That's Not Metal

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 Cooper
Post Animal - Iron
Scalp - Not Worthy of Human Compassion
Kontusion - Insatiable Lust for Death
Nuovo Testamento - Trouble
Fit for a King - Lonely God
The Armed - The Future is Here and Everything Needs to Be Destroyed
Fox Lake - New World Heat
Hammer - Trapped
Hedonist - Scapulimancy<...

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 46:49
Blood Vulture 1:04:23
Psycho-Frame 1:20:14
Blind Equation 1:32:06
Crown of Anguish 1:45:16
Stangarigel 1:55:58
Nuvolascura 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-files
Daron Malakian and Scars On Broadway - Addicted to the Violence
Bush - I Beat Loneliness
Zac Farro - Operator
Laura Jane Grace In The Trauma Tropes - Adventure Club
Panic Shack - Panic Shack
Blind Equation - A Funeral...

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 - motionblur
Calva Louise - Edge of the Abyss
dead7 - Love What You Can While You’ve Still Got Something Left to Love
Ward XVI - ID3NTITY
Born of Osiris - Through Shadows
Margarita Witch Cult - Strung Out In Hell
Floating - 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 It
Pig Pen - Mental Madness
Dropkick Murphys - For the People
Wytch Hazel - V: Lamentations
We Lost the Sea - A Single Flower
Stygian - Dr...

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 Violence
Helms Deep - Chasing the Dragon
Haggus - Destination Extinction
Witherer - Shadow Without a Horizon
Upon Stone - End Time Lightning
Valdrin - Apex Violator
Deadguy - Near-Death Travel Services
Heaven Shall Burn - Heimat
Sodom - The Arsonist
Blood Vulture...

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 34:18
Malevolence 1:18:45
Stray from the Path 1:39:00
Kaonashi 1:57:44
Deadguy 2:18:16
Hexvessel 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 Enough
Volbeat - God of Angels Trust
Kaonashi - I Want to Go Home
Orthodox - A Door Left Open
View From the Soyuz - Ubiquitous
Katatonia - Nightmares as Extensions of the Waking State
King Parrot - A Young Persons Guide To
...

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 Truth
Midnight - Steel, Rust and Disgust
Thus Spoke Zarathustra - I’m Done With Self Care, It’s Time for Others’ Harm
Home Is Where - Hunting Season
Witchcraft - Idag
Witchrot - Soul Cellar
Year of No...

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 30:52
Machine Head 1:17:32
Behemoth 1:42:36
PUP 2:06:43
The Callous Daoboys 2:21:42
Model/Actriz 2:47:50
Age of Apocalypse 3:00:55
Sijjin 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 Patience
Callous Daoboys - I Don’t Want to See You in Heaven
Novelists - Coda
Pridian - Venetian Dark
Hundredth - Faded Splendor
Arm’s Length - There’s a Whole World Out There
Death Before Dishonor - Nowhere Bound
Pelica...

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 Combat
PUP - Who Will Look After The Dogs?
Propagandhi - At Peace
Press Club - To All The Ones That I Love
Bleed - Bleed
Model/Actriz - Pirouette
Knives - Glitter
Your Spirit Dies - My Gnawing Pains Will Never Rest
Paradise Slaves - W...

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 - Superheaven
Melvins - Thunderball
Lik - Necro
Ancient Death - Ego Dissolution
Tribunal - In Penitence and Ruin
Heaven’s Gate - Tales from a Blistering Paradise
Zeicrydeus - La Grande Heresie
Ungraven - Hollows Made Homes In Their Su...

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 25:41
Scowl 57:31
Employed to Serve 1:20:33
Inhuman Nature 1:43:08
Messa 1:52:32
Final 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 - Aspiral
Cabal - Everything Rots
Teen Mortgage - Devil Ultrasonic Dream
Messa - The Spin
Idle Heirs - Life is Violence
Benthos - From Nothing
...

Linkin Park release a new single but downgrade shows, Evanescence release 2025's hottest AMV, Midnight write an anthem for Cleveland Metal, and Danzig's in hot water for far right dogwhistles on merch.

Releases:
Scowl - Are We All Angels
Bleed From Within - Zenith
Thornhill - Bodies
Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs - Death Hilarious
Benediction - Ravage of Empires
Tómarúm - Beyond Obsidian Euphoria
Allegaeon - The Ossuary Lens
Rotting Christ - 35 Years of Evil Existence - Live in Lycabettus
Balmora - Prologue
Dy...

Sam and Perran sit down to talk about Knocked Loose's recent massive headline tour in the UK bringing Basement, Harms Way, & Pest Control into massive Academy venues, as well as Powerwolf announcing a UK arena and Download booking the Vengaboys, and a mega end of month release round-up.

Releases:
Ophicvs - Steel Beast
Cradle of Filth - The Screaming of the Valkyries
Bloodywood - Nu Delhi
Lordi - Limited Deadition
Secret Cutter - ///
Stormo - Tagli/Talee
Ursa - Call of the Infinite
Noisepicker - The Earth Will Swallow the...

In our new reviews show we stop to take stock of the state of some of our most popular heavy bands with Architects, Spiritbox, & A Day to Remember, as well as Whitechapel, Spiritworld, Warbringer, Imperial Triumphant, & Rwake. More hardcore bands imploding over idiocy too.

Architects 27:10
Spiritbox 1:05:56
A Day to Remember 1:30:17
Whitechapel 1:46:14
Spiritworld 2:08:37
Warbringer 2:25:29
Imperial Triumphant 2:39:08
Rwake 3:03:49

Napalm Death's 2025 edition of the Campaign for Musical Destruction (Bollocks) rolls around, Tool are being sued by their fans over setlist controversy, and we give our take on the ground-shaking moment when a member of Mastodon departs the band.

Releases:
Coheed and Cambria - Vaxis - Act III: The Father of Make Believe
Steven Wilson - The Overview
clipping. - Dead Channel Sky
Warbringer - Wrath and Ruin
Nite - Cult of the Serpent Sun
Rwake - The Return of Magic
The Body / Intensive Care - Was I Good Enough?
...

We really cover ground on this one: prog goes pop on Rush's Power Windows, 2010s Britrock goes horribly wrong when The Blackout Start the Party, American Football reinvent emo on LP1, and black metal's most comforting album in Agalloch's The Mantle.

This episode was originally published February 2024 on patreon.com/thatsnotmetal.

Ghost unveil all things Skeletá, Slayer add yet another mega-show onto the UK summer, and Bobby Liebling is being seen by more people than should ever see Bobby Liebling.

Releases:
Architects - The Sky, The Earth & All Between
Oversize - Vital Signs
Cloakroom - Last Leg of the Human Table
Avantasia - Here Be Dragons
Dirkschneider - Balls to the Wall Reloaded
Stress Test - Stress Test
Havukruunu - Tavastland
Grima - Nightside
Effluence - Pianistic Dismemberment
Sleep Paralysis - Sleep Paralysis
Grave Infestation - Carnage Gathers

We close out February with reviews of some of our boldest and sloppiest with Killswitch Engage, Bleeding Through, Winona Fighter, Pissgrave, Vacuous, & Gràb, Green Lung & Unto Others' recent Heathen Neverland trip across Europe, and yes, Sam finally reviews a Dream Theater album.

Killswitch Engage 40:37
Bleeding Through 1:06:01
Dream Theater 1:31:51
Winona Fighter 1:56:08
Pissgrave 2:10:38
Vacuous 2:31:42
Gràb 2:43:22

There's reports from High Vis and Tribulation both hitting headline tours around the UK, A Day to Remember bring news of their surprise album and its promised big ole volumes, and Parkway Drive stake a claim on the Sydney Opera House.

Releases:
Killswitch Engage - This Consequence
Silverstein - Antibloom
Anxious - Bambi
To Obey a Tyrant - Frigore Inferni
Wren - Black Rain Falls
Hirax - Faster Than Death
Morax - The Amulet
Pissgrave - Malignant Worthlessness
Gràb - Kremess
Abduction - Existentialismus
God Complex...

letlive. finally break the seal on their UK return dates, Death Grips seem to disband again, and there's questions on the misconceptions that surround some of rock's most underrated, misunderstood bands.

Releases:
Bleeding Through - Nine
Lacuna Coil - Sleepless Empire
Love is Noise - To live in a different way
Winona Fighter - My Apologies to the Chef
The Nightmares - Fire In Heaven
Hangman’s Chair - Saddiction
Pothamus - Abur
Mantar - Post Apocalyptic Depression
Savage Lands - Army of the Trees
Fell Omen - In...

A bumper edition of Hyperblasts sees Trivium & Bullet for My Valentine embark on the Poisoned Ascendancy tour, Cattle Decapitation & Shadow of Intent also co-headline, Gojira win a Grammy, Courtney LaPlante wins the Grammys, and oh yeah Black Sabbath?! Lot to cover in this one.

Releases:
Dream Theater - Parasomnia
Jinjer - Duel
Marko Hietala - Roses from the Deep
Majestica - Power Train
Obscura - A Sonication
Phrenelith - Ashen Womb
16 - Guides for the Misguided
Morast - Fentanyl
Saor - Amidst the Ruins
Ereb Altor - Häls...

Some of 2025's first heavy hitting singles arrive all at once from Deafheaven, Behemoth, Poison the Well, & also Bring Me the Horizon cover Wonderwall for some reason.

Releases:
Dax Riggs - 7 Songs for Spiders
Vukovi - My God Has Got a Gun
Century - Sign of the Storm
Avatarium - Between You, God, The Devil and the Dead
Negative 13 - Recover What You Can
Harakiri for the Sky - Scorched Earth
Sunrot - Passages
The Night Flight Orchestra - Give Us the Moon
Grief Ritual - Collapse
L...

Our first TNM reviews of 2025 hit the runway with The Night Flight Orchestra, Wardruna, The Halo Effect, The Great Old Ones, Trauma Bond, & Grief Ritual, and we pay tribute to one of the greatest left-field artists and dreamers of all time David Lynch.

The Night Flight Orchestra 45:00
Wardruna 1:07:53
The Halo Effect 1:28:45
The Great Old Ones 1:44:48
Trauma Bond 2:00:34
Grief Ritual 2:10:30

Album Club returns to start 2024 after a few months away with a bumper episode, setting the record straight on Bring Me the Horizon's Post Human: Survival Horror, destroying orcs with 3 Inches of Blood's Advance and Vanquish, Joyce Manor's micro-classic Never Hungover Again, and Reign Supreme with #WhyNotDyingFetus

This episode was originally published January 2024 on patreon.com/thatsnotmetal.

Hints of a Nine Inch Nails world tour, uncertainty in the SeeYouSpaceCowboy camp, Exodus swap their old singers again, and SpiritWorld go full cowboy.

Releases:
Eidola - Mend
Grave Digger - Bone Collector
Tokyo Blade - Time is the Fire
Trauma Bond - Summer Ends. Some Are Long Gone.
Sarcator - Swarming Angels & Flies
Necrodeath - Arimortis
Necromaniac - Sciomancy, Malediction & Rites Abominable
Onirophagus - Revelations from the Void
Hierarchies - Hierarchies
Day By Day - Dust and Ashes
Dark Fortress - Anthems From Beyond the Grave...

We're back for 2025 looking to our hopes and goals for the year ahead, announce our first 2025 special, get a first batch of promising to stupid new singles, and yet another reunion.

Releases:
Patriarkh - Prophet Ilja
Paleface Swiss - Cursed
Mutagenic Host - The Diseased Machine
Ethel Cain - Perverts
Stick to Your Guns - Keep Planting Flowers
Lambrini Girls - Who Let The Dogs Out
Tremonti - The End Will Show Us How
The Halo Effect - March of the Unheard
The Cimmerian - An Age Undreamed Of<...

For our last show before Christmas we arrive at the TNM Awards for 2024, as we gather to end the year with the successes, stories, downfalls and villain arcs that defined the year in heavy:
Most Improved Band
Song of the Year
Worst Song of the Year
Hero of the Year
Villain of the Year
Best New Band
Biggest Disappointment
Gig of the Year
EP of the Year
Artwork of the Year
Movie of the Year
Comeback of the Year
Surprise of the Year
Outstanding Achievement
...

We round off the best rock and metal albums of 2024 with lists from Sam and Mark, plus the all important and really incredibly great this year listener poll from all of you to really see who gets crowned.

The That's Not Metal Albums of the Year for 2024 begins, with Perran and Elliot giving their lists of so much that the best in metal, the underground and beyond had to offer.

The That's Not Metal Albums of the Year for 2024 begins, with Perran and Elliot giving their lists of so much that the best in metal, the underground and beyond had to offer.

Our final reviews bag of 2024 happens to feature the biggest rock comebacks of the year and underground heroes, with Linkin Park, The Cure, Opeth, Better Lovers, Many Eyes, Tribulation & Neon Nightmare getting discussed.

Linkin Park 31:45
The Cure 1:01:04
Opeth 1:25:59
Better Lovers 1:49:56
Many Eyes 2:09:03
Tribulation 2:20:08
Neon Nightmare 2:41:53

2025 singles really start coming with Spiritbox, Architects, Killswitch Engage, Machine Head, and Coheed and Cambria, W.A.S.P. go full mental, and we talk the "bad" albums we got into bands on.

Releases:
Opeth - The Last Will and Testament
Body Count - Merciless
Kim Deal - Nobody Loves You More
Ocean Grove - Oddworld
Polar - Nova
Fellowship - The Skies Above Eternity
Coilguns - Odd Love
Múr - Múr
Defeated Sanity - Chronicles of Lunacy
Gutless - High Impact Violence
Ante-Inferno - De...

We hit that point of the year where we have Grammy nominations and Download headliners to either complain about or debunk complaints about, and a mega live review as Sepultura's farewell tour finally arrives on UK shores.

Releases:
Linkin Park - From Zero
As I Lay Dying - Through Storms Ahead
Poppy - Negative Spaces
Full of Hell / Andrew Nolan - Scraping the Divine
Primal Code - Opaque Fixation
Thy Catafalque - XII: A Gyönyörü Álmok Ezután Jönnek
Spider God - Possess the Devil
Chelsea Wolfe - Unbo...

We once again convene for a review of the UK’s biggest underground event at Damnation Festival and witness legendary returns from Dragged Into Sunlight, Nails, Cradle of Filth, Bleeding Through, Inter Arma, and so many other TNM faves absolutely tearing it up.

Elliot's audio is beaming in through the internet on this one, but we'll be back sounding proper soon.

Releases:
Make Them Suffer - Make Them Suffer
Sólstafir - Hin helga kvol
State Champs - State Champs
The Arrival Note - …Home is So Far From Here
The Body...