Alice Cooper
Released: July 4, 2005 (Internationally) Alice Cooper did not need to sound expensive on Dirty Diamonds. That would have missed the fun. By 2005, Alice had already done the big horror-metal thing again. Brutal Planet and Dragontown were darker, heavier, and more industrial. They had weight. They had a
Volbeat
Released: June 6, 2025 Author’s Note: This piece has been revisited and revised from its original version, with a stronger focus on the album’s meaning, impact, and staying power. Volbeat have always been a weird band hiding inside a big band. That is easy to forget because they
Helix
The latest record from Helix, Scrap Metal, released on January 23, 2026, doesn’t just lean into legacy—it weaponizes it. Billed as the band's final studio album, it serves as a high-octane farewell that captures the energy of a band playing like every take matters. Produced
venom
Talking about Venom in 2026 still means carrying the weight of everything attached to the name. The early records remain foundational in ways that are difficult to separate from extreme metal itself—Welcome to Hell and Black Metal continue to cast a long shadow over entire branches of the genre.
Album Reviews
If you know the history of Corrosion of Conformity, you know that the band’s members aren’t exactly strangers to adversity. Over the last 44 years since forming in Raleigh, North Carolina, there have been numerous events and situations that have tested the mettle of these legends, and time
Album Reviews
2025...what a great year this was for metal! With so many amazing releases this year, I had a list of at least thirty new records from this past year and had to cut it down to my top ten. 10. Whitechapel with their ninth studio Album Hymns in Dissonance
Dark Tranquillity
The Gallery stands as one of melodic death metal’s most important albums — a towering achievement in atmosphere, emotion, and intricate songwriting.
Hypocrisy
Worship isn’t Hypocrisy reinventing the wheel. It’s Hypocrisy perfecting their craft — focusing their voice into a cold, powerful, atmospheric statement.
Metallica
Garage Inc. isn’t Metallica reinventing themselves — it’s Metallica remembering who they are. Loud, grateful, energetic, emotional, and unafraid to get messy.
Metallica
S&M isn’t the album that built Metallica’s legacy — it’s the album that revealed how much farther that legacy could reach.
Metallica
Reload isn’t the album that made Metallica legends — it’s the album that showed they weren’t afraid to evolve, even when evolution meant backlash.
Death
Leprosy stands as one of death metal’s essential pillars: grim, heavy, atmospheric, and smarter than its crusty exterior lets on.