Who invented heavy metal? Not the word, the sound. Link Wray, the Kinks, Hendrix, Blue Cheer and Led Zeppelin each brought a part; one left-handed guitarist from Aston built the machine in November 1969, and the verdict is his.
By Declan Rourke
26 September · 8 min read
Essential Albums
Pushed off the big stages for a decade, Mexican heavy metal came up in the eighties all at once: a rock opera in a theatre, Luzbel's fallen angel in Spanish, a union of bands with its own la...
By Declan Rourke
Explainers
Sabaton is power metal: the heavier, mid-tempo, anthemic European strain, with a baritone at the microphone and history books where the dragons used to be. The music makes the case.
By Julien Vasseur
Explainers
Thrash metal is the point at which heavy metal stopped being about power and started being about velocity. The mechanics, the three parents, the four scenes, the ten records, where the borde...
By Declan Rourke
Eirik Solvang
Black Metal
The Black Metal Records Collectors Chase
Andrzej Sawicki
Blackened Death
Viking, Folk and Everything Else Death Metal Absorbed
Rafael Quintero
Death Metal
The Death Metal Records Collectors Chase
Gareth Llewellyn
Grindcore
The Underrated Sludge Metal Albums
Ilse Brandt
Doom Metal
The Doom Metal Fonts
Declan Rourke
Heavy Metal
Who Invented Heavy Metal?
| Date | Band | Album | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 26 Sep 2026 | Carcharodon | Never on Your Side | Full-length |
| 28 Sep 2026 | Eternal | Conspiracy of Warheads | Full-length |
| 30 Sep 2026 | Zornheym | Descending into Madness | Full-length |
| 30 Sep 2026 | Methane | Demolate | Full-length |
| 30 Sep 2026 | Mana Diagram | Aether Cross | Full-length |
| 1 Oct 2026 | Asomvel | Set Your World on Fire | Full-length |
| 1 Oct 2026 | Stryga | Upon Stygian Wings | Full-length |
| 1 Oct 2026 | Hate Beast | Humanity Redacted | Full-length |
| 1 Oct 2026 | Sorcery | The Immaculate Sin | Full-length |
