Jason Roche

Los Angeles rockers Holy Grail have flown the heavy metal flag proudly for a decade with a sound highlighted by nods to the early ’80s’ new wave of British heav...

Yawning Man Macedonian Lines (Heavy Psych Sounds) If any band deserves to have a 1,000 think pieces written about their influence on an entire music scene...

The 1990's saw guitarist/bassist Dylan Carlson generate body-rumbling instrumental drone-metal as part of seminal Northwest band Earth. The 2000's have seen Carlson steer the musical evolution of Earth into a haunting mix of doom-metal and dark Americana. Earth's new record, Full Upon Her Burning Lips, is out now. We caught up with Carlson to discuss the new album:...

The phrase "stoner rock" is a catch-all term that in 2019 seems to be liberally applied to any music in the rock or metal genres that has a slight psychedelic edge. We've seen it applied to bands as diverse as O.C. sand-and-surf rockers Fu Manchu, San Diego jam-out wizards Earthless and the Motörhead-on-steroids Bay Area metallers High on Fire....

This bill is co-headlined by two European rock acts that serve as throwbacks to the psychedelic rock sounds of the '60s and '70s. British band Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats specialize in generating a dirty, grungy din that could have served as the soundtrack of an early 1970s Brit biker movie....

Whether your tastes in heavy metal leans toward the more viscerally brutal end of the spectrum or toward the vintage sounds generated by acts such as Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden, 2018 saw plenty of top-shelf metal to please all whose musical preferences run in a heavier direction. A Swedish collective who dub their music Roman Catholic black metal, a Los Angeles duo who deliver pummeling death metal, a Denver quartet who infuse melodic-doom with classic metal flourishes and an Australian one-man force of shred guitar are but a few of the diverse acts that inspired our picks for the Best Metal Albums of 2018....

Heavy metal and beer have long been comfortable bedfellows. Indeed, in Metallica's early days, they dubbed their drinking alter egos "Alcoholica." As satisfying and cathartic as it is to jump into the mosh pit at a metal show and crash into all of the other bodies around you, there is also something to be said for hanging in the back, throwing the horns up with one hand and holding a beer triumphantly in the air with your other hand after taking a healthy swig....

By 1991, Los Angeles metal act Armored Saint had already been through the major-label wringer and experienced tragedy that would have broken up most acts, even though they were still only hitting their mid-20s. The group had been part of the early-’80s L.A. metal scene that birthed heavy metal record label Metal Blade Records, then were signed and chewed up by major label Chrysalis through the rest of the decade, and endured the death of guitarist Dave Prichard from leukemia in 1990....

Black metal has long held a reputation for being the most abrasive, proudly underground corner of the heavy metal spectrum. Those with only a passing knowledge of the genre may be familiar with the sordid tales of '90s Norwegian acts such as Mayhem. The modern grouping of bands that are considered black metal is much more expansive, with dozens of bands adding layers of progressive musicianship and atmospheric shoe-gaze to the existing genre blueprint....

From 2003 through 2009, Dismal and his Church of the 8th Day promotions group put on Los Angeles Murderfest, an annual weekend-long extreme metal festival focusing on the heaviest, ugliest and grimiest bands in the genre. The event had an equal focus on import acts that rarely made it to Los Angeles, reunion shows from long-dormant seminal bands, and cult favorites in the local scene. The festival ended in 2009 after the closing of its home venue, the Knitting Factory, where both rooms overflowed with extreme-metal fans the last few years of the festival....