metal

Blood Incantation Play the Music of the Spheres on New LP

Blood Incantation Play the Music of the Spheres on New LP

On Absolute Elsewhere, Blood Incantation annihilate the death metal rulebook to spread an esoteric message of cosmic proportions.

MetalMatters: The Best Metal Albums of October 2024

MetalMatters: The Best Metal Albums of October 2024

In October’s best metal, Blood Incantation explore the cosmos, the Bug disfigures the techno sound, and Oranssi Pazuzu contine to transform.

Chat Pile’s Bleak View Goes Global with ‘Cool World’

Chat Pile’s Bleak View Goes Global with ‘Cool World’

Chat Pile’s new album does not offer catharsis; it is just an unflinching account of the violence we inflict on each other on an individual and global scale.

MetalMatters: The Best Metal Albums of September 2024

MetalMatters: The Best Metal Albums of September 2024

In September’s best metal, Pyrrhon reinvent themselves again, Ripped to Shreds accelerate their death/grind, and Spite return with blackened malice and ambition.

From Melville to Metal: The Conceptual Depths of Mastodon’s ‘Leviathan’

From Melville to Metal: The Conceptual Depths of Mastodon’s ‘Leviathan’

Mastodon’s Leviathan is a concept LP inspired by American novelist Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. Think of it as sludge metal’s answer to Dark Side of the Moon.

MetalMatters: The Best Metal Albums of August 2024

MetalMatters: The Best Metal Albums of August 2024

In August’s best metal, Mamaleek defy categorization, Teeth evolve their dissonant death metal, and Vomitrot bounce between death/doom and black metal.

Metallica’s ‘Ride the Lightning’ Turns 40, But the Memory Remains

Metallica’s ‘Ride the Lightning’ Turns 40, But the Memory Remains

Yes, Metallica were singing about death—the cartoon skulls and swords I doodled in my notebooks rendered sonically. But they were also singing about life.

MetalMatters: The Best Metal Albums of July 2024

MetalMatters: The Best Metal Albums of July 2024

In July’s best metal, Wormed’s futuristic brutal tech-death is sovereign, Void Witch offer death-doom wickedness, and Malconfort’s off-kilter black metal shines.

Listen Up Gen Xers: Satan Ain’t (Taylor) Swift

Listen Up Gen Xers: Satan Ain’t (Taylor) Swift

I first heard about Slayer in a church in Mississippi. The sermon warned of metal’s Satanic influence. Now we old head-banging Gen Xers are afraid of Taylor Swift?

Fire-Toolz’s ‘Breeze’ Dares to Imagine Joy Within Chaos

Fire-Toolz’s ‘Breeze’ Dares to Imagine Joy Within Chaos

It’s a rare artist indeed who can turn tools for expressing existential dread toward a grateful appreciation of life, but Fire-Toolz accomplishes this on Breeze.

MetalMatters: The Best Metal Albums of June 2024

MetalMatters: The Best Metal Albums of June 2024

In June’s best metal, Crypt Sermon offer hooks in doom form, Insect Ark stay on the experimental path, and Ulcerate offer despair with technical death metal.