Radical Research Podcast Jeff Wagner & Hunter Ginn

We celebrate musicians and bands that rapidly evolve and challenge their audience with newness each endeavor. But the abrupt left-turn San Francisco metal band Hexx took between 1986 and 1987 is beyond fascinating, and beyond the norm. It culminates in one of our favorite albums of the early ‘90s, the mighty, seething, adrenaline-injected Morbid Reality. Strap in, freaks, this will be a bumpy ride!







Note I:



The Radical Research Patreon page is now set up and ready for your patronage. We are offering tiered subscription levels for those who want a set-it-and-forget-it donation option. As ever, if you choose to support us, we are humbled and grateful! patreon.com/RadicalResearchPodcast

Note II:



All past Radical Research episodes can be found here, where you can also find Jeff’s Peter Steele and Fates Warning books…and more to come soon!



Radicalresearch.org







Music cited in order of appearance:



“Terror” (No Escape, 1984)
“Edge of Death“ (Under the Spell, 1986)



“Edge of Death” (Watery Graves 12”, 1990)



“Sardonicus” (Quest for Sanity, 1989)



“Fields of Death” (Quest for Sanity, 1989)



“Twice as Bright” (Quest for Sanity, 1989)



 “Morbid Reality” (two moments) (Morbid Reality, 1991)
“The Last Step” (Morbid Reality, 1991)



“Blood Hunter” (Morbid Reality, 1991)



“Persecution Experience” (Morbid Reality, 1991)



“Watery Graves” (Morbid Reality, 1991)



“Spider Jam” (Morbid Reality, 1991)







Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it.

Radical Research can’t stay away from Scandinavia for more than a brief spell. To that end, your hosts find themselves in Sweden, digging through the short but robust initial run by Mourning Sign. Over the course of a demo, an EP, and two full-lengths, Mourning Sign twisted and bent metal into a wide variety of shapes. Neither exclusively brutal, progressive, nor melodic, but rather an alloy of all three, Mourning Sign, in the tradition of Sweden’s best and brightest, staked out their own territory and defended it with might. Join us on this, our 114th journey into the vortex of radical sound. 





Note I:



Buy Mourning Sign stuff at Discogs: https://www.discogs.com/artist/268458-Mourning-Sign





Note II:



We appreciate Chris Warunki, and you can find his myriad of music projects right here: https://warunkimedia.bandcamp.com/artists








Music cited in order of appearance:



“Inner Calmness” (Last Chamber, 1992 demo)



“Supressed Past” (Last Chamber, 1992 demo)



“Redeem” (Alienor, 1993)



“Desert Sun” (Alienor, 1993)



“Godsend” (Alienor, 1993)



“I’ll See to That” (Mourning Sign, 1995)



“Like Father Like Son” (Mourning Sign, 1995)



“Seems Endless” (Mourning Sign, 1995)
“I’ll Be Dancing” (Multiverse, 1996)



“Subtle Climax” (Multiverse, 1996)



“Seed of Revival” (Multiverse, 1996)



“Neerg” (Multiverse, 1996) Episode 115 preview: Hexx, “Fire Mushrooms” (Morbid Reality, 1991)

Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it.

For our 113th episode, we dispense with the usual exhalations of the past in favor of the thrills of the tense present-future. Thief, the Los Angeles-based brainchild of visionary producer, Dylan Neal, has released one of 2024’s most extraordinary albums, Bleed, Memory, a harrowing journey through the late stages of the human mind and spirit. Without giving away all of the album’s treasures, this episode can be considered an act of seduction, a persuasion. We dare even the heartiest will to resist the siren strains of Bleed, Memory. 







Note I:



Some insight into Dylan Neal’s note to Jeff, mentioned in the early part of the episode (and the question that we borrowed for this episode’s title): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Original_face




Note II:



Please consider donating if you listen to Radical Research often: https://www.paypal.me/rrpodcast
We also have a webstore where you can find shirts, CDs, and books, many of them recently restocked:



http://radicalresearch.org/shop/




Music cited in order of appearance:



all songs from Thief, Bleed, Memory (2024)



“Apparitions”



“Cinderland”



“Paramnesia”



“Prankquean”



“Dead Coyote Dreams”



“Dulcinea”



“Behemouth”



“Pissing”
“To Whom It May Concern”




Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it.

For its 112th episode, Radical Research travels to balmy Greece to investigate the cryptic evildoing of Hail Spirit Noir, whose hellbroth of black metal, prog, psychedelia, and witchery strikes a special chord with your hosts. We take a deep look at the band’s first four albums and find ourselves more spellbound than ever before. There is no warding off the spell, so give in and join us in this most dangerous of meetings. 
Note I:



Please consider donating if you listen to Radical Research often: https://www.paypal.me/rrpodcast
We also have a webstore where you can find shirts, CDs, and books, many of them recently restocked:



http://radicalresearch.org/shop/







Music cited in order of appearance:



“Mountain of Horror” (Pneuma, 2012)



“Into the Gates of Time” (two moments) (Pneuma, 2012)



“Blood Guru” (Oi Magoi, 2014)
“Satan is Time” (Oi Magoi, 2014)



“The Mermaid” (Oi Magoi, 2014)



“Mayhem in Blue” (Mayhem in Blue, 2016)



“Lost in Satan’s Charms” (Mayhem in Blue, 2016)



“The Cannibal Tribe Came from the Sea” (Mayhem in Blue, 2016)



“Alien Lip Reading” (Eden in Reverse, 2020)



“Crossroads” (Eden in Reverse, 2020)



“Automata 1980” (Eden in Reverse, 2020)
“On the Loose Again” (Mannequins, 2021) ep. 113 preview: Thief, “Prankquean” (Bleed, Memory, 2024)







Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it.

For episode 111, Radical Research returns to its spiritual homeland of Norway. But on this trip, RR steers clear of the usual avant suspects and instead climbs the Mountains of Might to take a closer look at Immortal’s twisted and divisive fourth album, 1997’s Blizzard Beasts. Though optically outside of RR’s usual territory, the hosts make a compelling case for the album’s inclusion in the annals of the weird. Please tune in but beware of Nebular Ravens and Frostdemons.








Note I: Although we failed to mention it, along with a resemblance or two to various riffs from Hellwitch’s Syzygial Miscreancy, we find parallels between Blizzard Beasts and any given Order From Chaos era, both vocally and musically. Not that Hellwitch or Order From Chaos directly influenced this album, but if Immortal had said so, we could see it. As you were.

Note II:



Please consider donating if you listen to Radical Research often: https://www.paypal.me/rrpodcast
We also have a webstore where you can find shirts, CDs, and books, many of them recently restocked:



http://radicalresearch.org/shop/







Music cited in order of appearance:



[all songs are from Immortal’s Blizzard Beasts, 1997]



“intro”



“Blizzard Beasts”



“Nebular Ravens Winter”



“Suns That Sank Below”
“Battlefields”



“Mountains of Might”



“Noctambulant”



“Winter of the Ages”



“Frostdemonstorm”







Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it.

We continue our wander through the 4CD Intrigue compilation. This installment features 15 UK bands, several which we’d never heard of before (Art Nouveau, New Musik, Section 25). We hope this episode helps prove curator Steven Wilson’s note that Intrigue operates on the “idea that conceptual thinking and ambition didn’t suddenly evaporate after ’77…ambitious, weird and thrilling music was all around you in the ‘80s – if you looked in the right places.” Amen.







Note I:



Please consider donating if you listen to Radical Research often: https://www.paypal.me/rrpodcast
We also have a webstore where you can find shirts, CDs, and books, many of them recently restocked:



http://radicalresearch.org/shop/







Music cited in order of appearance:



Intro: Brian Eno, “Third Uncle” (Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy), 1974)
[all snippets below are taken directly from the Intrigue compilation; the following indicates where the songs originally appeared]



The Sound, “I Can’t Escape Myself” (Jeopardy, 1980)
Joy Division, “The Eternal” (Closer, 1980)
Swell Maps, “Big Empty Field” (…In “Jane from Occupied Europe”, 1980)



Art Nouveau, “Enemies” (unreleased, 1980)



Gary Numan, “The Joy Circuit” (Telekon, 1980)
23 Skidoo, “The Gospel Comes to New Guinea” (single, 1980)



Echo and the Bunnymen, “All My Colours” (Heaven Up Here, 1981)



The Specials, “Ghost Town” (single, 1981)
New Musik, “They All Run After the Carving Knife” (Anywhere, 1981)
New Order, “The Him” (Movement, 1981)
The Associates, “White Car in Germany” (single, 1981)



Section 25, “Hit” (Always Now, 1981)



Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, “Sealand” (Architecture & Morality, 1981)



Japan, “Talking Drum” (Tin Drum, 1981)



The Cure, “Faith” (Faith, 1981)







Radical Research is a conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of rock and metal music. This podcast is conceived and conducted by Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn. Though we consume music in a variety of ways, we give particular privilege to the immersive, full-album listening experience. Likewise, we believe that tangible music formats help provide the richest, most rewarding immersions and that music, artwork, and song titles cooperate to produce a singular effect on the listener. Great music is worth more than we ever pay for it.