Scars and Guitars

Niilo Sevänen (Insomnium)

Niilo discusses Insomnium's May tour (2025) in Australia, unexpected inspirations behind their music, and the creative process for selecting lyrical concepts. Niilo shares insights on unexplored musical styles, intriguing fan interpretations, and a dream collaboration with a historical figure. We revisit the bold decision to release Winter’s Gate as a single 40-minute track in 2016 and its reception nearly a decade later, plus the epic Anno 1696 album from 2023. Topics also include tackling dark historical themes like witch hunts, navigating music industry challenges, observations on freedom versus responsibility during the COVID pandemic, and reflections on utopian ideals versus human nature in their work.
INSOMNIUM with guest Omnium Gatherum performing at:
May 6th - Brisbane, The Triffid
May 7th - Canberra, The Baso
May 9th - Sydney, Metro Theatre
May 10th - Melbourne, The Croxton
May 11th – Adelaide, Lion Arts Factory
 
TICKETS ON SALE at:
BRISBANE, ADELAIDE - www.moshtix.com.au
CANBERRA, MELBOURNE – www.oztix.com.au
SYDNEY - www.ticketek.com.au
www.insomnium.net/tour

New music show March 2025

The internet's only no-bullshit metal music show spans black metal, black n roll, death metal, deathcore, doom, grind, hard rock, hardcore, modern heavy metal, industrial, instrumental, metalcore, nu metal, post-hardcore, post-hardcore/nu metal, power metal, prog jazz metal fusion, punk, rock, rock metal, symphonic metal, thrash, and traditional heavy metal.
On the label and PR side, the tracks are bought for you by Nuclear Blast, Acherontic Arts, Carcosa PR, Sentient Ruin, Csquared Music, Inverse Records, Gore House Productions, Earsplit, Kostas Salomidis, Willowtip Records, Carcosa PR, Sharptone, Rising Phoenix Music, Spinefarm, Earsplit PR, Frontiers Music s.r.l., Maric, Secret Service PR, MDPR, MNRK, LOMA VISTA RECORDINGS, and Cult Etiquette. 
The feature album is Saddiction from Hangman's Chair. The album is defined by slow tempos, clean vocals, and layered guitar work, aligning with the band's established doom and post-metal style. The album presents a consistent sound across all tracks, with an emphasis on structure and atmosphere. It reflects a continuation of the band’s previous musical direction without significant deviation from their core approach.
Show track list: 
1. Hangman's Chair – Kowloon Lights, 2. Cabal – Snake Tongues, 3. Ghost – Satanized, 4. Spiritbox – No Loss No Love, 5. FALLUJAH – Kaleidoscopic Waves, 6. BEHEMOTH – The Shadow Elite, 7. KING PARROT – Punish The Runt, 8. BENEDICTION – Crawling Over Corpses, 9. MARTY FRIEDMAN – Tearful Confession, 10. ELUVEITIE – Awen, 11. Hidden Intent – The Ruins, 12. BLACK LABEL SOCIETY, 13. Enevelde – Nigromantia, 14. GLORIOR BELLI – Weltschmerz Wield Power, 15. Nachtheem – Drift_van_nostalgie, 16. Robust – Enchanter, 17. SUTEKH HEXEN – Equinox, 18. Exiled Hope – The Summoning (Official Lyric Video), 19. GHOST BATH – Rose Thorn Necklace, 20. Hangman's Chair – 2 AM Thoughts, 21. Funeral Dancer – Manananggal, 22. Cannibal Accident feat. ULTI MAKE – Viimene Fiitti, 23. Necrambulant – Sentenced to a Gluttonous Pit, 24. ANCIENT DEATH – Unspoken Oath, 25. CONJURER – All You Will Remember, 26. KAIVS – Sepulchrist, 27. Messiah Paratroops – Out of Reality, 28. OMINOUS RUIN – Seeds of Entropy, 29. GATES TO HELL – 21 Sacraments, 30. MALEVOLENCE – If It's All The Same To You, 31. Oobris Ios – Kesais Irabad Xogolo Arait, 32. Dosgamos – On day Seven He Regretted, 33. FLESH PRISON – DEATHBED MESSIAH, 34. Ghostsmoker – Incarnate, 35. Hangman's Chair – In Disguise, 36. DISEMBODIED TYRANT – 8.6 BLACKOUT, 37. God Complex – Ba'al's Trick, 38. BLEED FROM WITHIN – God Complex, 39. CABAL – Redemption Denied, 40. Doomsday – Never Known Peace, 41. АНТАЙТЛД – потужна, 42. Myth Carver – Untamed Steel, 43. Sinner – When You Were Young, 44. Chamber Mage – The Emerald Tower Revealed, 45. ASKA – 1944, 46. Alfa Pentatonik – Palvot, 47. MERAKIN OVERDOSE – GENIE IN A BOTTLE, 48. Lauren Babic – Breathe You In, 49. Disturbed – I WILL NOT BREAK, 50. WHISPERHEAD – My Game, My Rules, 51. Thornhill – Tounges, 52. PROFILER – Fakers, 53. Sons of Ra – Lividity and the Ascension, 54. CLAN DOS MORTOS CICATRIZ – Nada, 55. Buckcherry – Roar Like Thunder, 56. CROWNSHIFT – Black Velvet, 57. ENVY OF NONE – FOR THE STORY, 58. POP EVIL – Wishful Thinking, 59. BATTLE BEAST – Wings of Light (Live in Helsinki 2023), 60. EPICA – T.I.M.E., 61. Hangman's Chair – 44 YOD.

Kip Winger (Winger)

This chat with Kip Winger is one of the most accomplished interviews broadcast on the show in its eight years on air. The stage is set for an almighty journey of discovery and insight. Kit discusses resilience through the turmoil, significant milestones such as a Grammy nomination, his view on band management over the years, his enduring friendship with Metallica's James Hetfield, thoughts on Warrant's Jani Lane (RIP), and more. 
WINGER April 2025 Australian Tour
Tickets from: silverbacktouring.com
VIP Upgrades available at: wingertheband.com
Tour dates:
Friday 4th April - MELBOURNE 170 Russell
Saturday 5th April - SYDNEY Manning Bar
Sunday 6th April - ADELAIDE The Gov
Tuesday 8th April - BRISBANE Princess Theatre
Thursday 10th April - PERTH Magnet House

Kone (Lordi)

The episode features a dynamic conversation with Kone, the guitarist in the band Lordi. The chat is an opportunity to get to know Kone as more than just the guitarist in the band, as he answers questions about his guitar playing, toy collecting, Finland, his impressions on Lordi before joining, session work and much more. The catalyst for the chat is the new Lordi album, Limited Edition. 
More on LORDI:lordi.fi | Facebook | Instagram | X | TikTok | YouTube | RPM
 
 

Paul Lewis (Hidden Intent)

Drummer and percussionist Paul Lewis joins the show to discuss the new single "The Ruins" and the album Terrorform, which will be launched on March 21, 2025. This episode is a dynamic chat featuring many topics, such as the new single, home towns, meeting your icons, and much more.  
 
Terrorform video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GUJLDMPM6w
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6k4QusZRtp1eIvIZLbUTSh
Pre-order: https://tinyurl.com/TERRORFORM2025
www.facebook.com/hiddenintent
Instagram: @hiddenintentofficial
https://linktr.ee/hiddenintentofficial

Nigel Wingrove - Redemption films and art director

British filmmaker, writer, and Redemption Films founder Nigel Wingrove, the creative force behind the iconic 1990s Cradle of Filth merchandise, joins the show for a chat as part of the launch of a range of show merchandise featuring one of his iconic images. In addition to discussing the image and iconography, Nigel shares insights on his latest projects, discusses licensing classic and unreleased imagery, and unveils exciting new merchandise developments.
Click here to purchase the t-shirt! https://scarsandguitars.com/commemorative-chronicles-of-filth-t-shirt/ 
Click here to listen to the first conversation with Nigel: https://scarsandguitars.com/nigel-wingrove-art-director-cradle-of-filth-1992-1997/ 

New music show February 2025

The internet's only no-bullshit metal music show spans death grind and avante-garde metal to hard rock melodic, post-metalcore, and groove metal, with a dose of trad heavy metal and tech death. You’ve got desert stoner, post-hardcore, and folk metal, while hard rock and hard rock grind are well represented. There's some blackened death, death metal, funeral shit, tech death, deathcore, a bit of black metal, post-black metal, metalcore, industrial metal, and symphonic metal, too: cinematic dark ambience and prog instrumental vibe up the atmospheric and experimental flair. On the label and PR side, Nuclear Blast dominates the show (as usual), joined by Unique Leader Records, BMG, Purple Sage PR, Sharptone, Metal Blade, Earsplit PR, C Squared Music, Sony Music, Napalm, a few others for good measure. 
The feature album is Scour's Gold. Alongside Phil Anselmo, who handles vocals, the band includes Derek Engemann on guitar, known from Philip H. Anselmo & The Illegals and formerly Cattle Decapitation. John Jarvis (Agoraphobic Nosebleed) plays bass. Mark Kloeppel (Misery Index) is also on guitar. Rounding out the group is Adam Jarvis on drums; he's played in Pig Destroyer, Misery Index, and Lock Up. This band came together in 2015, conjuring a fierce mix of black metal with grindcore, punk, and thrash influences. There are five songs on the show from Gold. 
PLAYLIST: 1. Scour - Coin, 2. Imperial Triumphant - Lexington Delirium (ft. Tomas Haake), 3. Smith/Kotzen - Black Light, 4. HANGMAN'S CHAIR - In Disguise, 5. BENEDICTION - Engines of War, 6. Machine Head - UNBØUND, 7. HEATHEN - Sun in My Hand (live), 8. OBSCURA - In Solitude. 9. Yawning Balch - The Taos Hum, 10. Poison The Well - Trembling Level, 11. MARKO HIETALA - Roses from the Deep, 12. ELUVEITIE - The Prodigal Ones, 13. Sanhedrin - Blind Wolf, 14. THE HELLACOPTERS - Don’t Let Me Bring You Down, 15. Goatzilla - Black Dog Blues, 16. Scour - Infusorium. 17. Dark Meditation - I Am The Hunter, 18. Pyres - Some, Not All, Came Back, 19. Mantar - Halsgericht, and 20. ENGRAVED - The Fallen. Next up is 21. PistonFist - Repent, 22. Frankenbok - iWOKE, 23. Scour - Gold, and 24. Ingested - Altar of Flesh, 25. King Parrot - Fuck You And The Horse You Rode In On, 26. Cartilage - Frothed Vomit Slosh, 27. GATES TO HELL - Death Comes To All, 28. ABORTED - The Pain will be Exquisite, 29. Allegaeon - Driftwood, 30. Crown Magnetar - Decapitation Ritual, 31. Decrepisy - Severed Ephemerality, 32. Necronomicon Ex Mortis - Unspeakable Swamp Creature. Next 33. Iron Front - Scattered Teeth, 34. Blazing Tomb - Visions From The Grey, 35. Exterminatus - The Signal, 36. Whitechapel - Hymns in Dissonance. Next is 37. SPIRITBOX - No Loss, No Love, 38. Scour - Blades, 39. BEHEMOTH - The Shit Ov God, and 40. ALCEST - Améthyste, 41. Killswitch Engage - Collusion, 42. BRING ME THE HORIZON - Wonderwall (Oasis cover), 43. Derision Cult - Warning Signs, and 44. WEDNESDAY 13 - When The Devil Commands. Then comes 45. BATTLE BEAST - King For A Day (Live in Helsinki 2023), 46. DYNAZTY - Fire to Fight, 47. MAJESTICA - Battle Cry, and 48. EPICA - Cross the Divide, 49. IGGOR CAVALERA / SHANE EMBURY - Neon Gods, 50. Buried Realm - Ophidian Dreams, 51. THE HELLACOPTERS - Wrong Face On, and finally 52. Scour - Serve.

Udo & Sven Dirkschneider (Dirkschneider/ UDO/ ex-Accept)

Udo Dirkschneider and his son Sven discuss the recording of Balls To The Wall Reloaded, reimagining the classic 1983 Accept album. Throughout the chat, we discuss the guest vocalists, including Joakim Brodén, Doro Pesch, and Biff Byford. What interaction, if any, did they need to have with Accept main man Wolf Hoffman, and what were the plans for taking the show on the road? The episode is notable as Sven is drawn into the conversation, discussing growing up as Udo's son. Many more intriguing topics await! 
Watch the lyric video for Balls To The Wall (feat. Joakim Brodén): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRd-7LcK7OE
Listen to 'Balls To The Wall: https://dirkschneider.rpm.link/ballsPR
Balls To The Wall Reloaded can now be pre-ordered in various physical formats and digitally or pre-saved on your favourite digital service provider (DSP) worldwide: https://dirkschneider.rpm.link/bttwrPR 

Tim 'Ripper' Owens (ex-Judas Priest/ KK's Priest et al.)

In this conversation with Tim 'Ripper' Owens, he answers questions about his February 2025 Australian tour, relationships with former Judas Preist bandmates, Jon Schaffer and Iced Earth, Yngwie Malmsteen, a left-field question about Iron Maiden and Blaze Bailey, his superb collaboration with Leviathan Project, Aussie slang and humour, singing techniques and much more!
 
Hardline Media are proud to announce one of the vocal Greats of Heavy Metal to our Southern shores, the formidable TIM RIPPER OWENS!
TICKETS & INFO: www.hardlinemedia.net
AUSTRALIAN TOUR DATES:
FRI 14 FEB - MELBOURNE - THE CORNER
THUR 20 FEB - SYDNEY - CROWBAR
SAT 22 FEB - BRISBANE - CROWBAR
SUN 23 FEB - ADELAIDE - THE GOV
MON 24 FEB - PERTH – AMPLIFIER
 
*LIMITED VIP MEET & GREET INCLUDES:
- Early access to the show and merch stand**
- Get a photo on your phone/device with THE Tim ‘RIPPER’ Owens
- Australian tour poster to get signed
- Exclusive VIP lanyard/laminate
- Bring along 3 personal items to get signed
 
**VIP TICKET INCLUDES ENTRY TO THE SHOW

Johnny Ciardullo (Angelmaker)

This conversation with Johnny Ciardullo is an opportunity to hear his insights about many aspects of the band such as the integration of the former Rings of Saturn vocalist Ian Bearer into the fold, songwriting, Canadian metal, aspirations for the next stage of the group's evolution and much more.
 
SYLOSIS and ANGELMAKER February 2025 Australian Tour Dates:
Tuesday 11th February PERTH, Magnet House
Wednesday 12th February ADELAIDE, Lion Arts
Friday 14th February MELBOURNE, Max Watts
Saturday 15th February SYDNEY, Manning Bar
Sunday 16th February BRISBANE, The Triffid
TICKETS:https://thephoenix.au/sylosis/