Heavy Metal News & Interviews: The Loaded Radio Podcast

byScott Penfold

Music

Heavy metal news, hard rock interviews and the stories behind the music — hosted by Scott Penfold, a 20-year rock radio broadcaster and the founder of Loaded Radio. Two shows, one feed. The Loaded Radio Podcast brings long-form interviews with the biggest names in metal — Dave Mustaine, Corey Taylor, Randy Blythe, Max Cavalera, Phil Anselmo, Dave Lombardo and more. Not press-cycle soundbites. Real conversations about the records, the lineups, the fallouts and the comebacks, from someone who’s been on the air since 2002. The Metal Breakdown Daily delivers every major hard rock and heavy metal story of the day in under ten mi...

Episodes(40 episodes)

Sonic Temple 2027, Fehn On Pawn Stars, Deafheaven Tour

Sonic Temple 2027 is out: nearly 150 acts, May 13–16 in Columbus, with Iron Maiden (one of the last two Run For Your Lives shows), Korn, Blink-182 and Falling In Reverse on top and Alice In Chains, Faith No More, Meshuggah, Testament, Mastodon, Blood Incantation and Knocked Loose underneath. Scott Penfold on why a pop-punk Thursday headliner is the right call for the heaviest Sonic Temple yet. Also today: former Slipknot percussionist Chris Fehn appears on Pawn Stars to authenticate his own long-nose mask ("It's too nice... I had three of them made and it just didn't fit right") and wa...

Published: Oct 23, 2026Duration: 11m 9s

Sharon's Ozzy Secret, Godsmack New Music, Obituary Reissues

Sharon Osbourne says Ozzy's doctors warned that Back To The Beginning "would kill him," that Ozzy answered "I know I'm dying... I want to go this way," and that she never told Black Sabbath or her own children how sick he was. Scott Penfold on why that was the right call, with the Back To The Beginning film in theaters October 28. Also today: Sully Erna confirms new Godsmack music "at some point next year," three years after calling Lighting Up The Sky the band's last album, with Mike Mangini now on drums ("I'm under contract, and I...

Published: Oct 22, 2026Duration: 9m 15s

Nirvana Pass AC/DC, Alice Cooper No. 1, Metal Allegiance

Nirvana's Nevermind has passed AC/DC's Back In Black to become the sixth best-selling album of all time, by one thousand copies: 66,832,000 equivalent album sales to 66,831,000, per Chartmasters. AC/DC still lead on physical copies, 37 million to 30 million. Scott Penfold on how the count works, why the streaming number is the honest one, and the fact that should bother everyone: nothing released since 1991 is in the all-time top ten. Also today: Alice Cooper's memoir Devil On My Shoulder hits No. 1 on the UK Sunday Times list and No. 4 on the New York Times list, the same week...

Published: Oct 21, 2026Duration: 9m 10s

Slipknot Told Eloy Not To Be Joey, Crüe Vegas, Papa Roach

Slipknot drummer Eloy Casagrande says Clown told him on day one, "you don't have to be concerned about playing everything right," that the band "don't want to have another Joey in the band," and that the Brazilian rhythms Clown once shut down are now going into the studio. Scott Penfold on why that's the most important thing anyone has said about the next Slipknot album. Also today: Mötley Crüe announce "Carnival of Sins in Sin City," eight nights at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace from March 19 to April 3, 2027, with fan-voted setlists and presales starting today. An...

Published: Oct 20, 2026Duration: 9m 23s

Sleep Token Statement, Manson Wembley Row, SOAD LA Tease

Sleep Token have broken a year of silence with a rare statement saying they have "no affiliation with any outside musical project that invokes this name" and that such claims "are not made with our blessing." The band never names a target; fans are pointing at Arcus, a mystery project teased last month as being "from the co-creator of Sleep Token." Also today: a Brent Council politician calls for Marilyn Manson to be removed from Slipknot's July 3, 2027 Wembley Stadium show, the council says it isn't their call, and Wembley says it is talking to Live Nation. Manson...

Published: Oct 19, 2026Duration: 10m 56s

Dave Lombardo: Lustmord, Shatner, Reign In Blood At 40

Dave Lombardo joins Scott Penfold six days after The Pulse Of Atoms, his first album with dark-ambient pioneer Lustmord, and one day after Reign In Blood turned forty. He explains why he 'wasn't ready' to make the Lustmord record twenty years ago, why he turned down William Shatner's metal album before calling back to say yes, and what happened in the backstage cubicle at Download 2004 when Metallica needed a drummer with hours to spare. Also: Reign In Blood at 40 ('if I go into cardiac arrest, play Angel Of Death'), what Mike Patton taught him, the Misfits call...

Published: Oct 19, 2026Duration: 37m 59s

Heafy Nearly Quit Trivium, Arch Enemy Album, Mustaine Book

Matt Heafy walked out of a Trivium recording session last year, called his wife and told her he was done with the band. He tells Metal Hammer what she said to send him back, why drummer Alex Bent left in October, and why Trivium are 'tighter live than we've ever been' ahead of Crown In The Grave on November 20. Scott on why the real headline is the one Heafy didn't say. Also: Michael Amott says Arch Enemy are 'slowly working on a new album' with Lauren Hart, and why 'slowly' is the right word for a band...

Published: Oct 16, 2026Duration: 9m 30s

Floor Jansen Leaves Nightwish, Hagar's Olive Branch, Harris

Floor Jansen and Nightwish have parted ways after 14 years, 'in mutual agreement.' Tuomas Holopainen once said her leaving would be 'one hundred percent' the end of the band; instead Nightwish say they'll record a new album in 2027, and Floor's second solo album, Hytress, arrives January 15. Scott on three singers, three exits and one common factor. Also: Sammy Hagar, 79 this week, tells Billboard he'd 'love to bury the hatchet with Alex' Van Halen, who called him 'a complete idiot' and hasn't spoken to him in 25 years. And Steve Harris books British Lion into the Cart & Horses, the 120...

Published: Oct 15, 2026Duration: 10m 9s

Ian Hill's No Choice, Dream Theater 17, Sharon On Megadeth

Ian Hill explains why he left Judas Priest after 56 years: arthritis in his shoulder and thumb, six shows in eight days, a tendon that snapped in Brussels, and a decision he says he'd already made. 'I had no choice, really.' His bass is on the next Priest album, and he's open to encores if asked. Also: Dream Theater post a studio photo and a hashtag, and album seventeen with Mike Portnoy is underway earlier than anyone said. And Sharon Osbourne finally explains why Megadeth weren't at Back To The Beginning: 'There was no time.' Scott's...

Published: Oct 14, 2026Duration: 9m 4s

Hetfield's No-Politics Vow, Kelly Osbourne, Butcher Babies

James Hetfield stopped Metallica's fourth Sphere show to tell the crowd what the band isn't: 'Metallica is not here, like some other entertainers, to influence you.' He didn't name names. He didn't need to. Scott takes a side on whether a band gets to decide what its stage is for. Also: Kelly Osbourne says she wrote 'Please help me' on a candle at Ozzy's grave and the next day Sharon arrived with the therapist who turned things around, and Butcher Babies' Heidi Shepherd says the hardest part of Carla Harvey leaving was losing 'a best friend...

Published: Oct 13, 2026Duration: 8m 31s

Mastodon Fossil Vinyl, Lost Sabbath Tapes, Metallica Sphere

Mastodon are pressing real mastodon fossil into vinyl. The Bone Dust Edition of Marrow Deep is 170 copies at $150, made from a bag of 11,000-year-old mastodon teeth the band was given twenty years ago, ground to powder and pressed into the wax. You can't buy it; you enter a raffle. Also: audio of Black Sabbath's lost 1970 Dutch TV set, which the broadcaster said burned in a fire, has surfaced as The Lost 1970 Avro Sessions, and Metallica add 'Until It Sleeps' at their fourth Sphere show after 'Devil's Dance', 'The Outlaw Torn' and 'Fade To Black'. Scott picks which...

Published: Oct 12, 2026Duration: 9m 18s

Kenny Hickey On Type O Negative's Future And New Silvertomb

Kenny Hickey of Type O Negative, in full: the live album is almost edited, Mike Marciano is mixing it and the target is early 2027; 'Prometheus', the unreleased Peter Steele song found on a cassette, will be released; and Hickey explains what Peter was carrying when the band made World Coming Down. Then the bands working now. Silvertomb's The Interpretation Of Nightmares is out November 13 on Steamhammer, seven years after the first album. Sun Don't Shine, with Johnny Kelly, Kirk Windstein and Todd Strange, has its debut From Birth To Death out. Plus October Rust at 30, Josh Silver...

Published: Oct 11, 2026Duration: 30m 46s

Def Leppard 2027 Tour, Billy Idol Day, Deafheaven Go Heavy

Def Leppard announce a 45-date 2027 North American arena tour with Goo Goo Dolls and The Struts, March 2 in Allentown to July 2 in Indianapolis, with five Canadian stops. A dollar from every ticket goes to City of Hope, where Vivian Campbell is being treated after revealing his cancer has returned. Also: Los Angeles declares November 13 Billy Idol Day, with a free City Hall set from Idol and Steve Stevens the day before their Rock Hall induction, and Deafheaven surprise-release the three-song At Work In The Fields Of The Bomb EP, which Kerry McCoy calls their heaviest ever. Scott...

Published: Oct 9, 2026Duration: 8m 39s

Sabbath's Lost Album, Ozzy Film Premiere, Slayer Bleeds

Black Sabbath nearly made one last album with the original four. Producer Andrew Watt says Ozzy, Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler were all in and the plan died with a long email from Bill Ward, but Iommi told Classic Rock this summer he never wanted a follow-up to 13. Scott picks a side. Also: the Osbourne family host the purple-carpet world premiere of Ozzy & Black Sabbath: Back To The Beginning in Los Angeles on October 14 ahead of its worldwide cinema run from October 28, and Slayer mark 40 years of Reign In Blood with a liquid-filled zoetrope vinyl, out November 20.<...

Published: Oct 8, 2026Duration: 9m 36s

Mustaine's Leftovers, Lamb Of God's Logo, Staind Go Big

Dave Mustaine says Megadeth's number one farewell album may not be the last word: at a Grammy Museum Q&A he revealed plans to go through the "half-songs" left over from the sessions to see if any are worth finishing, stressing it would only come from recordings already made. Scott explains why the word "final" is the one to watch. Also: Randy Blythe says he didn't know Lamb Of God had a new logo until he saw the Into Oblivion artwork ("nobody tells me anything"), and Staind announce a 27-date second leg of the Break The Cycle 25...

Published: Oct 7, 2026Duration: 8m 17s

Sepultura's Smaller Goodbye, Scorpions Movie, Chad Gray

Sepultura's last show ever moved from a 26,000-capacity stadium to a 9,000-seat hall, and the band added an intimate 'Last Ceremony' event two nights before the finale. Scott argues the downgrade is the most honest thing a metal band has done this year, and answers the 'not without the Cavaleras' crowd. Also: the Scorpions biopic Wind Of Change has a trailer and a January 2027 release date, with Dominic West as Doc McGhee. And Chad Gray cancels two solo shows over 'deep vocal issues' with a statement more singers should copy. 0:00 Sepultura: the smaller goodbye and...

Published: Oct 6, 2026Duration: 9m 19s

Metallica Deep Cuts, Ice Nine Kills Xmas EP, Voivod Cancel

Metallica played a completely different 16-song set on night two at the Las Vegas Sphere, including "Devil's Dance" for the first time since 2008 and "The Outlaw Torn" for the first time in seven years. Two shows into the residency, that's four songs most of the room had never seen them play. Also: Ice Nine Kills announce the Christmas EP "A Very Vicious Christmas" (November 9), built from their Terrifier Terror Tram music, and confirm "The Silver Scream 3: Every Flick In The Book" for 2027. And Voivod cancel their October US tour with BAT over a "family health emergency," with...

Published: Oct 5, 2026Duration: 7m 13s

We're Back with Left To Suffer And Dead Poet Society: Two New Albums

Left To Suffer guitarist Peter Higgs joins the show days before Unwelcome Guest, the Atlanta band's first album for Hopeless Records, mid-way through a 32-date tour opening for Dying Fetus and Sanguisugabogg. Who "STFU" was really aimed at, why the new record has one guest feature instead of several, what Hopeless changed, and which song he's most nervous to play live. Then Dead Poet Society frontman Jack Underkofler on Monarch, out now on Spinefarm: producer Paul Meany of Mutemath, the fight over "Lost," what "djent pop" actually means, how a Mexican blog broke the band before America...

Published: Oct 4, 2026Duration: 41m 23s

Metallica At The Sphere, Kid Rock Gospel, Mantas On Cronos

Metallica opened their Las Vegas Sphere residency with a 16-song set that included "...And Justice for All" for the first time since 2014 and "The Call of Ktulu" dedicated to Cliff Burton, 40 years after his death. Twenty-four shows run through March, and the band says no two weekends get the same set list. Also: Kid Rock announces a Christian album, "Halfway To Jesus," out October 17 with Eminem on "7 Sins," saying he and Em "differ politically" but "stayed friends through it all." And original Venom guitarist Mantas pays tribute to Cronos: "We changed the direction, the movement and the...

Published: Oct 2, 2026Duration: 7m 15s

Root On Manson, Sandoval Quits I Am Morbid, Alice Cooper

Slipknot's Jim Root has answered the Marilyn Manson backlash — by saying he doesn't know who the band tours with. "I stay out of the logistics of touring," he told a fan on Instagram. "Forgive my ignorance about who we do shows with." Manson denies all allegations; the LA DA closed its investigation with no charges. The Take: fans weren't asking about logistics. Also: Pete Sandoval quits I Am Morbid, saying he and David Vincent "can't continue working together," after learning another drummer had been hired for Europe. And Alice Cooper, ahead of his memoir Devil On My Sh...

Published: Oct 1, 2026Duration: 6m 46s