Explainers

Extreme Noise Terror performing live on stage

Grindcore vs Death Metal

Gareth Llewellyn · Jul 15, 2026

Queen live, 1977. Photo: QueenConcerts.com

Is Queen Heavy Metal?

Declan Rourke · Jul 15, 2026

Austin Lunn of Panopticon performing live

RABM: Red and Anarchist Black Metal

Andrzej Sawicki · Jul 14, 2026

Abbath of Immortal in corpse paint

Black Metal Fashion: Spikes, Leather and Bullet Belts

Eirik Solvang · Jul 12, 2026

Alissa White-Gluz of Arch Enemy singing into the microphone at the Eventim Apollo in London in October 2024

The Types of Metal Vocals

Declan Rourke with Julien Vasseur · Jul 9, 2026

Enslaved at the foot of an overgrown stone stairway

Pagan and Viking Black Metal

Eirik Solvang · Jul 6, 2026

Gojira on stage in stage lighting, the four-piece line-up mid-song.

Is Gojira Death Metal?

Rafael Quintero · Jul 6, 2026

A Bring Me the Horizon guitarist on stage in 2007, a long black swoop fringe over his face, full tattoo sleeves and a white graphic tee, mid-strum on a black guitar

Swoops, Snakebites and Black Skinny Jeans: Deathcore and Scene Fashion

Jonah Pike · Jul 5, 2026

Aborted performing live on stage

Goregrind and Pornogrind: The Edges of the Genre

Gareth Llewellyn · Jul 4, 2026

The sleeve of Battles in the North, Immortal, 1995

Why Black Metal Bands Pose in Forests

Eirik Solvang · Jul 4, 2026

Fans packed against the front barrier at a Thy Art Is Murder show at the Academy in Manchester, one man shouting with a raised fist in the stage lights, 2023

Is Deathcore Dead? Every Time It Was Declared Over

Jonah Pike · Jul 4, 2026

Def Leppard at Wembley Stadium, 2023. Photo: Robert Sutton

Recording Heavy Metal Vocals

Declan Rourke with Curtis Vance · Jul 4, 2026

AC/DC at Hockenheim, 2015. Photo: acdc.com

Is AC/DC Heavy Metal?

Declan Rourke · Jul 3, 2026

The Gluey Porch Treatments album sleeve by the Melvins

Who Invented Sludge Metal?

Gareth Llewellyn · Jul 3, 2026

Testament posing together in the late 1980s

What Is the Bay Area Thrash Sound?

Declan Rourke · Jul 1, 2026

Bring Me the Horizon on a dark, smoke-filled stage in red light, the vocalist on a riser with an arm raised toward a crowd of raised hands, the bassist beside him and the drummer behind

Was Bring Me the Horizon Ever Deathcore?

Jonah Pike · Jun 28, 2026

Alice in Chains at Wembley Arena, London, 2019. Photo: Scott Dachroeden

Was Alice in Chains Ever Hair Metal?

Declan Rourke with Saint Sylveszter · Jun 28, 2026

Clutch playing a large club stage under yellow beams in front of the band name, the crowd in the foreground

Stoner Rock or Stoner Metal?

Ilse Brandt · Jun 28, 2026