That's Not Metal

We launch the polaris and get into one of our giddiest ever album clubs on Megadeth's delirious Rust In Peace, the suffocating global anger of Killing Joke 2003, the launchpad for second wave emo in Sunny Day Real Estate's Diary, and Gorguts returning to once again up the game for avant-garde death metal with Colored Sands.This episode was originally published April 2025 on patreon.com/thatsnotmetal.

Bring Me the Horizon make the genuinely absurd announcement of Count Your Blessings 20th anniversary celebrations, Nine Inch Noize owns Coachella, and Evanescence lead the singles in their team-up with the Fish.Releases:Nine Inch Noize - Nine Inch NoizeSkindred - You Got This.gif from god - DissimulationThe Last Ten Seconds of Life - The Dead OnesPrince Daddy & the Hyena - Hotwire Trip SwitchHold My Own - Pay No MindMat McNerney - The Bones of the Dead, or Three Turns CounterclockwiseCrippled Black Phoenix - SceaduhelmLeila Abdul-Rauf - Andros InsidiumOrdh - Blind In Abyssal RealmsReeking Aura - On the Promise of the MoonPissrot - Absolute FormMuerto - Eclipsed RealmsNekrogoblikon - The Boiling SeaGout - Actual Bastard

Tracks from Warning, Holding Absence, Health and more head up the week's music, and we announce our first massive band special for 2026.Releases:Bilmuri - Kinda HardLord of the Lost - Opvs Noir Vol. 3Truckfighters - MasterflowAs Everything Unfolds - DID YOU ASK TO BE SET FREE?Tigercub - Nets to Catch the WaveLove Rarely - Pain TravelsBodysnatcher - Hell is Here, Hell is HomeMetal Church - Dead to RightsSpirit Adrift - Infinite IlluminationThe Melvins with Napalm Death - Savage Imperial Death MarchImmolation - DescentArchspire - Too Fast to DieVomitory - Death ThroesUada - InterwovenBlush Puppy - Here You DreamMelechesh - Sentinels of ShamashCissné - Awake Children Under the MoonJK Flesh / Monrella - Shouting the Odds

A lot of heavy feelings this week sadly, with the losses of Bo Lueders, James Lollar of Gost, and Ross the Boss. Elsewhere the Kreator/Carcass/Exodus/Nails package lights up the UK, Damnation 2026 unveil all their headliners, Converge unveil a second album, and another messed up story comes out of the world of hardcore so... yeah, one of those weeks.Releases:Don Broco - Nightmare TrippingBlack Label Society - Engines of DemolitionMyrath - Wilderness of MirrorsMoodring - death fetishChamber - this is goodbye…A Winter’s Remorse - The Day Our Gods Abandoned UsConcealer - This Room Could Be HeavenDivine Chaos - Hate ReactorZerre - Rotting on a Golden ThroneThe Twilight Sad - It’s the Long GoodbyeTigers Jaw - Lost on YouFree Throw - Moments Before the WindWinterfylleth - The Unyielding SeasonKëkht Aräkh - Morning StarCruel Force - HanedaCryptworm - Infectious Pathological WasteGrowth - Under the UnderEnslaved & Storm Weather Shanty Choir - Enslaved & Storm Weather Shanty ChoirCorrosion of Conformity - Good

TNM March reviews bag just catches the most brain-breaking, beautiful return as Neurosis emerge with a whole new album, alongside another return from Poison the Well, Lamb of God, Gaerea, Hellripper, Aggressive Perfector, Mallavora, & Sweet Pill.Neurosis 11:30Poison the Well 56:10Lamb of God 1:17:13Gaerea 1:39:08Hellripper 1:59:30Aggressive Perfector 2:15:00Mallavora 2:25:00Sweet Pill 2:31:51

Muse beam back down to us with their new album announcement, along with music from Black Veil Brides, Stormkeep, and Dropkick Murphys/Haywire, there's a live report from deathcore central with Bodysnatcher, Ingested, Psycho-Frame and Big Ass Truck, and we pay tribute to Motörhead's second-longest serving member Phil Campbell.Releases:Poison the Well - Peace In PlaceExodus - GoliathGaerea - LossFilth is Eternal - Impossible WorldGladie - No Need to Be LonelyStainless - Lady of Lust and SteelEgregore - It Echoes in the WildThe Silver - Looking Glass Hymnal BlueGutvoid - Liminal ShrinesMclusky - I Sure Am Getting Sick of this Bowling AlleyAnnul Noir - InexistenceDropkick Murphys / Haywire - New England Forever

A curtain of biblical darkness falls upon Album Club in the unofficial Sabbath album The Devil You Know by Heaven & Hell, 16 Horsepower's dark country classic Sackcloth 'n' Ashes, Cave In's space rock leap Jupiter, and metalcore pioneers Integrity making their most no fucks given record Howling, for the Nightmare Shall Consume.This episode was originally published March 2025 on patreon.com/thatsnotmetal.

New singles from the likes of Gouge Away, Drug Church, and Devin Townsend hit our ears, epic metal heroes Eternal Champion surprise drop a bold and ambitious new EP, and there's hardcore drama cause when is there not?Releases:Lamb of God - Into OblivionAngus McSix - Angus McSix and the All-Seeing Astral EyeSweet Pill - Still There’s a GlowShoreline - Is This the Low Point or the Moment After?UnityTX - Somewhere, In BetweenGong - Bright SpiritMonstrosity - Screams from Beneath the SurfaceNo/Más - No PeaceWolfbastard - Satanic Scum PunksTransilvania - Magic PosthumaWitchcraft - A Sinner’s ChildEternal Champion - Friend of War

Basement, Blackbraid, and Portrayal of Guilt give us a diverse pack of new songs to chew in, questions on what is the greatest musical city and generationally phased out songs, and we respond to the news that industrial giants Godflesh are hanging up their live instruments for good.Releases:Rob Zombie - The Great SatanCarpenter Brut - Leather TempleThe Gloom in the Corner - Royal DiscordanceNothing - A Short History of DecayFinal Gasp - New Day SymptomsMatador - Above, Below and SoHarrowed - The Eternal HungerPossession - The Mother of DarknessNecrofier - Transcend Into OblivionErra - silence outlives the earthLost Society - Hell is a State of MindWhiplash - ThrashquakeSurfbort - Reality StarTemple of Void - The CrawlBosse-de-Nage - Hidden Fires Burn HottestVreid - The Skies Turn BlackBlackbraid - Nocturnal WombBlack Stone Cherry - CelebrateMoon Tooth - BastardNailed Shut MA - A Promise Made, A Promise Kept

This month brings us one of the most daunting, monolithic, and outlandish reviews bags we've ever had, as we tackle Converge, Sylosis, Mayhem, Worm, Pony, Cryptic Shift, Hällas, and Killing Pace. Slap on your spacesuit, we're adventure rocking.Converge 27:36Sylosis 56:02Mayhem 1:12:56Worm 1:30:33Pony 1:43:00Cryptic Shift 1:52:40Hällas 2:12:10Killing Pace 2:30:20

Party time at TNM: the mythical drought comes to an end, alongside new tracks from the Foo Fighters and Don Broco/Nickelback and grand line-up unveilings from Arch Enemy and Nevermore.Releases:Sylosis - The New FleshNew Found Glory - Listen Up!Killing Pace - HCPMExhumed - Red AsphaltCoscradh - Carving the Causeway to the OtherworldThe Magus - DaemonosophiaLead Injector - Witching Attack

Hyperblasts is back to cover what we missed from the Grammys, UK live shows from Home Front to Korpiklaani, Knocked Loose and Denzel Curry's collab single, and the discussion around While She Sleeps' video announcement for their stepping back from touring.Releases:Hällas - PanoramaSoftcult - When a Flower Doesn’t GrowKarnivool - In VesesPuscifer - Normal Isn’tTailgunner - Midnight BlitzTumour - Human SalvageUncultivates - This Will Become Clear Later, Like the French RevolutionMayhem - Liturgy of DeathNight of the Vampire - The Enchanting Winds of the Dreamweaving MasqueradeKanonenfieber - SoldatenschicksalePower Snatch - EP1Afraid to Die - Hell is a Place In My MindPredatory Void - Atoned In MetamorphosisInfinite Misery - Altar of Extracted TeethConverge - Love is Not EnoughTX2 - End of UsAngel Du$t - COLD 2 THE TOUCHMariachi El Bronx - Mariachi El Bronx IVPony - Clearly CursedYakkie - Kill The Cop Inside Your HeadWorm - NecropalaceFossilization - Advent of WoundsGuilt Trip - God Forgives

Looking back at the records January gave us we give an honest assessment of the final album from Megadeth, alongside Kreator, Urne, Møl, Joyce Manor, The Ruins of Beverast, and Backengrillen. Thanks for all the riffs, MegaDave.Megadeth 20:11Kreator 1:06:31Urne 1:22:47Møl 1:38:35Joyce Manor 1:49:44The Ruins of Beverast 2:02:15Backengrillen 2:14:11

TNM talks bands we would have introduced to ourselves at an earlier age, a breadth of new tracks from Def Leppard, Exodus, Immolation and Haggard Cat, and Cryptopsy take to the UK with 200 Stab Wounds for 30 years of None So Vile.Releases:Megadeth - MegadethPoppy - Empty HandsCrystal Lake - The Weight of SoundTextures - GenotypeThe Damned - Not Like Everybody ElseBackengrillen - BackengrillenBarbarian - Reek of GodLigation - After Gods

2025 Album Clubs come from the land where the mullet attacks: Sabaton's Swedish concept album Carolus Rex, Hatebreed's hardcore benchmark Satisfaction is the Death of Desire, Visigoth's dungeon-keeping The Revenant King, and Family Force 5 give us Business Up Front/Party in the Back.This episode was originally published January 2025 on patreon.com/thatsnotmetal.

New album singles from Poison the Well, Lamb of God, and Static Dress keep 2026 starting up, along with a killer first band announcement from Damnation Festival, and announcement of our first Patreon special for 2026.Releases:Kreator - Krushers of the WorldKid Kapichi - Fearless NatureGreywind - Severed Heart CityOv Sulfur - EndlessBlanket - True BlueSerpent Column - Aion of StrifeRifle - RiflePush - Plowing AheadCrush Your Soul - Ice WaterI Promised the World - I Promised the WorldLights Out - Fall on Your SwordGylt - In 1,000 Agonies, I ExistSin Against Sin - Demo 2

TNM usher in the new year with hopes, questions and predictions for 2026, and some familiar faces already poking their heads above the parapets for the year ahead.Releases:Ulver - NeverlandFuath - IIIWoe - Legacies of Human FrailtyPaleface Swiss - The Wilted EPAlter Bridge - Alter BridgeThe Ruins of Beverast - Tempelschlaf

Right before Christmas our last bash for 2025 is TNM Awards looking back over the highs and lows, the stories, the icons, the presidents, and the circuses that made the year in rock music what it was:Most Improved BandSong of the YearWorst Song of the YearHero of the YearVillain of the YearBest New BandBiggest DisappointmentGig of the YearEP of the YearArtwork of the YearMovie of the YearComeback of the YearSurprise of the YearOutstanding AchievementWorst Band of the YearUnsung HeroesStory of the YearBand of the Year

Our second go of albums of the year for 2025 with Sam and Mark celebrating records from hair metal to hardcore, and your results for the TNM listener poll as we see who's bringing it home in a year filled with past winners and big dog contenders.

2025 Album of the Year time begins on That's Not Metal, with our first lists from Perran and Elliot celebrating everything from synth-punk to goth-doom, power-goregrind to jazz-death, post-metal to metalcore, legendary rock icons to grimy dungeon crust bands that this year gave us.