Genre Histories

Vio-Lence in a band portrait

1988: The Second Peak

Declan Rourke · Feb 10, 2026

Iron Maiden backstage in 1980, Paul Di'Anno holding up a hand-painted fan banner reading Iron Maiden Go Over the Top with an early Eddie drawing, band members laughing behind him.

Metal for Muthas, the First NWOBHM Compilation

Declan Rourke · Feb 9, 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

Zhema Rodero and Vulcano on stage

Sarcófago, Vulcano, Holocausto: Brazil Before Sepultura

Declan Rourke · Feb 7, 2026

A Bloodbath guitarist on stage in corpse paint Chapter 7

The Revival: Old School, Caverns and the Modern Underground

Rafael Quintero · Feb 7, 2026

Rob Halford of Judas Priest screaming into the microphone in full leather and studs on stage

British Steel: The Record That Set the Rules

Declan Rourke · Feb 3, 2026

Krallice on stage in red light

USBM: American Black Metal

Eirik Solvang · Jan 31, 2026

The sleeves of Exodus's Pleasures of the Flesh and S.O.D.'s Speak English or Die

Thrash Album Covers That Got Banned or Changed

Declan Rourke · Jan 30, 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

Cro-Mags in a band portrait

1986: The Year Thrash Peaked

Declan Rourke · Jan 27, 2026

Wolves in the Throne Room performing live in Glasgow Chapter 6

America: USBM, Cascadia and a Long Argument About Authenticity

Eirik Solvang · Jan 25, 2026

Dismember in front of a church under a storm sky

Death Metal in the 1990s

Rafael Quintero · Jan 24, 2026

Burzum's Det som engang var beside Mayhem's De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas

The Feud That Ended in Oslo

Eirik Solvang · Jan 24, 2026

Mötley Crüe on the set of the "Looks That Kill" video, Los Angeles, 1984: Vince Neil, Mick Mars, Tommy Lee and Nikki Sixx, photographed by Barry Levine Chapter 3

The Eighties: Sunset Strip, Hairspray and the Glam Metal Explosion

Declan Rourke with Saint Sylveszter · Jan 22, 2026

Metallica performing live in 1984

Ruthie's Inn: The Berkeley Club Where Thrash Learned to Mosh

Declan Rourke · Jan 20, 2026

The four members of Skepticism in long dark coats standing on railway tracks among bare trees, one holding white flowers Chapter 6

Funeral Doom: Thergothon, Skepticism and Music at Walking Pace

Ilse Brandt · Jan 18, 2026

Deicide performing live on stage Chapter 6

The Nineties: The Peak, the Slump and What Survived

Rafael Quintero · Jan 17, 2026

Saxon posing as a five-piece in 2026: Biff Byford, Nigel Glockler, Doug Scarratt, Nibbs Carter and Brian Tatler Chapter 2

The New Wave of British Heavy Metal, and the Second Wind It Gave the Genre

Declan Rourke · Jan 15, 2026