Laughing Monkey with Shawn Ratches

In this interview, I spoke with HansFyrste (vocals) and Erik “HaaN” Sæther (guitars) of Svarttjern, the Oslo black metal band they founded in 2003. The conversation digs into the band’s history, their evolution from early demos into full-length releases like Misanthropic Path of Madness, Dødsskrik, and Shame Is Just a Word, and the path that has kept Svarttjern a respected name in Norwegian black metal.
No filler. Just a proper talk with both men about the band, the records, and the road behind Svarttjern.

For heavy music fans, Kenny Hickey needs little introduction. Best known as the guitarist and vocalist from Type O Negative, Hickey helped shape one of the most distinctive sounds in gothic and doom metal. Now, he has returned with a new project, SUN DONT SHINE, a band that brings together veteran musicians from Type O Negative, Crowbar, and Down. Alongside Hickey are Johnny Kelly, Kirk Windstein, and Todd Strange, creating a lineup rooted in doom, sludge, and classic heavy rock sensibilities. 
SUN DONT SHINE is not just another side project. The band has been described as a meeting point between the bleak weight of doom metal and a broader, more dynamic songwriting approach. Hickey has said he did not want the music to be one-dimensional or trapped in one mood, emphasizing contrast, depth, and songs that feel lived-in rather than performatively dark. He has also spoken about wanting lyrics with more real-life weight, reflecting where he is now rather than trying to recreate the mindset of earlier decades. 
That perspective makes this project especially interesting for longtime Type O Negative fans. There is naturally a connection through Hickey and Kelly, but SUN DONT SHINE appears aimed at being its own entity rather than a nostalgia exercise. The group’s debut, From Birth To Death, positions itself as a fresh chapter built by musicians who have already left a permanent mark on heavy music and are now pushing into something more mature, reflective, and collaborative. 
What makes the band compelling is the chemistry of its members. Hickey’s melodic darkness, Kelly’s unmistakable rhythmic identity, and the Crowbar/Down side of the lineup give SUN DONT SHINE a foundation that feels both heavy and seasoned. Reports on the band’s formation describe it as growing out of collaboration among artists with shared roots but different regional and stylistic histories, especially the New York and New Orleans traditions that each member brings into the room.

Finnish extreme metal innovators …And Oceans join the show for a conversation about one of the most distinctive and unpredictable careers in underground metal. Rising in the mid-1990s out of the ashes of death metal outfit Festerday, the band built its name by fusing symphonic black metal with industrial, electronic, and experimental elements, refusing to stay in one lane for very long. Their catalog has moved from the early ferocity of The Dynamic Gallery of Thoughts and The Symmetry of I – The Circle of O to the more futuristic and abrasive territory of A.M.G.O.D. and Cypher, making them one of Finland’s more adventurous extreme bands.  
In this interview, the band reflects on that evolution, the creative risks that shaped their sound, and how …And Oceansreturned in recent years with a renewed focus that reconnects their symphonic black metal roots to the more expansive vision they developed over time. Since reforming under the …And Oceans name, the group has released Cosmic World Mother and As in Gardens, So in Tombs, proving that their comeback was not nostalgia but a genuine continuation of the band’s identity.  
This episode is a deep dive into artistic reinvention, longevity, and the restless mindset that has kept …And Oceans both relevant and difficult to categorize. For longtime fans, it is a chance to hear the story behind one of metal’s most shape-shifting bands; for newer listeners, it is a strong entry point into a catalog that has always balanced extremity, atmosphere, and experimentation.

Andy Brings joins the show to talk about the new deluxe reissue of Sodom’s 1994 album Get What You Deserve, which was reissued on February 27, 2026 through BMG. The expanded edition was remastered and newly mixed by Brings himself, and it also includes the remastered/remixed Aber Bitte Mit Sahne EP, bonus live material, and additional archival content from that era. Sodom’s official channels have also been promoting Andy’s involvement through recent box set unboxing and playback features tied to the release.  
During the conversation, Andy looks back on his time in Sodom, where he served as guitarist in the early 1990s and played on Tapping the Vein and Get What You Deserve—two records that remain fan favorites for their intensity, rawness, and refusal to follow trends. In discussing the reissue, Brings has described Get What You Deserve as an intentionally hostile, stripped-down album, while Tom Angelripper has said the band was aiming for something more rooted in Venom and Motörhead, with Andy’s punk influence helping shape its short, aggressive attack.  
This episode is a chance to revisit a chaotic and underrated chapter in Sodom history with the guitarist who helped create it. From the band’s creative mindset at the time to the process of revisiting and remixing the material decades later, Andy offers an inside perspective on an album that still sounds like a bar fight pressed onto vinyl—in the best possible way.

In this episode, I sat down with Ross Dolan of Immolation to talk about the band’s latest chapter and the upcoming release of their new album, Descent, due out April 10, 2026 through Nuclear Blast. We got into the creative process behind the record, the mindset of the band going into this release, and what fans can expect from a record already previewed by the singles “Adversary” and “Attrition.”
Ross spoke in depth about Immolation’s continued drive to push forward while staying true to the dark, punishing identity the band has built over decades. Our conversation covered the themes and intensity behind Descent, the evolution of the group’s songwriting, and how Immolation continue to stand as one of death metal’s most respected and uncompromising bands.
We also talked about the response to the new material so far, especially the early impact of “Adversary” and “Attrition,” which have already given listeners a strong sense of the atmosphere and aggression surrounding this new album. Ross gave great insight into where the band is creatively right now and why Descent feels like an important record in Immolation’s ongoing legacy.