Explainers

Ratt's singer backstage in a studded leather vest and leather pants with the rest of the band, big teased hair and sunglasses

Heavy Metal Against Everything It Gets Confused With

Declan Rourke · Feb 26, 2026

Warren DeMartini of Ratt playing his Flying V guitar live at Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, Connecticut, during the Invasion Celebration reunion show, 5 April 2025

What Is Hair Metal?

Declan Rourke with Saint Sylveszter · Feb 25, 2026

Skinless on stage

What Is Slam Death Metal?

Rafael Quintero · Feb 24, 2026

Wolves in the Throne Room on stage at With Full Force in 2018

Cascadian Black Metal

Eirik Solvang · Feb 24, 2026

Anathema performing on a wide concert stage, the singer at the centre microphone and guitarists either side, green laser beams behind them

Gothic Doom Metal

Ilse Brandt · Feb 22, 2026

Venom band portrait in black and white, three members in black band t-shirts and leather making devil-horn and fist gestures

The Culture: Album Covers, Fashion and the Heavy Metal Look

Declan Rourke · Feb 19, 2026

Dark Tranquillity in a band portrait

Melodic Death Metal and the Gothenburg Sound

Rafael Quintero · Feb 17, 2026

Accept in a band portrait

When Did Thrash Metal Start?

Declan Rourke · Feb 16, 2026

Dark Funeral on stage in Beijing

Swedish vs Norwegian Black Metal

Eirik Solvang · Feb 16, 2026

The four members of Bethlehem in black leather standing on a green steel footbridge over a canal

Black Doom Metal

Ilse Brandt · Feb 15, 2026

Metallica at Carlini Station, Antarctica, 2013. Photo: Ross Halfin

Heavy Metal Trivia

Declan Rourke · Feb 15, 2026

Meshuggah performing at Bloodstock Festival, August 2023

The Heavy Metal Genre Chart, Mapped

Declan Rourke · Feb 14, 2026

Hellhammer's Apocalyptic Raids beside Sarcofago's I.N.R.I.

Who Invented Black Metal?

Eirik Solvang · Feb 13, 2026

Pantera posing together

Groove Metal: Pantera and the Thrash That Slowed Down

Declan Rourke · Feb 13, 2026

Alice Cooper raising a white top hat on a stage extension surrounded by the crowd, Ol' Black Eyes Is Back tour, November 2019

The Heavy Metal Subgenres, and Where Each One Splits Off

Declan Rourke · Feb 12, 2026

Sweet performing on Top of the Pops, London, 1975, in full glam rock regalia

Glam Metal vs Hair Metal: Same Thing?

Declan Rourke with Saint Sylveszter · Feb 10, 2026

The sleeve of Bergtatt, Ulver, 1995

Why Did Black Metal Start in Norway?

Eirik Solvang · Feb 9, 2026

Napalm Death performing live on stage

How Death Metal Got Its Name

Rafael Quintero · Feb 8, 2026