Slayer

DEF LEPPARD guitarist Vivian Campbell has reunited with his former bandmates in SWEET SAVAGE to record new music for the first time in almost 45 years, SWEET SAVAGE frontman Ray Haller revealed exclusively to Eonmusic's Eamon O'Neill. Speaking backstage at last weekend's Download festival, Haller co...

How late Death frontman Chuck Schuldiner helped lay down the blueprint for death metal – then tore it up

We have your chance to win flights, hotel and VIP tickets to the biggest Labor Day party in the country, Rocklahoma!

In a new interview with author Sam Retzer for Tape Op, legendary producer Scott Burns of Tampa, Florida's famed Morrisound Recording was asked whether he was "elevating the art form of death metal" during the making of ATHEIST's "Unquestionable Presence" and DEATH's "Human", the latter of which feat...

Electric Callboy draw a huge crowd and make the most of it with a bangers-filled, dancefloor-baiting set

Poland's biggest metal festival hosted everyone from Megadeth and Black Label Society to Ice Nine Kills, Blood Incantation, Cavalera and more

Father's Day falls on Sunday, June 21 - so there's still time to get your dad something he'll truly love - here's my 15 hot picks

From the early basement days, to their Aughts-era tours with Slayer, to their own arena-topping treks of the present day, Mastodon have stomped their way into fans’ hearts as a must-see live act. Pop into any of the Georgia-formed group’s concert appearances, and you’re bound to experience sweat, blood and thunder pouring out of the act as they explore eight albums and counting of sludge, prog and heavy psych sounds. While they’ve delivered plenty of fan favorites over the decades, what’s the single song the faithful are desperate for Mastodon to crack into onstage? We asked out readers this very question, and these were the picks that mother-punched their way to the top of the list. Ghost of Karelia The fans get stoked whenever “Ghost of Karelia” materializes in the setlist. While shorter than most other cuts off Crack the Skye, “Ghost of Karelia” is no less of an epic journey — the song playing out as a kaleidoscopically battering anthem of perma-pounding drums and fuchsia-psychedlic walls off distortion. It’s got a gloom-boomed mid-section, to boot. How long has it been since Mastodon flew through the shadows with “Ghost of Karelia”? Not very, they still hit this onstage regularly. Megalodon One of many siren songs to have beckoned fans Mastodon’s way, “Megalodon” bares its teeth and gnashes at crowds with jagged, technical fury, double-barreled drum punishment and more. It’s the kind of energetic cut that will awaken any slumbering kraken in the crowd, and it’ll get the blood-thirstiest audience members circling the pit ASAP. Savage? Unquestionably. It’s a brutal masterclass in prog-twisted heaviness, a “hideous creation” beloved by the fanbase. Blood and Thunder Led by a hulking but herky-jerky riff, a staggeringly opening drum fill from Brann Dailor, and ominous lyricism, “Blood and Thunder” is indeed a thunderous force of nature. The song isn’t exactly a holy grail moment in a Mastodon setlist — it’s a song they’ve played more than 800 times over the past couple decades. And in a 2024 talk with Guitar World, Bill Kelliher likened Leviathan’s opening crush-out to Motörhead’ “Ace of Spades,” further describing it as the “kind of song that we have to play every night, whether we want to or not.” While mandatory, this Leviathan treasure still kills every time. The Czar This is what you wanted. Crack the Skye is one of Mastodon’s most celebrated feats, writ large, and this week our readers doubled-down on their love by selecting one of the record’s most towering achievements, the time-and-space-portaling mid-album suite known as “The Czar.” A chill hypnotism throbs through the first half of the track, but a mid-song pivot ushers in big chugging riffs, monster-metal grooves, classically ripping solos and a proggy reprise. While excellent to catch in concert — something that hasn t happened since 2024 — the transcendent wizardry of “The Czar” may find your essence leaving the material world, no less the venue, behind. Hearts Alive Though Mastodon have dropped jaws since their inception, few songs in their mighty songbook get the fandom’s blood pumpin’ quite like Leviathan’s penultimate, near-14-minute epic, “Hearts Alive.” Indeed, it s a Masto-classic that has topped a number of our fan polls in the past. The ebb and flow is masterful, moving from saltwater-woozy arpeggiation towards a prog-sludged waltz about the beastly whale insidiously lurking through the choppiest of waters. And then came Brent Hinds god-mode solo, a hickory-seasoned shred-fest playing with elements of country rock, metal, blues and everything in between. It’s a song Mastodon haven’t played since the tail end of 2024 — before Hinds’ exit from the band and his untimely passing — but for those who caught it up close, seeing “Hearts Alive” in-concert was revolutionary.

Thrash, black metal, grindcore - none of it would exist without UK82

Unexpectedly down an original member, Metallica headlined Download festival 2004 backed up by Joey Jordison and Dave Lombardo

Saturday, June 6, 2026 marks the 20th International Day Of Slayer. For the first time, founder Jeff Tandy reveals the long-running tradition's unredacted history on metal podcasts "Talkin' Slayer" and "Metalenema". Both shows feature the same interview between "Talkin' Slayer" host D.X. Ferris and T...

“I’m not a Satanist, I’m an atheist, but I write the best Satanic lyrics on the planet”

We found the biggest titles released each day, including albums from Slipknot, Metallica and other huge acts.

June has a lot of birthdays, so see which rockers are blowing out the candles for this month.

Politics and thrash — a perfect pair.

They have two thrash special guests joining them.

Sludge metal supergroup Down have lined up a summer tour in North America with direct support from Helmet and Spirit in the Room. Dates for the jaunt are listed below.Down had the following to say about the tour:"Ge...

From anti-war screeds to critiques of colonialist brutality, these songs pack a punch.

Another guest vocalist will finish out the second half of that run.

LiveKill will open.