That's Not Metal

Green Day threaten us with a new album, there's the out of nowhere news of Mike Portnoy's return to Dream Theater, and Mortician become the unlikeliest social media stars of all time. We TOLD you.Releases:Within Temptation - Bleed OutMyrkur - SpineBoys Like Girls - Sunday at FoxwoodsKnuckle Puck - Losing What We LoveGo Ahead and Die - Unhealthy MechanismsCirith Ungol - Dark ParadeSAVAGE - Glory RidersClowns - Endlessawakebutstillinbed - chaos take the wheel and i am a passengerAfterbirth - In But Not OfMarthe - Further In EvilWorm / Dream Unending - StarpathThe Gaslight Anthem - History BooksTaking Back Sunday - 152Wargasm - VenomPoppy - ZigIn This Moment - GodmodeYear of the Knife - No Love LostEND - The Sin of Human FrailtyRile - PessimistNOBRO - Set Your Pussy FreeAutopsy - Ashes, Organs, Blood and CryptsWayfarer - American GothicMalokarpatan - Vertumnus CaesarEndseeker - Global WormingDokken - Heaven Comes DownSorcerer - Reign of the ReaperLegendry - Time Immortal Wept

This month we feast upon the new albums from Creeper, The Menzingers, Blink-182's nostalgic reunion, Svalbard, Kristin Hayter, Primordial, Maggot Heart... and Roger Waters redoing Dark Side of the Moon.Creeper 26:20The Menzingers 1:01:40Blink-182 1:20:43Roger Waters 1:41:29Svalbard 1:58:50Reverend Kristin Michael Hayter 2:16:00Primordial 2:37:29Maggot Heart 3:03:44

Sam catches a double helping of Better Lovers, and Sick New World announces its lineup for 2024.Releases:Creeper - SanguivoreThe Menzingers - Some Of It Was TrueBeartooth - The SurfaceCrosses - Goodnight, God Bless, I Love U, Delete.Twin Temple - God is DeadÅrabrot - Of Darkness and LightFree Throw - Lessons That We Swear to KeepThe Keening - Little BirdGévaudan - UmbraBody Void - Atrocity MachineSulphur Aeon - Seven Crowns and Seven SealsKrieg - RuinerGruzja - Koniec WakacjiSlidhr - White Hart!Laster - Andermans MijneSadistic Force - Midnight AssassinAcid Blade - Shooting Star

This week we review two new albums from bands who have changed the modern sonic make-up of hardcore in Harm's Way's industrial brutality Common Suffering, and Code Orange's latest (divisive as always) piece of their ongoing conceptual evolution as they go up into The Above.Releases:Svalbard - The Weight of the MaskOf Mice & Men - TetherCapra - ErrorsCarnifex - NecromanteumCitizen - Calling the DogsProng - State of EmergencyHeavy Load - Riders of the Ancient StormBlodet - Death MotherOctober Tide - The Cancer PledgeSpider God - Blackened: Pink

Our September Album Club Pack is a Damnation Fest special as we look at four diverse records from heavy history being showcased at this event: Leprous' prog majesty Coal, Unearth's Oncoming Storm, Deadguy's deranged Fixation on a Coworker, and Akercocke's sexy suit Choronzon.Album Club normally goes up at patreon.com/thatsnotmetal, but teaming up with Damnation Festival, this one's on us straight away. Enjoy!

Some weeks just get overrun by drama: Thy Art is Murder's quite unbelievable decision to replace the vocals on their album in a week has the extended discussion that such a subject warrants, Bloodstock complete their 2023 headliners, and there's an intriguing LiveNation merch cuts scheme. Simmering down, we talk Busted.Releases:Samurai Pizza Cats - You’re HellcomeHeart of a Coward - This Place Brings Only DeathGuilt Trip - Severance3TEETH - EndExKEN Mode - VoidKill Devil Hill - Seas of OblivionPkew Pkew Pkew - Siiick DaysSincere Engineer - Cheap GrillsProfanatica - Crux SimplexFinal Gasp - Mourning MoonSilence in the Snow - Ghost EyesMourning - Hive of ResentmentBlood Command - World DominationCode Orange - The AboveHarm’s Way - Common SufferingKoyo - Would You Miss It?Grove Street - The Path to RighteousnessPrimordial - How It EndsMaggot Heart - HungerBlack Stone Cherry - Screamin’ At the SkySteven Wilson - The Harmony CodexGunship - UnicornKK’s Priest - The Sinner Rides AgainGraveyard - 6Asinhell - Impii Ho

In the busiest month of the year TNM reviews Corey Taylor, Baroness, Sylosis, Blood Command, Kvelertak, Empire State Bastard, Cannibal Corpse, & Hexvessel, toast the achievements of the departing Dawn Ray'd, and ask... WHO did Stef Carpenter tell about the new Deftones album?!Corey Taylor 38:00Baroness 1:06:37Sylosis 1:25:31Blood Command 1:43:35Kvelertak 2:06:11Empire State Bastard 2:21:57Cannibal Corpse 2:37:48Hexvessel 2:55:27

Nickelback and Massacre both draw conversational lines in the sand, and While She Sleeps release a new track that goes full... something.Releases:30 Seconds to Mars - It’s the End of the World But It’s a Beautiful DayCorey Taylor - CMF2Baroness - StoneTesseract - War of BeingAsh - Race the NightDanko Jones - Electric SoundsPain of Truth - Not Through BloodMagnitude - Of Days Renewed…Worriers - Trust Your GutNight Verses - Every Sound Has a Color in the Valley of NightExplosions in the Sky - EndTomb Mold - The Enduring SpiritBrujeria - Esto es BrujeriaGridlink - Coronet JupiterShining - ShiningAlkaloid - NumenFabricant - Drudge to the ThicketAltarage - Worst Case ScenarioBlood Incantation - Luminescent BridgeMayhem - Daemonic Rites

Sleep Token have to call out impersonators and we call out "presidential bid" publicity stunts. Also a week of gig reports from Hot Mulligan/Spanish Love Songs, The Story So Far, Dawn Ray'd, and Full of Hell/Antichrist Siege Machine.Releases:Sylosis - A Sign of Things to ComeKvelertak - EndlingAngel Du$t - Brand New SoulUnityTX - FeralityDying Fetus - Make Them Beg for DeathMyrath - KarmaUada - Crepuscule NaturaCryptopsy - As Gomorrah BurnsSlomatics - Strontium FieldsFire Down Below - Low Desert Surf ClubDomkraft - Sonic MoonsNasty - Heartbreak CriminalsWith Honor - BoundlessCaptain Planet - Come On, CatExcarnated Entity - Mass Grave HorizonMonolord - It’s All the SameAcranius - Amoral

The Album Club Pack is back for a second year as we look at Linkin Park's experimental A Thousand Suns, Primus Sailing the Seas of Cheese, the sleeper crossover influence of Iron Age's The Sleeping Eye, and cower beneath the unreachable pinnacle of caveman horror death metal meatheadedness that is Mortician's Chainsaw Dismemberment.This episode was originally published January 2023 on patreon.com/thatsnotmetal.

Job for a Cowboy finally release new music, Trivium hit the UK for their second tour of the year highlighting cuts from Shogun, and we talk the completed Damnation Festival bill and the bands we'd pay the most for.Releases:Holding Absence - The Noble Art of Self DestructionThe Armed - Perfect SaviorsAsking Alexandria - Where Do We Go From Here?The Word Alive - Hard ResetHot Milk - A Call to the VoidOrbit Culture - DescentFiddlehead - Death is Nothing to UsDethklok - Dethalbum IVKnife - Heaven Into DustIncantation - Unholy DeificationGodthrymm - DistortionsBlut Aus Nord - Disharmonium - NahabUrfaust - UntergangDrab Majesty - An Object In MotionFull of Hell/Gasp - SplitRoyal Blood - Back to the Water BelowEmpire State Bastard - Rivers of HeresyPolaris - FatalismJeff Rosenstock - HellmodeTaking Meds - Dial M for MedsPrimal Fear - Code RedBio-Cancer - RevengeanceGrave Pilgrim - The Bigotry of PurposeUndergang - De syv stadier af fordaerv

Some of the leaders in alt rock top reviews with Spanish Love Songs, The Xcerts, and Teenage Wrist, as well as new Skindred, Urne, Spirit Adrift, Horrendous, Celestial Sanctuary, and a conversation addressing recent comments from CJ McMahon.Spanish Love Songs 37:20The Xcerts 1:01:51Teenage Wrist 1:22:55Skindred 1:34:21Urne 1:47:03Spirit Adrift 2:01:35Horrendous 2:12:22Celestial Sanctuary 2:27:20

TNM returns to Bloodstock Festival for the 2023 event as Perran reports on sets from Killswitch Engage, Megadeth, Triptykon, Meshuggah, Knocked Loose, Employed to Serve, and generally more heavy metal than you could shake a stick at.

We pore over the first Wacken announcement looking for festival clues for 2024, debate the worth of rock's various one hit wonders, and learn some mad stats about AC/DC's setlists.Releases:The Hives - The Death of Randy FitzsimmonsUrne - A Feast on SorrowCaskets - ReflectionsKataklysm - GoliathWerewolves - My Enemies Look and Sound Like MeSlugchild - Wounds Untold

Wacken caps its attendees early, Marmozets tease a return, Skindred announce their first Wembley show, and we poke the bands sitting on albums for too long. The return of Toolwatch?Releases:Teenage Wrist - Still LoveSkindred - SmileMammoth WVH - Mammoth IIHumanity’s Last Breath - AshenAn Autumn for Crippled Children - Closure

TNM's Barbenheimer musical double bill moments, Roger Waters re-records Dark Side of the Moon like a mumbling lunatic, and as the aliens are confirmed here we pick our albums to try to communicate with them.Releases:Greta van Fleet - StarcatcherAs December Falls - Join the ClubJames and the Cold Gun - James and the Cold GunOxbow - Love’s HolidayMizmor - ProsaicAgriculture - AgricultureThe Zenith Passage - DatalysiumYellowcard - Childhood EyesMutoid Man - MutantsThe Sun’s Journey Through the Night - WordlessSevendust - Truth KillerUncle Acid & the Deadbeats - Slaughter On First Avenue

We spotlight a bunch of underground acts and fresh faces as we review new albums from Blackbraid, Mutoid Man, Torture Rack, Outer Heaven, Calligram, The Sun's Journey Through the Night, Temple of Angels, and Home is Where.Apologies for the lower quality microphone recording as Elliot calls in, we'll be back to full capacity in no time.Blackbraid 32:21Mutoid Man 48:00Torture Rack 56:20Outer Heaven 1:05:06Calligram 1:13:14The Sun’s Journey Through the Night 1:20:53Temple of Angels 1:29:59Home is Where 1:40:55

The Ghost Inside make a stylistic shift and there's new album announcements from everybody, but it's all about the potential activity going on in the Creed camp as we wait with arms wide open.Releases:Voyager - Fearless In LoveEvile - The UnknownCavalera Conspiracy - Morbid Visions / Bestial DevastationEleine - We Shall RemainTemple of Angels - Endless PursuitCalligram - Position | MomentumChamber - A Love to Kill ForEnd Reign - The Way of All Flesh is DecayDeitus - Irreversible

Paramore add to the Taylor Swift ticket buying crisis, Lil Uzi Vert drops collabs with Bring Me the Horizon and Babymetal on unsuspecting hip-hop listeners, and Iron Maiden's Future Past tour hits the UK.Releases:Will Haven - VIIBlackbraid - Blackbraid IIFen - Monuments to AbsenceAstral Tomb - Total Spiritual DeathBloodbound - Tales from the NorthThe Raven Age - Blood OmenBetter Lovers - God Made Me An Animal

We return to Outbreak Fest to see how the UK's biggest hardcore fest with sets from Code Orange, Converge & more integrates huge hip-hop acts into its bill for one of the now most innovative and genre-experimental weekends in the heavy music calendar.Releases:King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - PetroDragonic ApocalypseRoyal Thunder - Rebuilding the MountainCreeping Death - Boundless DomainSunami - SunamiVulture Industries - Ghosts from the PastHome is Where - The WhalerSaturnus - The Storm WithinThy Catafalque - AlföldSwans - The BeggarTrophy Eyes - Suicide and SunshineMental Cruelty - ZwielichtMilitarie Gun - Life Under the GunBurner - It All Returns to NothingTsjuder - HelvegrXasthur - Inevitably DarkEbony Pendant - Ebony PendantWilt - HuginnLoma Prieta - LastStatic Abyss - Aborted From RealityCoffin Mulch - Spectral IntercessionGrotesqueries - Vile CrematoryKhanate - To Be CruelDivide and Dissolve - Systemic