Explainers

Hatebreed at Bloodstock Festival, 2024. Photo: Keith Conlin/MetalTalk

Heavy Metal vs Hardcore

Declan Rourke · Aug 4, 2026

Behemoth on stage in December 2012, two years before The Satanist.

Is Behemoth Black Metal or Death Metal?

Andrzej Sawicki · Aug 3, 2026

Kerry King and Tom Araya of Slayer performing live

Is Slayer Death Metal?

Rafael Quintero · Aug 1, 2026

Cruachan on stage at their twenty-fifth anniversary show

Medieval and Folk Black Metal

Eirik Solvang · Jul 31, 2026

Wishbone Ash on stage at Chepstow Castle in August 2026, two guitarists side by side

Twin Guitar Harmonies

Declan Rourke with Julien Vasseur · Jul 28, 2026

Belphegor band portrait

Death Metal vs Black Metal

Andrzej Sawicki · Jul 27, 2026

An EMT 250 digital reverb unit mounted directly under a Studer A80 tape machine in a studio rack

Analog vs Digital Metal Production

Declan Rourke with Curtis Vance · Jul 27, 2026

Church of Misery's singer leaping with both arms raised under red stage light, the guitarist headbanging beside a Marshall stack

The Doom Metal Riff, Taken Apart

Ilse Brandt · Jul 26, 2026

King Buzzo of the Melvins airborne above the drum kit in Boston in July 2026

Heavy Metal vs Grunge

Declan Rourke · Jul 26, 2026

The Bullhead album sleeve by the Melvins

What Was the First Sludge Metal Band?

Gareth Llewellyn · Jul 25, 2026

Sleep Token at Gas South Arena, Duluth, 2025. Photo: Adamross Williams

What Counts as Heavy Metal Today

Declan Rourke · Jul 24, 2026

The singer of Messa with long dark hair at the microphone, lit from behind by blue spotlights

Female Fronted Doom Metal

Ilse Brandt · Jul 21, 2026

Grutle Kjellson of Enslaved singing and playing bass

Black Metal Lyrical Themes

Eirik Solvang · Jul 20, 2026

The members of Malevolent Creation

Is Slipknot Death Metal?

Rafael Quintero · Jul 19, 2026

Blut aus Nord as three hooded figures against a black sky

Industrial Black Metal

Eirik Solvang · Jul 18, 2026

The sleeves of Born Too Late by Saint Vitus, The Skull by Trouble and Nightfall by Candlemass laid side by side

The Big Four of Doom Metal

Ilse Brandt · Jul 18, 2026

Ghost on stage at South Park Festival in 2018, in full costume.

Is Ghost Black Metal?

Eirik Solvang · Jul 17, 2026

Monolord singer and guitarist Thomas V Jäger singing with a black Flying V under green and blue stage light

Doom Metal or Stoner Metal?

Ilse Brandt · Jul 17, 2026