From HammerFall's 1997 debut to Twilight Force: what makes a Swedish power metal band sound Swedish, from the Gothenburg studio sound to the heavier mid-tempo strain, and the bands that mapped the scene.
By Julien Vasseur
3 October · 9 min read
Essential Albums
Seven clauses of a definition, each cut into the genre by one record: after Paranoid, Sin After Sin, Somewhere in Time, Metal on Metal, Hall of the Mountain King, Glory to the Brave and Opus...
By Declan Rourke
Explainers
A heavy metal logo is a brand, not a painting: it has to be read across a field. Priest's bottle cap, fork and lightning, Motörhead's blackletter, Leppard's flag and the Kiss letters Germany...
By Declan Rourke
Explainers
Death metal is not thrash played harder. It is thrash with four decisions reversed: the vocal stops being pitched, the guitars go down, the drums fill in the gaps and the production stops be...
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
The Heavy Metal Albums That Define the Genre
| Date | Band | Album | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 Oct 2026 | Posthumous | Signs Carved in Flesh | Full-length |
| 3 Oct 2026 | Twintera | Zero | Full-length |
| 3 Oct 2026 | Hexer | A Black Flame in Cosmic Void | EP |
| 6 Oct 2026 | Goblin Cock | Traumanaut | Full-length |
| 8 Oct 2026 | Hyver | La fête de la forêt enchantée | Full-length |
| 9 Oct 2026 | Hellucination | Penumbral | Full-length |
| 9 Oct 2026 | HateSphere | Guillotine | Full-length |
| 9 Oct 2026 | Werewolves | You're Weak and You Know You're Weak | Full-length |
| 9 Oct 2026 | Cultus Sanguine | Tears Painted Sky | Full-length |
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