Everything Went Black Podcast

If you were a fan of Murderbait, Carrion Empire is the next logical step. This week, we go into the genesis of this new band that explores the darker side of humanity and it’s place on our planet. Intro: “All of the Dark Things” – Mike Hill Outro: “Now” – Carrion Empire

Dave Berardi, the Duke of Metal, curator of the Razor Eater Metal Instagram joins us. In addition to his efforts reviewing and previewing records, he has launched Xezbeth, his dark ambient project. Intro: “All of the Dark Things” – Mike Hill Outro: “A Transmission to Satan” - Xezbeth

Terence Hannum, Andre Foisy and Steven Hess of Locrian join us this week to discuss their forthcoming new LP End Terrain. The conversation, naturally, veers off into other territories. Intro: “All of the Dark Things” – Mike Hill Outro: “Excarnate Light” - Locrian

It seems like we are living in a Conan the Barbarian Renaissance. Just over the past month, we had the latest issue of Titan’s outstanding Conan the Barbarian color comic, the debut of the new Savage Sword of Conan and the Conan Chronicles, a mammoth collection of the two films, hours of extra and a book, all brought to you in 4K by Arrow. It was inevitable that Karl and I sat down and discuss all of this action. Intro: “All of the Dark Things” – Mike Hill Outro: “The Death of Rexor” – Basil Poledouris

My brother Ralph Schmidt returns. It seems like an inordinate amount of time has passed since we last spoke, so it was great catching up. Ralph is one the people out there who I can just hit play / record without and notes prepared and a whole hour just slips away. Intro: “All of the Dark Things” – Mike Hill Outro: “Unholy Passion (Samhain cover)” – Ultha featuring Mike Hill

I’m back from tour and ready to get back on the grind. Touring with legends like Profanatica and Nunslaughter was truly and honor. It was one of the easiest runs that I’ve been on in years, everyone was cool and easy to get along with. I had a chance to sit down with Don of the Dead, founder of Nunslaughter for a low-key chat backstage at our show in Quebec City. Intro: “All of the Dark Things” – Mike Hill Outro: “I Hate Christians” – Nunslaughter

From the Patreon Vault! This week an re-present an episode of Long Shadows, a weird fiction series that Ralph Schmidt and I do. This one was release around the Christmas holiday. Ralph and I get into the Lovecraft tale THE FESTIVAL.

The next couple of episode are going to be "from the Patreon Vault" while I'm out on the road with Tombs. When I return, we will be ripping brand new material so hopefully you guys enjoy these. This week is an episode of Hollywood Babylon a series that I do with Evan Hopper of Quell. We deep dive into Event Horizon, one my all-time favorite science fiction / horror films.

Karl Haikara of Sol Nox joins us this week or another episode of Darkness Weaves, our collaborative project exploring the work of Karl Edward Wagner. This week we dive into the Gothic, dark fantasy of Raven’s Eyrie. Music in this episode: “All the Dark Things” – Mike Hill “Darkness Weaves” – Mike Hill “How It Ends” - Primordial

My friendship with Ryan Patterson has spanned over a quarter of century at this point. We met way back in the day when he was playing in National Acrobat with his brother Evan. We became friends and have supported each other’s creative efforts for the past several decades. The list of bands and creative endeavors spans from his bands Fotocrime, Coliseum, Black Cross and National Acrobat (among others) to include design work, promoting shows and operating his design and merchandise company Shirt Killer. It was a pleasure catching up with Ryan and I feel fortunate to call him Friend. Intro: “All the Dark Things” – Mike Hill Outro: “The Stranger” – C.L.S.M.

2024 has been kicked off and we’re all engaged in whatever endeavors we have in our live. I wanted to do an episode talking about goals for the upcoming year. Initially, I was going to do this as a Patreon exclusive but reconsidered. It would be interesting to get this out there and hopefully you guys can share your own goals and reflections for the new year. Intro: “All the Dark Things” – Mike Hill Outro: “Cleaved Asunder” - Diolcetian

Ralph and I get together for our first episode of the year. To kick things off, we give out hot takes on the new True Detective season before launching into our rundown of our favorite Draculas. Intro: “All the Dark Things” – Mike Hill Outro: “Pharmacy” – Ascetic

Paul Aloisio of Restless Spirit returns to the podcast this week. Over the next couple of months, I’m going to be doing these kinds of list episodes. Paul and I kick it off with what we consider to be our favorite movies of the eighties. What movies would you put in your go bag if you had to leave town unexpectedly; it’s that kind of thing. Intro: “All the Dark Things” – Mike Hill Outro: “Cascade Immolator” – Restless Spirit

Shayan of Trivax and Ibis Manifestations returns this week. If you haven’t heard our first conversation from a couple of years ago, please go back for some intense background on his journey. We talk a bit about Eloah Burns Out, Trivax’s 2023 full length and we veer off, as I expected, into some deep topics. Intro: “All the Dark Things” – Mike Hill Outro: “The Serpent’s Gaze” - Trivax

Happy New Year Everyone. I hope everyone had a great, safe holiday. It’s time to get back to the grind. We’re kicking the new year off with NYC-based multi-disciplinary artist Alice Teeple. We discuss her background and what started her off on her creative journey and it’s recent manifestation of Solve Et Coagula, her reinterpretation of Victorian mourning practices as spiritual alchemy in the modern era. Solve Et Coagula is currently on display at Shelter Gallery, 127 Eldridge Street, NYC thru January 21. Intro: “All the Dark Things” – Mike Hill Outro: “Ghost Walking” – The Mighty Sphincter

2023 has been quite a year. I’d like to thank everyone who has supported the show, old and new listeners, doing this has been a labor of love. Ralph Schmidt joins us this week, for a low-key episode, recapping our year and what we hope 2024 will bring. I hope everyone enjoys their holiday, has some time to spend with their families and loved ones. We will see you in January. Cheers\ Intro: “All of the Dark Things” – Mike Hill Outro: “Whispers” – Ropes of Night

We continue the Sol Nox / EWB collaboration with another installment of Darkness Weaves, a comprehensive deep dive in Karl Edward Wagner’s dark world of heroic fantasy and weird horror fiction. Two Suns Setting was originally published in Fantastic Magazine in 1976 and was included in Night Winds, Wagner’s out of print collection of Kane stories. In this tale, we find Kane, late of Carsyltyal, wandering a desolate, remote wasteland where he happens upon the giant Dwasslir and adventure ensues as they embark on a quest to find the ancient crown of a long dead Giant King.

I met Jeremy Hush a number of years ago when he was travelling with the band Baroness. At the time, due to my ignorance, I had no idea of his incredible talent as an artist. Over the years, I have grown to become a huge fan of his artistic vision. Additionally, I have learned of his Arthur Machen-esque adventures into the underworld; literal adventures into the underworld that I hope to discuss on this week’s episode. Intro: “All the Dark Things” – Mike Hill Outro: “The 11th Commandment” – Bethlehem

I’ve been going back and forth with some of you guys for the last year or so about the tour my old band Otis did with the Ramones back in the 90’s. It was short, but nonetheless cool to share the stage with such legends. For some of you younger people that listen to this, the significance of the Ramones may have been lost, but to me they were a crucial band when I was growing up. Back in the dim past of my early teenage years, when information was rare, they were these larger than life, leather-clad phantoms that haunted NYC’s Lower East Side and created American Punk Rock. They were the first punk band that I had the opportunity to see and it was a life-changing experience for me. Granted, the Ramones during the 90’s were not quite in their peak, but it was still a tip to get to experience some of my idols in candid moments and watch them perform from side stage. I hope you guys enjoy these recollections. The first part will be available on the main stream and the rest will be exclusively on Patreon. Intro: “All of the Dark Things” – Mike Hill Outro: “ Blitzkrieg Bop” - Ramones

My brother Champ Morgan returns this week. Morgan is one of the most intense frontmen that I’ve ever shared the stage with. Our bands have played many shows over the years, be in Kill the Client, BLK OPS or Triage, he always brings it hard. Above all, out friendship is epic and this episode is more of a review of our friendship and our development as men as we move through life on this unforgiving world. Intro: “All the Dark Things” – Mike Hill Outro: “Police State” - Triage

Amy Sabin of Shadowlands joins us to discuss the band’s unique blend of dark pop, post punk and cinematic grandiosity. Shadowlands hails from Portland, OR a city that also is home to EWB Alumni Murderbait and Dry Wedding. We cover a multitude of topics and Amy was kind enough to provide a killer playlist for us. Intro: “All the Dark Things” – Mike Hill Outro: “Perfect Void” - Shadowlands

The Adams Family, sans Zelda, return for another killer episode. I get in deep with John and Toby about their brand new feature film Where the Devil Roams as well as some tangents regarding Gnosticism, folk lore and the European Horror Fest circuit. Be sure to check out WHERE THE DEVIL ROAMS in it’s short theatrical release and streaming. Intro: “All the Dark Thing” – Mike Hill Outro: “Moonlight Motel” – Gun Club

This episode of Darkness Weaves marks a milestone in the series. Beyond Any Measure is the last story in Wagner’s horror collection In A Lonely Place. Our original mission statement was to cover this collection but we are going to move on to his other material. Up next, we will delve into the Kane stories. Thanks for checking this out and I promise you, if you dug these stories, you will also love the Kane stories. Intro / Outro: “Darkness Weaves” – Mike Hill

Known Associate Paul Aloisio joins us again this week. Paul is the guitarist and singer in Long Island’s Restless Spirit a band officially backed by the Horsemen of the Podcasting Apocalypse. Their latest album AFTERIMAGE has just dropped to critical and fan acclaim and the band just wrapped up a headlining US tour. Me and Paul touch on that as well as our rundown of the vampire-western NEAR DARK. Intro: “All the Dark Things” – Mike Hill Outro: “Shadow Command” Restless Spirit

Author Eddie McNamara joins us this week. Necro Co-Host and old friend Mike Scondotto introduced me and Eddie recently when his new novel “Brooklyn Hardcore” was released. Tghough the novel takes place in the early 90’s NYHC scene, it’s not the primary subject of the story. Instead the story is a gripping, hard-boiled crime drama similar to the work of Richard Price or George Pelecanos, a self-styled “punk rock noir.” Good stuff. Intro: “All THE Dark Things” – Mike Hill Outro: “We Gotta Know” – Cromags

Brian Strawn, my collaborator in Begotten Suns joins us this week. Our debut EP Portraits of Desolation was released last week on Bandcamp, so please check it out. Our friendship has spanned three decades and have music and toured the world, so spend a lot of time reminiscing about the old days as well as talking about the present and the future. Intro: “All The Dark Things” – Mike Hill Outro: “Vastarien” – Begotten Suns

Heath Rave of Lotus Thrones joins us this week. I was turned on to this band by my good friend Champ Morgan of BLK OPS a few weeks ago and have been all in. What a pleasant surprise it was when I learned that Heath and I have a shared history and several friends in common. Intro: “All the Dark Things” – Mike Hill Outro: “Roses” – Lotus Thrones

Composer Chris Bozzone returns to the podcast this week. A while back, Chris was on primarily to discuss the upcoming Nightlands Fest, curated by Cadabra Records. That weekend was awesome, we all had a blast taking in the very best of scored weird fiction spoken word. This time around, we dive deeper into Chris’s background, his solo project and the debut record of The Seer, a collaboration with fellow composer Peter Scartabello. Intro: “All the Dark Things” – Mike Hill Outro: “Phantom Flowers” – Chris Bozzone

The long-awaited True Detective Season 1 episode is here. Ralph and I blocked out some time in out busy schedule to dive into the dark majesty of this masterpiece written by Nic Pizzolatto that took everyone by storm on HBO back in 2014. Boasting excellent writing and outstanding performances by Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, True Detective along with shows like Mad Men and Breaking Bad helped redefine modern television. Part 1 is an overview of the show’s narrative with personal commentary. Part 2, which is available only on Patreon is a deeper exploration into the philosophical and literary elements of the show. Intro: “All the Dark Things” – Mike Hill Outro: “Far from Any Road” – The Handsome Family

Author, narrator, editor and ventriloquist, Jon Padgett joins us this week. I had the pleasure of watching him work a few months ago at Nightlands Fest, the inaugural weird fiction , spoken word event curated by Cadabra Records. Jon is the editor-in-chief of Grimscribe Press which publishes Vastarien, a literary journal focusing on weird fiction, in addition to works by Gemma Files, Christopher Slatsky, Michael Cisco and others. Intro: “All the Dark Things” – Mike Hill Outro: “6116” - Leviathan

The Darkness Weaves Collaboration marches on. Karl and I have been exploring the work of Karl Edward Wagner, a prolific, yet obscure author of dark fantasy and horror. In this episode, we cover .220 SWIFT, one my favorite stories in the IN A LONELY PLACE collection. If you have been following us, please be sure to check out IN A LONELY PLACE, the Karl Edward Wagner collection brought to us by Valancourt Books. Intro: “Darkness Weaves” – Mike Hill Outro: “All Pigs Must Die” – Death in June

Jacob Curwen of All Hell joins us this week. They just wrapped up some dates with the legendary Profinatica and released an EP a few months ago. Check out All Hail the Night if you dig raw black metal with occult lyrics. Intro: “All of the Dark Things” – Mike Hill Outro: “Let the Night Run Red” – All Hell

Paul Aloisio of Restless Spirit returns this week. Be sure to check out their forthcoming LP “After Image.” This time around Paul and I talk about vampire movies and our thoughts on the recently debuted “The Final Voyage of the Demeter.” Intro: “All of the Dark Things” – Mike Hill Outro: “Merging Nebular Drapes” - Venemum

The great Eugene S. Robinson returns to EWB this week. For those of you that have tuned into his past episodes will know, Eugene gets a lot it. Primarily, we talk about his forthcoming memoir A Walk Across Dirty Water and Straigh Into Murderer’s Row. We then mover on to the new latest Oxbow record, fascist leaders in world history and some MMA talk. Intro: “All the Dark Things” – Mike Hill Outro: “Lovely Murk” - Oxbow

It’s been a great year for new music. A ton of great records have come out already and the remainder of the year looks promising. J Bennett returns for a mid-year reckoning of some of ur potential entries into the best records of 2023. Intro: “All the Dark Things” – Mike Hill Outro: “Baptismal Tomb” - Nightmarer

Fellow Horseman Karl Haikara of the Sol Nox podcast joins us this week. As you know, we have an ongoing collaboration called Darkness Weaves where we are discussing the work of Karl Edward Wagner, one of the worthy successors to Robert E. Howard, the godfather of sword and sorcery. Karl and I discuss Howard, an overview of his philosophy and our entry point into his violent world of dark, heroic fantasy. Intro: “All the Dark Things” – Mike Hill Outro: “I am Abomination” - 1349

Paul Aloisio of Restless Spirit returns this week. He discussed the heavy atmosphere surrounding the creation of their new album Afterimage. We go deep in this episode and it add an extra layer of meaning to an incredible record. Intro: “All the Dark Things” – Mike Hill Outro: “Marrow” – Restless Spirit

Evan Hopper of Quell and Venereal Latrine joins us this week. This is a rare, in-person episode; Evan and I had plans to see Emperor at the King’s Theater in Brooklyn and combined the visit with this crucial intel drop. Intro: “All the Dark Things” – Mike Hill Outro: “Hymn to the Blackened Maw” - Quell

Ralph and I add another facet to the Unholy Passion. Survival songs is an exploration of the art that helps us get through lif’es challenges. We explore music, writing and other media in this episode. Similar to our other efforts, we get extremely personal and intense. Intro: “All the Dark Things” – Mike Hill Outro: “Guess I’ll forget You” – The Black Heart Procession

We got caught flat-footed this week. It's been a rough week: moving, unpacking etc so I'm releasing an episode of one of the Patreon shows that Ralph and I do. For those of you who checked out my reading of The Festival by HP Lovecraft that I posted around the holidays, this is a good companion to the story. Ralph and I discuss the short story in depth along with spoilers. Intro: "A Dark and Stormy Night" - Mike Hill / Vasilek Outro: "Country Road, Six Miles In" - The Gault

My good friend and fellow podcast co-host Mike Scondotto joins us this week. Among other things, Mike and I do the Necromaniacs podcast every week, so you may wonder what he is doing here on EWB. Mike is here to talk about the Confusion discography. Intro: “All of the Dark Things” – Mike Hill Outro: “Storm the Walls” - Confusion

Karl Haikara (Sol Nox) and I continue the mission. I give a brief rundown of the past weekend’s Nightlands Festival, the inaugural Cadabra Records Weird Fiction Event before diving into The Fourth Seal, the next short story in the Karl Edward Wagner collection In a Lonely Place. Intro: “Darkness Weaves” – Mike Hill Outro: “Ostia” - Coil

Jean “Spyda” Clervois, proprietor and head coach as Spyda Muay Thai joins us this week. As most of you know, martial arts and specifically Muay Thai is a big part of my life. For the past three years, I have been training with Spyda, first at another local facility and more recently at his own gym located in the heart of Garwood, NJ. We discuss his journey in the martial arts world, the genesis of the gym and where he wants to take things as we all move forward into the future. Intro: “All the Dark Things” – Mike Hill Outro: “Protect Ya Neck” – Wu Tang Clan

Ralph and I continue our ongoing series The Metaphysics of… This week’s episode confronts an inevitability that will seek and find us all: Death. This is a heavy episode; we both get personal and talk about our individual experiences with both. Intro: “All the Dark Things” – Mike Hill Outro: “Death is the Road to Awe” – Clint Mansell

Bobby Torres of Frightbox Studios and Voidscape joins us this week. Bobby recorded and mixed Under Sullen Skies and Monarchy of Shadows as well of a host of other metal bands such as Hammer Fight, Windfaerer, Kalopsia and Abacinate. Most recently, he has completed work on the long-awaited Odyssey of Spite, their EP brought to you by Nefarious Industries. In addition to Bobby, the band features Justin Spaeth (Tombs, Hammer Fight, Abacinate, Putrascension) and Mike Goncalves (Replicant, Windfaerer, Putrascension). Intro: “All of the Dark Things” – Mike Hill Outro: “The Unsaved” - Voidscape

Matt Bacon, consultant, A&R man, music Journalist and founder of Dropout Media joins us this week. You might know him from his entertaining, informative Bacon Bits Instagram / TikTok account where he doles out valuable information about promoting your music. If you don’t follow him already and you play in a band, do yourself a favor and give him a follow. Intro: “All the Dark Things” – Mike Hill Outro: “Hymns of Death, Rays of Might”

Trevor Shelley De Brauw and Laurent Schroeder-Lebec of Pelican join us this week. On paper, I have asked them on to discuss the reissue of The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw on Thrill Jockey but the truth is that I miss talking to these guys and I wanted to catch up; especially with Laurent, who has been out of the mix for a while. Intro: “All the Dark Things” – Mike Hill Outro: “Autumn into Summer” - Pelican

Karl Haikara (Sol Nox Podcast) and I get together to continue Darkness Weaves collaboration, our exploration of the work of Karl Edward Wagner, the horror / dark fantasy writer whose work has impacted popular culture in innumerable ways. Wagner is most notable for his immortal, word-wielding antihero but has also penned horror and weird fiction. For starters, we are going to cover the stories included in the recently re-published “In a Lonely Place.” This episode features Where the Summer Ends, an atmospheric weird tale set in Wagner’s hometown Knoxville, TN. Intro: “Darkness Weaves” – Mike Hill Outro: “Dreams of Trees” – Steve Von Till

As part of our Unholy Passion effort, we’re bringing you a “Classics” edition. Ralph and I discuss two artists that have produced music that can be considered crucial. Roy Orbison was the original Man in Black and Townes Van Zandt explored the dark worlds of despair that both of us seem to gravitate to. We discuss a lot of music in this episode. Most of the tracks will be represented on the accompanying Playlist. Intro: “Late Night Drive” – Mike Hill Outro: “In Dreams” – Roy Orbison

This week we welcome Mitch Oliver and Skot Hamilton to the podcast. We had Skot on the show recently to talk about KEN Mode, his work in the film industry and his scoring work on the short horror film The Druid’s Hand. Mitch is an award-winning Writer and Director whose recent short film, The Druid’s Hand, received international acclaim on the 2022 Festival Circuit. The film was screened to numerous sold-out theatres at prestigious Genre Festivals like Portland Horror, Dark Bridges, Fog Fest, Sin City Horror and the world’s largest and longest running Horror Festival, Screamfest, which took place at the iconic Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard, California. The film won Best Canadian Short Film at Montreal’s Requiem Fear Fest and the Vancouver Independent Film Festival. He is also a host of the horror podcast, The Terror Table and has interviewed genre legends such as Eduardo Sanchez (The Blair Witch Project) and Dean Cundey (Jurassic Park, Halloween, The Thing, Big Trouble in Little China). Intro: “All of the Dark Things” – Mike Hill Outro: “Looks That Kill” – Motley Crue