Radical Research Podcast

Mar 23 2025 141 ep. 69 mins 199

Radical Research Podcast artwork

Join hosts Jeff Wagner and Hunter Ginn in a bi-weekly conversation about the inner- and outer-reaches of left-field rock and metal music.

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Episode 127 – Genesis ‘And Then There Were Three’ is Total Prog!!

Mar 23 2025 63 mins

We're incorrigible Genesis fans. We hail every bit of output from 1970 to 1978. We even go further than that. But here, for episode 127, we stop and lovingly gaze at the band's final album of the '70s, the first after the departure of guitarist Steve Hackett, and a work that some mark as the band's departure from prog rock. Not so, say we! Spectral, ghostly, gauzy, playful, lush as

Episode 126 – None More North! Thule 1985-2005 (with Agalloch’s John Haughm)

Mar 03 2025 112 mins

For our 126th episode, Radical Research travels to the farthest reaches of our favorite country and we do so with a rare companion, Agalloch lynchpin, John Haughm. In this episode, we dive into the discography of Thule, a progressive rock band that defies the rules of progressive rock. Dark, nocturnal, frozen, magical - Thule's seaborne prog offers the listener glimpses into forbid

Episode 125 – Do You Think We’re Forever? Anathema’s ‘Eternity’

Feb 13 2025 79 mins

Radical Research has risen! For our first episode following the tragic event of Jeff's house fire and the loss of members of his beautiful feline family, we have chosen to return with an exploration of one of the most emotional and intense albums of the 1990's, Anathema's Eternity. This album takes the weight of the profoundest Pink Floyd and marries it with the doom and feedback s

Episode 124 – FLOPTAGON: Bathory’s ‘Octagon’

Jan 17 2025 62 mins

What started as a joke ("send us a $10,000 donation and we'll do an episode on Bathory's disasterpiece flop, 'Octagon'!") Well, we wondered what that kind of episode would be like, so we decided to just chat about it and see what happened. No big plan, no huge overarching analyses...just a little walk through the ugly, clattering eighth album by a man and band we absolutely worship

Episode 123.5 – Autopsy’s ‘Fiend for Blood’: An EP in the Process of Dying

Dec 27 2024 25 mins

As Hunter so aptly calls it early in this short episode: “Fiend for Blood is an EP that is in the process of dying.” After the classic Mental Funeral of 1991, Autopsy released the Fiend for Blood EP as its follow-up. Those who were there in 1991 would have already recognized Mental Funeral as a towering achievement of death metal and, indeed, time has proven us right on that sc

Episode 123 – Vauxdvihl 1994-2001: Exhumation Party

Nov 12 2024 72 mins

Australia’s Vauxdvihl (or, for a short time, Vaudeville) came quickly, evolved swiftly, and left behind a beautiful corpus of 19 documented songs. We have stood in awe for three decades of this short but impressive discography, and episode 123 of our weird little podcast is an attempt to bring you into the Vauxdvihl fold. (Beware of the ridiculous amount of Fates Warning mentions

Episode 122.5 — A Challenge from S. Craig Zahler to Hunter Ginn, re: Sarcofago “Nightmare”

Oct 30 2024 10 mins

Jeff: “Was talking with my friend S. Craig Zahler a few days ago, and we were discussing Sarcofago’s 1987 debut, I.N.R.I. Zahler noted that there are some bewildering timing issues in 'Nightmare,' and how he’d like Hunter ('who is 20 times the drummer I am') to try and identify what the hell’s going on. I put this quandary/query to Hunter and let ‘er rip.”Note I:The Rad

Episode 122 — Intrigue CD 4: The Fourth Time We Opened the Capsule

Oct 23 2024 93 mins

This episode brings to a close our periodic investigations of the Steven Wilson-curated 'Intrigue' compilation. Covering progressive sounds in UK alternative/post-punk music from 1979-89, 'Intrigue' nails its intention, proving that, while traditional prog rock may have waned in the '80s, that spirit of adventure and invention remained alive through the work of dozens and dozens of

Episode 121.5 – Previous Episode Updates (Hail Spirit Noir, Hammers of Misfortune, Manes, Diskord, Xysma, Kayo Dot)

Oct 10 2024 30 mins

In this .5 episode (the longest point-5 we’ve done to date), we offer up 6 subjects of previous Radical Research episodes and take a look at their activities since we last put our spotlight on them. (As we explain at the beginning, the sound quality is rough this time, as Hunter is still reeling from Hurricane Helene’s effects on his household's technology.)Note I:The Radical R

Episode 121 – The CORONER Episode!!!

Oct 01 2024 85 mins

Switzerland’s deadliest export, Coroner, which sliced and sawed its way through the metal landscape of the ‘80s and early ‘90s, has finally found its way under the Radical Research microscope. From the savage thrashing mayhem of R.I.P. to the reclined elegance of its final missives, Radical Research dives deeply into the methods and madness of one of metal’s ablest battalio