Fresh off the release of Gloryhammer's debut album, Tales from the Kingdom of Fife, I caught up with Chris Bowes for a chat about evil wizards, video games, pirates, and music piracy. He gives us all the details on the new band as well as what's happening with Alestorm, including their forthcoming live DVD. This was my second interview with Chris, the first being in-studio last November while he was in Cleveland. He had me cracking up throughout this interview, and you should really listen to the audio on this one rather than just skimming the text highlights. Check it out below.

I am absolutely thrilled to bring you a new interview with Jon Oliva, who just released his first solo album, Raise the Curtain, via AFM Records. He and I have had many great conversations over the years, and this one may be the best yet. Fans of Savatage, Jon Oliva's Pain, and TSO will not want to miss all the great memories shared here, not to mention details on future projects. Click below for the audio of the full interview or to read excerpts.

Tune in to the Metal Meltdown in Cleveland on WRUW-FM 91.1 or stream it live on wruw.org.

Coming up on today's show from 5-7pm Eastern (23:00-01:00 CET), it is my honor to bring you brand new interviews with two of the greats in the metal world: Roy Z, whose most recent project is the soundtrack to the game Zombie Squash, and Jon Oliva, who has just released his first solo album, Raise the Curtain.

If you have any special song requests related to the careers of either of these artists, please share them now on our Facebook page.

Right before today's show, I had a chance to interview Roy Z, whose most recent work is the soundtrack to Zombie Squash, a new game available for iOS and Android devices. Having been a fan of Roy's work for almost 20 years (going back to Bruce Dickinson's Balls to Picasso), this was truly an honor. I played two short clips from our interview on today's show, but I'll play extensive portions of it next Friday night along with music from his impressive discography. We covered a lot of ground, and I think you'll enjoy the conversation.

If you missed today's show, you also missed a lot of great new music: Oliva, Orphaned Land, Amon Amarth, Masterplan, Timo Tolkki's Avalon, Dark Tranquillity, and more. Check out the playlist and download the show below:

Playlist for June 21, 2013
MP3 Audio for June 21, 2013

On today's Metal Meltdown (5-7pm Eastern at wruw.org and WRUW-FM 91.1 Cleveland), we'll be talking to Steve Williams of POWER QUEST. As you know, Steve recently announced that PQ will soon be no more. In what I imagine will be one of his last radio interviews, Steve tells us about this difficult decision, what it's like preparing for the final live shows, and what the future may hold for him and for PQ. He always gives a great interview, and this is no exception.

In between interview segments, I'll play some of my favorite Power Quest tunes from over the years, and if you have a special song request, please drop me a line below or on Facebook.

Thanks to Steve for doing this extensive interview, and I know I speak for all of us when I say that we wish him the best of luck on all his future endeavors (hoping that one of them is the return of PQ, of course!).