Explainers

Celtic Frost posing together in 1987

Thrash Metal vs Black Metal

Declan Rourke · Oct 4, 2026

Alpha Wolf vocalist leaning out from the stage and pointing at the crowd, microphone in hand, in deep blue stage haze, Brisbane 2024

The Shirt Is the Flyer: Merch as Deathcore Culture

Jonah Pike · Oct 3, 2026

Kiss performing live in full makeup at Bingley Hall, Stafford, UK, 1980: Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley and Paul Stanley on guitars and bass

The Heavy Metal Band Logo

Declan Rourke · Oct 2, 2026

Possessed posing together in 1985

Thrash Metal vs Death Metal

Declan Rourke · Oct 2, 2026

Periphery guitarist playing a seven-string Jackson on stage in a dark hall, fretting hand on the neck, black and white, Nashville, 2024

Deathcore vs Djent: A Genre and a Guitar Technique

Jonah Pike with Julien Vasseur · Oct 1, 2026

HammerFall singer Joacim Cans performing live in front of the band's shield emblem backdrop

The Power Metal Band Logos, from Gothic Script to Chrome

Julien Vasseur · Oct 1, 2026

Fit for a King vocalist Ryan Kirby kneeling on a stage monitor and singing into the microphone under blue and teal beams at The Pageant, St. Louis, 2025.

Depression, Addiction and Grief: The Confessional Turn

Jonah Pike · Sep 30, 2026

Bodysnatcher on stage at Red Flag in St. Louis in November 2023, vocalist and guitarists at the left while security staff in teal shirts pull crowd surfers over the barrier from a packed, green-lit pit.

Deathcore Memes: 5XL, Blegh and the Jokes the Scene Tells About Itself

Jonah Pike with Gareth Llewellyn · Sep 29, 2026

Tallah's vocalist in a hood and a blue flannel shirt screaming into the microphone, leaning forward on a club stage with the bassist behind him

Deathcore vs Nu Metal: The Bounce, the Rap and the Overlap

Jonah Pike · Sep 26, 2026

Black Sabbath outdoors in 1970, Bill Ward, Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne and Geezer Butler sitting together for a color group portrait

Who Invented Heavy Metal?

Declan Rourke · Sep 26, 2026

Sabaton, the five members standing in a city alley, 2025

What Genre Is Sabaton?

Julien Vasseur · Sep 25, 2026

Kublai Khan TX vocalist on stage with one arm raised, facing a crowd pressed against the barricade with hands and fingers pointing back at him, a balcony full of fans above.

Deathcore vs Hardcore, and Where Beatdown Sits

Jonah Pike with Gareth Llewellyn · Sep 20, 2026

Slayer backstage together in 1985

What Thrash Metal Actually Is: Sound, Speed and Style

Declan Rourke · Sep 20, 2026

Emmure on stage at With Full Force 2014: the vocalist singing at the left, guitarist and bassist beside him and the drummer behind, in front of the band's logo backdrop under purple lights

The Lyrics Deathcore Grew Out Of: Misogyny, Shock and the 2000s

Jonah Pike · Sep 19, 2026

Fans moving through an open pit on the floor of a Dallas venue while Slaughter to Prevail play under their lit logo at the far end of the room, July 2025.

The Deathcore Pit: Crowd Killing, the Wall of Death and the Breakdown

Jonah Pike with Gareth Llewellyn · Sep 18, 2026

Vincent Bennett of The Acacia Strain leaning off the front of the stage, microphone held out toward a crowd of raised hands, black and white, Roseland Theater, Portland, 2025

Is It Deathcore? The Bands on the Border

Jonah Pike · Sep 14, 2026

Cannibal Corpse on a red-lit stage, the bassist bent over a five-string bass in front while the vocalist headbangs bent double at right, the band's logo on the kick drum behind.

Gore, Horror and Misanthropy: The Old Deathcore Lyric

Jonah Pike with Rafael Quintero · Sep 13, 2026

Anthrax fans at the barrier, Enmore Theatre, Sydney, 2026. Photo: Rob Mezzatesta

Heavy Metal Concert Etiquette

Declan Rourke with Julien Vasseur · Sep 13, 2026