Hell Bent For Metal

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Hell Bent For Metal

The LGBTQ+ heavy metal podcast, brought to you in partnership with Knotfest. Every Tuesday.

31/07/2024

Hell Bent For Metal are doing a live podcast at ArcTanGent .

WE HAVE EMERGED. HBFM is not gone. We've had a really horrible last 18 months, but we are slowly, slowly inching our way towards relaunching, and we're celebrating with a lovely live podcast at a great festival.

We'll be on the Elephant In The Bar Room stage at 9am, Thursday August 15, joined by the excellent Abi Vazquez from Underdark. Come watch us camp the place up.

Watch this space for more news on when else you might hear us.

(Also sorry to have snoozed on this news, but we've had literal life and death struggles behind the scenes.)

11/08/2023

Sadly, we're not going to be able to appear at ArcTanGent as planned. We're gutted.

The reality is that Tom's not well enough. He's really in a bad way and can't manage it. He needs to focus on recovery.

Sorry to anyone who was coming to see us, and to ATG, who've been amazing and understanding.

10/07/2023

Apologies for the radio silence. Tom needed a little pause to look after himself. We'll be back asap. We've got a show to cobble together as soon as he's not going to ruin himself in the process.

See you soon.

20/06/2023

#103 – Deafheaven As Transmasculine Role Models

The LGBTQ+ heavy metal podcast welcomes Tom's friend (and former guest) Benjamin into the co-host chair for one week only, to discuss how George from Deafheaven and Johannes from Cult of Luna helped provide the male role models they didn't see elsewhere, and how that helped them come to terms with their gender identity.

Also, there's a brief discussion about how a Fever Ray show made Benjamin see some trans parallels (and also what Fever Ray has to do with the metal crowd), and digressions for potato waffles and an infuriating trend amongst hipster hairstyles.

Plus there's the usual visit to the Hate Crew Gaybar, where Chrysalis by Finnish heavy psychedelists POLYMOON, and A Violent Truth by Kentish shouty/smashy metallers Allfather, both go into the jukebox.

https://hellbentformetal.simplecast.com/episodes/103-deafheaven-as-transmasculine-role-models

Apple: https://apple.co/448fJl7
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3JlWjBg
Everywhere else: https://linktr.ee/HellBentForMetal

11/06/2023

If you see HBFM merch on sale, DO NOT BUY IT.

It's not official, it's someone making money off us without our say so or knowing.

We know we're late on getting merch sorted, but we've been trying not to die.

If you're the one doing this, kindly go f**k yourself.

06/06/2023

#102 – In Hot Pursuit Of Vikings

Hell Bent For Metal favourites Amon Amarth are back under discussion again, this time explaining why breakthrough song 'The Pursuit Of Vikings' makes them think about coming-out experiences, something gay men are surprisingly comfortable discussing that most folks aren't, and, er, Destiny's Child.

It's a surprisingly well behaved Camp Classic (by HBFM standards, anyway), but maybe it's because it's the summer and the cricket season in Britain, but Matt and Tom are in surprisingly thirsty form. And not just for Pimm's.

This week's visit to HCGBs sees Matt put Plagueboys by Finnish post-punks Grave Pleasures into the jukebox, while Tom's plumped for Saturnian Bloodstorm by Lamp Of Murmuur… although you could be forgiven for thinking it's by someone else, according to the guy picking it.

https://hellbentformetal.simplecast.com/episodes/102-in-hot-pursuit-of-vikings

Apple: https://apple.co/3CbVE1i
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3MSpqgDhttps://linktr.ee/HellBentForMetal

30/05/2023

#101 – Hellish Form: "They want trans and gay people to be dead"

Hell Bent For Metal speculated in episode #99 that Hellish Form's new album Deathless may be heavily talking about LGBTQ+ – and, especially, trans – themes. And when HBFM asked Willow Ryan from the band about this, the confirmation naturally demanded that they invite Willow back to talk about this.

This week, Tom sits down with Willow to talk the surprisingly hopeful (well, by funeral doom standards, anyway!) message behind Deathless. Perhaps inevitably, the conversation takes in trans persecution, the toxic media narratives on both sides of the Pond surrounding the trans community and trans healthcare, and the involvement of ultra-conservative Christianity in both.

While there are some heavy, less than optimistic elements to the discussion, and while politics is an unfortunately necessary topic for part of it, there is also plenty of love and hope found within it all.

https://hellbentformetal.simplecast.com/episodes/101-hellish-form-they-want-trans-and-gay-people-to-be-dead

Apple: https://apple.co/3qbDKJb
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3C1ShKf
Everywhere else: https://linktr.ee/HellBentForMetal

Pic of Willow credit: Skylere Williams

23/05/2023

#100 – St. Peter Won't You Let Me In (Your Bum)

Hell Bent For Metal seldom needs much reason to see something metal as hella gay, actually, but even by those standards, singalong stoner anthem 'St Peter' by British band Black Spiders is an easy target.

Tom and Matt manage to find multiple ways it sits firmly in their areas of experience, and none of them are subtle or difficult to deduce. Who takes which interpretation, however, is not what you might expect.

This week's visit to the Hate Crew Gaybar sees two albums for the jukebox. First up, Matt picks The Loss Of Beauty by Italian purveyors of melodic blackened misery Shores Of Null. And in a radical yet predictable change of pace, Tom plumps for The Awakening by prog-power masters KAMELOT.

And it's 100 shows not out for HBFM.

https://hellbentformetal.simplecast.com/episodes/100-st-peter-wont-you-let-me-in-your-bum

Apple: https://apple.co/3oqulgw
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3oyxOcN
Everywhere else: https://linktr.ee/HellBentForMetal

09/05/2023

#99 – On The Road(burn) Again

Hell Bent For Metal host Tom has been back to Roadburn Festival to host another panel about q***rness in heavy music, and reports back on how the festival's efforts to make themselves a welcoming, inclusive place have clearly, visibly paid off.

The show's been on hiatus due to a bereavement, with Roadburn being the one bright light in the dark. And while the panel (which featured Body Void, PUPIL SLICER, Backxwash, and OvO) was a great moment for q***rness in heavy music – and Tom personally – it wasn't the only reason that was the case, as the hosts discuss.

There's also a rundown of the musical side of a unique festival, including unexpected joy found in Sangre de Muerdago and Oiseaux-Tempête (spelling FAO Matt), and the more expected highlights of the four days in Tilburg.

Plus this episode's visit to the Hate Crew Gaybar sees Heimdal by Enslaved and Deathless by Hellish Form added to the jukebox.

https://hellbentformetal.simplecast.com/episodes/99-on-the-roadburn-again

Apple: https://apple.co/42hjjZr
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3LEQGOY
Everywhere else: https://linktr.ee/HellBentForMetal

18/04/2023

If you're at Roadburn Festival this week, Tom's hosting a panel (1pm Friday), following on from last year's, celebrating q***rness in heavy music. New topics, new guests.

We'd love it if you'd come along.

(Janys-Iren from Body Void is stepping in for Willow, just fyi about a change from the art.)

07/03/2023

#98 – Inter Arma's Randy Bumgardner

The vast expanse and crushing weight of 'Stillness' by post-metal/everything band INTER ARMA seems an unlikely Camp Classic, but Hell Bent For Metal have somehow found a way to see not one but two entirely separate ways in which that song speaks to their gay sides. Brace yourself.

This show's visit to the Hate Crew Gaybar sees Suffocating Hallucination by MAN /Full of Hell, IX by HOST, and Voices In The Sky by added to the jukebox.

Plus rambling digressions on conservative Republican politicians with amusing names, new euphemisms for intimate waxing, and why there are so many words for "river" in England. Y'know, the usual.

https://hellbentformetal.simplecast.com/episodes/98-inter-armas-randy-bumgardner

Apple: https://apple.co/3kT7bxy
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3ZMQFOw
Everywhere else: https://linktr.ee/HellBentForMetal

21/02/2023

#97 – Carbon Based

Hell Bent For Metal give 'Carbon Based Anatomy' by q***r metal royalty Cynic the Camp Classic treatment, and explains why that song speaks to their q***r sides. And no, it has nothing to do with the sexualities of the band members.

This week's visit to the Hate Crew Gaybar sees Matt put Den Tapte Krigen by Bizarrekult in the jukebox, before Tom goes full meme, and puts in At The Gates Of Dusk by ULTAR, Anthronomicon by Ulthar, and All That Has Never Been True by ULTHA. And if you can follow which one is which, well done.

Plus Matt tells us about going to see Leprous and getting a little emotional, and there's a promise about something important the show will do as soon as it can.

https://hellbentformetal.simplecast.com/episodes/97-carbon-based

Apple: https://t.co/YukWl9fTNU
Spotify: https://t.co/FqQ5xvZgv6
Everywhere else: https://linktr.ee/HellBentForMetal

07/02/2023

#96 – Split Bi Tongue

Hell Bent For Metal returns from a health-imposed break, and begins by explaining what they've been up to in the interim, starting with a trip to see an unusual Clutch show in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

The Camp Classic this week is 'Split My Tongue' by evil-sounding Swiss black metallers Schammasch, from their 2014 album Contradiction. And while Matt's initially not got a clue what Tom's on about (standard), he quickly gets on board with how lyrics seemingly about Satan might relate to the q***r experience.

Plus this week's visit to the Hate Crew Gaybar sees Woe by An Abstract Illusion, The Coral Tombs by AHAB, and Sky Void Of Stars by Katatonia go into the jukebox. With a little help from Phil Collins. Yes, that one.

https://hellbentformetal.simplecast.com/episodes/96-split-bi-tongue

Apple: https://apple.co/3x2gMVe
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3x1V1ov
Everywhere else: https://linktr.ee/HellBentForMetal

30/01/2023

🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🤘

20/10/2022

#95 – Known To Sample The Occasional Rosé

When two-thirds of Mountain Caller were on the Hell Bent For Metal, Tom described them as a majority q***r band. Max Maxwell, the band's drummer, is on the show this week to explain why the "majority" bit of that statement wasn't precisely true. It's an extended chat that also takes in the imposter syndrome that comes with being newly out and trying to talk about your q***rness.

Plus Emma Wilkes (of Kerrang! and other places) joins Tom to put four very different albums in the the Hate Crew Gaybar's jukebox. They are Celebrity Therapist by The Callous Daoboys , Morbidity Triumphant by Autopsy (Official), Love, Death And Decay by STAKE, and Pagans Rising by Hexed.

https://hellbentformetal.simplecast.com/episodes/95-known-to-sample-the-occasional-rose

Apple: https://apple.co/3ShRTgk
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3gdRVbK
Everywhere else: https://linktr.ee/HellBentForMetal

29/09/2022

#94 – All In The Family Shall Perish

The gayest straight man in metal, Abhi Ahluwahlia, returns to Hell Bent For Metal. Matt's unwell (get well soon), so the music journalist turned broadsheet journalist is back for a show heavily focused on two of his favourite things: nu metal and deathcore.

First up, Abhi and Tom remember 'All In The Family' by Korn, the alcohol-induced rap battle between Jonathan Davis and Fred Durst (of Limp Bizkit) that includes more homophobia than your average English football match. It's a moment that was not helpful to at least one gay kid who heard it at a fairly delicate stage of development – and one that Korn themselves have since disowned.

This week's Camp Classic is 'The Past Shall Haunt Us Both' by All Shall Perish. And while it's a fairly small section of the song that Tom's honed in on as being relevant to q***r experiences, that doesn't stop a fairly long, sensible (yes, really) conversation happening about it.

Plus this week's additions to the Hate Crew Gaybar jukebox are Patient Number 9 by Ozzy Osbourne, Data Renaissance by The Algorithm, and Dedication to Flesh by SPITE.

https://hellbentformetal.simplecast.com/episodes/94-all-in-the-family-shall-perish

Apple: https://apple.co/3riaUEh
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3So60BP
Everywhere else: https://linktr.ee/HellBentForMetal

22/09/2022

#93 –The Jock And The Whale

In a perhaps unlikely , HBFM this week explain how Ivan Moody of Five Finger Death Punch (and possibly Germany's football team, apparently) erroneously appeared on their gaydars. And no, this isn't some meta irony. They're quite serious.

Gojira's last album may have been divisive among Tom and Matt, but the song 'Into The Storm' from it was instantly nominated by both as a Camp Classic – one that's up for discussion this week. And there isn't a speck of disagreement over why in sight.

Plus this week's sojourn in the gaudy lighting of the Hate Crew Gaybar sees Gold by Unprocessed, Sunrise On Slaughter Beach by Clutch, and Divine Council by Psycroptic all go into the jukebox.

https://hellbentformetal.simplecast.com/episodes/93-the-jock-and-the-whale

Apple: https://apple.co/3DOEaKn
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3DKguH3

Everywhere else: https://linktr.ee/HellBentForMetal

14/09/2022

Gutted. Superb musician, and a confirmed ally.

David Andersson forever.

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Videos

HBFM Special #10 – Camp Classic Special: Devin Townsend Project – Epicloud That nice Devin Townsend accidentally wrote an album that's about queer life in many of its facets. He just doesn't know it yet Our latest special explains, and remembers Epicloud https://knotfest.com/series/hell-bent/hell-bent-for-metal-special-10-camp-classic-devin-townsend-project-epicloud/

If you need something to listen to this weekend, our latest show is an important one, and you may want to check it out when you get time. It's about how metal's occasional blind-eye-turning on homophobia need to stop. Here's a taste. Listen here: https://hellbentformetal.simplecast.com/episodes/79-metals-tacit-homophobia-endorsement-problem

Our show this week is a special episode looking at how Roadburn Festival became somewhere you can celebrate being queer in heavy music. Here's a taste. https://hellbentformetal.simplecast.com/episodes/77-roadburn-the-heavy-festival-that-celebrated-being-queer Apple: https://apple.co/3EW18Os Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3OA4xH3 Everywhere else: https://linktr.ee/HellBentForMetal

Not caught our latest show yet? Here's a taste of us talking about our queer readings of Silver Bride by Amorphis, and Voices by Borknagar. Show is here: https://hellbentformetal.simplecast.com/episodes/74-2-camp-2-fabulous Apple: https://apple.co/3v0Iq3D Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3ubY3Wy Everywhere else: https://linktr.ee/HellBentForMetal

Don't forget to check the latest ep. if you need something to listen to this weekend. It's fabulous, just like you. It includes us talking about those nice chaps in GAMA BOMB doing us queer metallers a solid. Here's a taste. https://hellbentformetal.simplecast.com/episodes/70-peace-sells-but-whos-bi-ing

You know how we joke about how metal bands sometimes look a bit gay when they try and look macho? Well, we actually spoke to one about how they do. They agreed. And think it's funny too. Check out our latest show with Sabaton below, plus here's a taster. https://hellbentformetal.simplecast.com/episodes/69-village-people-in-camo-pants

On this week's show, we talk about how Broken Cross by ARCHITECTS speaks to Matt about his own experience of faith and sexuality. Here's a taste. https://hellbentformetal.simplecast.com/episodes/68-the-chance-of-me-getting-knocked-out-is-not-worth-the-risk Apple: https://apple.co/3papEV9 Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3JIOFib Everywhere else: https://linktr.ee/HellBentForMetal

On this week's show, we chat about whether being a metalhead makes queer dating life harder. Here's a bit of what we thought. We still want to hear from you on this. What's your experience been? Tweet us, DM us, email us ([email protected]) or come chat to us on Discord. Listen here: https://hellbentformetal.simplecast.com/episodes/66-is-being-a-metalhead-a-barrier-to-queer-dating Apple: https://apple.co/34MTckA Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3LuOp8j Everywhere else: https://linktr.ee/HellBentForMetal Discord: https://discord.gg/AaxXZDmXtS

Missed our latest pod? Need to know the kind of thing we talk about? Here's a taster of it where we're chatting about how Rammstein accidentally did an album cover that looks like vintage gay porn. FFO: Metal, gay stuff, humour, bad German pronunciation https://hellbentformetal.simplecast.com/episodes/65-rammstein-new-german-hardness-oh-matron

HBFM Special #7 – Camp Classic: Leprous – On Hold Hell Bent For Metal dives deep into one of their favourite songs from 2021, 'On Hold' by Leprous, from their latest album Aphelion. The album appeared high up in both hosts' top 20 albums of 2021, and they've been saying since it came out that 'On Hold' was a future Camp Classic – and it provided enough queer meaning to them that it fills a whole special. The show takes in self-acceptance, thinking through your choices as a queer person, and the dreadful feelings of inertia the LGBT+ experience can entail, as well as conversations about the queer community's experience of mental illness and the COVID-19 pandemic. Plus there's naturally some chat about why Leprous rule. https://knotfest.com/series/hell-bent/hbfm-explore-on-hold-by-leprous-queer-relevance-on-their-new-special/

The story of how one unpleasant moment for metal queers turned into a great story of growth and things getting better is part of our new show. Here's a taste. https://hellbentformetal.simplecast.com/episodes/63-slave-to-the-grindr Apple: https://apple.co/3rmls52 Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3qFS2iY Everywhere else: https://linktr.ee/HellBentForMetal

The camp, metal equivalent of Celebrity Death Match is clearly the gay-off between black metal and power metal, as our new episode discusses. Which side did you come down on? https://knotfest.com/series/hell-bent/hbfm-discusses-the-ultimate-gay-off-black-metal-v-power-metal/

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