Vinyl: the only true way to listen to classic albums, or a waste of space that makes you hate yourself every time you move to a new apartment? In the past two decades, vinyl has become a massive industry for bands in the wake of CD sales tanking and streaming services offering them fractions of pennies per play. That said, vinyl is ponderous and can take months to get pressed, while Spotify can give you every song ever in the blink of an eye. This leads to an important debate: which is greater overall, the swiftness and clarity of streaming or the timeless gatefold power of vinyl?
In the latest episode of our metal talk show Last Words, hosts Katy Irizarry (Season Of Mist), Doc Coyle (Bad Wolves/Ex Man Podcast), and Zeena Koda (Everything’s Political Podcast) take on the format issue alongside Rob Wharton, guitarist for New Jersey technical death metallers Cognitive. The general consensus is pro-vinyl over all, though Rob and Zeena admit they’re new converts.
“I just started [collecting vinyl] this year,” says Rob. “I got fifteen records. I used to think it was not that sick at first — I was like, ‘Why’re you buying that, you can just buy a CD?’ But I get it now.”
“That was the number one request I had for Christmas — for a record player,” says Zeena. “Not something I’ve wanted for a very long time. I’ve been collecting vinyl for years, and never had a way to listen to it, which is a shame, right? Someone gave me a Deftones White Pony on vinyl, and I thought, I have to listen to this. There’s no way that I can’t listen to this.”
Weigh in on this debate with the new episode of Last Words below:
If you want the fully unhinged, uncensored version of these metal rants on your commute (as though you’re going anywhere in 2020), definitely tune into the podcast version of Last Words to get your shit rocked in full, delicious audio.
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Words by Chris Krovatin
