Jay and Derek return to the metal podcast format for a fresh band swap episode. Discover new artists on our radar today.

We are keeping the energy high on The Metal Maniacs Podcast. This time, Derek Hampton joins me to tackle a band swap segment, a format we love for uncovering intense new music. It is all about trading recommendations and finding heavy metal bands that deserve a bigger audience.

If you enjoy music discovery and want to hear our unfiltered thoughts on fresh tracks, this is the episode for you. We are trading picks to see what sticks and what misses the mark. Whether you are a fan of extreme sounds or just want to hear a good debate, this session covers the best of the underground metal scene.

Subscribe for weekly podcast episodes and let us know in the comments which bands we should swap next.

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0:00 Setting the Stage for a Musical Exchange

0:47 Diving Into Progressive Metalcore

8:38 The Extreme Intensity of Origin

18:20 Rogue and the Metalcore Umbrella

26:09 Malevolence: Metallic Hardcore Power

34:26 Via Nova: A Unique Sonic Journey

42:09 Judiciary: Crossover Thrash and Hardcore

52:44 Final Thoughts on Our Musical Discovery

Twenty years apart, three countries, and one drummer found by accident — that's just one story in this episode as we react to 6 underground metal bands: thrash, djent-metalcore, hardcore punk, and old-school death metal all in one sitting. Joined by Co Host Derek Hampton we cover a bit of everything.

This episode of The Metal Maniacs dives into six wildly different corners of the underground metal and hardcore scene — from Michigan thrash and hardcore punk to progressive metalcore out of Montreal, melodic metalcore from Germany, and a Polish old-school death metal band making a genuine comeback after two decades.

Bands featured in this reaction episode:

Splitfuse (Progressive Metalcore) — their cover of TesseracT's "Dystopia" plus the original track "Defy the Odds" off their debut EP Crystal Shroud

https://youtu.be/HwWI4FbKP6g?si=MclYP-OU62y3cPtn

Chemical Valley Mutants (Hardcore Punk/Metal) — Michigan road warriors dropping their song "Ignorant" ahead of their sophomore LP Struggle

Convulsis (Thrash Metal) — Downriver, Michigan thrashers unleashing "Brain Matter Mainline" off their debut LP Unrepentant Menace

https://open.spotify.com/artist/6q0FHDlbrVYddA87Gre4eK

Exhausted (Groove/Modern Metal) — "End Result" off their new EP Down to the Wire, engineered with guidance from Dave Vanderlinde of All Hail the Yeti

https://youtu.be/PhgDO6HkVWw?is=h-7P8UuSBhgbCwL1

Gone. (Melodic/Modern Metalcore) — the emotionally heavy single "MISERY," a track that hits like Dayseeker at their most commercial and most devastating

https://tr.ee/6lem-Lw4CE

Deadspeak (Poland) (Old-School Death/Heavy Metal) — reacting to "Soul-o-suction" and the story of a 20-year-old band reuniting after finding their original-era drummer living in Denmark

https://deadspeak666pl.bandcamp.com/album/no-respect-neither-for-living-nor-for-the-dead-ep-2024

Whether you're into thrash, djent, hardcore punk, or true old-school death metal, this episode is a crash course in bands most algorithms will never show you. If you're a band and want to be featured on a future reaction episode, reach out — we read every submission.

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Nobody pronounces their name right, so they changed it to "IATT". We sat down with I Am The Trireme — the Philly blackened-prog band critics call "the artist's artist" — to break down five albums, one wild recording retreat, and their upcoming genre-smashing epic.

I Am The Trireme (IATT) doesn't make easy records. Since 2015's debut Gnosis: Never Follow the Light, this Philadelphia-based extreme metal band has built a discography that fuses black metal aggression, progressive death metal complexity, orchestral arrangements, and — on more than one occasion — literal saxophone solos, into something no other band in the underground is doing. In this episode, vocalist/bassist Jay Briscoe join The Metal Maniacs to walk through the full IATT story: how the band started, what the name actually means, and the writing process behind albums like Nomenclature (a concept record about the horrors of primitive 1700s medicine), Magnum Opus (built around alchemy and the philosopher's stone), and their most ambitious project yet, Etheric Realms of the Night — an album about the subconscious and nightmares, accompanied by a full companion film.

We also get into the making of An Ode To Solace, recorded in an isolated Pennsylvania mountain cabin where the band captured wind and wildlife field recordings and wove them directly into the song. Jay talks influences (including Dissection), the shift from vocals-only to vocals/bass, their approach to writing dense progressive arrangements, how they handle creative disagreements in the studio, practice habits, and what's next — including upcoming tour dates with Narcotic Wasteland, Visitant, Summoners Circle, and Gravewitch.

If you're into bands like Opeth, Dissection, Ne Obliviscaris, or anything that blends black metal with progressive songwriting and orchestral texture, this is required listening — and required watching.

Topics Covered: 00:00 – Intro — The origin of IATT and the meaning behind the name — Member history and lineup changes — Gnosis: Never Follow the Light (2015) and the "Trusty Noose" sample — St. Vitus Dance EP and self-recording — Nomenclature (2019): primitive medicine, occultism, and songwriting breakdown — Magnum Opus (2022): pandemic-era writing and alchemical themes — Ascending Into Oblivion (2025 Version): revisiting Gnosis a decade later — An Ode To Solace: the mountain cabin recording session — Etheric Realms of the Night (2026): the album-length film and nightmare concept — Dissection and early extreme metal influences — Writing process, riff development, and handling creative disagreements — Practice schedule and production approach — Upcoming shows and touring — What's next for IATT

This is an underground spotlight episode — if you've never heard of IATT before, this is your entry point into one of the most genuinely original bands in modern extreme metal.

FOLLOW IATT- https://www.iattrealm.com/

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