Heavy Metal 101
Your favorite podcast, wherein Dr. Eric, an expert, and Dr. John, a novice, explore, discuss, and argue about the history of heavy metal music. New episodes are available on the 3rd Monday of each month! Visit us at: https://anchor.fm/heavymetal101podcast Contact us at: heavymetal101podcast@gmail.com Social media: https://www.facebook.com/HeavyMetal101Podcast https://twitter.com/heavy_101 https://www.instagram.com/heavymetal101podcast/ Theme Music: Valhalla by Alexander Nakarada (www.serpentsoundstudios.com) Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License
Episodes
Wherein Eric and special guest co-host Dr. Ross explore the terrifyingly extraordinary latter day careers of King Diamond and Mercyful Fate, beginning in 1990 and working their way all the way up to 2026.
Click on the links below for all the music listening/video breaks in this episode:
Listening break #1:
King Diamond "Eye of the Witch" from The Eye (1990)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_rmDu01KJg
Listening break #2:
M...
Wherein Eric and John explore the reemergence of heavy metal as a force in popular music/culture at the dawn of the 21st century, including such bands as Limp Bizkit, Korn, Linkin Park, Slipknot, System of a Down, Tool, Evanescence, Metallica, and many more, and John, amazingly, smiles just a couple of times in nostalgic reverie.
Click on the links below for all the music listening/video breaks in this episode:
Video break #1:
Sl...
Wherein Eric and John return to the fray for season #6(66!) of the Heavy Metal 101 podcast, kicking things off in style with explorations of hardcore, crossover, and early metalcore, and culminating in a discussion of the band Converge and their seminal masterpiece Jane Doe.
Click on the links below for all the music listening/video breaks in this episode:
Suggested Listening:
Bad Brains- "Pay to Cum" (1980) https://www.youtube.com/w...
Wherein Eric, John, and special guest Quinn, of the And Vol. 4 All podcast, chit-chat delightfully about many of the most important heavy metal albums of the 1990s.
Like Heavy Metal 101, And Vol. 4 All can be found EVERYWHERE you listen to podcasts. Do check out Quinn's wonderful show! You can also reach Quinn at: https://x.com/AV4APod
Wherein Eric and John, following a vanishingly brief look at the early history and development of doom metal, investigate the fragmentation of doom into various sub-sub genres in the 1990s, including death doom (Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, Anathema), gothic metal (Type O Negative), stoner metal (Sleep, Electric Wizard), and more.
Click on the links below for all the music listening/video breaks in this episode:
Listening Break #1:...
Wherein Eric and John explore three significant, influential branches of Swedish death metal, the Stockholm scene, the Gothenburg scene, and progressive Swedish death metal, discussing bands including Entombed, Dismember, At the Gates, In Flames, Edge of Sanity, Opeth, and MANY more.
Click on the links below for all the music listening/video breaks in this episode:
Listening Break #1:
Entombed- "Left Hand Path" from Left Hand Path (1...
Wherein Eric briefly introduces the listener to the storied career of Bay Area thrash legends Testament before sitting down to chat with Testament frontman Chuck Billy about their fantastic 2025 album, Para Bellum, and their 2026 US tour, Thrash of the Titans, with Overkill and Destruction.
For more information about Testament visit:
https://www.testamentlegions.com/site/
Suggested Testament songs:
Wherein Eric and John unleash their inner chaotic neutral bard and lawful evil cleric and explore the D&D-laced fantasy world of power metal through bands including: Manowar, Helloween, Hammerfall, Stratovarius, Rhapsody, Nightwish, and more!
Click on the links below for all the music listening/video breaks in this episode:
Listening Break #1:
Manowar- "Hail and Kill" from Kings of Metal (1988)
Wherein Eric and John rekindle their friendship whilst exploring the radiant majest of the holiest of holies that was Slayer from 1988-2001.
Click on the links below for all the music listening/video breaks in this episode:
Listening Break #1:
South of Heaven (1988) Choose Your Own Adventure!
A) "South of Heaven" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74nTzbgDGWM
B) "Behind the Crooked Cross- https://youtu.be/uuIAPU6Gpaw?si=LYjyulyZRllYiSY...
Wherein Eric celebrates the holiday season by presenting an informal fireside chat discussing some of the best books ever written about heavy metal in a variety of different categories! This episode is being offered on the main podcast feed as a "Patreon Sneak Peek" for non-members. Please consider signing up to the Heavy Metal 101 Patreon page for just $3/month. Members get access to exclusive content (like this!), as well as the ...
Wherein Eric battles John, at his very most Johnniest, in a doomed effort to convince him that nü metal can actually be pretty damn cool in the hands of practitioners including Korn, Limp Bizkit, Sevendust, System of a Down, Slipknot, and Deftones.
Click on the links below for all the music listening/video breaks in this episode:
Video Break #1: Comparing and contrasting nü metal with groove metal through two iterations of Machinehea...
Wherein Eric and John pay tribute to our beloved, dearly departed Prince of Darkness, Ozzy Osbourne.
Click on the links below for all the music listening/video breaks in this episode:
Listening Break #1: Earth "Blue Suede Shoes" (by Carl Perkins) early demo (1969)- https://youtu.be/IYxkYHqOjLY?si=YNkxQ-5fIrOehY31&t=576
Listening Break #2: "You Said It All (Live)" from Ozzy Osbourne Live EP (1980)- https://youtu.be/49GY60BkQB4?si=...
Wherein the Heavy Metal 101 podcast dresses up for Halloween as a true crime podcast, and Eric and guest host author Josh Putnam explore the fascinating history of Jack the Ripper, his horrifying crimes, and the heavy metal music they would eventually inspire.
Josh Putnam's wonderful book A Heavy Metal History Lesson is available for purchase here: https://a.co/d/hOqyAT9
Click here for the very special HM101 Jack the Ripper themed he...
Wherein Eric struggles mightily in his efforts to convince John of the many virtues found in the music of early groove metal masters including Pantera, Machine Head, Fear Factory, Sepultura, and more.
Click on the links below for all the music listening/video breaks in this episode:
Listening Break #1: Bad Brains "Voyage Into Infinity" from Quickness (1989)- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfYAifi_9-s
Listening Break #2: Pantera "Cowb...
Wherein Eric and John put on their big boy panties and finally discuss arguably the most important proto-metal band of all time: Led Zeppelin!
Click on the links below for all the music listening/video breaks in this episode:
(Optional) Listening Break #1: "Communication Breakdown" from Led Zeppelin I (1969)- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2atkj_KWLl0
or "Heartbreaker" from Led Zeppelin II (1969)- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5O4...
Wherein Eric and John surprise the world with a midsummer bonus episode dedicated to the life and times of one of the most important metal artists of all time, Quorthon, and his legendary black metal/Viking metal band Bathory.
This bonus episode would not have been possible without the support of beloved Heavy Metal 101 Patreon members like Quorthon100, who requested this specific topic. Please do consider joining us on our Patreon...
Wherein Eric and John celebrate the 4th season finale by looking in on some of the most monumental heavy metal ever made, including ...And Justice for All and The Black Album (Metallica).
Click on the links below for all the music listening/video breaks in this episode:
Video Break #1: "One" from ...And Justice for All (1988)- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM8bTdBs-cw
Listening Break #1: Choose your own adventure!
a) “Sad But T...
Wherein Eric and John gird their loins, say their prayers, and set forth on an exploration of two of the most frightening, awe-inspiring, and odd monuments in the history of rock music: Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II, while also peaking in on some of the bad behavior that was so deeply interwoven into the legend of Guns N' Roses.
Click on the links below for all the music listening/video breaks in this episode:
Video br...
Wherein Eric and special guest co-host Ross explore the decline and fall of the most beloved musical genre of their shared misspent youth, glam metal, looking in on the life, times, and repertoire of bands including Slaughter, Poison, Ratt, Warrant, Skid Row, Kiss, Mötley Crüe and many, many more as the 90's death-marched all of them slowly but surely towards (a temporary!) cultural irrelevance.
Opening poem excerpted from "A Dream...
Wherein Eric explores a collection of the coolest new metal releases from February of 2025. Heavy Metal 101 is, at last, (almost!) up to date! This minisode is being offered on the main podcast feed as a "Patreon Sneak Peek" for non-members. Please consider signing up to the Heavy Metal 101 Patreon page for just $3/month. Members get access to exclusive content (like this!), as well as the satisfaction of supporting our scrappy lit...
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