It’s been an eventful few weeks here at Wyrd Ways Rock Show Towers. Not only have we endured another heat wave, but your “esteemed” host’s left eye decided to fall apart again, resulting in another round of emergency retinal surgery. Whatever criticisms people may have of the NHS, you won’t hear them from me. From the moment I rang the Eye Clinic to the moment I was lying on the operating table took a grand total of seven hours, and it didn’t cost me a penny beyond the National Insurance contributions already coming out of my wages.
Thankfully, with the eye patched up once more (although I can only see through half of it until the gas bubble that was injected to keep the retina in place as it heals fully dissolves), it’s back to what really matters: another two hours of the best new Hard Rock and Heavy Metal from around the world.
In terms of music, it’s new stuff all the way, from four fifths of the classic 80’s line-up of King Diamond‘s band reuniting as Lex Legion with a new vocalist borrowed from Pagan’s Mind, to a Canadian Power Metal singer and an American Death Metal band joining forces to sing about giant robots that turn into vehicles. Along the way there are also some songs performed in both Welsh, Mongolian and probably Swedish (it’s a bit hard to tell with Death Metal vocals, but I’m pretty sure that’s not English, and the band are Swedish…), proving once again that Heavy music doesn’t just ignore borders, it laughs maniacally as it stamps all over them in it’s New Rocks before liberally dousing them in Jack Daniels and Coke before setting them on fire.
As always here at The Wyrd Ways Rock Show, it’s all about new music, new discoveries and celebrating the artists keeping Heavy music moving forwards.
The interview could easily be seen as another curveball as I sit down and have a chat over Zoom with Helen Manente, one of the pioneers of Heavy Metal Yoga. We talk about the surprising connection between Heavy music and yoga, challenging preconceptions, and showing that the Metal community is far more diverse than many people imagine. As is traditional, Helen also picks the three songs that follow the interview, choosing Gojira, Slipknot and Paleface Swiss to soundtrack the final stretch of the show.
We round things off with one final slice of unapologetic Metal geekery as Knights Of Cybertron (also known, in their day jobs, as Exhumed), joined by Brittney Slayes of Unleash The Archers, rip their way through an unapologetic version of the classic Transformers theme.
Turn it up and play it loud.
Here’s the Acast player:
And here’s the playlist:
Lex Legion – Life Eternal
Celavi – Ar Dy Liniau (On Your Knees)
Rivals – Bite The Bullet
Sorry X – Can You Hear Me?
The Hu – Horsemen
Wormwood – Yra Extas
Malvada – Anymore
Stormbringer – Energy
Sweet Electric – Long Way Back
Blue Medusa – Flying Monkey
Stitched-Up Heart – Acid Bloom (ft Lyric Noel)
Methane – 360 degrees of Destruction
Serious Black – Last Man Standing
Famous Strangers – As Your Leaders
Enemy Inside – Dopamine
King Ultramega – Birth Ritual
Saeko – Glorious Day
Interview: Helen from Heavy Metal Yoga
Gojira – The Gift Of Guilt
Slipknot – Nero Forte
Pale Face Swiss – …And With Hope You’ll Be Damned
Knights Of Cybertron featuring Brittney Slayes – Transformers Main Theme
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