity guitar incident. Musically, we crank some Municipal Waste, Hallows Eve, Piledriver, Slasher Dave, Subhumans, Messer Chups and introduce Pythonic in our "Indie Spotlight".   Horns Up and Happy Halloween!!

Dec. 31, 1973, in the wilds of Australia, the legendary AC/DC played their very first gig. Effectively making 2024 their 50th (!!) anniversary.   So obviously this is a big f'n deal. So we decided to give Angus and the Boys some time in our "Spotlight" episode. We go over some of our fave songs and albums, how we discovered the band and the (non) controversies. And of course the age old question - Bon vs. Brian?   In our "News, Views and Tunes", we go over the recent discovery of a 235 yr old Mozart song. We tell a nazi punk to "Fvck Off!!" And we finally gave THAT Jethro Tull album a spin. Musically, we crank tunes from Hirax, Mortal Sin, Crystal Viper, Gruesome, Asexuals, Limp Wrist, ACXDC and the aforementioned Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (!!).   Horns up!!