The Magazine

The long reads. Genre histories told chapter by chapter, band biographies, the essential albums, the label stories and the portraits, written by the KaosMetal editors.

Narrowed to Stoner Metal. The whole magazine →

The members of Mastodon standing in a row in front of a pale concrete wall in purple light

Is Mastodon Sludge Metal?

Ilse Brandt · May 19, 2026

The sleeves of Transcendence into the Peripheral by diSEMBOWELMENT, Into the Depths of Sorrow by Solitude Aeturnus and In the Rectory of the Bizarre Reverend by Reverend Bizarre laid side by side

The Essential Doom Metal Albums, Record by Record

Ilse Brandt · May 13, 2026

The sleeves of Hunted by Khemmis, Mirror Reaper by Bell Witch and Hypnagogia by Evoken laid side by side

The Doom Metal Album Covers, and Who Painted Them

Ilse Brandt · May 10, 2026

High on Fire singer and guitarist Matt Pike shirtless at the microphone with a red guitar, under blue light

The Doom Metal Artists Behind the Bands

Ilse Brandt · May 6, 2026

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats on stage bathed in red light, long-haired guitarists and the drummer

The Culture: Sleeves, Logos, Tunings and the Slowest Aesthetic in Metal

Ilse Brandt · May 3, 2026

Buzz Osborne of the Melvins with his white shock of hair, playing guitar under blue light in a robe covered in eyes

The Melvins and the Record Everyone Copied

Gareth Llewellyn · Apr 27, 2026

The sleeves of Stream from the Heavens by Thergothon, Forest of Equilibrium by Cathedral and Watching from a Distance by Warning laid side by side

The Best Doom Metal Albums of All Time

Ilse Brandt · Apr 19, 2026

The album sleeves of Lore by Elder, Gravity X by Truckfighters and Mantra III by Spiritual Beggars laid side by side

The Best Stoner Metal Albums

Ilse Brandt · Apr 16, 2026

Paradise Lost live, the singer at the microphone and a guitarist beside him under red and blue stage light

The Essential Doom Metal Albums

Ilse Brandt · Apr 12, 2026

The three members of Reverend Bizarre standing in an overgrown churchyard beside a wooden cross and an old tree

The Top Doom Metal Bands

Ilse Brandt · Apr 11, 2026

Cirith Ungol playing a concert stage under blue light with the band name on the backdrop and raised hands in the crowd

Traditional Doom Metal, and What Makes It Traditional

Ilse Brandt · Apr 6, 2026

Pallbearer playing a club stage under white and blue spotlights, guitarists and bassist in a row with the drummer behind

The Doom Metal Bands and Groups You Need to Know

Ilse Brandt · Mar 22, 2026

The four members of Dopelord standing in red and blue light in a band photograph

The Stoner Doom Metal Bands

Ilse Brandt · Mar 11, 2026

The four members of Elder standing in overgrown parkland in front of a ruined classical colonnade

Psychedelic Doom Metal

Ilse Brandt · Mar 8, 2026

The three members of YOB standing on dark rocks by the sea with the sun setting behind them

The Doom Metal Subgenres, and Where Each One Draws Its Line

Ilse Brandt · Mar 1, 2026

The three members of Weedeater, Dixie Dave Collins on the right, standing against a brick wall and a barred door

The Best Sludge Metal Albums

Ilse Brandt · Feb 19, 2026

The Kingdom Come album sleeve by Sir Lord Baltimore, a ghostly sailing ship of bones on a dark green sea

Proto Doom: The Records Made Before the Word Existed

Ilse Brandt · Feb 13, 2026

A hooded Sunn O))) guitarist raising an arm in front of a wall of amplifiers, beams of light cutting through the haze Chapter 7

Drone Doom: Earth, Sunn O))) and the Riff Held Until It Breaks

Ilse Brandt · Feb 8, 2026

Green Lung performing on an outdoor festival stage in front of a large painted banner, the crowd in the foreground

Stoner Doom: Where the Two Words Meet

Ilse Brandt · Feb 3, 2026

The five members of Down standing together outdoors in a black and white band photograph

New Orleans: The Sludge Capital

Ilse Brandt · Jan 28, 2026

Orange Goblin on stage in red and blue light in front of a large skull banner

The Best Stoner Metal Bands

Ilse Brandt · Dec 29, 2025

The five members of Trouble with long hair and denim and leather jackets, posed in front of trees in a vintage black and white photograph

Trouble and the Christian Doom Question

Ilse Brandt · Dec 24, 2025

Eyehategod playing a club stage, three guitarists and the singer lit in red, the crowd filling the foreground Chapter 4

Sludge Metal: New Orleans, the Melvins and the Ugly Half of Doom

Ilse Brandt · Dec 7, 2025

Monster Magnet on stage in purple light, the singer with a guitar at the front

The Stoner Metal Bands

Ilse Brandt · Nov 23, 2025