Explainers

Autopsy performing live on stage

The Culture: Tapes, Zines, Artwork and the Line You Could Not Cross

Rafael Quintero · May 2, 2026

Venom around a table in their early years

Is Venom Thrash Metal, Black Metal or Neither?

Declan Rourke · May 2, 2026

Akercocke in a band portrait in a brick tunnel

Blackened Death Metal Explained

Andrzej Sawicki · Apr 30, 2026

Enforcer at KK's Steel Mill, 2023. Photo: Paul Hutchings

How Many Metal Subgenres Are There?

Declan Rourke · Apr 30, 2026

The five members of Angra standing together in leather jackets for a studio group portrait, the singer crouched at the front with one hand held out

How Power Metal Is Built: Harmony, Speed, Instruments and the Voice

Julien Vasseur · Apr 30, 2026

The six members of Saturnus standing in a dark green forest

Melodic Doom Metal

Ilse Brandt · Apr 30, 2026

Fans in denim on the Sunset Strip at night

Why the Bay Area and Not Los Angeles

Declan Rourke · Apr 27, 2026

Venom band portrait, three members in black making devil-horn and fist gestures at the camera

Backmasking

Declan Rourke · Apr 24, 2026

Impetuous Ritual performing live on stage

Cavernous Death Metal

Rafael Quintero · Apr 23, 2026

The five members of Symphony X standing shoulder to shoulder in a black and white studio portrait, all in dark clothing

The Power Metal Subgenres and Its Family Tree

Julien Vasseur · Apr 23, 2026

The sleeve of Obsessed by Cruelty, Sodom, 1986

Why Was German Thrash More Extreme Than American Thrash?

Declan Rourke · Apr 20, 2026

Varathron on stage

Second Wave Black Metal Explained

Eirik Solvang · Apr 20, 2026

James Hetfield, Kirk Hammett, Lars Ulrich and Jason Newsted of Metallica backstage at a US stadium during the Monsters of Rock tour, 24 July 1988.

The Heavy Metal Guitar Tone

Declan Rourke with Curtis Vance · Apr 20, 2026

Winter, the New York death-doom trio, in a 1990 portrait

What Is Death Doom?

Rafael Quintero · Apr 19, 2026

Helloween performing live at the Eventim Apollo in London, 20 October 2025, with the band on stage in front of their pumpkin-mascot video backdrop.

Heavy Metal vs Power Metal

Declan Rourke · Apr 19, 2026

Three members of Vicious Rumors playing on an open air stage, the band lettering on the backdrop behind them

Why America Turned Its Back on Power Metal

Julien Vasseur with Declan Rourke · Apr 19, 2026

Two guitarists of In Flames playing a line together on stage in London in October 2024

Melodic Heavy Metal

Declan Rourke · Apr 17, 2026

The members of Internal Bleeding

Brutal Slam: Where the Two Words Stopped Meaning the Same Thing

Rafael Quintero · Apr 14, 2026