Explainers

Gaerea posing together in their hoods

Anonymous Black Metal: Why Nobody Shows a Face

Eirik Solvang · Jun 26, 2026

Carcass on stage at the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver

Is Death Metal Satanic?

Rafael Quintero · Jun 25, 2026

Sepultura playing live in 2018, the Derrick Green line-up under stage light.

Is Sepultura Death Metal?

Rafael Quintero · Jun 24, 2026

Mortiis performing live on stage

Ambient Black Metal and Dungeon Synth

Eirik Solvang · Jun 24, 2026

Brutal Truth on stage

What Is Deathgrind?

Gareth Llewellyn · Jun 23, 2026

Kirk Hammett of Metallica playing guitar with Robert Trujillo, The Collection: Live book event, Frankfurt, May 2026. Photo: BraveWords

How Metal Riffs Are Built

Declan Rourke with Julien Vasseur · Jun 23, 2026

The five members of Hooded Menace in leather jackets and hoods standing in front of a monument hung with giant iron chains

The Doom Metal Aesthetic

Ilse Brandt · Jun 23, 2026

An Ampeg Portaflex bass cabinet with a single microphone set in front of it in a studio isolation room

Where Did the Bass Go?

Declan Rourke with Curtis Vance · Jun 22, 2026

Thou singer Bryan Funck in a cap gripping the microphone with both hands in stage smoke, a guitarist behind him

Sludge Metal or Doom Metal?

Ilse Brandt · Jun 21, 2026

Jonathan Davis of Korn singing into his sculpted microphone stand at Gunnersbury Park, August 2024

Heavy Metal vs Nu Metal

Declan Rourke · Jun 21, 2026

Kiss at The O2 Arena, London, 2023. Photo: Robert Sutton

Is Kiss Hair Metal?

Declan Rourke with Saint Sylveszter · Jun 16, 2026

Cattle Decapitation performing live on stage

Death Metal Lyrics: What They Are Actually About

Rafael Quintero · Jun 15, 2026

Rob Halford sings into the microphone mid-performance with Judas Priest in Newark, New Jersey, March 30, 2022

Rob Halford's Vocal Range

Declan Rourke with Julien Vasseur · Jun 15, 2026

A young metal fan walking down a terraced street by cooling towers

Where Did Thrash Metal Originate? Britain, California or Both

Declan Rourke · Jun 14, 2026

Fans with raised fists in front of a black metal band in a small club

NSBM: The Corner of the Genre Nobody Wants to Explain

Andrzej Sawicki · Jun 14, 2026

Fear Factory performing live

Industrial Death Metal

Rafael Quintero · Jun 13, 2026

Venom on stage at Hellfest in 2023

What Is Black Metal?

Eirik Solvang · Jun 12, 2026

Unanimated on stage

Melodic Black Metal

Eirik Solvang · Jun 12, 2026