From Melville to Metal: The Conceptual Depths of Mastodon’s ‘Leviathan’
Mastodon’s Leviathan is a concept LP inspired by American novelist Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. Think of it as sludge metal’s answer to Dark Side of the Moon.
heavy metal
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MetalMatters: The Best Metal Albums of August 2024
In August’s best metal, Mamaleek defy categorization, Teeth evolve their dissonant death metal, and Vomitrot bounce between death/doom and black metal.
Bad Brains Reissue the Timeless ‘I Against I’
Canonical DC hardcore act Bad Brains remain as vital as ever. Almost 40 years after I Against I’s initial release, it’s remarkable how timeless it sounds.
Metallica’s ‘Ride the Lightning’ Turns 40, But the Memory Remains
Yes, Metallica were singing about death—the cartoon skulls and swords I doodled in my notebooks rendered sonically. But they were also singing about life.
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MetalMatters: The Best Metal Albums of July 2024
In July’s best metal, Wormed’s futuristic brutal tech-death is sovereign, Void Witch offer death-doom wickedness, and Malconfort’s off-kilter black metal shines.
MetalMatters: The Best Metal Albums of June 2024
In June’s best metal, Crypt Sermon offer hooks in doom form, Insect Ark stay on the experimental path, and Ulcerate offer despair with technical death metal.
SUMAC’s ‘The Healer’ Is One of the Best Metal Albums of 2024
Experimental metal trio SUMAC return with four tracks, a gargantuan runtime, and an experience that feels both frightening and healing on The Healer.
Alcest Burrow Beautifully Into Their Aesthetic on New Album
With their Les Chants De L’Aurore, the legendary French metal outfit Alcest weave together light and darkness in a characteristically compelling fashion.
The Dark Beauty of Alice In Chains’ ‘Jar of Flies’
Unplanned and unprepared, when Alice in Chains recorded Jar of Flies‘ catchy songs on the fly, they created some of their career’s darkest yet warmest music of their career.
Tool Take Us on a Trip in Berlin
Tool’s Berlin performance drenched us in their esoteric lyrics, kept us spellbound under Keenan’s shamanistic delivery, and held us captive to enormous body horror imagery.
MetalMatters: The Best Metal Albums of May 2024
In May’s best metal, the Hope Conspiracy return to pure hardcore form, Unleash the Archers claim power metal fame and Primitive Warfare declare war against all.
![Slash’s Orgy of Destruction [or] ‘Blues Your Illusion’](https://www.popmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Slash-with-Gibson-Les-Paul-720x380.jpg)
Slash’s Orgy of Destruction [or] ‘Blues Your Illusion’
Orgy of the Damned finds Slash and his many guests bashing through the most over-played blues standards with the subtlety and grace of Axl Rose in a china shop.