Night Demon Heavy Metal Podcast

This week, we continue our exploration of all things Curse of the Damned in honor of the 10th anniversary celebration of that landmark album and the corresponding Ultimate Edition box set release. Our focus tonight is "Satan," track 3 from Curse. A deep cut, not often aired, with a tongue-in-cheek lyrical approach, chugging riffage, and an overall doomy vibe. Night Demon band members past and present break down the origin...

This week's episode is devoted to an exploration of the title track of Night Demon's 2015 debut album, Curse of the Damned. The band members break down the component parts of the song, from the distinctive swing intro to the MXR Phase 90 guitar effect to the memorable singalong part near the end. You will hear about the musical and lyrical inspiration for the track, why its narrative style is unique for the band, how it f...

We continue our deep dive into all things Curse of the Damned in celebration of the album's 10-year anniversary by examining album opener "Screams in the Night." Night Demon band members past and present explain how the song originated as an afterthought in the Curse writing sessions, but how it has gone on to become a fan favorite, a "hit," and a fixture in the band's live set. Among other details, yo...

This week, we continue our focus on Night Demon's Curse of the Damned album on the occasion of its 10th anniversary Ultimate Edition reissue. A key component of the forthcoming box set is a copy of the Blood Sacrifice comic book designed by James Dufresne. This week, Jarvis sits down to interview James Dufresne about the connections between Blood Sacrifice and Curse of the Damned, the state of horror culture, and the unfinishe...

This week we continue our celebration of Curse of the Damned on the occasion of its 10th anniversary and the accompanying release of the Ultimate Edition box set of the album. As discussed last week, Night Demon recorded an earlier version of the Curse album known as Run for Your Life, and those recordings are included in the box set for the first time. The guys will lead you track-by-track through the Run for Your Life versions of...

As diehard Night Demon fans know, the band recorded a version of what became Curse of the Damned under the banner of Run for Your Life. They ultimately decided to shelve those recordings. In this episode, we hear from current and former members of the band explaining the whys and wherefores. How did it come about that Dusty was on the Run for Your Life recordings? Why did the band play to a click track? Why, when and how did they d...

This week we present you with commentary from current and past members of Night Demon about Curse of the Damned on the occasion of its 10-year anniversary. You will hear how the creators of the album felt about at the time, how it fit in the context of the times, what Armand's role was in shaping the songs and sound, and how past and present members of the band feel about the record's place in Night Demon's discograp...

This week we present a major announcement from the Night Demon camp about forthcoming activities to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the legendary full-length debut album, Curse of the Damned. There will be concerts, special merchandise, and even an action figure of axe-wielding Eugene, the black-clad mascot from the album cover. But the centerpiece of the Curse at 10 celebration is the September 2025 release of the 'Ultimate...

This week, we bring you the final installment in our series of Jarvis' interviews of friends, colleagues, peers and influences from other bands.  This episode comes to you from backstage at the Limelight in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where Jarvis interviewed affable bassist Joe McGuigan from longtime Irish thrashers Gama Bomb. This wide-ranging interview spans the entire history of Gama Bomb, from its origins in 2002 through t...

This week, we conclude Jarvis's two-part interview with Russ Tippins and Cindy Maynard of Brooklyn-based classic hard rock revelations Tanith.  The conversation continues to flow easily, with topics ranging from England versus U.S. scene differences and similarities, the recording of the "Citadel" single as the first time the four members of Tanith played together, the affinity of underground metalheads for classic r...

This week, we bring you the first installment of Jarvis' interview with Russ Tippins (guitars/vocals) and Cindy Maynard (bass/vocals) from Metal Blade recording artists Tanith. Both musicians discuss their formative years, including Cindy's travails trying to learn guitar as a lefty and Russ's experiences in England starting a band (Satan) with his schoolmates. They talk about the creative process and the tendency of...

This week we bring you the second and final installment of Jarvis Leatherby's interview with Christopher Williams, drummer of Accept and Elegant Weapons. This far-reaching and fascinating interview covers such topics as the evolution of the Nashville scene for career musicians, the burgeoning hard rock / metal community there, how Christopher landed the Accept gig, why playing and listening to other genres makes him a better h...

This week we continue our series of Jarvis Leatherby interviews with musicians who are friends, peers, influences and/or tourmates of Night Demon. The next interviewee is Christopher Williams, longtime drummer for Accept, who first crossed paths with Night Demon on a European tour in winter 2018.  In this far-reaching, in-depth interview, you will hear how Christopher became obsessed with the drums at a very early age, how an uncle...

This week, we continue our ongoing series of Jarvis interviews with influences, friends, pals, and so on. We pick up the story with Midnight visionary Athenar as he explains how Midnight evolved from 2003 to the present day. You will hear many parallels between the careers of Midnight and Night Demon, how Athenar grew to take Midnight more seriously year by year as their popularity expanded by leaps and bounds, and his misgivings a...

This week we continue the "Interviews with Jarvis" series by bringing you part 1 of his in-depth conversation with the elusive Midnight mastermind Athenar.  In this discussion, Athenar digs deep into his musical history, describing his formative musical years, talking about his first albums and first concerts as an '80s kid in the Cleveland suburbs.  You'll hear how he moved from band to band, experimenting and ...

This week we continue our series of interviews by Jarvis Leatherby with friends, colleagues, influences and peers.  This week's subjects are Phil Ross and Bryan Patrick of Sentry, formerly Manilla Road. Over the course of this wildly entertaining 90-minute interview, you will hear about how Phil and Bryan discovered heavy metal in Wichita, Kansas; how they joined forces with the legendary Mark "The Shark" Shelton; an...

This week we continue our series of interviews between Jarvis Leatherby and musicians who are peers, compatriots, influences, and friends. The subject this week is Trevor William Church of Haunt / Beastmaker fame. Listen in as Jarvis and Trevor discuss Trevor's origin story, his famous father, his humble beginnings in rural California, how he came to start Beastmaker, how and why he shifted from Beastmaker to Haunt, his impres...

This week we bring you another installment in the series of Jarvis Leatherby interviews with contemporaries, peers, influences, and friends.  Our subjects this week are Adam Neal and Stacey Savage, founding members of occult Kentucky true metal stalwarts Savage Master. In this wide-ranging conversation, Jarvis, Adam and Stacey cover the origins of the band, the evolution of the underground traditional heavy metal scene in the Unite...

This week, we bring you a special treat, as Jarvis interviews the reclusive and gifted Chris Black, from High Spirits, Dawnbringer, Superchrist and others. You will hear about Chris's upbringing, his gateway to heavy metal, his thoughts on various subgenres, why all his albums list first names only, his impressions on various punk bands, how he goes about songwriting and the live performance, his thoughts on record labels, and...