Explainers

The members of Internal Bleeding

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

Rafael Quintero · Apr 14, 2026

Ved Buens Ende on stage at Steelfest in 2024

Post Black Metal

Eirik Solvang · Apr 14, 2026

Sabaton on the stage of Tauron Arena in Kraków in 2025, the band small in front of a castle set under rigs of lights, the crowd's heads and raised phones filling the foreground

The Arena Sound: Shorter Songs and Bigger Hooks

Julien Vasseur · Apr 14, 2026

Scorpions performing on stage in front of a packed arena crowd, Seattle, 2017

The Voice and the Ritual: Heavy Metal Singing and the Live Show

Declan Rourke with Julien Vasseur · Apr 9, 2026

Archspire on stage

Technical vs Progressive Death Metal

Rafael Quintero · Apr 8, 2026

The sleeve of Pulver, Lifelover, 2006

What Is DSBM?

Eirik Solvang · Apr 8, 2026

The singer of Queensryche in sunglasses at the microphone and a guitarist beside him on a festival main stage in daylight

Is Queensrÿche Power Metal?

Julien Vasseur with Declan Rourke · Apr 8, 2026

Kerry King of Slayer playing guitar live at Blackweir Fields, Cardiff, Wales, July 2025, fretting hand gripping the neck

The Tritone, the Devil's Interval

Declan Rourke with Julien Vasseur · Apr 7, 2026

Andy Sneap standing at the mixing console in the control room of his Backstage Studios

Modern Metal Production

Declan Rourke with Curtis Vance · Apr 6, 2026

Cirith Ungol playing a concert stage under blue light with the band name on the backdrop and raised hands in the crowd

Traditional Doom Metal, and What Makes It Traditional

Ilse Brandt · Apr 6, 2026

Mercyful Fate posing together in a backstage corridor, King Diamond in his spiked crown and painted face

Heavy Metal vs Black Metal

Declan Rourke · Apr 5, 2026

Acid Bath playing under blue stage light, the singer at the front and a guitarist with a flying V, a crowd filling the floor

Is Acid Bath Sludge Metal?

Ilse Brandt · Apr 5, 2026

Night Demon performing live on the full stage at the Marble Factory, Bristol, 14 February 2025

Traditional Heavy Metal

Declan Rourke · Apr 3, 2026

The six members of Oceans of Slumber on a dark bare stage, singer Cammie Beverly standing at the front

Progressive Doom Metal

Ilse Brandt · Apr 3, 2026

Rata Blanca's singer and guitarist playing at the front of the stage under red and white lights, a wall of amplifiers behind them

Power Metal Around the World: The Regional Scenes

Julien Vasseur · Apr 2, 2026

Dee Snider of Twisted Sister performing live, screaming into the microphone in a black leather jacket

Heavy Metal on Trial: Censors, Courts and the Moral Panic

Declan Rourke · Apr 2, 2026

Rivers of Nihil on stage

Progressive Death Metal

Rafael Quintero · Mar 29, 2026

The sleeve of Deathcrush, Mayhem, 1987

What Was the Inner Circle?

Eirik Solvang · Mar 28, 2026