Written and hosted by Devin Blair, Nashville sci-fi-fusion podcast Chemical Rocketeers quite frankly has a lot fun with the podcast process, but it also seeks to inspire and unite listeners, for its focus on humanity’s resilience through ‘exploration, innovation, and survival’.
A brief yet striking storytelling format that’s fully immersive as a go-to audio-cinema realm, Chemical Rocketeers was designed to grip its audience, and simultaneously inspire them to consider the other-worldly opportunities that lie ahead.
Factual intrigue and creative freedom intertwine brilliantly here, a podcast that sets itself aside for its cinematic production, personality, and entertainment, whilst utilising genuine historical research and possibilities that fascinate, and which have clearly been explored with a curious and thorough approach.
The series began with Operation Music Villa, and aptly evocative musical realm of composition and characterful exploration, within which our protagonist Rocketeer Ricky adds a relatable dash of humanity and realism to an otherwise detailed and unignorable arrangement of sound effects and changing scenes.
Just ten minutes in full, there’s a certain vastness and appeal to these episodes that naturally holds you captive. This episode continues through an unknown part of the universe called Music Villa – a planet ‘where harmony and sound dominate the atmosphere’. It’s broadly entertaining for its versatility and changing genres, from hip hop and funk to opera, and the resulting moments present an inspired new composition and anthem designed to unify humanity through the universal language of music.
Next we get the entirely new world of Operation Elephant Emitter. If the artwork and title don’t grab you, the opening moments of this fourteen-minute episode undoubtedly will.
Leading characters Jaguar and Slade arrive on a planet of hybrid animals, their mission being to capture a teleporting elephant that’s critical to their HQ’s research. This is an action-filled episode, with unprecedented atmospheric and behavioural struggles that ensue, and once again, host Devin captivates brilliantly from start to finish.
As ever, the story is incredibly brief, but the audio production, performances and scenes, make for an instantly gripping and memorable cinematic listen.
Operation Cyber Retrieval is unique again in its new storyline and setting. Operative Sam infiltrates Cyberrax, a planet from which he must retrieve a critical hard-drive needed to repair his onboard AI. This mission welcomes rogue scavenger rats, and evocatively shines light on the personal sacrifices of our Rocketeers.
It’s a compelling listen, familiar now in format and leading voice, and it connects on a level that effectively blends deeply-human qualities with other-worldly sci-fi intrigue and exploration.
Most recently, Operation Thermo Nuclear Arms Race is perhaps the most action-packed yet, and resets the scenery once more, for its tumultuous Nuclear subject matter, perilous search for materials, radiation turmoil, glowing worms, and unwelcoming terrain.
The characters here create a brilliant dynamic, and the stages of the story, the conversations and soundbites, all hold attention well – right through to a huge finish.
Unabashedly unlike anything else you’ll listen to this season, Chemical Rocketeers is a fine example of when personal enjoyment, or passion and creativity, meet with professionalism and the freedom to design and connect with listeners in some intriguing and original way.
All four recent episodes are boldly individual in story and style, and the result is an easy go-to podcast, which takes no time at all to experience in full. The show features the recurring sound of a hero losing the contents of his stomach, but will almost certainly leave you with a lasting smile and sense of joy.
Well-crafted, entertaining and creative, imaginative and impactful. Well-worth a listen during the short gaps or commutes of your day, or as an escapism binge at the end of a long week.
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