Paws, Pets & Metal is Metal Insider’s newest column on bands with pets, discovering who watches them on the road, and more. Get to know more about these metal furbabies. We caught up with Opus Arise’s Shawn Hillman as he revealed his hedgehogs dig through atmospheric black metal.

Tell us more about your pet(s) and their names?

I have three Hedgehogs: Nugget, Moki and Ricepuff. I rescued these three from different folks and that was the names they were given.

Have you ever taken your pet on tour?

Definitely wouldn’t be good for the hogs, don’t think they’d be too thrilled…

Who looks after your pet while on the road?

Folks at my place love looking after them.

What’s your pet’s favorite song or album?

I left various atmospheric tracks from different Sonic games as well as random Vaporwave and they definitely vibe to that.

How did you introduce your pet to metal?

I put on Atmospheric Black Metal and they dug that too.

What animal charity means most to you?

New West Animal Shelter, they rescued three Hoggos who were abandoned in a park a few years ago.