Wyrd Ways Rock Show CDXLVI

Since the last show, we in the Rock and Metal… and the musical community as a whole… have been hit with several waves of bad news.

Not only do we have news of Ian Hill, co-founder of Judas Priest, retiring from the band he’s been in for 57 years due to arthritis in several joints that hamper his ability to play, we also had the deaths of Dolly Parton and Conrad “Cronos” Lant of pioneering NWOBHM band, Venom.  For anyone who doesn’t know, it was Venom that coined the term “Black Metal”.  Even though, musically, Black Metal is very different to what Venom did, lyrically they explored the same themes the bands of the new subgenre immersed themselves in when they took the name and ran with it.  As for Judas Priest, their influence on the world of Heavy music as a whole really can’t be understated.  Just in terms of the Heavy Metal aesthetic of leather, chains and studs, they were pioneers.  They were also part of the group of bands in the Midlands, right there at the beginning, at the end of the 1960’s and start of the 1970’s that created a whole new genre of music, fusing Blues, Psychedelia and Rock’N’Roll.  Ian Hill and KK Downing, as founders of the band that became Judas Priest, were as much a part of that as Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Bill Ward and Ozzy Osbourne.  Sabbath laid the foundations that Priest then built on.

Dolly Parton may not have been part of the Heavy music world, but with her Imagination Library, she fostered the love of books and reading to generations by giving books to young children who might never normally be exposed to them.  She did also dip her toe into the Rock world with her Rock Star album in 2023, featuring guest appearances from Rob Halford, Nikki Sixx, John 5, Joan Jett and Måneskin, amongst others.

What’s going on in the rest of this edition of The Wyrd Ways Rock Show?  As well as loads of new stuff (take a look at the playlist below for more details on that), there’s an extensive interview with creative powerhouse, Rebekah Knight.  Not only is she a solo recording artist, she is also the singer in new band Oathgate, CEO and founder of The Dark Knight Academy (an organisation that helps music-related creatives, artists, musicians and vocalists, partnered with East London Recordings) and a yoga teacher.

So without further ado, here’s the player and the playlist…

Judas Priest – The Serpent And The King
Anthrax – NYC 93
Amon Amarth – Eight Legs Of Thunder
Armored Saint – Not On Your Life
Living Dead Girl – Conspiracy
Scene Queen – Tracksuit
Sicksense – Artificial Irrelevance
FangSlinger – Undead Redneck Rock ‘N’ Roll
Boneyard – Before The Fall
Eva Under Fire – Starshine
Vindicta – Idol(l)s
Bad Wolves – Jolene (ft Dolly Parton)
The Defect – Stay Away
Rebekah Knight Interview
Rebekah Knight – Silent Trigger
Tool – Lateralis
Rage Against The Machine – Killing In The Name Of
Venom – Lay Down Your Soul
Venom – Black Metal