Hell Bent For Metal, the LGBTQ+ heavy metal podcast, hears from the queer folk in its audience about their experiences of trying to date as a metalhead, and whether that's a barrier to their romantic lives as part of the LGBTQ+ community.
This follows on from HBFM #66, where the hosts offered their views on the subject, and asked whether metal itself is the barrier (where one exists) or if it's more the passion of many metalheads' fandom, whether the metal "look" is an issue, and if they ever kept their fandom discreet at first when meeting someone new. Tom and Matt asked for their audience's experiences, and they came back with a predictably wide range of views.
They hear both from people who've had less than ideal experiences, and from people who've found that actually metal has helped them to connect with romantic partners. There's an amusing observation about what non-fans often think people mean by "liking metal", a fascinating suggestion about how the 'Lords Of Chaos' film could have been improved by gaying it up (randomly), and a comment about the genuine fears trying to find a partner as a gay man in metal can involve.
This weeks' Camp Classic is "Broken Cross" by Architects, from the British progressive metalcore band's 2014 album 'Lost Forever // Lost Together'. And while it's not always obvious to whichever host who did not pick a Camp Classic precisely what the other one has seen in it, in this case, it's remarkably quick that the hosts both hear the same thing – and also striking how strongly they both interpret that thing as being directly relevant to the queer listener.
Perhaps inevitably, given the song's lyrical subject matter, this leads to a long and often heartfelt discussion about Matt's struggles with squaring his sexuality with the religious indoctrination he received as a kid. The hosts also discuss how it was that Matt walked away from that faith, and how his experiences still affect him now.
Plus there are two releases for the Hate Crew Gaybar jukebox this week. First up, Matt's (shockingly) gone with some jazzy black metal, with 'Death Panacea', the second album by inventive Italian band A Pale December, going into the jukebox. Meanwhile Tom's back on a death metal kick, picking 'Acts Of God' by the ever excellent New York legends Immolation.
Listen to Hell Bent For Metal on Spotify here, listen on iTunes here, or choose one of the other ways to listen here.
