Greetings RMR listeners. First and foremost, obviously we've been having some technical difficulties with the stream. We lost our free relay yet again. We tried buying bandwidth, but whenever we found a relay for a reasonable price they canceled our account because we were actually using the bandwidth. Apparently they wanted you to pay for it but not use it. So anyway, no bandwidth, no 96k slots. There are still some 32k and we will probably add a few more of them. That's the best we can do for now.

Also pretty obviously, Roth and I haven't had time to do updates. We've added a little music here and there, but haven't even had time to add the stuff we buy and the demos we get in the mail. We apologize to all the bands who are sending demos, but at the moment we don't have time to review them all.

The Guest Book is gone for now. We can't keep the fucking spammers out.

For the good news, New York City area residents have had some great music with more on the way, including Suffocation, Behemoth, Morbid Angel, Krisiun, Cryptopsy and Vader, all playing at B.B King Blues Club (don't let the Sunday Gospel Brunches scare you).

Even better news: the returns of Emperor and Dissection over the summer. Emperor was one of the first, and still one of my favorite black metal bands. This show is not to be missed, although I was a little suprised with the outrageous ticket price.

We're really thankful for all the listeners over the years, and hear your frustrations that we can't continue as strongly as we've been in the past. If you can deal with the 32k streams, and check back once in a while, maybe we'll be able to pick things up in the future. Hail! -Pennatus

Roth added some new demos back in February (listed on the left). We have a ton more to go through and will continue to add them as we can. Thanks to all the bands and labels for sending us CDs.

va·ri·e·ty [v&-'rI-&-tE] noun, plural -ties
Middle French varieté, or Latin varietat-, varietas, from varius various
1 : the quality or state of having different forms or types : MULTIFARIOUSNESS
2 : a number or collection of different things especially of a particular class : ASSORTMENT
3 : something differing from others of the same general kind : SORT
4 : the reason that ROTH METAL RADIO has 12 hour limitations on requests.

Hails to black metal locals Abazagorath for their second full length Sacraments Of The Final Atrocity.

Of note is also Neither of Florida. The three songs currently playing on RMR are being re-recorded for their first full length album due December 2004 or January 2005. They have a show on 10/29 so if you're in the Ft. Meyers, FL area check 'em out.

A few listeners have been looking for Dutch metal bands. For you we have two albums from Martyr. Okay, so we didn't go out and specifically look for a Dutch band, but nonetheless a couple of damn good albums.

And one of my old favorites: Necromantia's Scarlet Evil Witching Black.

Yet again we're looking for anyone who wants to relay for us. This is bandwidth intensive (do the math) so please don't offer unless you can commit for a reasonable period of time.

Two new albums added:

Death metal by Homoiratus from Greece with their second full length Apocalypse, and German black/death Nordafrost with Dominus Frigoris.

We still have some demos to check out so more will be added shortly. Many thanks to the bands who have submitted demos. (The snail mail address to send CDs is at the bottom of this page.)

First up, black metal from Florida (yes, Florida) - the Secrets She Kept demo CD Symphonies Of Eternal Suffering And Damnation. A full length entitled Requiems To Midnight, Woe is in the works. Hail to Necrol.

Second, Sapfhier from Sweden, a one man project with black metal and other influences in a tribute to nordic mythology and nature. His second CD: Under Eternally Grey Skies.

Both CDs were delivered very quickly (fucking lightspeed) from God is Myth Records.

Which brings me to a point: There are a lot of great bands, some new, some that have been around for a while, that are relatively unknown. One of the important things (in my mind) of listening to underground music is that we're not slaves to what the rest of the world thinks we should be listening to. While some of the more popular bands get lots of airplay (including here), it's the lesser known bands that need our support and deserve our attention. The next time you request a song or buy a CD, try something different. We'll try to do the same.