Genre Histories

Pestilence in a band portrait in front of a carved stone wall

Death Metal Bands That Started as Something Else

Rafael Quintero · Jun 11, 2026

Motorhead on stage at Wacken in August 2013, Lemmy beside his Marshall head marked Murder One above a wall of cabinets

The Marshall Stack

Declan Rourke with Curtis Vance · Jun 10, 2026

Skeletonwitch on stage

Blackened Thrash: Aura Noir, Deströyer 666, Skeletonwitch

Declan Rourke · Jun 9, 2026

Massacre performing live on stage

The Demos That Built Death Metal Before the Albums Did

Rafael Quintero · Jun 9, 2026

Big Boss of Root singing live

Czech, Slovak and Hungarian Black Metal

Andrzej Sawicki · Jun 8, 2026

Chuck Schuldiner of Death crouching with his guitar on a cobbled street

Death Metal and Censorship: The PMRC Years

Rafael Quintero · Jun 6, 2026

The Grieghallen concert hall in Bergen seen from the hillside above the city

Grieghallen and the Bergen Sound

Eirik Solvang · Jun 6, 2026

Mortal Sin on stage at Jalometalli in 2008

Australian Thrash: Mortal Sin and Hobbs' Angel of Death

Declan Rourke · Jun 5, 2026

Mordred, the reunited line-up, in a 2020 press photo

Why the East Bay and Not San Francisco

Declan Rourke · Jun 5, 2026

Pentagram, the Chilean death metal band, in a band portrait

Chilean Death Metal

Rafael Quintero · Jun 4, 2026

Masacre of Medellin on stage at a European festival in 2024

Mexican and Latin American Black Metal

Eirik Solvang · Jun 2, 2026

Steeler, the Los Angeles Sunset Strip metal band featuring Ron Keel and Yngwie Malmsteen, in a 1983 promotional portrait

The Sunset Strip Scene

Declan Rourke · Jun 1, 2026

The four members of Lord Vicar posing on stage after their set, the singer in a clerical collar raising his fist, the crowd behind them

How Doom Metal Bands Got Their Names

Ilse Brandt · Jun 1, 2026

Autopsy on stage

The Banned and Censored Death Metal Covers

Rafael Quintero · May 28, 2026

Fans in band T-shirts cheering at the barrier, Bloodstock Open Air, Catton Park, 2026

Heavy Metal Band Shirts

Declan Rourke · May 27, 2026

Power Trip on stage at Rock am Ring in 2019

Power Trip: "Nightmare Logic" and the Last Great Thrash Record

Declan Rourke · May 26, 2026

Norman Skinner of Forbidden on stage at Bloodstock in 2024

"Forbidden Evil" and "Eternal Nightmare": The Second Bay Wave on Record

Declan Rourke · May 24, 2026

Punks and metalheads outside a venue at night

Punks vs Metalheads: The War That Crossover Ended

Declan Rourke · May 23, 2026