That's Not Metal

Sam reports from a hardcore fireworks show underneath a bridge in London, there's tracks from Joyce Manor, Conjurer, and Gaerea's continued surprising swerves into pop black metal, and we respond to the awful news of Brent Hinds' death. Hearts Alive, forever.Releases:Rise Against - RicochetJoey Valance & Brae - HYPERYOUTHJustice for the Damned - Stay RelentlessPool Kids - Easier Said Than DoneKerosene Heights - Blame It On The WeatherUnleashed - Fire Upon Your LandsBaest - ColossalCastrator - Coronation of the GrotesquePanopticon - Laurentian BluePanopticon - Songs of HiraethPhosphorus - Frail Grasp of Broken HandsFell Omen - Caelid Dog SummerFirestarter - Still Holding On…Cult of Luna - Beyond III, IV, VDeftones - Private MusicPendulum - InertiaThree Days Grace - AlienationWe Came as Romans - All is Beautiful… Because We’re DoomedHot Mulligan - The Sound a Body Makes When It’s StillDinosaur Pile-Up - I’ve Felt BetterThe World is a Beautiful Place & I’m No Longer Afraid to Die - Dreams of Being Dustre

TNM returns to a monster edition of Bloodstock Festival where Trivium, Machine Head, Gojira, Mastodon, Emperor, Nailbomb, Ministry, & more bring heavy metal to the fields of England once again.

There's gothy new AFI and even more dramatically new Davey Havok facial hair as we wonder who is really under there, and pay our respects to the sadly passed Erik Wunder behind the revolutionary USBM outlaws Cobalt.Releases:Babymetal - Metal ForthHalestorm - EverestGood Charlotte - Motel Du CapLord of the Lost - Opvs Noir Vol. 1As December Falls - Everything’s On Fire But I’m FineFirstborne - LuckyAttack Attack! - Attack Attack! IIBlackbraid - Blackbraid IIISinsaenum - In DevastationAsunojokei - Think of YouMalthusian - The Summoning BellCrypt Sermon - Saturnian ApprenticesAversions Crown - A Voice From the Outer Dark

Musical drum stools strikes again, Dying Wish and Fleshwater set new records for the autumn, and the Poisoned Ascendancy shadiness raises its sassy head once again.Releases:Alice Cooper - The Revenge of Alice CooperPost Animal - IronScalp - Not Worthy of Human CompassionKontusion - Insatiable Lust for DeathNuovo Testamento - TroubleFit for a King - Lonely GodThe Armed - The Future is Here and Everything Needs to Be DestroyedFox Lake - New World HeatHammer - TrappedHedonist - ScapulimancyKayo Dot - Every Rock, Every Half-Truth Under ReasonCar Bomb - Tiles Whisper DreamsSaphir Levi - Follow Your Shadow

We shake up the reviews with looks at plenty of smaller newcomer bands with TNM fave The Dirty Nil plus Blood Vulture, Psycho-Frame, Blind Equation, Crown of Anguish, Stangarigel, & Nuvolascura, and of course we do our best this week to speak to the seismic passing of the Prince of Darkness, heavy metal's hugest figure, Ozzy Osbourne.The Dirty Nil 46:49Blood Vulture 1:04:23Psycho-Frame 1:20:14Blind Equation 1:32:06Crown of Anguish 1:45:16Stangarigel 1:55:58Nuvolascura 2:05:20

TNM makes a long overdue return to 2000 Trees Festival to see Alexisonfire, Coheed and Cambria, the return of letlive., a massively contested slot from Kneecap, plenty more from punk rock spectrum, and in the same episode somehow, we face the great Profanatica jar controversy.Releases:Bring Me the Horizon - Lo-filesDaron Malakian and Scars On Broadway - Addicted to the ViolenceBush - I Beat LonelinessZac Farro - OperatorLaura Jane Grace In The Trauma Tropes - Adventure ClubPanic Shack - Panic ShackBlind Equation - A Funeral In PurgatoryStomach - Low DemonBa’al - The Fine Line Between Heaven and HereEntrails - Grip of Ancient EvilAbigail Williams - A Void Within ExistenceHaunter / Cape of Bats - Black Magick Metal Punk

The biggest metal weekend of all time maybe arrives, with our impressions of Black Sabbath's Back to the Beginning and Ozzy's retirement party, plus trips to the return of Slayer in the UK.Releases:Split Chain - motionblurCalva Louise - Edge of the Abyssdead7 - Love What You Can While You’ve Still Got Something Left to LoveWard XVI - ID3NTITYBorn of Osiris - Through ShadowsMargarita Witch Cult - Strung Out In HellFloating - Hesitating Lights

It's a rock show extravaganza as we chat about one of the highest profile weeks for live heavy music in the UK ever with Deftones, Linkin Park, King Diamond, and Iron Maiden, as well as a sobering discussion of the fallout of Bob Vylan's appearance at Glastonbury and removal from Radar Festival.Releases:Higher Power - There’s Love In This World If You Want ItPig Pen - Mental MadnessDropkick Murphys - For the PeopleWytch Hazel - V: LamentationsWe Lost the Sea - A Single FlowerStygian - DreadlandsGaupa - Fyr

Outbreak returns in 2025 in a different guise, with a new site in London for a different kind of mass hardcore experience with sets from Turnstile, Sunny Day Real Estate, Speed, Model/Actriz, plus bonus appearances from Deafheaven and God's Hate.Releases:Cryptopsy - An Insatiable ViolenceHelms Deep - Chasing the DragonHaggus - Destination ExtinctionWitherer - Shadow Without a HorizonUpon Stone - End Time LightningValdrin - Apex ViolatorDeadguy - Near-Death Travel ServicesHeaven Shall Burn - HeimatSodom - The ArsonistBlood Vulture - Die CloseJohan Langquist - The Castle - Johan Langquist - The CastleKing Witch - IIIFer de Lance - Fires on the MountainsideKilling of a Sacred Deer - A Visage of a Mangled BodyGreet Death - Die In LoveAll Men Unto Me - RequiemInhuman Condition - Mind TrapLord Belial - Unholy TrinityShining - Divided You’ll Stand and United You’ll FallCosmic Joke - Forced PerspectiveBotch - 061524Bruce Springsteen - Tracks II: The Lost Albums

A glut of huge hardcore storms TNM reviews with albums from Turnstile, Malevolence, Stray from the Path, Kaonashi, Deadguy (& Hexvessel, not very hardcore), and Nine Inch Nails kick off their incredible Peel It Back arena production.Turnstile 34:18Malevolence 1:18:45Stray from the Path 1:39:00Kaonashi 1:57:44Deadguy 2:18:16Hexvessel 2:35:50

TNM returns from a week off with a cross continent double fest report as we hit up Yorkshire's Fortress and Poland's Mystic Festival, seeing every band under the sun from Agalloch to Ulcerate, W.A.S.P. to King Diamond, Bullet to Beherit.Releases:Turnstile - Never EnoughVolbeat - God of Angels TrustKaonashi - I Want to Go HomeOrthodox - A Door Left OpenView From the Soyuz - UbiquitousKatatonia - Nightmares as Extensions of the Waking StateKing Parrot - A Young Persons Guide ToGruesome - Silent EchoesGaahl’s Wyrd - Braiding the StoriesAutumn Nostalgie - MetanoiaAustere - The Stillness of DissolutionDimscûa - Dust EaterBuckcherry - Roar Like ThunderFallujah - XenotaphHexvessel - NocturneDolven - In My Grave…Silenceletlive. - The Blackest Beautiful RevisitedSigh - I Saw the World’s End - Hangman’s Hymn MMXXVThe Cure - Mixes of a Lost WorldQueens of the Stone Age - Alive in the CatacombsMetallica - Load (Remastered)

A bumper Album Club dissection as Mötley Crüe go horribly wrong on Generation Swine. Crossfaith's electronicore captures a moment on Zion, Have Heart's melodic hardcore landmark Songs to Scream at the Sun, and Suffocation invent/perfect brutal death metal with Effigy of the Forgotten. Brandon. We love you.This episode was originally published May 2024 on patreon.com/thatsnotmetal.

Sam is lured back to the UK's pop punk home for Slam Dunk 2025 and has to think long and hard about Electric Callboy, and we doff our caps to Svalbard's decision to drop the curtain on a decade plus career as one of the UK's favourite heavy bands.Releases:Skunk Anansie - The Painful TruthMidnight - Steel, Rust and DisgustThus Spoke Zarathustra - I’m Done With Self Care, It’s Time for Others’ HarmHome Is Where - Hunting SeasonWitchcraft - IdagWitchrot - Soul CellarYear of No Light - Les Maitres FousHellcrash - Inferno CrematorioSexmag - SexorczymChepang - JhyappaOssuary - Abhorrent Worship…And Oceans - The Regeneration ItineraryMagus Lord - In the Company of ChampionsHouse of Protection - Outrun You AllMSPAINT - No SeparationCrowquill - CrowquillSwans - BirthingGarbage - Let All That We Imagine Be the LightStray from the Path - ClockworkedDesolated - Finding PeaceThe Haunted - Songs of Last ResortRivers of Nihil - Rivers of NihilVildhjarta - Där skogen sjunger under evighetens granarKUSANAGI - ParamnesiaPlanni

In a month that saw two no. 1 metal albums, we go through 2025's biggest reviews gauntlet with Ghost, Machine Head, Behemoth, PUP, The Callous Daoboys, Model/Actriz, Age of Apocalypse, & Sijjin.Ghost 30:52Machine Head 1:17:32Behemoth 1:42:36PUP 2:06:43The Callous Daoboys 2:21:42Model/Actriz 2:47:50Age of Apocalypse 3:00:55Sijjin 3:14:07

We rummage through the wreckage as Trivium and Bullet for My Valentine's Poisoned Ascendancy tour comes to a sudden stop with fingers generally being pointed at one party, and we ask big questions like: are four-sided longsleeves good?Releases:Bury Tomorrow - Will You Haunt Me, With That Same PatienceCallous Daoboys - I Don’t Want to See You in HeavenNovelists - CodaPridian - Venetian DarkHundredth - Faded SplendorArm’s Length - There’s a Whole World Out ThereDeath Before Dishonor - Nowhere BoundPelican - Flickering ResonanceSteve von Till - Alone in a World of WoundsOndfødt - DimsvallBlood Monolith - The Calling of FireAntropomorphia - Devoid of LightCadaver Shrine - Into the Horrible DepthsDrouth - The Teeth of TimeFull of Hell - Broken Sword, Rotten ShieldYouth Code - Yours, With Malice

TNM's 2025 festival summer begins with Incineration descending upon Camden for extreme metal sets from the likes of Lamp of Murmuur, Blackbraid, Spectral Wound, Blood Incantation debuting Absolute Elsewhere in the UK, & a mountain-moving Celtic Frost performance by Triptykon. Ough.Releases:Sijjin - Helljjin CombatPUP - Who Will Look After The Dogs?Propagandhi - At PeacePress Club - To All The Ones That I LoveBleed - BleedModel/Actriz - PirouetteKnives - GlitterYour Spirit Dies - My Gnawing Pains Will Never RestParadise Slaves - With Hell In His EyesSlung - In WavesSnooze - I Know How You Will DieShearling - Motherfucker, I am Both: “Amen” and “Hallelujah”...Dispyt - Från Melankoli till MeningslöshetHate - Bellum RegiisFroglord - MetamorphosisSleep Token - Even In ArcadiaBehemoth - The Shit ov GodTetrarch - The Ugly Side of MeMcClusky - The World is Still Here and So Are WePeter Murphy - Silver ShadeDeath SS - The EntityGhost Bath - Rose Thorn NecklaceSvarta Havet - Månen ska lysa din vägJade - Mysteries o

On the single biggest release week of the year we head down to Ghost kicking off the Skeletour here in the UK, Charli XCX officially declares it a Turnstile Summer, the original Alice Cooper band reunites after 52 years, and there's important updates about last week's Weezer movie announcement.Releases:Superheaven - SuperheavenMelvins - ThunderballLik - NecroAncient Death - Ego DissolutionTribunal - In Penitence and RuinHeaven’s Gate - Tales from a Blistering ParadiseZeicrydeus - La Grande HeresieUngraven - Hollows Made Homes In Their Sunken CheeksXweaponX - Weapon X Demo 2Employed to Serve - Fallen StarInhuman Nature - Greater Than DeathGhost - SkeletáMachine Head - UnatonedLandmvrks - The Darkest Place I’ve Ever BeenCaliban - Back From HellWednesday 13 - Mid Death CrisisH.E.A.T. - Welcome to the FutureHeart Attack Man - Joyride the Pale HorseEluveitie - AnvPagan Altar - Never Quite DeadConan - Violence DimensionSumac / Moor Mother - The FilmBRUIT < - The Age of EphemeralityCancer - Inverted WorldCaustic

Reviews really hot up with some of the most hyped and acclaimed records of the year, some experiments from familiar faces, and some real underground crushers with Deafheaven, Scowl, Employed to Serve, Inhuman Nature, Messa, & Final Dose.Deafheaven 25:41Scowl 57:31Employed to Serve 1:20:33Inhuman Nature 1:43:08Messa 1:52:32Final Dose 2:07:53

We cover some of the biggest, baddest, craziest Album Clubs there is: Thin Lizzy go studs and leather on Thunder and Lightning, Wintersun undergo an epic, farcical saga to create Time I, Palm Reader's raise UK hardcore's ambition on Beside the Ones We Love, and Agoraphobic Nosebleed's hellish 99 song chemical digi-grind Altered States of America.This episode was originally published March 2024 on patreon.com/thatsnotmetal.

The time comes to hold a funeral for one of our podcast's greatest villains You Me At Six as their reign of tyranny comes to an end assessing their end and legacy, Turnstile hit us with their first track of Never Enough, a bumper questions section talking the best metal solo artists and two album wonders, and announcing a particularly crunchy band special.Releases:Epica - AspiralCabal - Everything RotsTeen Mortgage - Devil Ultrasonic DreamMessa - The SpinIdle Heirs - Life is ViolenceBenthos - From NothingIn the Woods… - OtraMalphas - ExtinctFinal Dose - Under the Eternal ShadowPutrid Offal - Obliterated LifeRyoji Shinomoto - Children of BushidoThe Lord Weird Slough Feg - Traveller Supplement 1: The Ephemeral GladesCBZK - DybuctwoAngell - Veiled by Woe