Iggy Pop has played one of the heaviest death metal bands in the world on his BBC radio show. Seriously.

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By ( Metal Hammer ) published

A song so long and so brutal it had to be split into two parts

Iggy Pop in 2023 and Ulcerate in 2018
(Image credit: Per Ole Hagen/Redferns | Relapse Records)

Punk legend Iggy Pop has championed one of death metal’s nastiest bands.

On his BBC Radio 6 show on November 3, the former Stooges frontman played To See Death Just Once by New Zealand’s most dissonant trio Ulcerate: a song so long and crushing that he had to split it into two parts and put some post-punk in between.

You can listen to the programme via BBC Sounds until next week.

For those unfamiliar, Ulcerate formed in Auckland in 2000 and have mastered a distinct form of death metal that includes post-metal and noise.

Their latest album (seventh overall), Cutting The Throat Of God, was released in April via Debemur Morti. It received critical acclaim, including a glowing 4.5-star review from Metal Hammer journalist Matt Mills.

“Ulcerate have always been underdogs on account of their sheer extremity and, let’s be honest, Cutting… isn’t going to hoist them to the top of the charts,” Mills wrote. “But, as a statement of these aggressors’ ongoing uniqueness and a meticulous opus of death metal, it deserves to put everyone in heavy music on high alert. This inventive, infectious and nauseating experience is what every brutal band should be gunning to outdo in 2024.”

Discordant death metal notwithstanding, Pop’s Radio 6 show was populated with a host of punk and classic rock artists. The Smiths, Little Richard, Keith Richards and prog veterans Goblin were also heard, although the host delved into the metal underground once more when he played a track from sludge favourites Thou.

Pop, 77, is still very much active as a musician. He released latest album Every Loser in 2023. Produced by Pearl Jam and Ozzy Osbourne collaborator Andrew Watt, it featured Guns N’ Roses Duff Mckagan and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith.

Earlier this month, he announced a show at London’s 10,000-capacity Alexandra Palace to take place in June. `Songs from both his solo career and his stint with the Stooges will be performed.

Matt Mills
Matt Mills
Online Editor, Metal Hammer

Louder’s resident Gojira obsessive was still at uni when he joined the team in 2017. Since then, Matt’s become a regular in Metal Hammer and Prog, at his happiest when interviewing the most forward-thinking artists heavy music can muster. He’s got bylines in The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, NME and many others, too. When he’s not writing, you’ll probably find him skydiving, scuba diving or coasteering.