That's Not Metal

In May Album Clubs, we take the opportune time to fairly assess My Chemical Romance's as yet final album Danger Days. From there we dive into a world of weirdness with Swans' White Light from the Mouth of Infinity, Big Black's affront to tastefulness Songs About Fucking, and Sigh's ode to madness In Somniphobia. This episode was originally published May 2022 on patreon.com/thatsnotmetal.

In a week with Turnstile up for multiple Grammys, we head into our last reviews bag of 2022 with albums from Nickelback, Skin Failure, Devin Townsend, SpiritWorld, High Command, Turnover, Dream Unending, & Spider God. Nickelback 37:57 Skin Failure 1:00:09 Devin Townsend 1:14:47 SpiritWorld 1:30:27 High Command 1:41:29 Turnover 1:51:46 Dream Unending 2:04:44 Spider God 2:18:45

This week we review this year's massive Damnation, seeing exclusive album sets from the likes of Converge and Pig Destroyer as the event steps up to a much larger part of the festival year, and the enormous line-up for 2023's Download is revealed. Releases: Skin Failure - Radillac L.S. Dunes - Past Lives Chelsea Grin - Suffer In Hell He Is Legend - Endless Hallway Xentrix - Seven Words Dream Unend...

Hyperblasts mulls over the news that the Lingua Ignota project is being retired, casts an eye over some potential festival hints, and picks a bunch of the perfect rock mixes. Releases: Devin Townsend - Lightwork Turnover - Myself in the Way Ingested - Ashes Lie Still ChuggaBoom - Death Pledge Dayseeker - Dark Sun Born Without Bones - Dancer Warlung - Vulture’s Paradise InTechnicolour - Midnight He...

In this week's Hyperblasts round up When We Were Young got windy, and as it's Halloween we book a TNM Spooktacular and hypothesise the Universal monster's record collections. Releases: The Otolith - Folium Limina Darkthrone - Astral Fortress Dead Cross - II Polyphia - Remember That You Will Die Show Me the Body - Trouble the Water Implore - The Burden of Existence Fit for a King - The Hell We Crea...

This week's Hyperblasts reviews Architects' star-shooting new album, as well as covering the fiasco around Blink-182 tickets, Botch continuing to definitely not exist, and wondering which band could fight off the most goblins. Releases: Brutus - Unison Life Cabal - Magno Interitus Inclination - Unaltered Perspective Witch Fever - Congregation 84 Tigers - Time in the Lighthouse Orden Ogan - Final D...

In April's Album Clubs, AC/DC re-ascend to the throne with Black Ice, we return to the dawn of NYHC with Agnostic Front's Victim In Pain, celebrate the growing legacy of In Solitude's gothic heavy metal swansong Sister, and Kids In Glass Houses... try? This episode was originally published April 2022 on patreon.com/thatsnotmetal.

The reaction to the Blink-182 return, October's reviews highlight massive drops in the metal calendar from Lamb of God and Lorna Shore, as well as records from Brutus, Counterparts, Press Club, Cloud Rat, and Cabal. Lamb of God 33:53 Lorna Shore 55:42 Brutus 1:16:19 Counterparts 1:28:01 Press Club 1:40:20 Cloud Rat 1:47:25 Cabal 2:00:33

It's an episode of heavy live music logistics, with Depeche Mode, Iron Maiden and While She Sleeps all announcing massive shows, a trip to Behemoth and Arch Enemy's co-headlining European Siege tour, and Rammstein shake up the board with their legal action against resale giant Viagogo. Releases: Acid Witch - Rot Among Us Melvins - Bad Moon Rising Lamb of God - Omens Wednesday 13 - Horrifier Vukovi...

One more massive record this month comes from Slipknot with this week's Hyperblasts holding our review of The End, So Far, the record that sees the band double down on dark experimentation and churning gloom for the discerning maggots. Releases: Gaerea - Mirage KEN Mode - Null Daufødt - Aromaterapi Kid Kapichi - Here’s What You Could Have Won Stratovarius - Survive Venom Inc. - There’s Only Black...

It's the review motherlode from 2022's biggest month, with Parkway Drive, The Callous Daoboys, Megadeth, Behemoth, Clutch, Electric Callboy, Sumerlands, and The Wonder Years albums giving us disagreements, ethical discussions, huge tunes, and "ready spaghetti". Parkway Drive 28:20 The Callous Daoboys 1:04:45 Megadeth 1:25:17 Behemoth 1:49:50 Clutch 2:19:25 Electric Callboy 2:32:11 Sumerlands 2:56:...

For March Album Clubs, time thaws on Judas Priest's poptastic Turbo, doesn't on The Rasmus' school disco goth with Dead Letters, there's Turbonegro's Scandipunk watershed Apocalypse Dudes, and Celtic Frost make metal's most revolutionary ever statement with Into the Pandemonium. This episode was originally published March 2022 on patreon.com/thatsnotmetal.

A bumper live reviews pack checks out Machine Head and Amon Amarth's Vikings & Lionhearts tour, Blood Command, and The Xcerts, as well as a consideration of the reviewer mindset, and The Black Dahlia Murder looking to continue on. Releases: Behemoth - Opvs Contra Natvrum Clutch - Sunrise On Slaughter Beach The Mars Volta - The Mars Volta Sumerlands - Dreamkiller No Devotion - No Oblivion Blaqk Aud...

Sam joined Perran for an impromptu weekend at the first and last UK Deathfest, in a week that also saw the first Taylor Hawkins tribute show, Fat Mike hinting that NOFX will be calling it quits, and Darkthrone continually topping their own album announcements like the kings they are. Releases: Parkway Drive - Darker Still Ozzy Osbourne - Patient Number 9 Stray From the Path - Euthanasia Bloodbath...

This week's Hyperblasts holds the much heralded review of Muse's further dive into lunacy Will of the People. Conversely there is the much more serious and important discussion around the news concerning Neurosis this week. Releases: Megadeth - The Sick, The Dying… and the Dead! Blind Guardian - The God Machine The Callous Daoboys - Celebrity Therapist Miss May I - Curse of Existence 156/Silence -...

Some big summer album reviews with the massive return of Machine Head, The Interrupters, a melodeath barrage with Amon Amarth, The Halo Effect, and Arch Enemy, Sigh, and Thoughtcrimes, as well a new Botch song after 20 years that people were very normal about. Machine Head 26:42 The Interrupters 55:06 Amon Amarth 1:11:23 The Halo Effect 1:31:50 Arch Enemy 1:41:30 Sigh 1:52:41 Thoughtcrimes 2:06:03

Album Club Pack returns for Round 2, landing a hard rocking grunge classic in Soundgarden's Badmotorfinger, The Defiled's independent industrial metalcore debut Grave Times, a 2010s alt rock cornerstone in Basement's Colourmeinkindness, and an extreme metal Valentine's Day special on Bloodbath's Nightmares Made Flesh. This episode was originally published February 2022 on patreon.com/thatsnotmetal...

A lot later than intended due to the small matter of needing a whole new microphone, but finally the That's Not Metal review of Bloodstock Festival 2022 is here! Perran is joined by Elliot Paisley to talk the UK heavy metal event headlined by Behemoth, Mercyful Fate, and Lamb of God.

The first new music from Fugitive featuring members of Power Trip and Creeping Death is here, with Ozzy and Iommi appearing at the Commonwealth games, and trying to reach for what are the worst albums we still secretly love. Releases: Arch Enemy - Deceivers The Halo Effect - Days of the Lost Norma Jean - Deathrattle Sing for Me Hollywood Undead - Hotel Kalifornia Boris - Heavy Rocks Locrian - New...

There's festival news around the world from Music Midtown's gun-caused cancellation to theorising on the identity of Bloodstock's first ever secret band, picking what bands would be on a TNM tour in 2022, and we cast our eyes over the clues that suggest Botch might actually be reuniting after all. If they're not trolling. Releases: The Interrupters - In the Wild Amon Amarth - The Great Heathen Arm...

On the eve of their new album release we're joined by Cammie Gilbert of Oceans of Slumber to talk about Louisiana sludge, classic Seattle, turbulent Americana and Scandinavian folk-pop. Agents of Oblivion - Agents of Oblivion Alice In Chains - Dirt Mark Lanegan - Blues Funeral Soundgarden - Superunknown The Civil Wars - The Civil Wars Eivør - Slør This episode was originally published as early acc...

A heavy rock band are actually up for the Mercury Music Prize for once, we pick the best riffs of 2022 and the best songs to test your headphones with, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers are back at it again. Releases: Ithaca - They Fear Us Dune Rats - Real Rare Whale Stick to Your Guns - Spectre Bastions - Majestic Desolation Dance Gavin Dance - Jackpot Juicer Beach Rats - Rat Beat Unwritten Law - The...

It's time for one of modern metal's great traditions, the lowdown on a full new Slipknot era with reactions to new album, new songs and new masks. There's also a contentious new A Day to Remember single coming out of the You're Welcome cycle, as well as heavy discussion on what rising ticket prices at Download Festival could mean, and remembrance of one of heavy metal's great modern painters Mariu...

Album Club has a brand new home, giving you a month's worth of classic records in one swoop as our first episode positions Enter Shikari's A Flash Flood of Colour as the springboard for their next ten years, unearths Porcupine Tree's information age prog dystopia Fear of a Blank Planet, considers the untapped potential of Black Peaks' All That Divides, and tries to do justice to the profound heart...

Incredibly dense and rich albums populate reviews with a returning Porcupine Tree, Conjurer, Greg Puciato, Ithaca, Imperial Triumphant, Blood Command, Wormrot, and Oceans of Slumber, but news that Pantera are "reuniting" seems maddest of all. Porcupine Tree 38:16 Conjurer 56:05 Greg Puciato 1:18:49 Ithaca 1:32:35 Imperial Triumphant 1:46:25 Blood Command 2:07:12 Wormrot 2:26:20 Oceans of Slumber 2...