This is the Podcast of Alan Averill aka Nemtheanga, vocalist of the Irish Metal band Primordial for almost the last three decades! It's all about music industry commentary and insider info, rock n roll stories from a life on the road, travel experiences from every continent, piracy and general skullduggery, gallows humour, some political observation, musings on history and culture and some good old Irish psychoanalysis. A Vagabond of the Western World!..... Support this show…
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Interrupted while day dreaming about a Manowar poster I had when I was 14....I get ambushed into discussing the Manosphere with an old friend, am I in it? is the main thrust of questioning. It was silly, it was serious.....some points were raised, some words were phrased and in the end we both agreed, blanket buzz words = bad, claiming exercise is toxic = bad.....but most of the C U Next Tuesday's…
In today's episode I mull over Sepultura's last ever European show, feeling left out in the cold by that corporate arena feeling and why bands choose huge screens with AI imagery over lights and amps, what did Inner Self mean anyway? Being a cranky middle aged man means becoming a walking meme, who can deny it? and then a proper deep dive into proposed EU eco- packaging laws that are going to…
Recently I was mixing an album and desperately tried to make the studio into a time machine, to take me back to 1984, and failed. Well kinda, sorta.....made it back some of the way then the dials on the DeLorean starting smoking and I ended up more or less where I started. Why is it so difficult to fully re-create that moment? is it simply impossible to create virgin territory, a cultural…
This weeks episode is inspired by a week of listening to old demos from the late 80s and early 90s, a chance discussion with Paul from Blood Incantation about why some bands that seemed so vital from back in those days never made it, yet maybe now.....they would get far more respect, or would they? And some ramblings over the idea that our disengagement with the physical process of life, sub…
In today's podcast I consider the implications that music is now one of the least important parts of promoting an album, what that means for the art form, when was the last time you shared a link to music and not a clip of people talking about music or an old clip of some band from another long gone decade acting out? Where is all headed? that and a mild mannered confrontation between a lazy…
In today's episode I tread out into ankle deep waters of the let's be frank mostly nonsense culture war hysteria surrounding Christopher Nolan's new movie, an adaptation of Homer's "The Odyssey" and consider the argument, should movies be historically accurate, do they owe a debt to the real characters who lived and died to portray them faithfully, or is history just another treasure trove of…
Does the old school metal scene and music industry in general simply have to accept the dumbing down of the scene through the influx of content creating gimmick bands or is it possible to resist? As it's clear that within an ageing scene there needs to be new blood right? Yet the new bands who uphold the old school values and worship the riff! are fewer and further between and certainly and sadly…
Born in 2015, VOLUME BRUTAL is a non-profit organization which releases LPs/CDs/Tapes, organizes gigs and other metal-related events (record market...). The stuff we sell on the website is from our own collection or stuff we traded with other labels, thus we sell both used (sometimes rare) records or brand new ones. Sales money is 100% used to finance our releases/gigs/events/merch stall at…
Some bands just don't seem to understand what their legacy means, right? or are we just being gatekeeping assholes, obsessing over every little thing and small detail? and don't those kind of assholes exist in every walk of life? This and I mull over my feeling that mainstream metal and it's aspirations more and more seem to verge on cosplay... the show is looking for sponsors....if you think this…
What are the chattering heavy metal music industry classes discussing in the backstage this summer? Find out in today's podcast.... Warning.....Optimize you content potential.....and other such horrid phrases will be used over the length of this podcast the show is looking for sponsors....if you think this is something you are interested in, get in touch Alan.averill@gmail.com follow me…
Today's podcast is coming to you from a hotel room in Poland, as Primordial plays Mystic festival tonight, they say.....say what you see so that's what I'm doing today, discussing what goes into getting you from your front door to the stage, all the things that have to go right and how with 3 hours sleep in 32 hours you end up back at home staring out the window at the rain.... the show is looking…
Introducing Polish concept ensemble Deamonolith. The band was founded in 2022, but its members have been consistently active in the underground scene since the 90s (we played in bands like Pandemonium, Imperator, Lost Soul, Sacriversum, Gortal and others). They have just released their debut album in cooperation with domestic labels: Godz ov War Productions and Ancient Dead Productions. This is…
So today's podcast is a spicy meatball, where I throw a lot of shade, as the young people say.....earlier in the week I was contacted by Rock Hard magazine in France to discuss one of the most important questions of our time, why is so much of modern metal so childish? let's leave fixing the Middle east for another day and get into it....if you feel troubled by any of the subjects of today's…
I learnt a new word: 'enshittification', stage 1 is attraction, stage 2 is abuse and stage 3 is extraction....how platforms lure people in and slowly once they have audience capture and people rely on them begin turning the screw and abusing users, I take this word and run with it into the brick wall of the music industry and culture at large. A continuation of the theme.....why nothing feels the…
R.I.P Bartholomous Retsch Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/agitators-anonymous-the-alan-averill-podcast . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Today's podcast is a collaboration with Shayan from Iblis Manifestations/Trivax. During this years Inferno festival we got together to do an independent talk entitled 'The free speech principle' at Kniven bar. Despite harbouring an absolutely brutal hangover which is entirely my fault....we got through it and mulled over what free speech really means in the metal scene these days....do people…
Episode 300 is proper Metal nerdism, together with Joe from that GAMA BOMB we debate our top 20 + a few stragglers of the year 1987 and realise we have vastly different victors when we get down to the crunch! could 1987 be the dark horse entry for the greatest year in Metal history ever? very possibly...... the show is looking for sponsors....if you think this is something you are interested in,…
Geese.....yep.....Geese who were being touted as the new saviours of rock n' roll by the Guardian newspaper only a month or two ago have turned out to be more or less a marketing psyop created by a brand strategy company called Chaotic Good, Today I go over the story and ask, is it really surprising in 2026 that this is the way a rock band would get relative success in the mainstream....I dig into…
Was there an FBI conspiracy to kill off rock music? eh....no seriously....sort of, well Billy Corgan alluded to it on his podcast so I take it on face value and look into what changed. If we take Woodstock 99' as the last high point of angry dudes with guitars has it all been pop music-ified since then? On one level it certainly seems so, but we do love a conspiracy, could it be real, or is it…
The first time Primordial played Inferno festival in Norway was 20 years ago, I reflect on then and now. Have we just graduated to the middle aged men's club without knowing it? growing old with the same people year in and year out on the festival circuit? Could be. Finishing with some thoughts on how the energy crisis might affect the music industry if it keeps on rolling and rolling..... follow…
After a weekend at a Pagan Metal metal festival, and all the adjacent forms of music, medieval music, new folk, and all the newer bands in the Heilung/Wardruna vein I ask the simple question, is this revivalism and a genuine rejection of the modern world or a form of refuge, escape from the ills of modernity? or perhaps it's neither....or both? it's a question that actually needs a more in depth…
Episode 300 is proper heavy metal nerdism, together with Joe from that GAMA BOMB we go over our top 20 or so albums of 1987, and find we have wildly varying tastes when it gets down to the crunch. Whose side are you on? We also consider, could 1987 be the greatest dark horse of a year ever in Metal history? Very possibly..... the show is looking for sponsors....if you think this is something you…
Are we heading for some really Dire Straits because of the war in the Middle East? Energy rationing? stay at home and work orders? or is that fear mongering....? did you realise how important Desallination was? how is all of this gonna effect the music industry, and touring? negatively is my guess. Kannonfeiber digging into the trenches to defend their merch positions! and it all ends with a…
Following a trip to Albania I consider all the various coefficients that have to go together to allow scenes to exist in harsh conditions, religious oppression, totalitarian regimes or outright poverty, how does metal always somehow find a way through any cracks to take root. Even in the harshest conditions, and why that struggle is what defines so much of the glory of old metal. Yet some reasons…
Today's podcast looks back at the history of record contracts, over 100 years ago and asks were musicians back then paid more for their work than streaming does now? was the music industry the canary in the coalmine, the first example of 'You will own nothing and be happy' ideal along with piracy and digital streaming and is it just another example of the hollowing out of the middle class? Find…
These days almost every tour has a meet and greet VIP package, I used to feel they were immoral but with ever rising costs I evaluate my position and wonder are they essential now to a musicians ability to earn anything on tour anymore? it's a complex moral conundrum....so let's get into it nemtheanga_primordial on the gram support the show over at : https://patreon.com/AlanAverill Primordial on…
I missed out Episode 290 so let's go back in time, this one is kinda rambling and all over the place, why Rock N Roll and all the trappings, spices, side dishes, hangovers, come downs and black eyes seem like something from another century. Is it even possible to be Rock N Roll anymore? Part 3 of why nothing feels the same, why nothing little feels joyous or reckless anymore, going to gigs,…
Following on from last weeks 'Why old metal hates new metal' podcast, we take it a bit further this week, could be metal could be any old subculture to be honest, what are the reasons we feel alienated, detached and disenfranchised? From cities being too expensive for artists to live in to venues closing down, the death of the record shop to the redundancy of the recording studio and rehearsal…
Why do older metal fans find most newer metal bands so difficult to relate to? Is it just generational, don't the old folks always complain about the music young people like or is there more to it? riffs.....the sound.....the vocals....the image....what is it? nemtheanga_primordial on the gram support the show over at : https://patreon.com/AlanAverill Primordial on Spotify YES THERE'S A NEW…
I couldn't resist, having never talked about Epstein before with the week that's in it I couldn't not cast a few scurrilous glances across the whole dirty affair and see what's going on..... as it seems, a lot of pretty dark stuff, let's get grubby nemtheanga_primordial on the gram support the show over at : https://patreon.com/AlanAverill Primordial on Spotify YES THERE'S A NEW Primordial LIVE…
This is the audio from a recent video on my Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/@AlanAverillNemtheanga if you want to watch the original nemtheanga_primordial on the gram support the show over at : https://patreon.com/AlanAverill Primordial on Spotify YES THERE'S A NEW Primordial LIVE ALBUM OUT !! https://open.spotify.com/artist/0BZr6WHaejNA63uhZZZZek?si=yFFV8ypSSDOESUX62_0TzQ sponsored by…
Recently a bunch of people shared me a story about a band (called Witch Fever) who've been out touring in arenas but are absolutely broke, how can that be? well actually it can be very easy, and probably expected in their position, I'll explain why, the logistics and math involved and also ponder and is it possible the band their agency and manager anticipated this outcome and have crafted it into…
What other Heavy metal podcast tries to make some kinda sense of geo-politics? that's right.....almost none! Perhaps for good reason, perhaps not. Today I take a sideways look at the craziness around the Greenland situation, why it's more strategic than you might think in a world where the old order is rapidly falling apart, has the West has been asleep at the wheel, why Icelandic food sucks so…
In today's episode I discuss Varg seemingly embracing AI, why the western activist class are silent on Iran, and in part three or four of why there are not angry bands in the mainstream anymore I discuss what the rental market has to do with this and why artists cant afford to live in cities anymore..... nemtheanga_primordial on the gram support the show over at : https://patreon.com/AlanAverill…
First episode back this year is a spicy one, I couldn't resist taking a look into Maduro's wild ride, the chaotic mess that sadly became Venezuala and how politics in 2026 started with a bang, no rest for the wicked and not a moments peace! Start as you mean to continue and it's full pedal to the metal to begin the year! Metal podcast for next week I promise! Helter Skelter nemtheanga_primordial…
Last show of the year quite possibly is a Patreon story about some daft shenanigans from the past! and some AI taking over the music industry to begin with! very shortly I am out with DREAD SOVEREIGN DEC 11 ◆ SWEDEN, Gothenburg, The Abyss DEC 12 ◆ DENMARK, Copenhagen, Rahuset DEC 13 ◆ GERMANY, Hamburg, Bambi Galore DEC 14 ◆ GERMANY, Oldenburg, MTS Records DEC 16 ◆ GERMANY, Erfurt, Club From Hell…
After last weeks more tongue in cheek look at the world of touring this time I take it a bit more seriously and try and examine some of the hard truths about what living on the road can do to you, how it can punish the vulnerable and reward the stoic, inspired by a post sent to me about touring, "the hard truths' I go through the pros and cons, the mental pressure, the health issues, indulgences…
In today's podcast I cast a cranky middle aged eye over the whole debacle surrounding the band Vitriol, where members were left at gas stations, tours ended, gofundme's started and tears for the gram....what happened to not doing all your dirty washing in public, is that a thing of the past? or was it always like this, and if I was to be kicked out and left at a gas station every time I misbehaved…
"We sacrificed our lives for this, to be missionaries for the scene" or words to that effect.... A short chat before their gig in Dublin with my old friend Sakis from ROTTING CHRIST....does what it says on the tin this one..... picture from the backstage somewhere or other during the last 30 odd years....who knows! Since now I name you under our cult nemtheanga_primordial on the gram support the…
In today's episode I consider the Streisand effect, how responding to critics and attention can create more noise, how I once gave a lecture in Black Metal once upon a time, would that work now? and how the scene back in the day and it's adoption of extremity was never meant to bear close analysis, a brief discussion of what a live album used to mean.....keep your tongue in your cheek...…
In today's episode I discuss taking on the music industry at it's own game, using the parameters, platforms and apps to your advantage through the rise of the band Castle Rat, how it works for some and not for others, a brief skirt through the disaster zone of manufactured band Dogma and end up wondering.....can anyone remember a song....damn it even a riff? and is that even important when you are…
My 'I listened to 50 bands' podcast a week ago raised some eyebrows and caused in equal measures mirth and annoyance but over the last week an album has come along that showed me clearly what was missing from so much modern metal, am I fair to judge it so? or just shouting at clouds, this Friday I explore the reasons why that might be the case and is festival culture a victory lap where bands get…
Today's podcast is a tongue in cheek look at writing songs and lyrics as a young man, trying to fill them with pathos and gravity, that only makes any sense decades and decades later. A cynical take on the Irish Presidential election and a sideways look at the idea that somehow we should be held responsible for the beliefs and ideas of others? should we.....? nemtheanga_primordial on the gram…
Recently a group of musicians started a campaign under the name 'Death to Spotify', snappy name and many articles were written and so many people sent them to me I mull this one over, same with Shirley Manson's viral clip about the state of the music industry....not only articulate and angry but spot on.....that's more or less today's podcast nemtheanga_primordial on the gram support the show over…
Last week I listened to 50 new bands, how did that go? find out.....can any of them stand up to the old classics? What does it take to carve your space in the scene now as a new band and what seems to be lacking? How the rise of Blood Incantation is an example of substance over style, and putting in the time and dedication to stagecraft can bring returns without resorting to masks and gimmicks and…
Am I the Irish Alex Jones? who wants to agree with all the artists they like? what a boring world that would be. Digital ID's, is it just a conspiracy theory to be worried about the authoritarian implications of a digital panopticon or should we just seem them as a mean of convenience designed with our best interests at heart? nemtheanga_primordial on the gram support the show over at :…
This one does what it says on the tin, myself and Joe from Gama Bomb mull over some of the new thrash metal releases, Coroner, Testament, Forbidden. Destruction, Dark Angel plus loads more.....it almost gets derailed by a 15 minutes of movie reviews out of the gate but we reign it back in to thrash like middle aged maniacs.... nemtheanga_primordial raddude82 on the gram support the show over at :…
After a week's hiatus I return to discuss the Charlie Kirk assassination, what is Godwin's Law and how does it apply to the modern digital age, the destruction of the middle ground only pushes more and more people to extremes, and how this feels like something of a tipping point in modern political discourse.... There may be trouble ahead..... support the show over at :…
In this episode I mean to talk about this summers festival season but get sidetracked by the much more interesting/boring discussion depending on your like/dislike of someone grappling with first grade math for 35 minutes as I attempt to get into what the hell live performance royalties are, does anyone ever make any and if you are a covers band....do you need permission and who gets the live…
In today's episode I discuss the crazy Cradle of Filth situation the whole metal scene is rubber necking over, what actually is the role of a session musician in the music industry and when do you go from session role to member, is it when you start song writing or is it longevity? and is it right to do everything so publicly? support the show over at : https://patreon.com/AlanAverill if you want…
