That's Not Metal

Both Metallica's No Repeats weekend and My Chemical Romance's 20th anniversary Black Parade musical theatre reimagining hit UK stadiums, plus Damon Albarn beefs with an unlikely underground metal target. Releases: Bring Me the Horizon - Count Your Blessings | Repented The Plot In You - The Plot In You The Xcerts - i think i want to go home now Show Me the Body - Alone Together DevilDriver - Strike...

Two hard and heavy events hit the UK heat this week, as Outbreak Festival brings Hatebreed, Converge, Alexisonfire, Basement, & loads more, and Acid Bath's mad reunion brings the swamp to town their first ever UK appearance. Releases: Muse - The WOW! Signal The Pretty Reckless - Dear God Butthole Surfers - After the Astronaut The Dead Pioneers - Wagon Burner Truck Violence - The Weathervane is...

From twenty year waits to four month breaks, we mop up some of the biggest heavy records of the last few weeks reviewing Converge's second album of 2026, Marmozets, Static Dress, Turnover, Guilt Trip, Warning, Stormkeep, & Funebrarum. Converge 26:04 Marmozets 48:34 Static Dress 1:15:35 Turnover 1:30:00 Guilt Trip 1:41:39 Warning 1:53:38 Stormkeep 2:20:01 Funebrarum 2:38:26

Sam returns from Asia (and through a robo-mic, sorry about that) to talk about Japanese hardcore hijinks at Bloodaxe Festival, Voivod and Midnight speed through the UK together, and we unpack the news no one saw coming that Faith No More are returning in 2027. Releases: Warning - Rituals of Shame There Were Wires - Vessel Chainlacing - Messuage Iron Kobra - Eternal Dagger Saidan - Fangdriller: Sca...

On top of a stream of new music from across the heavy spectrum, we weigh in on the debate following End It's targeting of the man in a banana costume at their show, why the frustration and resentment towards meme behaviour and influencer culture exists at subcultural events, and whether this particular incident went too far. Releases: Sublime - Until the Sun Explodes Sleeping With Sirens - An Endi...

Fortress Festival returns bringing worldwide black metal exclusives to the British seaside, with Gallowbraid, Old Man's Child, Dødheimsgard, Misþyrming, A Forest of Stars & more darkening the skies over the 2026 bill. Releases: Devin Townsend - The Moth Turnover - Down on Earth Static Dress - Injury Episode Sparta - Cut a Silhouette ‘68 - They Are Survived Healing Wound - Bodies of Heavenly Vi...

It's all about vaporwave prog, French oi, and choo choo train black metal as a whip round the underground picks up Basement, Frozen Soul, Haggard Cat, Fire-Toolz, Prisonnier du temps, A Forest of Stars, Panopticon, and Scimitar for the month's most blistering records. Basement 15:40 Frozen Soul 33:44 Haggard Cat 51:10 Fire-Toolz 1:05:09 Prisonnier du temps 1:15:41 A Forest of Stars 1:25:27 Panopti...

Anthrax's first single in ten years leads us to consider the thrash legends' creative relevancy in 2026, and Avenged Sevenfold going fully indepedent by buying back their rights brings reminiscing on ten years of their album The Stage. Releases: Marmozets - CO.WAR.DICE. A - Prong Dimmu Borgir - Grand Serpent Rising XCOMM - Time to Burn Armored Saint - Emotion Factory Reset David Eugene Edwards - M...

Iron Maiden's brand new documentary Burning Ambition hits cinema screens, and there's new singles from Green Lung announcing their new album Necropolitan and from brat superstar Charli XCX making ro-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ck music. Releases: Periphery - A Pale White Dot The All-American Rejects - Sandbox Super Sometimes - Show the World What’s Underneath Held. - Grey Von Groove - Born to Rock Pro-Pain - St...

This week we make our way back to Incineration to once again kick off the festival season with a scorching of black and death metal as the likes of Dragged Into Sunlight, Of Feather and Bone, Tomb Mold and Scimitar rip it up across London stages. Releases: Black Veil Brides - Vindicate Basement - WIRED Koyo - Barely Here Social Distortion - Born to Kill The Flatliners - Cold World Haggard Cat - Th...

Creeper's vampire extravaganza Sangui-Tour hits small venues in the UK for a full celebration of blooddrinking and leather. Releases: Foo Fighters - Your Favorite Toy The Amity Affliction - House of Cards Atreyu - The End is Not the End Failure - Location Lost Terror - Still Suffer Roman Candle - Unadulterated Armed for Apocalypse - The Earth is Breathing Beneath Me Plini - An Unnameable Desire Ei...

Viral microtonal aliens, surprise drops, and defiant, powerful final bows rule the month with At the Gates, Enter Shikari, Corrosion of Conformity, Spirit Adrift, Angine de Poitrine, Portrayal of Guilt, Poison Ruïn, and Immolation. One last time: Go! At the Gates 18:20 Enter Shikari 49:18 Corrosion of Conformity 1:18:23 Spirit Adrift 1:33:43 Angine de Poitrine 1:49:00 Portrayal of Guilt 2:14:02 Po...

We launch the polaris and get into one of our giddiest ever album clubs on Megadeth's delirious Rust In Peace, the suffocating global anger of Killing Joke 2003, the launchpad for second wave emo in Sunny Day Real Estate's Diary, and Gorguts returning to once again up the game for avant-garde death metal with Colored Sands. This episode was originally published April 2025 on patreon.com/thatsnotme...

Bring Me the Horizon make the genuinely absurd announcement of Count Your Blessings 20th anniversary celebrations, Nine Inch Noize owns Coachella, and Evanescence lead the singles in their team-up with the Fish. Releases: Nine Inch Noize - Nine Inch Noize Skindred - You Got This .gif from god - Dissimulation The Last Ten Seconds of Life - The Dead Ones Prince Daddy & the Hyena - Hotwire Trip S...

Tracks from Warning, Holding Absence, Health and more head up the week's music, and we announce our first massive band special for 2026. Releases: Bilmuri - Kinda Hard Lord of the Lost - Opvs Noir Vol. 3 Truckfighters - Masterflow As Everything Unfolds - DID YOU ASK TO BE SET FREE? Tigercub - Nets to Catch the Wave Love Rarely - Pain Travels Bodysnatcher - Hell is Here, Hell is Home Metal Church -...

A lot of heavy feelings this week sadly, with the losses of Bo Lueders, James Lollar of Gost, and Ross the Boss. Elsewhere the Kreator/Carcass/Exodus/Nails package lights up the UK, Damnation 2026 unveil all their headliners, Converge unveil a second album, and another messed up story comes out of the world of hardcore so... yeah, one of those weeks. Releases: Don Broco - Nightmare Tripping Black...

TNM March reviews bag just catches the most brain-breaking, beautiful return as Neurosis emerge with a whole new album, alongside another return from Poison the Well, Lamb of God, Gaerea, Hellripper, Aggressive Perfector, Mallavora, & Sweet Pill. Neurosis 11:30 Poison the Well 56:10 Lamb of God 1:17:13 Gaerea 1:39:08 Hellripper 1:59:30 Aggressive Perfector 2:15:00 Mallavora 2:25:00 Sweet Pill...

Muse beam back down to us with their new album announcement, along with music from Black Veil Brides, Stormkeep, and Dropkick Murphys/Haywire, there's a live report from deathcore central with Bodysnatcher, Ingested, Psycho-Frame and Big Ass Truck, and we pay tribute to Motörhead's second-longest serving member Phil Campbell. Releases: Poison the Well - Peace In Place Exodus - Goliath Gaerea - Los...

A curtain of biblical darkness falls upon Album Club in the unofficial Sabbath album The Devil You Know by Heaven & Hell, 16 Horsepower's dark country classic Sackcloth 'n' Ashes, Cave In's space rock leap Jupiter, and metalcore pioneers Integrity making their most no fucks given record Howling, for the Nightmare Shall Consume. This episode was originally published March 2025 on patreon.com/th...

New singles from the likes of Gouge Away, Drug Church, and Devin Townsend hit our ears, epic metal heroes Eternal Champion surprise drop a bold and ambitious new EP, and there's hardcore drama cause when is there not? Releases: Lamb of God - Into Oblivion Angus McSix - Angus McSix and the All-Seeing Astral Eye Sweet Pill - Still There’s a Glow Shoreline - Is This the Low Point or the Moment After?...

Basement, Blackbraid, and Portrayal of Guilt give us a diverse pack of new songs to chew in, questions on what is the greatest musical city and generationally phased out songs, and we respond to the news that industrial giants Godflesh are hanging up their live instruments for good. Releases: Rob Zombie - The Great Satan Carpenter Brut - Leather Temple The Gloom in the Corner - Royal Discordance N...

This month brings us one of the most daunting, monolithic, and outlandish reviews bags we've ever had, as we tackle Converge, Sylosis, Mayhem, Worm, Pony, Cryptic Shift, Hällas, and Killing Pace. Slap on your spacesuit, we're adventure rocking. Converge 27:36 Sylosis 56:02 Mayhem 1:12:56 Worm 1:30:33 Pony 1:43:00 Cryptic Shift 1:52:40 Hällas 2:12:10 Killing Pace 2:30:20

Party time at TNM: the mythical drought comes to an end, alongside new tracks from the Foo Fighters and Don Broco/Nickelback and grand line-up unveilings from Arch Enemy and Nevermore. Releases: Sylosis - The New Flesh New Found Glory - Listen Up! Killing Pace - HCPM Exhumed - Red Asphalt Coscradh - Carving the Causeway to the Otherworld The Magus - Daemonosophia Lead Injector - Witching Attack

Hyperblasts is back to cover what we missed from the Grammys, UK live shows from Home Front to Korpiklaani, Knocked Loose and Denzel Curry's collab single, and the discussion around While She Sleeps' video announcement for their stepping back from touring. Releases: Hällas - Panorama Softcult - When a Flower Doesn’t Grow Karnivool - In Veses Puscifer - Normal Isn’t Tailgunner - Midnight Blitz Tumo...

Looking back at the records January gave us we give an honest assessment of the final album from Megadeth, alongside Kreator, Urne, Møl, Joyce Manor, The Ruins of Beverast, and Backengrillen. Thanks for all the riffs, MegaDave. Megadeth 20:11 Kreator 1:06:31 Urne 1:22:47 Møl 1:38:35 Joyce Manor 1:49:44 The Ruins of Beverast 2:02:15 Backengrillen 2:14:11