10PM

Judas Priest – Prelude / Tyrant

Cacophony – Concerto

Megadeth – Five Magics

Marty Friedman – Whiteworm

Rings Of Saturn – Parallel Shift

Cytotoxin – Chernopolis

Psycroptic – Horde In Devolution

Venomous Maximus – Sea Of Sleep

Ancestors – The Ambrose Law

11PM

Orden Ogan – Fields Of Sorrow

Unisonic – Your Time Has Come

Saint Deamon – My Judas

Prospekt – The Illuminated Sky

Soilwork – Spectrum Of Eternity

Gravesite – Neverending Trail Of Skulls

Dawn Of Disease – Leprous Thoughts

Dust Bolt – Living a Lie

Wretched – Wetiko

Warbeast – Maze Of The Minotaur

Deadnight – Die With Me

Motorhead – Killed By Death

Saxon – Denim and Leather

12 AM

Accept – Die By The Sword

Accept – Hole In The Head

Accept – The Rise Of Chaos

Accept – Koolaid

Accept – No Regrets

Accept – Analog Man

Accept – What’s Done Is Done

Accept – Worlds Colliding

Accept – Carry The Weight

Accept – Race To Extinction

1 AM

My Dying Bride – Like A Perpetual Funeral

Monads – The Stars Are Screaming

Havok – Children Of The Grave [Black Sabbath cover]

Dark Funeral – Nail Them To Cross

Harakiri For The Sky – Homecoming, Denied!

Wolves In The Throne Room – Thuja Magus Imperium

Burzum – Dunkelheit

Bolt Thrower – Denial Of Destiny

Dark Angel – Perish In Flames

Thee After Hourz O’ Power

• Starting the show was the intended intro to Sad Wings of Destiny, an album that we haven’t played from all year (!!!). If not playing anything from Sad Wings on any given week is a sin, then each week we don’t play it is sin after sin. *ba dum tss*
• Speaking of Priest, Terrorsquid and I have debated the best Priest album on multiple occasions. There are few wrong answers here, but the only way to debate music is to assert that every answer is wrong except yours. In this case, I assert that Stained Class is their best with Sad Wings (which is our former host Bloodbeard’s favorite) being a close second. I feel as though Stained Class compiled all the best parts of 70’s Priest, namely Rob Halford’s raw and pent-up emotions, the peak of Halford’s vocal range, and that rugged guitar sound that was unique to that time. All this while hinting where Priest was heading towards next, such as faster songs, catchier riffs, and a more masculine image. Meanwhile Terrorsquid claims that Painkiller is their best because it’s their most consistent and intense album, and that Scott Travis’s drumming elevates Priest unlike any of their previous drummers.  I made the point that I felt that many bands did what Priest did with Painkiller, but 70’s Priest is unique and has never been closely emulated. Putting away my elitist hat, you can’t go wrong with any of those.You can tell a lot about someone based on their favorite Priest album. Terrorsquid picking Painkiller makes perfect sense considering he has an affinity towards more polished, technical, and symphonic songs, while my adoration for Stained Class explains my love for raw, genuine styles. If you like Screaming for Vengeance the best, you probably grew up in the 80’s and enjoy anything that sounds as 80’s as possible. If you like Defenders of the Faith the best, you’re probably frequent gay-bars, a biker, or a metal-hipster. My psycho-analysis is probably way off but who’s keeping track. Anyway, what do you guys think? What’s your favorite Priest album?
• Marty Friedman is coming to Chesterfield, MI on August 9th for his Wall of Sound tour. He will forever be my favorite Megadeth guitarist not named Dave Mustaine. While most of Megadeth’s discography in the 90’s is worth forgetting, Rust in Peace is the pinnacle of old school thrash and the best thrash album of all time. Those aren’t new nor exciting opinions, but not every debate in metal has to be a race to see who’s opinion is the most contrarian. Rust in Peace being my first ever thrash album would explain a lot of the nostalgic bias I have towards anointing it the best thrash album, but I dare you to name me a thrash album that better embodies the spirit of thrash and combines it with such masterful riffery and technical prowess.
• Any discussion of Marty Friedman isn’t complete without mentioning that he’s a total weeaboo. In case you aren’t familiar with Megadeth’s history, Marty left Megadeth in 1999 to move to Japan and started channeling his talents into random Japanese pop songs. You gotta admire a guy who’s willing to make a drastic life choice to pursue his true passions, then again I would move to another hemisphere too if my band just released Risk.  Anyway, here’s a video of him at a Japanese cooking show talking fluent Japanese and jamming with Kerry King at his Japanese show. It’s good to hear him play metal again, though it’s too bad he hasn’t participated in any bizarre Japanese game shows. I totally see him one day writing a soundtrack to a one of those Japanese dating sims that the Japanese play instead of interacting with real people, or some anime with robots, and promiscuous school girls with tentacles.
• We’re usually too elitist to play -core here at Hourz, but I have to admit that I really enjoyed the new Rings of Saturn Ulta Ulla. Their technical talents are obvious, but unlike most -core bands they actually package this with nuanced song structure. The -core elements are still there, but the riffs more than make their songs tolerable. I dismissed Rings of Saturn when I talked about Summer Slaughter, and I will gladly admit that I was wrong to do so. That’s what I get for being a close-minded elitist.
• Our feature tonight was Accept’s The Rise of Chaos. I’m not a huge Accept fan, and I’ve never met anyone who was. They’re just one of those bands that I feel nobody is super passionate for, but everyone just accepts that “yeah, they’re pretty good”, like Diamond Head. I mean this in the most endearing way and I hope to not offend the many middle-aged German men who listen to the show, but they really fit the term ‘wholesome dad-metal’ to a tee. I mean, just listen to Analog Man for godsakes. It’s about old people complaining about computers, and it closes off with the sound of a dial-up connection trying to connect to the internet. They sound so much like dad-metal that they’re even making me feel old.

Thanks for listening to the show and reading this wall of text. See you next Thursday,

-Spaceman