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San Diego's Those Darn Gnomes Up the Weirdness Game With "Birds" (premiere)

Can slime mold be a muse? Can you cross more streams than this collective? All those answers and more are shrouded in mystery on new track from Those Darn Gnomes. Maximum weirdness.

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MetalMatters: May 2019 - Back to the Basics and Prepare for Takeoff

Masters of drone Earth return with their more minimal record to date, Full of Hell continue their rampage through power electronics and No Negative carry on bouncing around garage, punk and post-punk. Newer acts Vale, Suspiral, Onkos, and Verwoed take the next step and sound like veterans of the scene.

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MetalMatters: April 2019 - It Is April So "Why So Serious?"

Sunn O)) return with a magnificent beast, Vaura fully embrace their experimental new wave tendencies, and Dead to a Dying World solidify their position in the extreme metal pantheon, among more exciting new works. And a few announcements regarding the column.

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Inter Arma Have Created Another Stunning Collection with 'Sulphur English'

From Sulphur English's all-encompassing reverie to the LP's themes of the arcane, Inter Arma are most certainly in their wheelhouse, continuing to redefine what it means to be a modern-day metal band.

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Florida Metal Trio Thunderclap Makes Auspicious Debut With 'Inebriocean' (album stream) (premiere)

Have you lost control? Are you nearly drowning? Or are you able to survive? Thunderclap asks these questions and more with heavy hooks and DNA-altering riffs on their new album Inebriocean.

Jedd Beaudoin

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MetalMatters: March 2019 – Beware the Ides of Metal

From Drastus' monumental second LP to Mystifier's righteous comeback, to Venom Prison's evolution towards death metal infamy, and enthralling debut full-lengths from Devil Master, VLTIMAS, Heaume Mortal, and more, March's MetalMatters highlights a bounty of subversive brilliance.

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Chrome Waves Arrives With Debut Album, 'A Grief Observed' (album stream) (premiere)

Former members of Wolvhammer, Nachtmystium, and the Gates of Slumber unite as Chrome Waves on album that unites shoegaze, post-rock, and extreme metal.

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MetalMatters: February 2019 – #Metalmindfulness

Welcome to PopMatters' monthly metal feature, MetalMatters. Each month we listen to a number of exciting releases across metal's many subgenre's to distill the swarm down to what we deem worthy of your precious time.

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MetalMatters: January 2019 – Within Winter's Clench

Welcome to PopMatters' new monthly metal feature, MetalMatters. Each month we'll take a look at a number of exciting releases across metal's many sub-genres to distill the swarm down to what we deem worthy of your precious time.

Music

Extreme Music Fiends ENDON Return with Another Chaotic Offering in 'Boy Meets Girl'

On Boy Meets Girl, Japan's ENDON carry down the same path of aggression tilting towards their hardcore-esque origins.

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Conny Ochs Gets Contemplative With "Dark Tower" (premiere)

Through Conny Ochs is beloved in the heavy rock community, "Dark Tower" transcends musical boundaries, with an appeal that recalls Soundgarden at its most tuneful and emotive.

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The Best Metal of 2018

Amidst all the global socio-political unrest and the personal trials of 2018, metal has had a noticeably strong and positive year.

Music

Sigh's 'Heir to Despair' Is a Stylistically Diverse Exploration of Madness

Japanese black metal stalwarts Sigh explore madness through folklore and experiment with new sounds on Heir to Despair.

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On the 30th Anniversary of Anthrax's 'State of Euphoria'

With State of Euphoria, Anthrax tempered some of the excessive '80s metal tendencies of their vocal, lead guitar, and song arrangements, reaching back toward something more viscerally punk as the '80s ended.

Music

A Hardwired Triumph for Metallica

Metallica has perfected the arena rock experience, creating as immersive and inclusive an atmosphere as possible by performing "in the round".

Music

High on Fire's 'Electric Messiah' Is Home to Some of the Metal Band's Fastest Songs

Now that the classic Motörhead line-up is hellraising on another astral plane, the Iron Fist has been passed to High on Fire.

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