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Long Island pop-punk band Gone Stereo have released their new single “Natalie” on August 28, 2026. Despite its

Posted on September 1st 2026, 12:05pm

Breakdowns are the heart of a great many metal genres. Why? Because they’re always barbaric as all hell when they hit. Few things sonically strike like a moment of quiet followed by every instrument firing at full force, and these are the 10 times that such sections of a song blasted us most ruthlessly. From Metallica to Gojira, these are the most malevolent of all the breakdowns in heavy metal history.

Metallica – Creeping Death (Ride The Lightning, 1984)

Ride The Lightning saw Metallica start to shed their thrash metal skin and, in the process, mastermind some of the heaviest music ever. For Whom The Bell Tolls and The Call Of Ktulu are bona fide boot-stompers, while Creeping Death boasts a neck-snapping breakdown. Although guitarist Kirk Hammett originally wrote that “Die by my hand!” section for his first band Exodus, the Four Horsemen wielded it with much more malicious intent.

Lamb Of God – Laid To Rest (Ashes Of The Wake, 2004)

“See who gives a fuck!” With that one clarion call, every single person at a Lamb Of God show goes apeshit, and who can blame them? The moment heralds Laid To Rest’s transformation from a fast-fingered metal anthem to pure, animalistic groove. The breakdown opened the Ashes Of The Wake album with such an adrenaline shot that no one was shocked when it became the band’s breakthrough release.

Slayer – Raining Blood (Reign In Blood, 1986)

Most discussions of Raining Blood revolve around that formidable opening, where cracking thunder gives way to one of metal’s most iconic riffs. However, the latter half of Slayer’s signature song is carried by that breakdown, which bypasses rational thought and catches you straight in the “fat riff and simple drumbeat”-loving part of your brain. When Kerry King adds that melodic lead on top halfway through, it grows even more badass.

Gojira – Flying Whales (From Mars To Sirius, 2005)

It’s one thing when an audience goes wild, but when a breakdown also makes the band playing it lose their minds, that’s the sign of something truly special. Such is the case with Flying Whales, which drives the members of Gojira rabid, running around all over the show, when it strikes its crescendo. The Morbid Angel pick-scrapes only reaffirm the unholy level of heaviness being tapped into by this modern death metal classic.

Machine Head – Davidian (Burn My Eyes, 1994)

Davidian is nasty throughout. From Robb Flynn’s roars to the pinch harmonics and squealing guitar solo, there’s no give in its upfront groove metal assault. This makes it stunning when, at its conclusion, Machine Head somehow reach even further frontiers of sonic destruction. An outward breath from Flynn incites a no-nonsense chugathon, and the violence that plays during the video is pretty accurate as to what happens when this moment hits at live shows, too.

Trivium – Pull Harder On The Strings Of Your Martyr (Ascendancy, 2005)

A lot of breakdowns either don’t feature vocals or take a minute to rebuild back up to them. Pull Harder On The Strings Of Your Martyr doesn’t have time for that shit. When the beat drops after this Ascendancy single’s second chorus, singer/guitarist Matt Heafy immediately starts snarling, only punctuating the sheer, bollock-popping savagery of the whole thing. It’s a big reason why this is Trivium’s most-played song by far.

Meshuggah – Demiurge (Koloss, 2012)

Picking the best Meshuggah breakdown borders on the impossible, but we’ve gone with Demiurge because… holy fuck! It’s just perfect. From the intense build-up to that moment of brief silence, then the crash of guitars and drums and that hellacious melody, it’s a section of heavy metal artistry worthy of the Louvre. If breakdowns were taught in schools, this would be an essential text on every single student’s curriculum.

Cannibal Corpse – Hammer Smashed Face (Tomb Of The Mutilated, 1992)

As much as people like to talk about the growls, neck and windmilling of Corpsegrinder, bassist Alex Webster and drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz have always been the unsung powerhouses of Cannibal Corpse. And Hammer Smashed Face proves it. The death metal mainstay slides into its breakdown as smoothly as butter, yet it still gets heads instinctively banging. It’s the most brutal part of a song crammed with seismic shifts in speed.

Sepultura – Dead Embryonic Cells (Arise, 1991)

Sepultura were already kings of thrash by 1991 (as evidenced by major-label breakthrough Beneath The Remains), and on Arise they began to foresee greater things. While maintaining the Brazilians’ speed metal core, the album dabbled in industrial soundscapes, and Dead Embryonic Cells shovelled in buttloads of groove. The entire thing’s punishing but, before you hear the stomping drums and open E-strings towards the end, we’d recommend taking out some insurance on your neck.

Converge – Eagles Become Vultures (You Fail Me, 2004)

No discussion of imposing breakdowns would be complete without casting an eye to the pioneering New England metalcore scene, and we’re anointing Converge as its representatives. The Massachusetts wildmen always had a technical-yet-incensed take on their genre, as proven by Eagles Become Vultures’ ending. When the song’s rampage of noise slows to a section of hefty riffing and atypical drumming, it’s just primal enough for you to understand that craniums need to move pronto.

Dylan Neal describes his solo project Thief as “hard to market.” No argument there. Take glitchy grooves, melodic clean vocals and various tonal experimentations born out of samples of extremely old sacred music (sounds kinda sweet, right?), then pitch them down into the bleakest, blackest of personal hells, both sonically and conceptually. The yield is pretty damn niche, but it’s also led to a still-unfurling variety of sounds that have played out over five full-length albums and a few contributions to other releases. We’ve loved everything we’ve heard so far, so when we learned that the most recent recording, Sermons from the Pit, is due out this November 27th on Prophecy Productions, we were excited to get in touch and learn more.

Neal had this to say about the song and its relationship to the album as a whole:

“Sermons from the Pit moves through these stages of frenetic energy which are tempered by sullen, meditative moments of respite. ‘Moon and Kill’ is a microcosm of that, encapsulating the album’s broader thematic movement from rage to despair and acceptance. It features a production technique I dubbed ‘Cathedral Clipping”: the process of annihilating a sound with short reverb and gain-stacking used throughout the album, which you can hear starting around 1:08. The ending is one of my favorite moments on the album, where the vocals are just kind of cooing over a time-stretched organ and choral sample. The track’s voice oscillates between executioner and victim. At the risk of stealing the listener’s meaning away, I’ll speak of the track by saying that when love and trust collapse, the same anger and disbelief experienced by murderers and saints alike are experienced. Which implement do you choose? Weapon or forgiveness?”

Decibel also had the opportunity to interview Neal in more depth for a coming magazine feature. Below are a few informative comments he had that we couldn’t stuff into the article.

Decibel: I know that your last record was rooted in personal family tragedy. Are the songs on Sermons from the Pit also tied together thematically? What do you feel drove your lyrical approach as these songs came together?

Neal: Yeah, Bleed, Memory had a lot to do with my father’s collapse into dementia and treated memory almost as an entity. Sermons has a much looser thematic thread. I knew the album was going to be called Sermons from the Pit even before I knew what it was going to be “about.” I just loved the title. And then 2025 turned out to be a pretty brutal year. My lot included the unceremonious end of a long term relationship, the loss of a good job, some real financial hardships, etc. Los Angeles catching on fire was the harbinger. So the approach became this idea of using all of this as grist for the mill. I created a “pit schema” for the album that functions as a sort of creative guide or codex that is included in the vinyl and artbook. It outlines the song’s color, weapon of choice and viewpoint.

Decibel: Press for Thief tends to mention your residence in a Buddhist temple. Is this something that’s pretty familiar and routine that you think gets sensationalized? Or is this fact something central to you that does, indeed, have an important meaning to your lifestyle and your art?

Neal: It’s really just familiar and routine for me. The last 13 years of my life have been pretty organized around it. On the one hand, it really isn’t this esoteric or bizarre thing, but on the other hand, I can recognize that it definitely isn’t a normal life trajectory, haha. I don’t write about it. I’m sure themes slip in, as I can’t help but see things through a certain lens, but I’m totally loath to sing about anything like that. It can give art a real repugnant stench. While it’s very central to my life, I don’t know about art. I think the only way it influences my art is in my relation to it and how I work. I’m pretty ADHD so having some tools on focusing is helpful and writing is a great way to confront and practice with your mind and its patterns.

Decibel: Over Thief’s existence, how have you thought about developing your vocal style? Are there particular vocalists whose techniques you feel you’ve incorporated into your own approach or the way your voice melds into your own music?

Neal: You know, I really don’t think I got comfortable with my voice until Bleed, Memory. Singing was never something I was naturally good at, so I had to practice a lot, and you can kind of hear that throughout the records. I think the biggest development was adding in more extreme vocals, which didn’t really happen until [2021’s] 16 Deaths. I had always wanted to but the material didn’t provide a place for it until then. I’ve been told I sound like a bunch of people, but I rarely hear what they’re hearing. When I’m listening back to my music critically, I usually find myself thinking, like, “God that is such a Dax Riggs phrasing” or “Stop trying to scream like Maynard, you sound like a quail!” They were big influences, along with Bjork. I learned how to belt from Bjork, to whimper like Maynard and to whisper evil, backwards messages from Dax Riggs.

Decibel: How complicated is it to pull off a Thief live set? Have there been any times when things went off the rails and you learned ways you wanted to do things differently? Have there been transcendent successes?

Neal: We’ve got the live set pretty dialed in nowadays, but it was quite the journey getting there. I really started off not knowing how the fuck to do any of this live, as my past experience with bands was just plugging in a guitar or a mic. But I wanted this to be a real live experience. We have to have playback tracks for the samples and shit, but then we are recreating the songs live with drums and bass while I’m also playing keys or manipulating the samples in somewhat of an improvised way while singing. I think anytime that I’m performing, and I suddenly realize that I have no memory of how we got to a particular part of the set, means it’s a success. But, oh man, yeah, there have been two or three total live derailments early on. I have literally kicked over my keyboard stand that is the brains of the operation, stopping the show in its tracks. Twice. That was embarrassing.

Sermons from the Pit is set for release on November 27th through Prophecy Productions. Place your preorder here. Check out more from Thief at Bandcamp, too.

The post Track Premiere: Thief – “Moon and Kill” appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

In a new interview with Finland’s ‘Chaoszine’, Nightwish keyboardist and main songwriter Tuomas Holopainen confirmed that they will enter the studio in May next year. He also confirmed that 7 new songs are written.
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Trash Titans Flotsam And Jetsam are back with another exquisite slab of Heavy Metal. Following hot on the heels of 2024’s I Am The Weapon, Rats In The Temple showcases the world-class talent of the band. Flotsam And Jetsam have been around for four decades, and their legendary status as one of the most prolific Thrash bands continues with yet another superb album. 

Flotsam And Jetsam – Rats In The Temple

Release date: Out Now

Words: Kenny Kendrick

The album opens up as it means to go on with Harvesting The Hate, an epic anthem. The absolute precision of the band really is a thing to behold. Ex-Alice Cooper/House of Lords drummer Ken Mary is one of the best drummers on the planet, and a perfect fit in the Flotsam And Jetsam camp. He plays his arse off throughout the album in a supreme performance.

Damnation kicks off with an operatic feel before we are kicked head first into some trad Metal with a catchy whoa whoa chorus. Absolution heads off into full-on Thrash territory.

Huge riffs from guitarists Steve Conley and Michael Gilbert are the order of the day on Rats In The Temple, and the duo work effortlessly together to create some of the band’s best work. Let us not forget the huge contribution from vocalist Eric AK Knutson. He sounds better than he ever has here, a superb effort.  

Blame The Knife is my favourite track on the album. Staccato riffs, double bass flourishes, and some thought-provoking lyrics combine to make a real standout track. The title track again highlights Ken Mary’s unbelievable chops. I cannot emphasise enough how good he is. He elevates every track with his meticulous performance. 

The Ghost Behind The Door is another solid track, with its chunky riffs, excellent lead guitar work and a memorable chorus. Other standout tracks include the super heavy First On The Spike, The Edge Of Nowhere with its full-throttle thrash attack, and the epic Not Goin’ Down That Way. 

Flotsam And Jetsam are a band that should be spoken about more often when we talk about the Big 4 of Thrash Metal. They are more than worthy to be up there with the likes of Testament, Exodus, etc in the conversation about contributions to the Thrash genre. 

Rats In The Temple is a kick-arse record with ferocious performances from the band. 2026’s version of Flotsam And Jetsam are by far their best incarnation.

Go and have a listen to Rats In The Temple and tell me you do not agree.

Flotsam And Jetsam – Rats In The Temple is out now via Napalm Records. For more details, visit napalmrecords.com/flotsam-and-jetsam.

The post Flotsam And Jetsam Deliver Thrash Metal Excellence On Rats In The Temple first appeared on MetalTalk – Heavy Metal News, Reviews and Interviews.

In the proliferating bustle of the AMG promo bin, citing Elder, King Buffalo, and Slift as comparable artists will absolutely grab my attention. Hence, I seized The Curse of Nephtar, the third album from French psych-rockers Pelegrin, with much excitement. Thus Spoke, however, tempered my enthusiasm with her Mixed review of the band’s previous outing. While Thus enjoyed Ways of Avicenna (2023) for its groovin’ riffs and hooky choruses, she found these to be fleeting moments on an incoherent album.¹ In their press sheet, Pelegrin promise that The Curse of Nephtar ups both the catchiness and heaviness factors. Meanwhile, the album’s narrative arc—an allegory about the tragic influence of fossil fuels on the Middle East and the world at large—suggests attention to cohesion.

The aforementioned acts sonically capture The Curse of Nephtar, though a hint of originality comes through. Here’s the elevator pitch: Pelegrin sounds like Elder, King Buffalo, and Slift collaborating on the Dune soundtrack. The latter two bands stand as especially apt comparables, seeing as Pelegrin is also a power trio. In his role as guitarist, François Roze deals in mixed-mode melodies, metal-adjacent chuggery, and psychedelic solos (“Eons”). Bassist Jason Recoing possesses a rattling tone that initiates grooves (“Sun and Blood”) and builds bridges (“Price to Pay”).² Rounding out the trio, drummer Antoine Ebel establishes the album’s chill vibe, propelling the heavier riffs with a peppery swagger when needed (“Plenty”). Seasoning Pelegrin’s Middle Eastern tonalities with what they describe as ‘a dash of Arabian spices’ are guest vocals from Halima Joy and sound effects from Mathieu Houeix. Couched in organic, airy production, Pelegrin submits a unique enough entry into the contemporary pantheon of heavy psych rock with The Curse of Nephtar, even if the album isn’t as heavy as the band wants it to be.

In his role as vocalist, Roze vacillates between vibe-setting and hook-sinking on The Curse of Nephtar. His voice sits in a lower-to-upper middle range, sinking into the musical sand and then surfacing to attack. On standout song “In the Company of Stars,” Roze amplifies tasty psych grooves and key shifts with a catchy chorus, powered by bluesy undertones and riveting high notes. Other verses and choruses on The Curse of Nephtar, however, fail to reach these heights. Sometimes, it sounds like Roze is searching for a stable hook and not quite finding one. Because the music of Pelegrin isn’t overtly proggy, or heavy, or jammy, the vocals need to carry more memorability than they do. Still, Roze’s is not a bad performance by any means—his voice fits the psychedelic aura Pelegrin is going for.

Like its vocals, The Curse of Nephtar’s narrative generally satisfies while leaving this listener wanting more. That striking black orb on the equally striking album cover is Nephtar itself, ever-so-slowly surfacing from a prehistoric ocean to subdue all living things on earth (humans included). Initiating the narrative, “Eons” overlays voiceovers that collide with the harmonization of the irresistible main riff, conveying a sense of grandeur.³ The shift from the upbeat “In the Company of Stars” to the doomier “Drawn to Nephtar” nicely veers the narrative into sinister terrain. Meanwhile, some songs don’t live up to their narrative station. “Price to Pay” serves sweet melodies, heavy riffs, and proggy tempo shifts, but Roze doesn’t quite convey the unleashing of chaos with his vocals. The same can be said for the epic closer, “Break the Omen”; it deals out delectable riffs and wah-wah solos, but Roze doesn’t vocally bring it home. The Curse of Nephtar clocks in at a somewhat svelte 43 minutes, which is a good and bad thing here. Pelegrin should be applauded for broaching a timely eco-political concept in a timeless, economical manner. Still, a little more time and space would suit this eons-in-the-making narrative.⁴

In the end, The Curse of Nephtar counts as a positive step forward for Pelegrin. The band has struggled on past efforts with the meandering temptations of psych rock, but their third album feels more immediate and impactful. Still, it’s hard not to hear Pelegrin’s latest as more potential than payoff, especially in the vocal department. In a year where Elder and Slift⁵ have released high-quality albums,⁶ The Curse of Nephtar sits below these stalwarts. But Pelegrin possess the tools for greatness, and I’ll definitely be keeping tabs on them.

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Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Ripple Music
Websites: Instagram | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: September 4th, 2026

The post Pelegrin – The Curse of Nephtar Review appeared first on Angry Metal Guy.

TEMIC are streaming a Cesar Mindiburu-directed/edited music video for the new song called “Broken”. The latter serves as a second taste of their forthcoming long player Ceiba, which comes out on October 2nd through Season Of Mist.
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Symphonic metal six-piece Epica have announced a special 25th-anniversary show at London’s Royal Albert Hall, where they’ll be joined by a choir and orchestra.

The Dutch band will play the famous Italianate venue on October 6, 2027, as part of their on-again-off-again Symphonic Synergy format, which debuted with performances in Amsterdam and Mexico City in September and December 2024. The show will be part of a larger, yet-to-be-announced world tour.

Tickets go on general sale on Friday, September 4, at 10am UK time.

The band comment: “Playing the legendary Royal Albert Hall in London for the first time, surrounded by a full orchestra and choir, will be an absolutely magical experience. Hearing our music come alive in a way it is supposed to sound, on such an iconic stage, will be a moment we’ll remember forever – come and be a part of it!”

Epica are currently touring to promote their 2025 album Aspiral and will play in Asia later this month. The run of six shows commences at the Liquidroom in Tokyo on September 14 and concludes at the Modern Sky Lab in Shanghai on September 22.

The band’s 25th-anniversary celebrations will kick off in January with three shows at the Royal Theatre Carre in Amsterdam. All three dates are sold out. They’ll then play across Latin America in March, supported by Italian symphonic death metal maestros Fleshgod Apocalypse. At time of publication, the Royal Albert Hall date is the only show on Epica’s slate set to feature an orchestra and choir.

Guitarist/vocalist Mark Jansen founded Epica in 2002, shortly after leaving After Forever, which featured future Nightwish frontwoman Floor Jansen (no relation). Singer Simone Simons, Mark’s then-partner, and keyboardist Coen Janssen joined in the same year. The three are the only people to have performed on every Epica album. The band have sold more than one million albums worldwide.

Simons looked back on Epica’s formation during a 2023 interview with Metal Hammer, revealing that she didn’t initially want to join the lineup.

“I knew Mark [Jansen, guitars/vocals] because I was in a relationship with him back in the day,” she recalled. “He started a new band [after leaving After Forever] pretty quickly, but because I was his girlfriend, at first I didn’t want to join. I helped them search for a singer.

“I thought I should do it by the book – finish high school and then go explore the world with a metal band. But when they asked me if I wanted to [sing for them], I thought, ‘OK, let’s just give it a go.’ And here we are, 20 years later!”

She also said that she rehearsed with a black metal band before joining the symphonic group: “They were in my hometown and my friend’s boyfriend was playing in that band, so that’s why we went, but I was way too shy to sing along. Epica was my true first band.”

Epica previously celebrated their 20th anniversary with a sold-out show at Poppodium 013 in Tilburg, Netherlands, on September 3, 2022. They performed a small set of rarities and an After Forever cover under their short-lived original name, Sahara Dust, to open the gig.

Blow out the candles! September is full of rock star birthdays. Continue reading…