Ex-Man Podcast 125 – John Outcalt (ex-God Forbid)

Doc welcomes God Forbid bass player, John Outcalt aka “Beeker” to the show and they talk about being back at John’s house where God Forbid used to rehearse and wrote many of the albums, how he maintained stability and his professional work situation throughout his time with the band. how he joined God Forbid, what it was like getting some success with touring and getting a record deal, his experience being the only white guy in the band, how the band evolved creatively over the years, how he dealt with the financial struggles of being in an underground band, his approach to bass playing in genre that often doesn’t appreciate bass guitar, and how his life has evolved since the band broke up.

This episode features the songs “Ministry of Defense” by Pathos and Logos and “A Reflection of the Past” by God Forbid.

Follow Doc on Instagram and Twitter @DocCoyle

Please support this episode’s sponsor Pathos and Logos at pathoslogos.bandcamp.com/

Please support this episode’s sponsor “Legendary Rock Stories” at risinggiantsnetwork.com/project/legen…rock-stories/

Buy the official Ex-Man Podcast T-shirt at doccoyle.net/shop/

Listen to more great podcasts like this at JabberJawMedia.com

The Ex Man Podcast 26 – Brian Fair (ex-Shadows Fall, ex-Overcast, Downpour)

Doc talks with vocalist Brian Fair about coming up in the early 90s Boston hardcore scene, breaking out and eventually breaking up with Overcast, joining Shadows Fall to see the rise of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal, how he enjoyed finally reaching big success, signing to a major label, why all activity stopped for Shadows Fall, how he has experienced family life, and wrap up to chat about the Boston Celtics.

This episode features the song “Beautiful Nothing” by Downpour.

Follow Brian on Instagram and Twitter @Brianshadfall

Follow Doc on Instagram and Twitter @DocCoyle

Listen to more podcasts like this at JabberJawMedia.com

The Ex Man Podcast 12 – Reflecting on the NWOAHM with J. Andrew Zalucky (Decibel, Metal Injection)

Doc speaks with heavy metal and politics writer, J. Andrew Zalucky, about his article Reflecting on the New Wave of American Heavy Metal, which was released a year ago on MetalInjection.net. They discuss NWOAHM’s overall relevance and historical significance, how it relates to the current state of heavy music, metal elitism, and coming of age in the hardcore scene.

The episode features the God Forbid song “Gone Forever” from the 2004 album Gone Forever.

Article Links

Reflecting on the New Wave of American Heavy Metal by J. Andrew Zalucky – http://www.metalinjection.net/editorials/reflecting-on-the-new-wave-of-american-heavy-metal

This Is The End by Doc Coyle – https://doccoyle.net/this-is-the-end/

J. Andrew Zalucky’s website – https://jazalucky.com/

This Is The End

Headbangers ball

“This is the end!” This is the emphatic, anthemic line in the God Forbid opening track from the album IV: Constitution of Treason, which was released during the peak of our powers in 2005. In fact, it wasn’t the end. The end came much later. At the time, it felt like we were invincible, destined for heavy metal immortality. And we were in the lower tier of the NWOAHM (or Metalcore or whatever you want to call it) in all metrics for determining the success or popularity of bands. If you look at album, ticket, and merchandise sales, Myspace friends, Youtube views, Facebook “likes”, or the ever mystical buzz on the street, God Forbid was probably never half as big as any of the rest of the Big 4 of Quitters (I should trade mark this) including Bleeding Through, Shadows Fall, and now Chimaira. Knowing that, even we felt invincible. That’s how intoxicating achieving any discernible success with your art can be. Shadows Fall and Chimaira hanging it up in the last couple weeks have brought an outpouring of sadness, shock and disappointment from fans. It seems like the end of an era, and maybe it is.

Hearing that these great bands are moving on makes me sad and disappointed, but not shocked. The truth is that amongst peers a good majority of our conversations have to do with figuring out how to stay relevant by finding new audiences, getting great tours, signing with the right label, writing the next game changing album, and more. Teetering on the edge of existence has been much of our collective realities for half of our careers. As the O.G. quitter, I’m here to explain why this is happening and why you shouldn’t be surprised.

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In Memoriam – A God Forbid Retrospective

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It’s only been a week since we closed the door on God Forbid, but with so much outpouring of affection, sharing of memories, disclosures of sadness bordering on mourning from friends, fans, fellow compatriots in the music industry, and my own reflections burrowing their way from my subconscious to the surface, I thought I should share some of my thoughts about what kind of legacy we left.

In all honesty, it feels silly to use a word like legacy when talking about my own band, but I was actually having some sentimental feelings about the musical catalog God Forbid has amassed when I was preparing for the last couple shows we did, before I decided to leave the group. I was practicing a few songs I hadn’t played in a while, and in that time, I started listening back to some songs and albums I hadn’t heard to in quite some time. And in that moment, I felt a deep sense of pride and accomplishment. For perhaps the first time, I heard a distinct sound that permeated from our first album to our last. Although that sound had evolved over time and become more nuanced and composed and lost some of it’s teeth, much of the feel was there. The groove was consistent. Dynamics always played a part. Darkness and melody persisted and coexisted. The words spoke about pushing through and striving for better.

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I AGAINST I (Posted Nov. 2nd 2010 on Metalsucks.net)

Dolph Lundgren is really from Sweden

Dolph Lundgren is really from Sweden

For my opening salvo, I suppose I should mention that it has been a long break between blogs. I’ve been meaning to get back to it, but this summer has been a very busy one filled with the musical composition of the new God Forbid album as well as a new project I’ve been working on, in addition to the daily pursuit of living life and getting by. I hope to contribute more frequently in the near future.

If you’ve followed my articles in the past, you may notice that I often address music history, and pertaining to this site, heavy music specifically. I have a great respect for artistic pioneers and the roots of where the most admirable and brilliant music stems from. I was the type of kid who would read liner notes and interviews by my favorite bands to find out who influenced them. I would always want to climb that musical family tree to see where it lead.

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