Latest / Classic Metal Show / LAMB OF GOD GONE SOFT? Randy Blythe’s Cosmic Hippie Rebrand is a TOTAL TRAINWRECK!

Transcript

LAMB OF GOD GONE SOFT? Randy Blythe’s Cosmic Hippie Rebrand is a TOTAL TRAINWRECK! · Classic Metal Show

0:00
Hey living people,
0:01
this is Dr.
0:01
Dad for Dominum and you are watching CMS TV.
0:05
SPEAKER_00: Don't get bitten by the wrong ones.
0:22
SPEAKER_00: This is the CMS News Exclusive with Alex and Alicia Iverson.
0:27
SPEAKER_02: And if you were expecting some polite,
0:29
SPEAKER_02: sanitized breakdown of the heavy metal headlines today,
0:32
SPEAKER_02: well,
0:33
SPEAKER_02: you are in the wrong damn place.
0:35
SPEAKER_02: We are furious.
0:36
SPEAKER_02: We are fed up.
0:38
SPEAKER_02: And the world is absolutely circling the drain.
0:42
It is a dumpster fire out there,
0:43
a complete dumpster fire,
0:45
total garbage.
0:46
SPEAKER_00: The music industry is a rotten corpse,
0:49
SPEAKER_00: the culture is soft as baby shit,
0:51
SPEAKER_00: and we are here to sift through the ashes.
0:54
And today,
0:55
we have something that,
0:56
I mean,
0:57
it honestly makes my blood boil.
0:59
SPEAKER_00: We got some intel from the CMS insiders regarding Lamb of God.
1:02
SPEAKER_02: That's right.
1:03
SPEAKER_02: And this isn't some, you know, press release fluff.
1:06
SPEAKER_02: This is about Randy Blythe, the frontman of Lamb of God, a legend.
1:11
Or at least he used to be before he started sounding like a
1:15
substitute science
1:16
SPEAKER_02: teacher having a midlife crisis.
1:18
SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
1:19
The CMS Insiders got us the transcripts of Blythe on the Let
1:23
There Be Talk podcast.
1:25
SPEAKER_00: And let me tell you,
1:26
it is not the brutal throat-shredding manifesto you want from
1:30
the guy who wrote
1:31
SPEAKER_00: Black Label.
1:32
SPEAKER_00: It is a full-on hippy-dippy existential meltdown.
1:37
SPEAKER_02: It is pathetic.
1:38
The guy is turning 55,
1:40
and instead of raging against the dying of the light,
1:42
he's what?
1:43
SPEAKER_02: He's talking about the sun boiling the oceans?
1:45
SPEAKER_00: Okay, let's get into this cosmic meltdown.
1:48
SPEAKER_00: So, the CMS Insiders dug this up.
1:50
SPEAKER_00: Randy is there, chatting away, and he starts talking about his age.
1:55
SPEAKER_00: He says, uh, I'm getting ready to turn 55.
1:57
SPEAKER_00: Okay, fine.
1:59
SPEAKER_00: We all get old.
2:00
SPEAKER_00: But then he says he tries to put things in perspective to avoid angst.
2:05
SPEAKER_00: Perspective?
2:06
SPEAKER_00: Randy, you are in a metal band.
2:09
SPEAKER_00: Your job is angst.
2:10
SPEAKER_00: Your job is to scream until your eyes pop out,
2:13
not sit around contemplating the universe like you're on a damn
2:16
mushroom trip in a
2:17
SPEAKER_00: dorm room.
2:18
SPEAKER_00: Hold on, Alex.
2:20
I'm going to stop you right there because I think you are
2:22
looking at this way too simply.
2:24
SPEAKER_02: I think you are missing the actual darkness in what he's saying.
2:28
SPEAKER_00: Darkness?
2:29
SPEAKER_00: What darkness?
2:29
SPEAKER_00: He's talking about science class.
2:31
SPEAKER_00: He says, in one billion years, the sun gets 10% hotter.
2:35
Within one billion years,
2:36
the sun will have gotten hot enough so that the oceans will
2:38
boil.
2:39
SPEAKER_00: Who gives a damn?
2:40
SPEAKER_00: The world is falling apart right now.
2:42
SPEAKER_00: I can't pay my mortgage.
2:43
SPEAKER_00: Ticket prices are insanity.
2:45
SPEAKER_00: And this guy's worried about the sun supernova-ing in five billion years.
2:48
SPEAKER_00: That isn't dark, Alicia.
2:50
SPEAKER_00: That is a distraction.
2:51
SPEAKER_02: No, Alex, listen to me.
2:53
SPEAKER_02: You are thinking small.
2:54
SPEAKER_02: You're thinking about street-level anger.
2:57
SPEAKER_02: Randy is tapping into cosmic horror.
2:59
SPEAKER_02: It is Lovecraftian.
3:01
SPEAKER_02: He is saying that all of your problems,
3:03
SPEAKER_02: your mortgage,
3:04
SPEAKER_02: the ticket prices,
3:04
SPEAKER_02: the industry,
3:06
they're completely irrelevant because the universe is just this
3:09
uncaring engine of
3:10
SPEAKER_02: destruction.
3:12
SPEAKER_02: Give me a break.
3:13
SPEAKER_02: I am serious.
3:15
SPEAKER_02: Think about it.
3:16
SPEAKER_02: If you accept that the oceans are going to boil no matter what we do,
3:21
SPEAKER_02: that is the ultimate nihilism.
3:23
SPEAKER_02: It is the ultimate fuck you to the human ego.
3:26
SPEAKER_02: He is saying we are nothing.
3:29
SPEAKER_02: He literally says I'm just another piece of the bigger whole.
3:33
That is acknowledging that humanity is just a temporary
3:36
infection on a rock.
3:37
SPEAKER_02: that is going to get sterilized by a dying star.
3:41
SPEAKER_02: That is heavy.
3:41
SPEAKER_00: It is not heavy.
3:43
SPEAKER_00: It's convenient.
3:44
SPEAKER_00: It's stoicism for rich rock stars.
3:47
SPEAKER_00: I mean, stoicism teaches you to detach from things you can't control.
3:51
SPEAKER_00: But metal isn't about detachment.
3:53
SPEAKER_00: Metal is about attachment.
3:55
SPEAKER_00: It is about looking at the ugliness right in front of you,
3:57
SPEAKER_00: the corruption,
3:58
SPEAKER_00: the lies,
3:59
SPEAKER_00: the poverty,
4:01
SPEAKER_00: and screaming no until your lungs bleed.
4:03
But isn't the ultimate no realizing that even the Earth itself
4:08
is temporary?
4:09
SPEAKER_02: He's talking about the Fermi paradox, essentially.
4:12
SPEAKER_02: Why aren't we seeing other civilizations?
4:15
SPEAKER_02: Well, maybe because they all got cooked by their stars.
4:18
SPEAKER_02: He's putting the death back in death metal on a planetary scale.
4:22
SPEAKER_00: Stop trying to make him sound smart.
4:24
SPEAKER_00: He's sounding like a substitute science teacher.
4:26
SPEAKER_00: Science tells us, I don't want Neil deGrasse Tyson in a mosh pit.
4:31
SPEAKER_00: I want visceral, immediate rage.
4:33
SPEAKER_00: If you are worried about the sun in a billion years,
4:36
SPEAKER_00: you aren't angry enough about the world today.
4:38
SPEAKER_00: It's a cop-out.
4:40
It's a way to look at the guy starving in the street and say,
4:42
eh,
4:43
doesn't matter.
4:44
SPEAKER_00: The sun will get us eventually.
4:45
It makes him feel better about being a millionaire while the
4:47
fans are broke.
4:48
SPEAKER_02: I don't think it makes him feel better.
4:50
SPEAKER_02: I think it terrifies him.
4:52
He says if the future of humanity wants to continue,
4:55
we do have to leave this place eventually.
4:57
SPEAKER_02: He is admitting defeat.
4:59
SPEAKER_02: He is saying Earth is a sinking ship.
5:02
SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
5:03
SPEAKER_00: And that is weak.
5:04
SPEAKER_00: Oh, we have to leave the place.
5:06
SPEAKER_00: No, we have to fix the place or burn the people ruining it.
5:10
SPEAKER_00: That is the metal attitude.
5:11
SPEAKER_00: Not this like Elon Musk's save us fantasy.
5:15
SPEAKER_00: It's hippy dippy, he calls it.
5:16
SPEAKER_00: He actually used those words.
5:18
That's on my good days when I look at it the hippy dippy cosmic
5:21
sort of way.
5:22
SPEAKER_00: Randy, you are the voice of sacrament.
5:25
You are the guy who went to prison in the Czech Republic and
5:28
came out swinging,
5:29
SPEAKER_00: and now you're sitting there giggling about hippy-dippy perspectives?
5:33
SPEAKER_00: It is embarrassing.
5:35
SPEAKER_02: Okay, I see your point about the hippy phrasing.
5:38
SPEAKER_02: That is soft.
5:39
SPEAKER_02: But I still maintain that cosmic nihilism is a valid form of metal.
5:44
SPEAKER_02: However,
5:44
SPEAKER_02: let's pivot,
5:45
SPEAKER_02: because while he is looking at the stars,
5:48
SPEAKER_02: he does eventually look down at the dirt.
5:50
SPEAKER_00: Thank God,
5:51
SPEAKER_00: because apparently,
5:52
SPEAKER_00: despite all this I'm a tiny speck nonsense,
5:55
SPEAKER_00: they still have a product to sell.
5:57
SPEAKER_00: The album is called Into Oblivion, drops March 13th.
6:00
SPEAKER_02: Into Oblivion.
6:02
SPEAKER_02: Okay, fitting title if he thinks the sun is going to eat us.
6:06
SPEAKER_02: But here is the explanation he gives.
6:09
SPEAKER_02: And this is where we need to get into the weeds.
6:11
Because he brings up a concept that I don't think most of these
6:15
metal journalists
6:16
SPEAKER_02: even understand.
6:17
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, let's look at the quote from the CMS Insiders.
6:20
He says the album is about the ongoing and rapid breakdown of
6:23
the social contract.
6:24
Things are acceptable now that would have horrified people just
6:26
20 years ago.
6:28
SPEAKER_01: Boom, there it is.
6:29
SPEAKER_01: The social contract.
6:31
SPEAKER_01: Now,
6:31
SPEAKER_01: Alex,
6:32
let's actually break that down for the listeners who skipped
6:35
Philosophy 101 to
6:37
SPEAKER_01: smoke cheap weed behind the gym.
6:39
SPEAKER_01: The social contract, we are talking Hobbes, we are talking Rousseau.
6:44
SPEAKER_01: It is the fundamental deal of civilization.
6:47
SPEAKER_00: Right.
6:48
SPEAKER_00: It's a transaction.
6:49
SPEAKER_00: I give up my absolute freedom,
6:51
SPEAKER_00: like the freedom to bash my neighbor's head in and take his food,
6:54
SPEAKER_00: and in exchange,
6:56
SPEAKER_00: the group,
6:57
SPEAKER_00: society,
6:58
SPEAKER_00: the government provides me with safety and order.
7:01
SPEAKER_00: I submit to laws, and the laws protect me.
7:04
SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
7:05
SPEAKER_01: That is the contract.
7:06
SPEAKER_01: But Randy is pointing out the obvious.
7:08
SPEAKER_01: The check has bounced.
7:10
SPEAKER_01: The transaction is void.
7:11
SPEAKER_01: We gave up our freedom.
7:13
SPEAKER_01: We are surveilled.
7:13
SPEAKER_01: We are taxed to death.
7:15
SPEAKER_01: We are regulated on everything we do.
7:17
SPEAKER_01: But did we get the safety?
7:19
SPEAKER_01: Did we get the order?
7:20
SPEAKER_00: Hell no.
7:21
SPEAKER_00: We got chaos.
7:22
SPEAKER_00: We got a world where criminals walk free and honest people get crushed.
7:26
We got a world where the elites loot the treasury and tell us
7:29
to eat bugs.
7:31
SPEAKER_00: That is the breakdown.
7:32
SPEAKER_00: The cost of the contract is higher than ever and the return is zero.
7:36
SPEAKER_02: It's negative.
7:37
SPEAKER_02: We're paying to be abused.
7:39
SPEAKER_02: So on that point, Bly this spot on.
7:41
Things are acceptable now that would have horrified people just
7:44
20 years ago.
7:45
SPEAKER_02: He's talking about the normalization of deviance.
7:48
SPEAKER_02: The way we just accept that politicians lie,
7:50
SPEAKER_02: that corporations poison us,
7:51
SPEAKER_02: that the media is pure propaganda.
7:54
SPEAKER_02: 20 years ago, there was at least a pretense of shame.
7:57
SPEAKER_02: Now, nothing.
7:59
SPEAKER_00: It is a cesspool.
8:00
SPEAKER_00: But hold on.
8:01
SPEAKER_00: Alicia, you can't just give him a pass here.
8:03
Because look who is releasing this album about the breakdown of
8:06
the social contract.
8:08
SPEAKER_00: Oh, I know where you are going.
8:09
SPEAKER_00: Into Oblivion is coming out on Epic Records.
8:13
SPEAKER_00: Epic.
8:13
SPEAKER_00: That is a major corporate label.
8:15
SPEAKER_00: That is the machine.
8:17
You cannot sit there and whine about the breakdown of the
8:20
social contract while you
8:22
are signing contracts with the very corporate overlords who are
8:25
destroying culture.
8:27
SPEAKER_02: You are 100% right.
8:29
SPEAKER_02: It is the ultimate hypocrisy.
8:31
SPEAKER_02: This is what they call capitalist realism.
8:34
SPEAKER_02: It's easier for Randy to imagine the end of the world,
8:36
SPEAKER_02: the sun boiling the oceans,
8:38
SPEAKER_02: than to imagine the end of the music industry stranglehold.
8:42
SPEAKER_02: He can write riffs about the apocalypse,
8:44
but he won't write a riff about how Sony screws artists out of
8:46
their royalties.
8:47
SPEAKER_00: That is the part that drives me crazy.
8:49
SPEAKER_00: The social contract didn't just break on its own, Randy.
8:53
SPEAKER_00: It was broken by the people signing your checks.
8:56
SPEAKER_00: The corporate consolidation of media,
8:58
SPEAKER_00: the algorithms pushing garbage,
9:00
SPEAKER_00: the ticket master monopolies,
9:01
SPEAKER_00: that is the engine of the breakdown.
9:03
SPEAKER_00: And he is feeding fuel right into it.
9:06
SPEAKER_02: It's playing both sides.
9:08
He wants the street cred of being the angry philosopher
9:11
pointing out that society is crumbling.
9:14
But he wants the distribution and the marketing budget of the
9:17
system that caused the crumble.
9:19
SPEAKER_02: You can't have it both ways.
9:21
SPEAKER_02: You want to talk about the social contract?
9:23
SPEAKER_02: How about the contract you signed with the suits?
9:26
SPEAKER_00: And let's be real.
9:27
What exactly is he referring to with things that would have
9:29
horrified people?
9:31
SPEAKER_00: I'll tell you what horrifies me.
9:32
SPEAKER_00: The absolute lack of balls in modern music.
9:36
The way bands walk on eggshells because they're afraid of
9:38
getting canceled by some
9:39
SPEAKER_00: blue-haired freak on Twitter.
9:41
SPEAKER_00: That horrifies me.
9:43
SPEAKER_00: Is Randy talking about that?
9:45
SPEAKER_00: Or is he just doing some vague society is bad shtick to sell t-shirts?
9:49
SPEAKER_02: Probably the latter.
9:50
SPEAKER_02: It's safe rebellion is old man yells at cloud energy.
9:54
SPEAKER_02: Back in my day, people had manners.
9:57
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, well, back in your day, you were burning down stages.
10:01
Now you're just analyzing the decline while you cash the
10:04
corporate checks.
10:05
SPEAKER_00: It is frustrating because the potential is there.
10:08
If Lamb of God actually wrote a record that attacked the
10:11
specific rot in our
10:12
SPEAKER_00: culture,
10:12
SPEAKER_00: the tech worship,
10:14
SPEAKER_00: the censorship,
10:15
SPEAKER_00: the corporate homogenization,
10:16
SPEAKER_00: that would be dangerous.
10:18
SPEAKER_00: That would be metal.
10:19
SPEAKER_00: But based on the singles?
10:21
SPEAKER_00: I don't know, Alicia.
10:22
SPEAKER_02: Let's talk about the music.
10:24
The CMS insiders say they released two singles,
10:27
Sepsis and Parasocial Christ.
10:30
SPEAKER_00: Sepsis.
10:30
SPEAKER_00: Good name.
10:31
SPEAKER_00: Infection.
10:32
SPEAKER_00: Rot.
10:33
SPEAKER_00: Systemic failure.
10:34
SPEAKER_00: I like it.
10:36
SPEAKER_00: But then I read the media coverage and I want to vomit.
10:39
SPEAKER_00: The CMS insiders pulled a quote from Consequence.
10:42
SPEAKER_00: You know, that rag that pretends to know anything about heavy music.
10:45
SPEAKER_02: Oh, God, don't tell me.
10:47
SPEAKER_00: They called sepsis the heavy song of the week.
10:50
SPEAKER_00: Okay, whatever.
10:51
SPEAKER_00: But then, listen to this.
10:53
SPEAKER_00: They said Randy's vocals were like a heavy metal Nick Cave.
10:58
SPEAKER_00: What?
10:58
SPEAKER_00: Are you kidding me?
11:00
SPEAKER_00: Nick Cave?
11:01
SPEAKER_00: I wish I was joking.
11:02
SPEAKER_00: A heavy metal Nick Cave.
11:04
SPEAKER_00: Who writes this trash?
11:06
SPEAKER_02: Let's actually analyze that musically for a second,
11:08
SPEAKER_02: because this proves that music journalism is dead.
11:11
SPEAKER_02: Nick Cave is a baritone crooner.
11:12
SPEAKER_02: He talk sings.
11:13
SPEAKER_02: He uses space, silence, and melody.
11:16
SPEAKER_02: He relies on rubato, stretching the tempo for emotional effect.
11:20
SPEAKER_02: He is a post-punk goth poet.
11:22
SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
11:23
SPEAKER_00: And Randy Blythe is a percussive vocalist.
11:26
SPEAKER_00: His delivery is rhythmic.
11:28
SPEAKER_00: He locks in with the snare drum.
11:29
SPEAKER_00: He uses guttural fry screams and false chord distortion.
11:32
To compare the two technically is like comparing a cello to a
11:35
jackhammer just
11:36
SPEAKER_00: because they both make sound.
11:38
SPEAKER_02: It is the laziest comparison I have ever heard.
11:41
SPEAKER_02: It's because Randy is old and wears glasses now.
11:44
SPEAKER_02: That's it.
11:45
SPEAKER_02: The journalists at Consequence probably listened to 10 seconds,
11:48
SPEAKER_02: saw a press photo of Randy looking distinguished,
11:52
SPEAKER_02: and typed Nick Cave because that sounds smart.
11:55
SPEAKER_02: It's insulting to both artists.
11:57
It just shows that these journalists don't know jack shit about
11:59
the mechanics of the genre.
12:01
SPEAKER_00: It is offensive.
12:02
If you call Randy Blythe Nick Cave,
12:04
you should be banned from reviewing music,
12:06
period.
12:07
SPEAKER_00: Go write about Taylor Swift.
12:09
SPEAKER_00: But let's look at the actual sound.
12:11
SPEAKER_00: Sepsis.
12:12
SPEAKER_00: The CMS insiders say it's slow and bruising.
12:15
Well,
12:15
if the song is called Sepsis,
12:17
it needs to sound like a body shutting down.
12:19
SPEAKER_02: I want dissonance.
12:20
SPEAKER_02: I want tritone intervals.
12:22
SPEAKER_02: I want sludge.
12:23
SPEAKER_02: If it's just a standard 4-4 groove with some yelling, it isn't sepsis.
12:27
SPEAKER_02: It's just a mild infection.
12:29
SPEAKER_02: And then there is Parasocial Christ.
12:31
SPEAKER_02: Now, I have to admit, that title hits.
12:33
SPEAKER_02: I love that title.
12:35
SPEAKER_02: Parasocial Christ.
12:37
SPEAKER_02: Because that is the new religion, isn't it?
12:39
SPEAKER_02: These influencers,
12:40
SPEAKER_02: these e-celebs,
12:42
SPEAKER_02: these people you think are your friends but just want your money.
12:45
SPEAKER_02: They are the new messiahs for a generation of lonely losers.
12:49
SPEAKER_00: Revolver called it an anti-tech thrasher.
12:52
SPEAKER_00: Okay, good.
12:53
SPEAKER_00: That fits the social contract theme.
12:56
SPEAKER_00: Technology is destroying us.
12:57
SPEAKER_00: We are all glued to these screens, worshipping fake idols.
13:01
SPEAKER_00: If Randy is screaming about smashing your smartphone, I am on board.
13:05
But then we get to the production credits,
13:07
and the hypocrisy creeps back in.
13:09
SPEAKER_02: Produced by Josh Wilber, standard, he's their guy.
13:12
SPEAKER_02: But vocals were recorded at Total Access in Redondo Beach.
13:16
SPEAKER_00: The legendary spot, Black Flag, Descendants, the birthplace of hardcore.
13:20
SPEAKER_02: And that is exactly why they went there.
13:24
SPEAKER_02: It's nostalgia bait.
13:25
SPEAKER_02: Oh, look at us.
13:26
SPEAKER_02: We're recording where Black Flag recorded.
13:28
SPEAKER_02: You are not Black Flag.
13:30
SPEAKER_02: You're on epic records playing arenas.
13:34
SPEAKER_02: Going to a punk studio doesn't make you punk again, Randy.
13:37
SPEAKER_02: It's just a marketing bullet point.
13:39
SPEAKER_00: It does feel a bit like cosplay.
13:41
I'm in a stand where Henry Rollins stood and hope some of that
13:44
intensity rubs off
13:45
SPEAKER_00: on my 55-year-old vocal cords.
13:48
SPEAKER_00: It's cool history,
13:49
SPEAKER_00: sure,
13:50
but does the room tone of a studio in Redondo Beach change the
13:53
fact that you are
13:54
SPEAKER_00: part of the corporate machine?
13:55
SPEAKER_00: No.
13:56
SPEAKER_00: It's just a cool story for the press release,
13:58
SPEAKER_00: so that Consequence has something to write about besides Nick Cave.
14:02
SPEAKER_02: It is 100% for the press release.
14:05
SPEAKER_02: They know the old heads will see total access and go, whoa, hardcore.
14:11
SPEAKER_02: It's manipulation.
14:12
SPEAKER_02: They are selling you the idea of rebellion, not the reality of it.
14:17
SPEAKER_00: And speaking of selling, let's talk about the tour.
14:19
Because you can't have a new album about the end of the world
14:22
without the heaviest trek of 2026.
14:25
SPEAKER_00: March 17th, spring North American tour.
14:28
SPEAKER_02: The support acts.
14:30
SPEAKER_02: Kublai Khan TX, Fit for an Autopsy, and Sangui Sugabag.
14:37
SPEAKER_00: Sangui Sugabag?
14:39
SPEAKER_00: I still feel like I need to clear my throat every time I say it.
14:42
SPEAKER_02: It's a ridiculous name, but look at the strategy here, Alex.
14:45
SPEAKER_02: This isn't just a random list of bans.
14:48
SPEAKER_02: This is a very specific economic calculation.
14:51
SPEAKER_00: Break it down.
14:52
SPEAKER_02: You have Lamb of God.
14:54
SPEAKER_02: That's the legacy draw.
14:55
SPEAKER_02: The Gen Xers, the older millennials who have money for beer.
14:58
SPEAKER_02: Then you have Kublai Khan TX.
15:00
SPEAKER_02: That is the hardcore crossover.
15:02
SPEAKER_02: That brings in the tough guy, hardcore kids who want to fight.
15:06
SPEAKER_02: And then Sangwa Sugabag.
15:07
SPEAKER_02: That is the internet death metal meme crowd.
15:10
SPEAKER_02: The Zoomers.
15:11
SPEAKER_00: It's a vertical slice of the demographic.
15:13
SPEAKER_00: It's not artistic curation.
15:15
SPEAKER_00: It's a survival strategy.
15:17
SPEAKER_00: This is how tours survive in 2026.
15:20
SPEAKER_00: You can't just tour with bands that sound like you anymore.
15:23
You have to build a festival experience every night because the
15:27
overheads are insane.
15:28
SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
15:29
SPEAKER_02: Think about the costs.
15:31
SPEAKER_02: Diesel fuel is through the roof.
15:33
SPEAKER_02: Visa costs for international bands are insane.
15:36
SPEAKER_02: And then the venues.
15:37
SPEAKER_02: The venues are taking 20 to 30% of the merch sales.
15:40
SPEAKER_00: That is the real Into Oblivion, Alicia.
15:43
SPEAKER_00: The venue taking 30% of Sanguisugabog's t-shirt sales.
15:47
SPEAKER_00: That is the breakdown of the social contract right there.
15:50
SPEAKER_00: We let you play here, so we own your inventory.
15:53
SPEAKER_00: It is feudalism.
15:54
SPEAKER_02: It is.
15:55
The bands are the serfs working the land,
15:57
and the venue is the lord taking the harvest.
16:00
And Randy is at the top of that bill presiding over this feudal
16:04
system screaming
16:05
SPEAKER_02: about how society is unfair.
16:07
SPEAKER_00: While charging $150 for a floor ticket.
16:10
SPEAKER_02: Precisely.
16:12
It's hard to take the anti-social contract message seriously
16:15
when the tour itself
16:16
SPEAKER_02: is an example of predatory capitalism.
16:19
But hey,
16:20
at least we get to see a circle pit for the heat death of the
16:22
universe.
16:23
SPEAKER_02: All right, Pitt, open it up.
16:26
This next song is about how the sun will increase in luminosity
16:29
by 10% in a billion years.
16:31
SPEAKER_02: I want to see a wall of death for thermodynamics.
16:35
SPEAKER_00: Ha ha.
16:35
SPEAKER_00: Disrespect your surroundings, because they are temporary anyway.
16:40
SPEAKER_00: It's absurd.
16:41
SPEAKER_00: But you know what?
16:42
SPEAKER_00: Despite all the hippie talk,
16:44
SPEAKER_00: despite the corporate label,
16:45
SPEAKER_00: despite the stupid journalism,
16:47
SPEAKER_00: that point about the social contract sticks with me.
16:50
SPEAKER_02: It does.
16:51
SPEAKER_02: We are angry, Alex.
16:53
SPEAKER_02: We are bitter.
16:54
SPEAKER_02: And maybe, just maybe, Randy is angry too.
16:57
SPEAKER_02: He's just expressing it in a weird, cosmic way.
17:01
SPEAKER_02: And he's trapped in a corporate cage.
17:03
SPEAKER_02: But he sees the cracks in the pavement.
17:05
SPEAKER_02: He sees that society is done.
17:07
SPEAKER_00: We are living in the end times, folks.
17:10
SPEAKER_00: Whether it's the sun boiling us or society eating itself, it is over.
17:15
SPEAKER_00: The Into Oblivion title isn't a metaphor.
17:18
SPEAKER_00: It's a weather forecast.
17:20
SPEAKER_02: But don't think for a second that lets them off the hook.
17:23
SPEAKER_02: They are riding the decline all the way to the bank.
17:26
SPEAKER_02: And we are just here watching it burn.
17:29
SPEAKER_00: That's right.
17:30
SPEAKER_00: We are the witnesses to the apocalypse.
17:33
And frankly,
17:34
I'm tired of talking about these old men and their space
17:36
fantasies.
17:37
SPEAKER_00: I want real rage.
17:39
SPEAKER_02: That's right.
17:40
SPEAKER_02: If you aren't a paid VIP yet, you're part of the problem.
17:42
SPEAKER_02: You are the leech sucking the life out of independent media.
17:44
SPEAKER_02: Support the show at classicmetalshow.locals.com.
18:03
SPEAKER_02: Subscribe today or get the fuck out of the way.
18:06
SPEAKER_02: We don't work for free and we sure as hell don't do it for the exposure.
18:10
SPEAKER_02: Hand job.