Quick topic summary: This time, it's personal! Nate and Jacki discuss their metal listening origin stories. We talk about:

• Nate's secret past as a band guy (Jacki is too intimidated to attempt German words)
• The defining songs and albums that started our roads to heavy metal
• Growing up with parental music choices including Steppenwolf, Captain and Tennille, and Garth Brooks
• CD prices and music discoverability before the 2.0 internet (a dark time indeed)
• Concerts we've seen: Nate plays air guitar at Ozzy, sees Nevermore and Mayhem in college, and falls for Rain Fell Within at Metalfest, also with shout-out to Anathema. Jacki witnesses true love at a GWAR show, survives the onslaught of A Band of Orcs
• Beavis and Butt-Head, obviously
• The shift from record labels to self-producing
• What keeps us coming back
• Nate's love of black metal
• Jacki's in a thruple with power and folk metal
• How our metal listening overlaps with our reading tastes
• A digression on Béowulf and JRR Tolkien
• Nonfiction and heavy metal
• Benefits of metal fandom

You can find our Spotify profile with our Metal Origins playlist at https://open.spotify.com/user/31kosaxlm6j56e44766ijo4ndzjq?si=cdd4a1a247c646e1

Music Mentions:

• Amok by Sentenced
• In Extremo
• “Ecce Homo” by The Black League
• “Breaking the Law” by Judas Priest
• “Pull Me Under” by Dream Theater
• “Iron Man” by Black Sabbath
• “Holy Diver” by Dio
• Live at the Fillmore by Testament
• The Beavis and Butt-Head Experience by Beavis and Butt-Head
• Greatest Hits by Queensrÿche
• “The Family Ghost” by King Diamond is the video referenced
• “Transcendence” by Labyrinthus Stellarum
• “Eternity” by Anathema
• “Land of Snow and Sorrow” by Wintersun
• Forgotten Tales
• “Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk” by Emperor
• Moonlight Sorcery (Again! We love them!)
• “Bēowulf Is Mīn Nama” and “O Fortuna” by Corvus Corax
• Kentucky by Panopticon
• “With Doom We Come” by Summoning

Upcoming Reading/Listening Releases

1. The Two Testaments of Chuck Billy by Chuck Billy (11/2026)
2. Born in Flames by Bench Ansfield (09/2026)
3. Big Bad Book of Kaiju by Jonathan Mayberry and Henry Herz, ed (08/26)
4. Ocean Above Stars Below by Triosphere (08/26)

Next Month’s Book: Bring your lyre and your hand-painted urn, because it's The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller.

Playlist Contents:

• Nepenthe - Sentenced
• Ecce Homo! - The Black League
• Breaking the Law - Judas Priest
• Pull Me Under - Dream Theater
• Iron Man - Black Sabbath
• Holy Diver - Dio
• The Preacher (Live) - Testament
• Bark at the Moon (Live) - Ozzy Osbourne
• Come To Butt-Head - Beavis And Butt-Head
• Someone Else? - Queensrÿche
• The Family Ghost - King Diamond
• WarChiefs of the Apocalypse - A Band of Orcs
• Transcendence - Labyrinthus Stellarum
• Eternity (Pt. 1) - Anathema
• Land of Snow and Sorrow - Wintersun
• Cold Heart - Forgotten Tales
• Béowulf Is Mín Nama - Corvus Corax
• With Doom I Come - Summoning

This month we investigate whether or not The Last Shield by Cameron Johnston is metal, and considering this book is inspired by Die Hard and set in a fantasy world based on Bronze Age Scotland, you can probably guess our conclusion. We give spoilers galore, then discuss:

• The Die Hard inspo
• World-building and set pieces
• All druids, all day
• Youth versus experience and why both are valuable
• Work-life balance as a lord regent and a palace guard
• The protagonist’s adjustment to physical disability
• If this book had been inspired by a buddy cop movie instead of Die Hard
• If this protagonist had been cast in a different ‘80s action movie setup
• Action scenes in print versus film

You can find our Spotify profile with our Last Shield playlist at https://open.spotify.com/user/31kosaxlm6j56e44766ijo4ndzjq?si=cdd4a1a247c646e1

Special Features:

1. Post-Carnage Job Interviews
2. Cannibal Corpse Carnage Countdown
3. Rock, Paper, Whatever: Sunweald Palace Edition

Music Mentions:

Fighter by Kerrigan

Surrender also by Kerrigan

Loving the Dead by Vried and Djerv

“What Is Coworker Metal?” article, Metal Injection

Reading Recommendations:

1. The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
2. Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett
3. Slayers of Old by Jim C. Hines

August’s Book: Grab your sword and sandals, because we’re reading The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. This modern classic retells the myth of Achilles through the eyes of his most beloved companion Patroclus. Epic love, epic action, epic spears in faces.

Playlist Contents:

• The Awakening - Saor
• To Live Is to Fight - Almora
• Betwixt Shield and Sword - Curta'n Wall
• Assassin - Trouble
• Walking Wounded - Frayle
• Hamrer Hippyer - Heilung
• Revenant - SuidAkrA
• Sanctuary - Adfeilion
• The Green Enchanted Forest of the Druid Wizard - Ifernach
• Dark Altar Magic - Hoaxed
• Let's Kill These Motherfuckers - Lair Of The Minotaur
• The Oaken Throne - Empyrium
• Shield Anvil - Queen of Dreams
• Taker of heads - Waylander
• Deep Stillness (Rest for a While) - Solstice Rider
• The Punisher - Kasck
• I Am Warrior - Cruachan
• Hammer Smashed Face - Cannibal Corpse
• Unbroken You Remain - Hand of Kalliach
• In Youth We Learn, in Age We Understand - Sakis Tolis

We give a recap and honest review of seeing a show on the Frozen Soul/Fleshgod Apocalypse/Avatar tour (spoiler, we loved it!)

We discuss:

• Going back to concerts after years away
• The joy of seeing and hearing expertise
• Stage setup
• The audience
• Children at metal shows
• Frozen Soul: Chad Green’s stage presence, the Texas metal vibe, and one solid death metal beatdown
• Fleshgod Apocalypse: Veronica Bordacchini’s next-level voice, Francesco Ferrini’s stellar piano skills, Francesco Paoli’s ferocious performance, classical themes and old world charm, light design, showmanship, inspiration behind the album Opera, Eugene Ryabchenko’s blast beats, stage design
• Avatar: sets and props, Johannes Eckerström: ringmaster, John Alfredsson’s menace faces and cymbal-hat minions, the murder circus vibes, Jonas “Kungan” Jarlsby’s shred session, expert act pacing, favorite moments
• Variety in touring partners

Upcoming Titles in Books:

1. Mudlark by Mary Helen Specht (07/2026)
2. The Mortons by Scott Westerfeld and Justine Larbeleister (07/2026)
3. Ship of Death by Kyle Winkler (09/2026)

Upcoming Titles in Music:

1. MetalMorphosis by Masterplan
2. Helden X Hymnen by d’Artagnan
3. Assiege pour l’eternetie by Vehemence
4. The Venom in the Mouth of God by Combichrist

Book Club Reminder: In our next episode, we’ll discuss The Last Shield by Cameron Johnston, so grab your copy and get ready to die hard with a druidic vengeance!

This month we weigh the metal-ness of Katabasis by RF Kuang, in which a graduate student in magic at Cambridge must take a trip into Hell/the Underworld with her academic rival to get their advisor back after he blew up in a magical experiment gone wrong. We spoil the plot, then talk about:

• World-building
• The enduring popularity of Underworld travel narratives
• Alternative careers for magicians
• Advice for the protagonists
• Ideal metal musicians to guide you in the Underworld
• Petty sins that deserve their own circles in Hell
• Our ideal rulers of the Underworld
• Work-life balance in academia

Due to the book’s contents, we may also briefly discuss manipulation and abuse in academia and suicidal ideation.

You can find our Spotify profile with our Katabasis playlist at https://open.spotify.com/user/31kosaxlm6j56e44766ijo4ndzjq?si=cdd4a1a247c646e1

Special Features:

1. Metal Trivia
2. 1985 Date Night Movies
3. Would You Rather? Underworld Edition
4. Design-a-Hell
5. Pick a Hell: Fictitious Character Edition

Music Mentions:

Path of Resistance by Primalfrost

Year of the Cobra by Year of the Cobra

Warriors of Greyhawk by Greyhawk*

*The departing vocalist from Greyhawk we mention is Rev Taylor, who left the band to focus on his opera career (yes, really) and was replaced by the talented Anthony Corso.

Reading Recommendations:

1. Johannes Cabal the Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard
2. The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest by Aubrey Hartman
3. The Incandescent by Emily Tesh

July's Book: The Last Shield by Cameron Johnston. Get ready for a Bronze Age beatdown, Die Hard style, in this grimdark fantasy novel about a palace guard who would die for her oath but prefers to kill for it.

Playlist Contents:

• Katabasis - Persefone
• Would You Walk With Me Through Hell? - Lord Of The Lost, Infected Rain
• The Meadows of Asphodel - Mors Principium Est
• The Great Below - Kvaen, Jeff Loomis
• Crystal Logic - Manilla Road
• In Tartarus - The Night Eternal
• Devil's Light - Novembers Doom
• Hounds of Hell - Dead Soul
• Lethean - Katatonia
• Don't Pay the Ferryman - Domain
• Souls of Black - Testament
• Bleed In My Arms - Sentenced
• Underworld - i Häxa
• The Descent to the Last Circle - Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult
• Dis - Daidalos
• Cerberus - Carved Memories
• Will I Deserve It - Structure
• Lethe - Throes Of Dawn
• Inked in Blood -Sigh
• Don't Come Back from Hell Empty Handed - Oceans of Slumber

Nate and Jacki are two well read metalheads who are out to prove that reading is metal, and you should join them. Featuring monthly readalongs, discussions of favorite authors, books, metal artists, and albums, and reading/listening life conversations and conundrums. Laughs? Yes. Swearing? Also yes (headphones in, please.) Shenanigans? You won't have to ask twice!

Book club (readalong/deep dive) episodes post 1st Thursdays starting June 2026.

Minisodes (trends, news, upcoming releases) post 3rd Thursdays starting June 2026.