Suicide Silence guitarist Mark Heylmun on psychedelics, Catholicism, the occult, creative hiatuses, the making of the band’s self-titled album with Ross Robinson, losing a close friend in high school, the death of frontman Mitch Lucker, the band's subsequent rebirth, the ego, and much more. ⁠LISTEN⁠.

NILE frontman Karl Sanders talks ancient Egypt, his meditative and transcendental solo work, several of the books and ideas that shaped him, and more. "A lot of the [religious] options available to us are restrictive by nature," he explains. "I gravitated to the [ancient] Egyptians because you know what? When those guys did religion, they imagined big." LISTEN HERE.

Church Of The Cosmic Skull founder “Brother Bill” Fisher's seven-piece, vocal-harmony-and-Hammond-organ heavy, English prog/psych/rock outfit fashions itself as a spiritual organization dedicated to “The Seven Objects,” which includes instructions to “recognize the hallucinatory nature of reality,” “celebrate and uphold the freedom of art, science and thought,” “meet mistakes with forgiveness and determination,” and “maintain focus on the unity of all living beings.” LISTEN HERE.

Haela Ravenna Hunt-Hendrix's band, Liturgy, makes transcendental black metal possessed by the spirit of classical music, the energetic urgency of punk, and purposeful worship. An unapologetic Christian with a love of the Orthodox Church and a spiritual practice many believers would deem decidedly unorthodox, Hunt-Hendrix is a boundlessly talented, thoughtful, and moving artist and performer. As she says in this episode: "The band is called Liturgy. The point of the performances is to be a mass. When we play the music, I'm reading it as a holy experience." LISTEN HERE.

Hasan Oswald started his professional career as a cameraman for National Geographic’s film Hell on Earth: The Fall of Syria and the Rise of ISIS. His verité style caught the eye of award-winning filmmakers Nick Quested & Sebastian Junger (Restrepo). His directorial debut, Higher Love, about the opioid crisis in New Jersey, arrived in 2020. He's also covered the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, drug trafficking, homelessness in Philadelphia, and the Yazidi Genocide in Iraq. LISTEN HERE.

Dara Molloy (Dara Ó Maoildhia) is a Celtic Monk, Priest, and Druid who lives on Inis Mor, the largest of the three islands that make up the Aran Islands in Ireland. He talks about his journey from Catholicism to the Celtic spiritual tradition. Listen to No-Prize From God.

Sergio Navarretta directed Looking for Angelina (2005), The Colossal Failure of the Modern Relationship (2015), and The Cuban (2020), about Mina (Ana Golja), a naive pre-med student who strikes up an unlikely friendship with Luis (Louis Gossett Jr.), an elderly Cuban musician. Navaretta talks about filming in Cuba, the spiritual power of music, and our relationship with our elders. "When my dad passed away, I realized how absolute death is; whatever happens in the moments before becomes so important." Listen here.

"Making peace with who you are inevitably leads to the recognition that who you are is an illusion." In this revealing and in-depth conversation, Devin Townsend talks about music, meditation, collective unconscious, imposter syndrome, perfect happiness, emotional balance, and "a certain amount of transcendence." Listen to No-Prize From God here.

SATYRICON frontman Satyr Wongraven returns to No-Prize From God. The Norwegian black metal musician talks about the spiritual and creative connections between nature, music, and visual arts, anchored specifically around the Satyricon & Munch - Munchmuseet exhibition, which ran for several months in 2022. Handpicked works of Norway's most famous artist, Edvard Munch, inspired new Satyricon music drawing on existential themes, rhythms, and waves. LISTEN HERE.

WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM drummer Aaron Weaver talks about the deep-rooted spirituality of the American black metal band he co-founded with his brother, Nathan. WITTR make iconoclastic (even for black metal) and often ritualistic music meant to evoke the forests and mountains around them in the Pacific Northwest. In this in-depth conversation, Aaron speaks candidly about his personal experiences and the evolution of his ideas. LISTEN HERE.

BOTANIST is a post-black metal band from San Francisco founded on the principle of "worship of the Natural world." A distorted hammered dulcimer stands in for guitars in Botanist, with drums free from editing in order to capture Otrebor at the "edge" of his ability. Otrebor channels an alter-ego with a romantic vision of a world overtaken by plant life, free from human interference. In a 2011 profile, NPR wrote, "You'd think... creepy, hammered-dulcimer black metal would get stale, but [Botanist] is surprisingly dynamic and hypnotic."

Author and public theologian Brian D. McLaren is a former college English teacher whose newest book is Faith After Doubt (January 2021), and his next release, Do I Stay Christian? will be available in Spring 2022. In 2004, he was awarded a Doctor of Divinity Degree (honoris causa) from Carey Theological Seminary in Vancouver, BC, Canada, and in 2010, he received a second honorary doctorate from Virginia Theological Seminary (Episcopal).

You Have Permission podcast host Dan Koch is a doctoral student in counseling psychology and the former co-host of the Reconstruct and Depolarize! podcasts, and member of the band Sherwood.

For They Know Not What They Do filmmaker Daniel G. Karslake deals with the intersection of religion, sexuality, gender identity, and social justice in his work. Every Three Seconds (2014), which he began as a visiting scholar at Stanford University, amplified practical solutions to global poverty and hunger. For the Bible Tells Me So (2007) premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was shortlisted for a 2008 Academy Award. Karslake talks about his upbringing, his faith, and his documentary films, including For They Know Not What They Do (2019).

THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN bassist Liam Wilson is a warm-hearted, thoughtful, and fascinating individual. A longtime yoga practitioner, animal advocate, and freethinker, he's the consummate "seeker," with a firm moral compass and spiritual grounding. Liam made several groundbreaking albums with Dillinger Escape Plan. In more recent years, he's played live with Norwegian black metal band Myrkur and Canadian musician/producer Devin Townsend. He's part of the supergroup Azura (with members of Extol) and the mastermind behind John Frum, a psychedelic progressive death metal band built around themes rooted in history and spirituality.

American Messiahs author Adam Morris joins No-Prize From God to talk about the book NPR called "sharp and entertaining." American Messiahs: False Prophets of a Damned Nation argues that, far from aberrant blips on the historical radar, false prophets and saviors are an essential part of the American story. The book joins together stories of cult leaders like Thomas Lake Harris, Father Divine, Jim Jones, and Jemima Wilkinson; people who led movements that ended in spectacular flameouts, yet were often propelled by at least some progressive ideas that later gained wide acceptance. Adam is a recipient of the Susan Sontag Foundation Prize in literary translation, a Northern California Book Award in prose translation, and a PhD in literature from Stanford University.

Filmmaker Darren Lynn Bousman (Saw II, III, IV) is the first writer/director to come on No-Prize From God. The wide-ranging discussion includes strange occurrences on the set of 2011’s 11-11-11; the quasi-religious story of 2012’s The Devil’s Carnival; his fascination with “the strange,” the occult, and secret societies; Will Storr vs. The Supernatural; the religious and (possibly) supernatural themes throughout his latest film, Death of Me, which stars Maggie Q, Alex Essoe, and Luke Hemsworth; and the next installment in the Saw franchise, 2021's Spiral, starring Chris Rock and Samuel L. Jackson.

ANBERLIN frontman Stephen Christian talks about his formative years with music and faith; moving from city to city as a kid; and gives a fascinating run-down of the arc of Anberlin's career. It's an excellent guide that should be required listening for anyone in any professional band. Stephen serves as a pastor and worship leader in Florida. He released his fourth album with his solo project, Anchor & Braille, in Spring 2020.

UNDEROATH vocalist Spencer Chamberlain goes deep, with topics including: his religious upbringing; the challenges and pressures of fronting one of the most successful Christian hard rock/metal bands ever; the responsibility of the artist to the audience; struggling with addiction in the public eye; his evolving beliefs and the position of the band; whether we can separate the artist from the art; performance in the pandemic; and so much more. bit.ly/noprizefromgod

DEMON HUNTER frontman and Grammy Award-nominated designer Ryan Clark returns. Panic attacks, health scares, weight loss; cold showers; the breathing and cold therapy exercises of the Wim Hof Method; an examination of the phrase "the Fear of God"; reverence; iconography; symbolism; reflecting on the sheer volume of album artwork he's created; and more.