Category: news

Crystal Wall Promotions proudly presents Progressive Power Alliance, a night of elite Australian progressive metal at The Bergy Bandroom, Melbourne, on Saturday, February 28. Headlining the night are Teramaze, long standing pioneers of the Australian progressive metal scene, known for their genre defying blend of technical precision, melody, and emotionally driven songwriting.With a discography that […]

It’s probably a little late to be talking about New Year’s resolutions. But if I had some, one of them would be to write about more bands from “my area” — which I would loosely define as anything in between the Delaware and Susquehanna Rivers (even though I’m technically a few miles west of that). On that note, The Falling Out are an awesome band from Philadelphia, and their new album Don’t is one of the most original and interesting things I’ve heard in a while. It comes to us from the ever-reliable Dummest Records, who also proudly rep the City of Brotherly Love. 

I usually don’t write “in memoriam” posts for bands, so I won’t quite do that for the The Cheap Cassettes in the wake of their recently announced disbandment. I believe what I’ve written about this band over the years more than suffices for a proper tribute. I’m not in the mood for any sad shit. But given that I was with this band from the beginning, I ought to be there at the end as well. As a public service to anyone who might still be unfamiliar with this band’s catalog, I now present to you my top ten all-time favorite Cheap Cassettes songs. This was very difficult to pick just ten tracks from a catalog that included three full-length albums and three 7″ records. Damn it, Charles — why do you have to be so brilliant? But I think if you look at what this band put out over the course of the years 2011–24, you could argue, without hyperbole, that this was one of the five or ten best power pop groups of the past two decades. What a body of work! Someday, books will be written about this band (probably by me — ha ha!). And people will eventually pound the table for an overpriced reunion tour. I’m not saying that what lies below is the band’s definitive “greatest hits.” These are just my personal favorite tracks. But a lot of bands would wish to have a best-of collection as good as this. If you believe, as I do, in power pop as one of the purest forms of rock ‘n’ roll, The Cheap Cassettes are a band you need to know about, even in retrospect. Alright, let’s go! 

On February 6, 2026, I was honored to give a talk at the University of Iowa as part of their Musicology/Music Theory Colloquium series, hosted by Prof. Joshua Albrecht. I gave an hour-long lecture about the Swedish extreme metal band Meshuggah, consisting of material from my second book project, which I’m currently drafting.

My work on Meshuggah is building very directly on my first book, which is now available open-access through Oxford University Press!

Please feel free to reach out if you’d like to know more about this project! You can always find my contact information at my faculty bio page for my job at Occidental College.

Here’s a short description of my talk:

The Swedish extreme metal band Meshuggah has already been the subject of extensive music analysis research. My first intervention is to retheorize Meshuggah’s distinctive complex rhythms as “overlays,” a groove-based construction which repeats a short unit of odd length to create a rival accent pattern over 4/4—which has been previously studied in jazz, soul, and EDM by Pressing (2002), Cohn (2016), and Butler (2006). This retheorization connects existing Meshuggah research with numerous concepts to better explain the physical experiences that their rhythms create (groove and perceptual rivalry, cycles of release and relock, metrical displacement, etc.). My second intervention is to highlight Meshuggah’s connection to previous thrash/groove metal (which also frequently used overlay riffs), helping to explain their music’s brutal physicality in terms of new research on previous metal practices of heaviness, headbanging, etc. This reverses a trend in existing research which mostly highlights Meshuggah’s “deviance” from mainstream metal (Capuzzo 2018). Overlay analysis shows how even Meshuggah’s most complex, “mathematical” riffs emerge from recursive recombination of physical, groove-oriented riff techniques from previous metal. These two interventions connect analysis of Meshuggah’s music directly to ideas about groove and physicality from studies of African diaspora popular music traditions, troubling common assumptions about complexity, detachment, and race in popular music—and especially in the context of thrash metal, a genre which is often described as “leaving the blues behind” through increased complexity, detachment, and control (Pillsbury 2006). I end with broader thoughts about musical complexity: problematizing the association of certain kinds of complexity with whiteness or embodied detachment, questioning the status of complexity in music theory, and riffing on old questions about mind-body dualism.

On November 7, 2025, I gave a talk at the national American Musicological Society–Society for Music Theory joint annual meeting in Minneapolis. I’ve presented there a few times before, but this time I was there to talk about my second book project, about the Swedish extreme metal band Meshuggah.

If you’re interested, I’d be happy to share my slides and script! Feel free to email me to ask. You can always find my contact information at my faculty bio page for my job at Occidental College.

Here’s the official title and 350-word abstract for my talk, which I’m planning to write up as a chapter in my second book.

“Corpus of Chaos: Headbanging to Conventional Form Cues in Meshuggah’s Unconventional Songs”

Meshuggah’s extreme metal songs often have disorienting forms, which eschew conventional verse-chorus teleology (Nobile 2022), instead staging a progression of static sections, creating seemingly intractable expanses of time. And yet, their audiences all seem to know when to start moshing, and when their song forms are written down, their proportions often strongly resemble metal’s normative song form, compound AABA (Hudson 2021). How is it that song form which look so conventional on paper can feel so disorienting in listening?

To answer this question, I build on theories of metal drumming and song form—which often foreground affordances for physical participation. Traditional theories of pop song form focus on section types determined by lyrics (“verse,” “chorus,” etc.) but metal fans experience also experience form implicitly through embodied feeling and active motion, such as headbanging and moshing. Metal’s riff-based version of compound AABA structures this participatory listening by offering fans both specific formal cues, especially drum patterns (Kozak 2021; Garza 2021; Hudson 2022), and familiar patterns of song form that organize physical engagement, especially buildup intros, verse-chorus “energy cycles” (Pillsbury 2006), transforming or transporting bridges (Hudson 2023), half-time breakdowns (Gamble 2019), and vamps. In this way metal song forms create ritual spaces for heaviness, by implicitly choreographing participatory dance to create shared moments of physical impact (Hudson 2026, Chapter 9).

I use this conventional framework to analyze Meshuggah’s unconventional song forms, showing how they retain some familiar cues and patterns while also departing from these norms. Several of Meshuggah’s most well-known songs follow a pattern of two verse cycles followed by a bridge, with a guitar solo occurring roughly two-thirds of the way through the song’s duration—just like compound AABA (Example 1). However, most of Meshuggah’s songs do not have the conventional teleology of a quieter verse leading up to a louder chorus; instead they alternate, without a sense of directionality or hierarchy, between verses and what I call “pseudo-choruses.” I show how even Meshuggah’s most experimental songs often retain some conventional formal cues (especially drum pattern shifts and guitar solos) which guide listeners’ participatory movement, shaping shared experiences of heaviness.

“Worm crawling on your cold, white face”

Deaf Forever is an iconic Motörhead song title, acting as a motto or a badge of honour for anyone who’s ever shared a hall with the notoriously loud rockers. But, rather than an ode to his volume-addled fans, Lemmy’s ingenious lyrics refer instead to a corpse on a battlefield: deaf forever to the din of the battle. And Motörhead’s short-lived Wizzö/ Würzel/Gill lineup create a considerable din of their own to soundtrack the sombre topic. Deaf Forever gets 1986’s superb Orgasmatron off to a thumping start with a robotic, marching main riff that opens into thunderous chords for a triumphant, anthemic chorus. It’s Motörhead at the top of their game musically and lyrically, with one of their best production jobs to boot. An inspired headbanger that’s guaranteed to put a big grin on your face. Rictus or otherwise.

Failsafe are proof that age has nothing to do with impact. The Sydney trio are only 18, yet they carry themselves with the confidence, humility and purpose of a band far beyond their years (oh yeah and they have a whopping three releases under their belt already!). Formed while still in school, Failsafe began as […]

Interview by Kyra-Jade Coombs and Simon Russell-White Big thanks to Missy Snaps for the videography HEAVY never knocks back the chance for a chin wag backstage at a metal festival, and each time we get a different enjoyment out of the experience. We have been fortunate enough to cover music cruises and festivals and tours, […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Red Vinter Return to Iconic 14:59 Studios to Record New Album Ghost In The Fog
St. Paul, MN – Doom/death metal heavies Red Vinter have officially returned to the acclaimed 14:59 Studios in Minneapolis, MN to begin recording their second full-length album, Ghost In The Fog . The studio, renowned for hosting brutal sessions from underground standouts like Impaler, Thor, Plague of Stars, and Glutton for Punishment, makes a fitting lair for Red Vinter’s next sonic descent.
The upcoming album will feature the highly anticipated tracks “Cryptic Site” and “The Cell Inside,” and once again pairs the band with the same production team behind their debut Lumbering Menace . The record is being co-produced by Red Vinter’s own Mike Bullock alongside 14:59 Studios engineer Will Maravelas, continuing the partnership that helped establish the band’s crushing, emotionally weighted sound.
While the band forges ahead with new material, momentum around their previous releases continues to build. Fan favorites “Ashes” and “Insurgent” have been steadily gaining listeners and were recently added to the Screamin’ Eman Underground Metal show on the legendary WXAX. The tracks have also received spotlight rotation on KFAI, KMSU, and a growing list of online metal shows and podcasts, further cementing Red Vinter’s place in the modern doom and death underground.
“With everything going on in Minneapolis lately, ‘Insurgent’ is more relevant now than ever,” says vocalist and bassist Mike Bullock. “Meanwhile, the message of ‘Ashes’—getting back on your feet no matter how hard life burns you to the ground—is a much-needed, daily reminder to never give up.”
Fans can revisit “Ashes” here:

With Ghost In The Fog now underway, Red Vinter are doubling down on their mission to deliver slow-burning heaviness, bleak atmosphere, and hard-earned catharsis. More recording updates and release details are expected soon.
For Fans Of: Godflesh, Celtic Frost, Crowbar
About Red Vinter:
Hailing from St. Paul, Minnesota, Red Vinter have carved out a reputation for punishing doom/death metal steeped in grit, weight, and raw emotional force. Their debut album Lumbering Menace marked them as a band to watch in the underground heavy music scene. With a new record in progress and growing radio and podcast support, Red Vinter are poised to take their next major step forward.

Listen / Buy Lumbering Menace :
Bandcamp: https://redvinter.bandcamp.com/album/lumbering-menace
Everywhere Else: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/redvinter/lumbering-menace-2
For press, interviews, or media requests: zach@metaldevastationradio.com


  Follow the band at these links:
https://linktr.ee/redvinter
https://redvinter.bandcamp.com
Contact: redvintermetal@gmail.com

Taking Back Sunday announces summer tour 2026, with special guests, Bayside was originally published on HM Magazine by Nao Glover.

Following a whirlwind 2025 that saw them touring across the country with Coheed and Cambria, rock band Taking Back Sunday is thrilled to get back on the road in 2026. The group has today announced that they will be touring this summer with special guests Bayside. The tour is set to kick off on May 31st in Dewey Beach, with stops to follow […]

Taking Back Sunday announces summer tour 2026, with special guests, Bayside was originally published on HM Magazine by Nao Glover.