MetalMatters: The Best Metal Albums of April 2024
In April’s best metal, Locrian fully establish their return, Benighted adorn their anguish in their darkened past, and Inter Arma lead in extreme metal.
heavy metal
Avant-Metal’s Lords of Terror: Fantômas’ Eponymous Debut at 25
Fantômas stand as one of the most audacious music projects of the 1990s. You almost wonder if the quasi-mainstreamish Faith No More held Mike Patton back.
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MetalMatters: The Best Metal Albums of March 2024
In March’s best metal, Coffins and Slimelord define death/doom glory, Misotheist find beauty in raw black metal ugliness, and Prisoner attack the senses.
‘This Is Spinal Tap’ Turns the Volume All the Way Up to 40
The 1984 rockumentary, or mockumentary, This Is Spinal Tap is a prophetic parody where one can laugh about, laugh at, and be laughed at all at the same time.
Judas Priest Are Almost Invincible with This Shield
Judas Priest are synonymous with classic metal, even if recent releases are less memorable, their music still pulverizes most of the competition.
A Kind of Beauty: An Interview With Ben Frost
Ben Frost, Australia’s premiere avant-garde composer, unleashes his first solo album in seven years by returning to the pitch-black metal he loves so dearly.
Metal’s Bruce Dickinson Remains Vital on ‘The Mandrake Project’
Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson overcomes creative and personal struggles on his first solo album in 19 years, The Mandrake Project.
MetalMatters: The Best Metal Albums of February 2024
In best metal albums, Spectral Voice craft soul-wrenching death/doom, Borknagar’s unique blend remains relevant, and Darkspace dare us to stare into the abyss.
Eye Flys Highlight Their Melvins’ Influences on New LP
Sludge metal band Eye Flys take the low-down ‘n’ dirty, down-tuned sludge of the Melvins and heat weld it to massive, 21st-century post-hardcore riffs.
MetalMatters: The Best Metal Albums of January 2024
In best metal albums, Vemod elevate black metal to atmospheric heights, Beryllium innovate, and Dissimulator tap into a Voivod-ian vein with their death/thrash.
Van Halen’s ‘1984’ Represents the Past, Present, and Future
The era of hard rock and metal Van Halen ushered peaked and fell when the 1980s ended, but comes back again as classic rock for today’s 13-year-olds.
MetalMatters: The Best Metal Albums of December 2023
In best metal albums, Nothing and Full of Hell complete their unio oppositorum, Panopticon drive Appalachian folk through black metal and Bull of Apis Bull of Bronze decimate all.