Beam Me Up Scotty with Iron Kingdom

Iron Kingdom

Iron Kingdom?

Well, if that's not the name of a band that's scary, I don't know what is. Certainly, though, it makes me wonder, what's this band all about?

So let me give you the TL:DR version...

They're a Canadian traditional/power/throwback metal band that gives major props and praise to the original Defenders of the Faith and the Tailgunners that took up the leather clad guantlet.

They've got a new disc coming out in October which you can preorder HERE. In the meantime...

Let's to the Starship Enterprise.

1. Star Trek is the world's most perfect universe. In what show (era) would you be the happiest? Why's that?

This is probably one of the most difficult questions I’ve ever been asked. 

I would say Voyager era but at home, not in the Delta Quadrant. Voyager era offers all of the technological benefits and advances made during and after TNG but before the uncertainty and paranoia of the Dominion War.

2. In the second season of The Next Generation, Commander William T, Riker had to prosecute Lt. Cmdr. Data on whether or not he was sentient and not property. Where do you stand on this issue and why?

I stand on the side of no truly sentient/ conscious being can ever be property and I would fully support the idea of Data being sentient. 

As much as the idea makes me a little more uncomfortable the closer we get to creating AI with true General Intelligence, I don’t feel like there is any real ethical argument against Data being an autonomous being. 

Star Trek is nice due to it being a “perfect” representation of the future but I feel the future holds a little bit more a Terminator vibe when it comes to sentient androids. 

Which if that is the case I’m sure I’ll regret standing on this side of the argument.

3. The only time we ever got remotely heavy music was on the bus in Star Trek IV. Why do you think they've not pursued heavy music?

I think a large part of people’s attraction to heavy music is to deal with anger and aggression and the darker parts of the human reality, whereas in the Star Trek universe humanity is meant to have moved on from the grip of those feelings. 

It’s understandable to me in that case that people would feel no real need for any kind of heavy music as a means to release pent up aggression when a trip to the holodeck could take care of the feelings better. 

4. In the Star Trek TNG Novel, worlds, universes, and centuries collided when Peter David posited that Trelane from The Squire of Gothos, was actually a member of the Q Continuum.

Do you think that's anything more than simple fanboyism?

This is a great question and I actually had to look up this episode because it has been so long since I watched TOS, but I totally think this has some validity to it. 

Trelane exhibits multiple characteristics and powers that fit with what is known of the Q Continuum. The tricks that he plays on the crew of the Enterprise as well as the seemingly effortless execution of those tricks lead me to believe it that Peter David is correct in connecting the two. 

Also the fact that Trelane is chastised by other mysterious beings that show up at the end lends some credence.

5. What's the most metal alien in the Star Trek Multiverse?

I thought long and hard about this, but I think I have to go for the obvious answer and say the Klingons. 

A race of warriors consumed by the love of blood and battle with fierce lineages going back millennia, and some of the most badass and frightening rituals and customs is hard to beat and metal as all get out.