Katatonia and The Ocean ticket give away

Katatonia at the Black Cat

Katatonia is coming all the way from Sweden to play the Black Cat on Wednesday, November 9th, and they’re bringing The Ocean Collective and Cellar Darling with them! Even better, DCHM is giving away a pair of tickets to this very show! All you need to do to enter: is just tell me your favorite band to listen to when you want to get into the Halloween mood. Then on Halloween, Monday October 31st, at 5pm Eastern the winner will be selected from all valid entries using Random.org. Be sure to use a valid email you check regularly when you enter so I can contact you if you win. Don’t worry, I won’t add you to any spam lists or sell your info or anything sleazy like that. If the selected winner hasn’t written me back within 24 hours another winner will be selected. If you can’t wait to see if you win or the contest is already over when you read this, then you can purchase tickets here.

This show is going to be the first night of the North American tour and Katatonia has a new album coming out in January titled Sky Void of Stars. Hopefully we’ll get to hear some of these new tunes on the tour (and be sure to check their music embedded video below for one of the new songs). Also along on the tour is the German band The Ocean Collective. Their proggy post-metal sound is a perfect compliment to Katatonia, and you should also check out their video embedded below for a song they did that features Katatonia’s vocalist Jonas Renkse. Cellar Darling is an up and coming Swiss band with progressive leanings and all three of the band’s members are former members of Eluveitie. Anyways, go check out the music videos by all three of these great bands and leave a comment telling me what your favorite band to get you into the Halloween mood is!

Katatonia – Atrium

The Ocean – Jurassic | Cretaceous (feat. Jonas Renkse)

Cellar Darling – Avalanche

Interview with Andrew Lee of Ripped To Shreds

I recently interviewed Andrew Lee, the mastermind behind the death metal band Ripped to Shreds, which aired on the Metal Embassy Radio Show. I also posted the interview portion of the radio show as a podcast so if you missed it you can listen to the interview that way. We talked about the new Ripped to Shreds album 劇變 (Jubian), working with the Japanese band Pharmacist, his solo project Heavy Metal Shrapnel, plus other subjects like what it’s like being an Asian American involved the heavy metal world of the West.

Metal Embassy Podcast episode 14: Andrew Lee of Ripped To Shreds


You can also listen to the Metal Embassy Podcast by searching for Metal Embassy in most podcast apps (such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, Amazon Music/Audible, iHeartRadio and more).

You can listen to all previous episodes of the Metal Embassy Radio Show here after they air.

You can buy or stream the new album 劇變 (Jubian) by Ripped to Shreds on Bandcamp below.

Ripped to Shreds music video for the song “Reek of Burning Freedom”

Interview with Sgah’gahsowáh of Blackbraid

I interviewed Sgah’gahsowáh, the main man behind the indigenous black metal band Blackbraid, and it just aired on the Metal Embassy Radio Show on Saturday. If you missed it don’t worry, you can still check it out in podcast form below. We talk about his debut album, Blackbraid I, which just dropped on Friday, the meaning behind several songs, his inspirations as a musician and more!

Metal Embassy Podcast episode 13: Blackbraid


You can also listen to the Metal Embassy Podcast by searching for Metal Embassy in most podcast apps (such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Pandora, Amazon Music/Audible, iHeartRadio and more).

You can listen to all previous episodes of the Metal Embassy Radio Show here after they air.

You can buy or stream Blackbraid’s debut album on Bandcamp below.

Blackbraid music video for the song “Sacandaga”

Live video footage of recent shows in DC

This summer I’ve started shooting more video footage of bands playing live around the area. I upload all my posts to my YouTube page (here) but I thought I’d post the footage I’ve shot lately. I’ve obviously seen other bands play as well but this is the video footage I’ve shot so far this summer.

Dawn of Ouroboros at Atlas Brew Works on 3 June 2022
Song: Spiral of Hypnotism

Tómarúm at Atlas Brew Works on 3 June 2022
Songs: Where No Warmth Is Found / Awake Into Eternal Slumber

Et Mors at DC Brau on 25 June 2022
Song: Damaged Pathways

Total Maniac at the Runaway on 1 July 2022
Song: Witch Christ

Bat at the Runaway on 1 July 2022
Song: Wild Fever

No/Más at Pie Shop on 8 July 2022
Songs: ???

Severed Satellites at DC Brau on 10 July 2022
Song: ???

Seasick Gladiator at DC Brau on 10 July 2022
Song: debut of new song that doesn’t have a title yet

Murdersome at DC Brau on 16 July 2022
Song: ???

Murdersome at DC Brau on 16 July 2022
Song: Revel in Darkness

Wythersake at DC Brau on 16 July 2022
Song: Cast into Swine and Sea

Mortal Ground at Pie Shop on 30 July 2022
Songs: We Are The Frontline / Freeland Whippet (In Memory of James Burns)

Mortal Ground at Pie Shop on 30 July 2022
Song: Little Deaths

Caustic Casanova at DC Brau on 6 August 2022
Songs: Red (King Crimson cover) / Shrouded Coconut

Valkyrie at DC Brau on 6 August 2022
Song: Afraid To Live

Valkyrie at DC Brau on 6 August 2022
Song: Secrets of the Mind

Valkyrie at DC Brau on 6 August 2022
Song: Fear and Sacrifice

Metal Chris guests on the DC Beer Podcast

I was a guest on the latest episode of DCBeer.com‘s podcast, The DC Beer Show. I talk about the fallout from the sudden shut down (to the public) of Atlas brewery’s Ivy City location, how the local metal scene got involved with the local beer scene to begin with, and how we’re starting to get metal shows going at the DC Brau brewery! Click the play button below to listen or see the post on DC Beer here.

Headbanger’s Hangover Radio Show Now Airs Saturdays at 6pm

The Headbanger’s Hangover radio show that I host every weekend has moved from Sunday mornings to Saturday evenings at 6pm! Since the show isn’t in the morning any more I have changed the name to the Metal Embassy, yes, the same name of my short lived podcast. You can listen to the Metal Embassy radio show live in the DMV area on 1190 AM every Saturday from 6pm to 7pm or livestream it here OR if you are busy at that time you can listen to the latest episode any time during the week by going here and clicking “download latest episode” to either stream it (left click) or download it as an mp3 (right click).

I’ve been trying to do something different on Metal Embassy than what I’ve heard out there in other places. I’ve found that Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and YouTube Music are all suggesting new music to people based on similar algorithms that are designed to steer people to larger and more established bands. I’m not saying larger bands shouldn’t get promotion, hell I’ll even play some on the show when they release something interesting, but maybe they shouldn’t be the only bands getting promotion, ya know? So with that in mind each week I’m scouring local releases, national bands and bands from all over the world (yes the entire world, not just the Western world) for new hard rock and heavy metal music. If you’re looking for a metal show to play a bunch of classic Slayer and Metallica songs this is not it. If you’re frustrated trying to find new music beyond the same old algorithm suggestions, well give my show a listen and maybe you’ll discover some new bands at least. Additionally, near the end of each episode I talk about the upcoming week’s metal shows in the DMV area and I’ll usually play a track or two by some of those bands to help you discover some new live music as well. You’re not going to find a show that does that anywhere else!

To give you an idea of what the show is about, check out this past week’s track list (4/9/2022), and give it a listen here.

Pink Floyd – “Hey Hey Rise Up (featuring Andriy Khlyvnyuk of BoomBox)”
From England/Ukraine – Release Date: 4/7/22

The Zeta – “La flor de la palabra”
From Venezuela/Florida – Release Date: 4/22/22

Clutch – “Red Alert (Boss Metal Zone)”
From Maryland – Release Date: 4/5/22

Cave In – “Blinded By a Blaze”
From Boston – Release Date: 5/20/22

Kontinuum – “Hafið Logar”
From Iceland – Release Date: 4/5/22

End Boss – “Nail and Tooth”
From New Zealand – Release Date: 4/8/22

Steak – “Papa’s Special Custard”
From England – Release Date: 4/1/22

Sakis Tolis – “Nocturnal Hecate”
From Greece – Release Date: 3/22/22

Eric Wagner – “Maybe Tomorrow”
From Chicago – Release Date: 3/4/22

Animals As Leaders – “Monomyth”
From Los Angeles (Maryland originally) – Release Date: 3/25/22

Heavy Temple – “A Desert Through the Trees”
From Philadelphia – Release Date: 6/18/21