The Magazine

8 chapters

Black Metal History

Black metal was branded in 1982 by a band who could not play it, forged alone in a Stockholm suburb, then hammered into doctrine in Norway by teenagers who burned down part of their own country's history on the way. The first wave and the second, the fires and the court records, the Nordic and European scenes, America,...

By Eirik Solvang · latest chapter Feb 14, 2026

1. Named Before It Existed: The Complete History of Black Metal
2. The First Wave: Venom, Bathory, Hellhammer and the Word Itself (1981-1987)
3. Norway: Helvete, the Inner Circle and the Second Wave (1991-1994)
4. The Churches, the Killings and the Press That Came With Them
5. Sweden, Finland and the Rest of the North
6. France, Poland, Greece, Iceland and the Scenes That Followed
7. America: USBM, Cascadia and a Long Argument About Authenticity
8. After the Second Wave: 2000 to Now

3 chapters

Death History

Britain came at death metal through grindcore, the Netherlands built four bands around one voice, and Poland assembled a scene inside a state with no record industry. Then Brazil, Chile and Japan got the signal last and answered it differently. What a genre becomes when it is exported to places that could not buy the r...

By Rafael Quintero with Andrzej Sawicki · latest chapter Feb 7, 2026

1. Britain, the Netherlands, Poland and the Rest of the World
2. The Nineties: The Peak, the Slump and What Survived
3. The Revival: Old School, Caverns and the Modern Underground

2 chapters

Thrash History

In the years the Ruhr's pits and steelworks were closing, three German bands took Venom and Motorhead instead of Diamond Head and made records nobody could afford to fix. What came out was rawer than the Bay Area, and it is what death metal and black metal were built on.

By Declan Rourke · latest chapter Nov 2, 2025

1. Teutonic Thrash: Kreator, Sodom, Destruction and the Ruhr (1983–1990)
2. Brazil, Canada and the Rest of the World (1984–1991)