Genre Histories

Gary Holt of Exodus playing guitar on stage

The Rivalries That Drove Thrash Metal

Declan Rourke · Nov 11, 2026

Avantasia at RockFels Festival, Loreley: the whole touring cast of singers and musicians standing in a line on stage with arms raised, taking a bow in front of a stone-wall set and a giant robed figure on the backdrop, crowd hands in the foreground.

The Metal Opera: Avantasia and the All-Star Concept

Julien Vasseur · Nov 10, 2026

Alestorm performing on the main stage at Hellfest 2022, with their inflatable duck and a pirate-ship backdrop

Pirate Metal: From Under Jolly Roger to the Tavern Singalong

Julien Vasseur · Oct 16, 2026

Here Comes the Kraken's four members kneeling on the stage floor in front of a crowd with arms and horn signs raised, at the C3 Stage in Guadalajara, Mexico

Deathcore in Latin America

Jonah Pike · Oct 10, 2026

Michael Kiske singing centre stage with Helloween live, backed by a castle-themed video screen

Keeper of the Seven Keys and the Birth of a Genre

Julien Vasseur · Oct 10, 2026

A Chelsea Grin guitarist at centre stage under fans of green and red beam lights and vertical LED bars at The Palladium, Worcester, April 2025.

Deathcore Music Videos: From the Warehouse to the Film Set

Jonah Pike · Oct 7, 2026

Queensryche performing live at Theaterfabrik in Munich, 25 October 2013, the singer bent forward mid-throw with the band's skull backdrop lit up behind him

How Heavy Metal Bands Got Their Names

Declan Rourke · Oct 5, 2026

Herman Li and Sam Totman of DragonForce playing guitars live at the Forum, London, November 2019

Guitar Hero and Power Metal: The Song That Crossed the Atlantic

Julien Vasseur · Sep 28, 2026

Necrotted's vocalist in a black cap, arm raised and microphone to his mouth, leaning over the crowd at Impericon Festival in red light, with the bassist and drum kit behind him and fans' arms in the foreground

Deathcore Festivals and the Package Tours

Jonah Pike with Saint Sylveszter · Sep 24, 2026

Two Fit for an Autopsy guitarists playing side by side on stage at the WAMU Theater in Seattle, one in a cap and one with long hair thrown forward, under green light

How Deathcore Is Produced: The Grid, the Samples and the Studio

Jonah Pike with Curtis Vance · Sep 21, 2026

An Om musician seen from the side of an outdoor festival stage in blue light, facing a packed crowd under lit trees

The Doom Metal Festivals

Ilse Brandt · Sep 8, 2026

The four members of Coffins in band shirts, arms crossed, in a black and white portrait

Doom Metal in Japan

Ilse Brandt · Sep 8, 2026

Possessed early band portrait

A Death Metal Timeline: Every Year That Mattered

Rafael Quintero · Sep 8, 2026

Sadus on stage

California Death Metal

Rafael Quintero · Sep 7, 2026

Loits on stage, the singer reaching for the lights

Danish and Baltic Black Metal

Andrzej Sawicki · Sep 7, 2026

Arcturus on stage in blue light

Black Metal Bands That Changed Genre

Eirik Solvang · Sep 7, 2026

Till Lindemann of Rammstein on stage in Frankfurt in July 2024, jets of flame spreading from his back like wings

The Heavy Metal Stage Show

Declan Rourke with Julien Vasseur · Sep 7, 2026

A festival campsite at dusk

Thrash Metal in the 1980s, Year by Year

Declan Rourke · Sep 6, 2026