Genre Histories

Wolves in the Throne Room performing live in Glasgow Chapter 6

America: USBM, Cascadia and a Long Argument About Authenticity

Eirik Solvang · Jan 25, 2026

Dismember in front of a church under a storm sky

Death Metal in the 1990s

Rafael Quintero · Jan 24, 2026

Burzum's Det som engang var beside Mayhem's De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas

The Feud That Ended in Oslo

Eirik Solvang · Jan 24, 2026

Mötley Crüe on the set of the "Looks That Kill" video, Los Angeles, 1984: Vince Neil, Mick Mars, Tommy Lee and Nikki Sixx, photographed by Barry Levine Chapter 3

The Eighties: Sunset Strip, Hairspray and the Glam Metal Explosion

Declan Rourke with Saint Sylveszter · Jan 22, 2026

Metallica performing live in 1984

Ruthie's Inn: The Berkeley Club Where Thrash Learned to Mosh

Declan Rourke · Jan 20, 2026

The four members of Skepticism in long dark coats standing on railway tracks among bare trees, one holding white flowers Chapter 6

Funeral Doom: Thergothon, Skepticism and Music at Walking Pace

Ilse Brandt · Jan 18, 2026

Deicide performing live on stage Chapter 6

The Nineties: The Peak, the Slump and What Survived

Rafael Quintero · Jan 17, 2026

Saxon posing as a five-piece in 2026: Biff Byford, Nigel Glockler, Doug Scarratt, Nibbs Carter and Brian Tatler Chapter 2

The New Wave of British Heavy Metal, and the Second Wind It Gave the Genre

Declan Rourke · Jan 15, 2026

Behemoth on stage in Japan

Polish Black Metal

Andrzej Sawicki · Jan 10, 2026

The members of Possessed

How Death Metal Emerged From Thrash

Rafael Quintero · Jan 9, 2026

Deep Purple posed with their guitars and bass in a London recording studio in 1970: Ritchie Blackmore, Roger Glover, Ian Gillan, Jon Lord and Ian Paice Chapter 1

What Heavy Metal Actually Is, and Where It Began

Declan Rourke · Jan 8, 2026

Iron Maiden backstage in 1985, sweaty after a show, with one member holding a draped Union Jack flag Overview

Before It Had Fifty Names: The Story of Heavy Metal, from Birmingham to Everywhere

Declan Rourke · Jan 5, 2026

Extreme Noise Terror performing live on stage

The UK Death Metal Scene: Bolt Thrower, Benediction and Earache

Andrzej Sawicki · Jan 3, 2026

Infernal War in a black and white band portrait Chapter 5

France, Poland, Greece, Iceland and the Scenes That Followed

Eirik Solvang with Andrzej Sawicki · Jan 3, 2026

My Dying Bride performing in purple light in front of their backdrop, two guitarists at the front of the stage Chapter 5

Death Doom: Peaceville, Winter and the Slowest Extremity

Ilse Brandt · Dec 28, 2025

Emperor performing live on stage

Fantoft and the Photograph That Followed It

Eirik Solvang · Dec 27, 2025

Cannibal Corpse performing live on stage

Tampa: The City That Recorded a Genre

Rafael Quintero · Dec 27, 2025

Vader on stage on the tour that marked the band's fortieth year Chapter 5

Britain, the Netherlands, Poland and the Rest of the World

Rafael Quintero with Andrzej Sawicki · Dec 27, 2025