Shockwaves Skull Sessions Latest News

BILL WARD OF BLACK SABBATH RIGHT HERE AT RR.COM

This episode features a 4-way discussion with legendary Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward, Roadrunner Records VP of A&R Monte Conner, and metal enthusiast David Tedds as they join Skull Sessions host Bob Nalbandian in this mesmerizing and historic exploration into the first decade of Black Sabbath, commonly referred to as the “Ozzy-era.” The four discuss the entire catalog, from Sabbath’s groundbreaking 1970 debut leading up to 1978’s Never Say Die release. This is perhaps the most compelling Skull Sessions discussion yet. A MUST LISTEN for any Sabbath fan!

Check out the newest podcast HERE!

1. Subscribe at iTunes.
2. Click the download button at the top right of the Skull Sessions page.
3. Stream the episode from the music player in the middle of the Skull Sessions page.
4. Check our Skull Sessions podcast feed.
5. You can listen to all of our episodes straight from the stream at www.RoadrunnerRecords.com

THE 100 GREATEST GUITARISTS IN METAL

This special episode features two great segments; the first features a conversation with author Bill Hale regarding his new book Metallica: The Club Dayz 1982-1984 along with author Joel McIver regarding his latest book To Live Is To Die: The Life and Death of Metallica’s Cliff Burton.

The second segment of this episode features a balls-out debate between author Joel McIver and host Bob Nalbandian regarding Joel’s other recently released book The 100 Greatest Guitarists In Metal. In this no-holds-barred debate the two butt-heads about the true meaning of Metal! This is easily the most heated and controversial Skull Sessions debate so far! A must listen for metal guitar fanatics!

Check out the newest podcast HERE!

1. Subscribe at iTunes.
2. Click the download button at the top right of the Skull Sessions page.
3. Stream the episode from the music player in the middle of the Skull Sessions page.
4. Check our Skull Sessions podcast feed.
5. You can listen to all of our episodes straight from the stream at www.RoadrunnerRecords.com

SHOCKWAVES SKULL SESSIONS PODCAST EPISODE 22!

Shockwaves Skull Sessions Episode #22: On this special episode old friend and metal comrade Tobe Baad joins Skull Sessions host Bob Nalbandian as they rate, debate and deliberate on other metal podcasts. Podcasts discussed include; The Best of the Classic Metal Show, Radioactive Metal, Metal Moment Podcast, The Monty Colvin Podcast, Nights With Alice Cooper, The Rock and Roll Geek Show, Talking Metal, the VH1 metal-variety show That Metal Show and many others.

Listen to the entire podcast HERE!

SHOCKWAVES SKULL SESSIONS PODCAST EPISODE 21!

Shockwaves Skull Sessions Episode #21: The NWOBHM Special! Three experts on the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal movement, Metal Blade Records CEO Brian Slagel, former publisher/editor of Metal Mania magazine Ron Quintana, and metal enthusiast and Metal Blade records co-founder John Kornarens join Skull Sessions host Bob Nalbandian on this informative and compelling discussion about the monumental British metal and European metal movement from 1979 through 1982. The four discuss and debate over the key artists of that genre and share some riveting early stories from that era including some priceless Lars Ulrich & Metallica anecdotes.

Listen to the entire podcast HERE!

SHOCKWAVES SKULL SESSIONS PODCAST EPISODE 20!

The Ye Olde Martin episode! Skull Sessions host Bob Nalbandian is joined by author Martin Popoff, John Strednansky and David Tedds on this classic episode regarding Martin’s new book series entitled Ye Olde Metal. The four discuss many of the legendary, seminal, and underground cult-classic hard rock and metal albums released throughout the decade of 1968 through 1978. Among the artists discussed; Blue Cheer, MC5, Bloodrock, Dust, Armageddon, Max Webster, Montrose, Robin Trower, Nazareth, Angel, Rex, BTO, Ted Nugent, New York Dolls, Deep Purple, The Dictators, Ursa Major, Ram Jam, Teaze, Legs Diamond, and many others. A truly informative yet entertaining episode for the TRUE hard rock music fan!

Check out the podcast HERE!

SKULL SESSIONS EPISODE 18!

Skull Sessions host Bob Nalbandian is joined by long-time Scorpions drummer/songwriter Herman Rarebell along with hard rock/metal journalists/connoisseurs Jon Sutherland and John Kornarens as the four discuss the tremendous 35-year + career of the legendary German rockers Scorpions. On this episode Herman shares for the first time some amazing and hilarious stories during his tenure with the band while all four discuss the Scorps extensive catalog from their 1972 debut Lonesome Crow to their 1993 Face The Heat record. A classic discussion to say the least!

Check out the podcast HERE!

CLASSIC ROCK MAGAZINE PODCAST

Fans of Roadrunner's Skull Sessions podcast should head on over to Classic Rock Magazine and check out their new podcast. Click here for the first episode which includes interviews with Metallica, a review of the film Anvil, and the Classic Rock awards.

EASY LIVIN

Skull Sessions host Bob Nalbandian is joined by author/journalist Martin Popoff and classic metal enthusiast and former publishing editor of Metal Rendezvous magazine John Strednansky on this great discussion about the classic hard-rock/metal band Uriah Heep. The three deliberate on the entire Heep catalog from their 1970 debut through their latest 2008 release Wake The Sleeper.

Listen to the Uriah Heep episode here.

1. Subscribe at iTunes.
2. Click the download button at the top right of the Skull Sessions page.
3. Stream the episode from the music player in the middle of the Skull Sessions page.
4. Check our Skull Sessions podcast feed.
5. You can listen to all of our episodes straight from the stream at www.RoadrunnerRecords.com
6. You can now listen to each episode at its own dedicated home page. Check out this week's here. Make sure to rate it and leave comments!

SKULL SESSIONS: AC/DC HIGH VOLTAGE!

Skull Sessions host Bob Nalbandian is joined by John Bush (Armored Saint/Anthrax) and Ed Rivadavia from AllMusic.com And BMG/Sony Music on this engaging conversation about the mighty AC/DC. The three deliberate on the entire AC/DC catalog from their 1976 US debut High Voltage up through their current release Black Ice.

Check out the newest podcast HERE!

1. Subscribe at iTunes.
2. Click the download button at the top right of the Skull Sessions page.
3. Stream the episode from the music player in the middle of the Skull Sessions page.
4. Check our Skull Sessions podcast feed.
5. You can listen to all of our episodes straight from the stream at www.RoadrunnerRecords.com
6. You can now listen to each episode at its own dedicated home page. Check out this week's here. Make sure to rate it and leave comments!

SKULL SESSIONS: TREVOR PHIPPS OF UNEARTH AND MORE!

Trevor Phipps vocalist of Unearth and others join Bob Nalbandian in his podcast Skull Sessions to talk about the general state of the recording industry. Check out the the newest installation here on RoadrunnerRecords.com or you can listen to all of our episodes straight from the stream at www.RoadrunnerRecords.com!

EXODUS ON THE SKULL SESSIONS

Get ready as Exodus' Gary Holt joins Ron Quintana, William Howell and host Bob Nalbandian to talk about the formative years of the Bay Area thrash scene. Bob notes, and we agree, that this is the best Skull Sessions episode to date. Gary lays down some of the funniest tales from the era, while Ron and William grant us some beautiful commentary.

By the way, Exodus' new album Let There Be Blood is in stores soon. Visit the Exodus site for more info.

1. Subscribe at iTunes.
2. Click the download button at the top right of the Skull Sessions page.
3. Stream the episode from the music player in the middle of the Skull Sessions page.
4. Check our Skull Sessions podcast feed.
5. You can listen to all of our episodes straight from the stream at www.RoadrunnerRecords.com
6. You can now listen to each episode at its own dedicated home page. Check out this week's here. Make sure to rate it and leave comments!

DEATH MAGNETIC

Metal fans, industry insiders, and music fans of all stripes have been talking about Metallica's new album, "Death Magnetic." This week we put all three together to for an unusual discussion: one landmark album. Arguably the most important band in regards to bringing Metal to the mainstream, Metallica have spanned three decades of musical development in the genre. You don't want to miss this podcast!

Joining host Bob Nalbandian this week is Skull Sessions regular Joel McIver, the British metal maven journalist and author. His book, "And Justice for All: The Truth About Metallica" was released by Omnibus Press in 2004.

The Skull Sessions also welcomes its first academic, William Irwin, associate professor of philosophy at King's College. Irwin was the editor and co-author of last year's "Metallica and Philosophy: A Crash Course in Brain Surgery," published by Blackwell Publishing.

Finally, former Roadrunner head of new media and current master of the digital domain at Sony/BMG's RCA Records Ed Rivadavia joins the podcast for the first time. Rivadavia has been one of the most-prolific contributors to the metal genre at AllMusic.com, where he has been writing and reviewing for over 10 years.

1. Subscribe at iTunes.
2. Click the download button at the top right of the Skull Sessions page.
3. Stream the episode from the music player in the middle of the Skull Sessions page.
4. Check our Skull Sessions podcast feed.
5. You can listen to all of our episodes straight from the stream at www.RoadrunnerRecords.com
6. You can now listen to each episode at its own dedicated home page. Check out this week's here. Make sure to rate it and leave comments!

NEW SITE CHANGES!

You may have noticed that over the past few months quiet changes have been made to the site. First we gave you new artist pages. Check out your favorite and you'll find widgets, videos, music, and much more. Plus they look great.

A few weeks back we also updated our Artists page. You'll see highlighted artists up top in blue. These change as artists are updated with news, video, and music. This is a great page to make your first port-of-call after the news section!

Today we've relaunched three other pages. Music and Video are all new. You can now embed all of our music and video posted to the site in your blog, web site, or MySpace/Facebook profiles. At the right of these pages you'll see charts driven by what YOU do on our site. You can also leave comments at all songs and videos, rate them, and favorite them in our new profile system (more on that in a sec).

The Releases page has gotten a huge makeover. Every album now has its own home page where you can see the available tracks, rate it, leave a review, or comment on others' reviews. Snazzy huh?

Finally, we just launched our new profile pages. If you're a subscriber to our email newsletters, you can log in, add your own picture, keep track of the latest updates on our site (and partner sites), follow your favorite videos and music, and tell us what bands you want to hear about.

Of course, many of these new features require that you be a member of the site to use them, so please join today!

We are, of course, in a beta phase and need your help to make the site work the best for YOU. If you see any problems or want to suggest changes to the new features, please send an email to webmaster@roadrunnerrecords.com with "NEW SITE REPORT" in the subject line. If you receive an error, please be as detailed as possible, including what page you were on, what browser you are using, and copy any error message you receive into the body of the email.

Please feel free to leave comments here below!

Cheers!

Jeremy Rosen

GET THRASHED

The history of metal would be sorely diminished without Thrash. Metallica, Megadeth, Pantera, Slayer, Anthrax, Suicidal Tendencies, and much deeper into the underground all changed what we view as metal today. Enter Rick Ernst, for years with Headbangers Ball, freelance director and producer and current video head at Roadrunner Records, and Rat Skates. Maybe you know him from Overkill. If you think you know anything at all about Thrash you should.

This week both join Bob Nalbandian to talk about their documentary film "Get Thrashed" now out on DVD. They hit up all the bands mentioned above, plus a ton more featured in the film. You'll run backwards and forwards through the history and future of Thrash.

ARE YOU A GROUPIE?

Bob takes a break from debate this week to answer the voluminous amount of email from Skull Sessions fans. Listen up to hear if he answered you. Also, get your chance to win a Dave Ellefson signature Peavey bass guitar by guessing the identity of 10 metal riffs.

1. Subscribe at iTunes.
2. Click the download button at the top right of the Skull Sessions page.
3. Stream the episode from the music player in the middle of the Skull Sessions page.
4. Check our Skull Sessions podcast feed.
5. You can listen to all of our episodes straight from the stream at www.RoadrunnerRecords.com

TEN TEN TEN TEN TEN TEN TEN TEN TEN TEN

Do you think you're a high flyer after 9 episodes of the Skull Sessions? Boy, get ready to say "I'm A Loser" because this is Skull Sessions Episode 10! This episode is too hot to handle and will be the reason you love to love the Skull Sessions. Are you hot 'n' ready? Here come host Bob Nalbandian, returning guest Martin Popoff (author of UFO: Shoot Out The Lights), and rock music heavyweight Brian Brinkerhoff. They're doing it all for you as they explore UFO from 1970 through 2006.

1. Subscribe at iTunes.
2. Click the download button at the top right of the Skull Sessions page.
3. Stream the episode from the music player in the middle of the Skull Sessions page.
4. Check our Skull Sessions podcast feed.
5. You can listen to all of our episodes straight from the stream at www.RoadrunnerRecords.com

Brian Brinkerhoff has been involved in the music business for several years as a rock journalist for magazines such as Kerrang! as well as a managing partner with Vis-a-vi Music Management in the '90s, E-Music, and Walt Disney Publishing where Brian signed the entire Bad Company back catalog. Brian's also had an extensive relationship with several of the members of UFO for several years and is and always will be a die-hard rock & metal fan!

AEROSMITH AEROSMITH AEROSMITH

Join Bob and show regulars Roadrunner A&R head Monte Conner and author Martin Popoff for a fast-paced race around the work of Aerosmith. Deliberation, disputation, and debataration occur as the three cover the American hard rock veterans' entire back catalog and do some psychic reading on the band's future.

There are five ways for you to get your regular consumption of metal awesome:

1. Subscribe at iTunes.
2. Click the download button at the top right of the Skull Sessions page.
3. Stream the episode from the music player in the middle of the Skull Sessions page.
4. Check our Skull Sessions podcast feed.
5. You can listen to all of our episodes straight from the stream at www.RoadrunnerRecords.com

IT'S THE METAL STATE OF THE UNION!

Hope everyone enjoys the new Skull Sessions logo designed by Mike D. of Killswitch Engage. Let us know what you think in comments.

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It's the metal state of the union as Chris Akin (co-host of The Classic Metal Show), Darryl Keck (author of the new book Metal Generation) and Bob Nalbandian duke it out over the realities of contemporary metal.

The three hit upon myriad topics including the variety present in today's metal, calssic bands still riding high atop multi-million grossing tours, the possible return of 80s metal to the scene, and a plethora of more metal greatness.

The Classic Metal Show can be heard on Saturday nights at www.theclassicmetalshow.com and is at the top of internet metal radio today.

For more information on Keck's Metal Generation (High Volume Press), hit up his web site at www.highvolumepress.com. You won't be disappointed.

There are five ways for you to get your regular consumption of metal awesome:

1. Subscribe at iTunes.
2. Click the download button at the top right of the Skull Sessions page.
3. Stream the episode from the music player in the middle of the Skull Sessions page.
4. Check our Skull Sessions podcast feed.
5. You can listen to all of our episodes straight from the stream at www.RoadrunnerRecords.com

FRESHMAN YEAR METAL: CLASSES START NOW

We've got a great episode for you this week, but first a couple of housekeeping items.

First, don't forget you can listen to all of our episodes at RoadrunnerRecords.com.

Second, there are now four ways for you to get your regular consumption of metal awesome:

1. Subscribe at iTunes.
2. Click the download button at the top right of the Skull Sessions page.
3. Stream the episode from the music player in the middle of the Skull Sessions page.
4. Check our Skull Sessions podcast feed.

Metal 101 class is in session! Prepare to get schooled with sharp points and huge riffs as Skull Sessions Episode #7 runs you through a crash course in brain surgery (i.e. the recording industry). Host Bob Nalbandian is joined by Robert Bolger, director of the upcoming documentary film "Behind the Suit and Tie" and David Ellefson, current bassist for F5, Temple Of Brutality, Iron Steel and formerly of Megadeth. The three have a profound, in-depth discussion regarding the current state of the recording industry. From analysis of the future of the business as it pertains to the artist, the record label, and the fan to the pros and cons of downloadable music, you'll be impaled with an education you can't forget.

DAVID ELLEFSON

David Ellefson is currently out on the road with F5 as a part of the Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp along with Extreme and King's X and preparing for the release of the upcoming F5 record entitled The Reckoning due out on August 19, 2008. Contact: www.DavidEllefson.com

ROBERT BOLGER

Robert Bolger is currently shopping for distribution for his upcoming documentary film that takes you inside the metal music industry entitled Behind the Suit and Tie. Contact: www.Behindthesuitandtie.com

THUNDER AND LIGHTNING: THE THIN LIZZY EXPERIENCE

Don't forget to leave us ratings on iTunes!

This is it. The Legend of the Black Rose. The Whiskey in the Jar. The definitive discussion on Irish hard rock kings, Thin Lizzy. Join Bob Nalbandian, Metal Blade Records CEO and Founder Brian Slagel, and rock music journalist-connoisseur Jon Sutherland for an extraordinary discussion around one of the greatest hard rock bands ever. This 90-minute conversation ranges across the band's entire history. You'd be a fool to miss it.

As always there are three ways to access this podcast!
1. Subscribe at iTunes.
2. Click the download button at the top right of the Skull Sessions page.
3. Stream the episode from the music player in the middle of the Skull Sessions page.

BRIAN SLAGEL

As a music-starved kid, Brian Slagel got sick of watching the local metal scene being ignored by the major labels. Working days at legendary metal emporium Oz Records and nights putting together one of the first metal fanzines, The New Heavy Metal Revue, Slagel asks some distributor friends if they'd be interested in circulating a compilation of unsigned bands if he put it together. The distributors said yes and Metal Blade Records was born. Putting in long 17 hour days between Oz and Metal Blade, Slagel pieced together the bands that would grace the label's first release: The New Heavy Metal Revue presents Metal Massacre. The first pressing featured the first recordings of Ratt, Steeler, Malice, Bitch and Metallica, featuring the very first rendition of "Hit The Lights." Slagel founded Metal Blade Records in 1983 and released albums by Warlord, Bitch, Armored Saint and Slayer.Today, Metal Blade remains one of the top independent heavy metal record labels and is home to such metal titans as Cannibal Corpse, As I Lay Dying, Lizzy Borden, Fates Warning, and GWAR.

JON SUTHERLAND

Jon Sutherland: rocker, journalist, storyteller, coach, author, and more...
Accomplishments: He's run over 176,000 miles (Holy Shit!), attended thousands of concerts, written hundreds of published articles and interviews as well as three books and is currently working on a rock and roll memoir from a fan's viewpoint.