The New Hampshire producer Maya Bouldry-Morrison has been crafting house tracks under the name Octo Octa since 2011, and she’ll release her new album Sigils For Survival this spring. The LP is Octo Octa’s first since 2019’s Resonant Body, and it marks a full decade since she came out as transgender. She drew a sigil…
The post Octo Octa Announces New Album <em>Sigils For Survival</em>: Hear “Survival Groove” appeared first on Stereogum.
Two years ago, Billy Morrison—the British guitarist, singer, and songwriter, primarily known as Billy Idol’s rhythm guitar player for the past 17 years alongside lead guitarist Steve Stevens—released The Morrison Project via TLG/ZOID/Virgin Music Group. It marked his third solo album (and first since 2015) and produced the #1 Active Rock Song (Mediabase) in America: “Crack Cocaine” featuring Ozzy Osbourne and Steve Stevens and co-written by all three artists. A deluxe edition of the album followed in 2025 and bonus track, “Gods Of Rock and Roll (Orchestral)”—another seismic collaboration with Osbourne and Stevens—landed in the Active Rock Top Ten (Mediabase).
Morrison will build on that success with his upcoming album Hollow, out sometime in August via TLG/ZOID/Virgin Music Group. The album will launch with the March 27 release of its first single and video “Becoming” which was written by Morrison, Sully Erna (Godsmack) and Brett Scallions; it features Erna on lead vocals and Grammy Award-winner Nuno Bettencourt (Extreme) on lead guitar.
Hollow will follow the success of 2024’s The Morrison Project format with 12 songs, half sung by Morrison and half sung by a handful of Morrison‘s friends. Guests include Dexter Holland, Marilyn Manson, Chuck D, B Real, Duff McKagan, Steve Stevens, DMC, and the above-mentioned Sully Erna and Nuno Bettencourt, among others. “Forgive Me,” “The Tailor,” “No Suspects,” “Another Day,” “Leave No Trace,” and “Becoming” are among the song titles.
“The last album was so much fun and such a creative experience for me that I got the band back together for a follow up record,” says Billy. It’s on the same label (TLG/ZOID/Virgin Music Group), with the same crew (Barry Pointer mixing the record, Dave Donnelly mastering and all art and photography by Jane Stuart) and I’m excited to share this body of work with the world.” He adds: “The guests on this record are at the core of the collaborative spirit that I try to put in the center of these records. Every single person I worked with stepped up, brought their A game and helped me produce an album that crosses genres, features some really diverse songwriting, and yet has a truly cohesive, and powerful sound. Ultimately, I am just grateful to everyone involved for allowing me to do this again.”
The post BILLY MORRISON’S Solo Album “Hollow” Features MARILYN MANSON, SULLY ERNA, NUNO BETTENCOURT And DEXTER HOLLAND, Lead Single “Becoming” Arrives March 27 appeared first on Sonic Perspectives.
There is no single answer to what makes a breakdown “the heaviest,” but modern deathcore and metalcore have pushed the art of the drop to levels of brutality that would have sounded physically impossible twenty years ago.
Bands like Lorna Shore, Slaughter to Prevail, and Knocked Loose have turned the breakdown into a cinematic event—a full-scale sonic demolition designed to make a festival crowd lose its collective mind. From the old-school groove of Pantera to the inhuman vocal textures of modern deathcore, we are ranking the thirteen breakdowns that still hit like a concrete truck.
The Tech: Modern production and low-tuned 7 and 8-string guitars have allowed bands to reach “sub-woofer destroying” frequencies.
The Evolution: Breakdowns have shifted from simple groove-metal stomps into complex, multi-layered “events” featuring symphonic elements and inhuman vocal techniques.
The New Kings: Lorna Shore and Slaughter to Prevail currently dominate the “arms race” for the heaviest drop.
The Blueprint: Pantera’s “Domination” remains the gold standard that every modern band is still trying to out-shred.
Parkway Drive helped push breakdown-driven metalcore into the global festival circuit, and “Boneyards” remains one of the genre’s most reliable pit igniters. The song itself moves at a blistering pace, but when the breakdown finally lands, the entire track shifts from speed to blunt-force trauma. Winston McCall’s vocals ride a crushing groove riff that feels tailor-made for synchronized headbanging. It’s one of those moments where the crowd knows exactly what’s coming—and still goes completely feral when it arrives.
Before modern metalcore turned breakdowns into an arms race, The Dillinger Escape Plan was already weaponizing chaos. “43% Burnt” is one of the earliest examples of a breakdown that feels genuinely dangerous. The song spends most of its runtime spiraling through mathcore insanity—jagged riffs, violent tempo shifts, and rhythms that seem determined to disorient you. Then the breakdown lands. Everything locks into a brutally simple, crushing groove that hits like a brick wall after the preceding musical whiplash.
Early deathcore thrived on breakdowns, but few had the sheer weight of this one. Whitechapel’s guitars drop into a suffocating low-tuned groove that feels less like a riff and more like a tectonic shift. Phil Bozeman’s guttural vocals add another layer of menace, turning the entire section into something that sounds borderline apocalyptic. Even fifteen years later, the production on this section feels punishingly relevant.
If you want a breakdown that feels less like a riff and more like the soundtrack to the end of civilization, Black Tongue’s “Second Death” is a strong contender. Black Tongue helped define the “downtempo” deathcore style, where breakdowns move at a glacial speed but hit with terrifying weight. When the drop finally lands, the tempo slows to a crawl, the drums stomp like something massive approaching, and the vocals sound like they’re coming from the bottom of a grave.
Groove metal doesn’t get enough credit for breakdowns, but Lamb of God built their entire reputation on rhythmically devastating sections like this. “Laid to Rest” hits a perfect balance between speed and groove. When the breakdown kicks in, the guitars lock into a stomping rhythm that feels impossibly tight while Randy Blythe’s vocals ride the riff like another percussion instrument. It’s not just heavy—it’s surgical.
Few breakdowns feel as massive and cinematic as the one in “Flying Whales.” For most of the song, Gojira builds tension through hypnotic rhythm and atmosphere. Then the floor drops out. The guitars crash into a monstrous low-end groove while Mario Duplantier’s drums swing with that signature Gojira precision that somehow feels both mechanical and primal. After several minutes of build-up, the riff lands like a tidal wave.
Before Bring Me the Horizon evolved into arena rock innovators, they were writing some of the nastiest deathcore breakdowns of the late 2000s. The breakdown in “Pray For Plagues” is pure early-scene brutality: chugging guitars, savage vocal delivery, and a tempo drop that feels like the song just fell down a flight of stairs. It’s messy, it’s violent, and that’s exactly why it works for the “old-school” deathcore crowd.
Knocked Loose has become one of the most dangerous live bands in heavy music, and breakdowns like this are the reason why. The drop in “Deep in the Willow” hits with ridiculous impact. The guitars slam into a punishing groove while Bryan Garris’ vocals slice through the mix like broken glass. This is modern metalcore at its most violent, stripped of melody and focused entirely on impact.
When this breakdown hits live, something strange happens: the crowd pauses for half a second in sheer awe before everything explodes. “Sun // Eater” showcases the symphonic side of modern brutality. The riffs are massive, the orchestration adds cinematic weight, and Will Ramos delivers vocals that sound like they were summoned from a nightmare. It’s not just heavy; it’s apocalyptic.
Meshuggah approaches heaviness differently than most bands. Instead of dropping into chaos, they lock into grooves that feel mathematically inevitable. The breakdown in “Demiurge” is built on one of the most crushing rhythmic patterns in modern metal. When it lands, the riff feels so massive it almost becomes hypnotic. You don’t just hear it—you feel it in your bone marrow.
Few modern songs have a breakdown that lands with the theatrical force of “Baba Yaga.” The build is almost cinematic, and when the riff finally drops, the guitars sound enormous. Combined with Alex Terrible’s monstrous vocals and the band’s signature “mask” aesthetic, it’s not subtle. It’s supposed to feel like a monster stomping through the room, and they hit that mark perfectly.
When “To the Hellfire” exploded online, it wasn’t just because of the song structure—it was the finale. This section combines crushing instrumentation with Will Ramos unleashing a vocal performance featuring “animalistic” snarls and pig squeals that sound genuinely inhuman. The final sixty seconds feel less like music and more like a horror movie soundtrack tearing through a metal mix. It is the gold standard for the modern “Internet-breaking” breakdown.
Yes, it’s older, but this is the ultimate king of all crushing breakdowns. The closing section of “Domination” remains the most famous breakdown ever written. Dimebag Darrell’s riff drops into a crushing groove while the drums stomp like a demolition crew. Modern bands built entire genres out of moments like this. It is the DNA of every other song on this list, and even 35 years later, it still rips harder than anything else in the catalog.
The “Breakdown Arms Race” shows no signs of slowing down. As production technology gets cleaner and vocalists like Will Ramos and Alex Terrible continue to find new ways to
make the human voice sound like a glitching chainsaw, the definition of “heavy” will keep shifting. However, whether it’s a 1990 groove or a 2026 deathcore masterpiece, a great breakdown does one thing: it turns a listener into a participant.
Which breakdown would you put at number one? Let us know in the comments!
What is a breakdown in metal? A breakdown is a section of a song where the tempo slows significantly and the rhythm becomes more groove-focused. The goal is to create maximum physical impact for live crowds and mosh pits.
Which genres use breakdowns the most? Breakdowns are the backbone of metalcore, deathcore, hardcore, and groove metal.
Why are breakdowns so popular live? They are built for crowd reaction. The rhythmic simplicity makes them perfect for “wall of deaths,” circle pits, and synchronized headbanging.
The post The 13 Most Brutal Metal Breakdowns Ever Recorded (Ranked) appeared first on Loaded Radio.
The ever-busy Mike Patton is cropping up in yet another little project, as it was announced earlier today that he’ll have a guest vocal part on French post-punk artist Jehnny Beth’s next single “Look At Me”. The track is coming out this Friday, so we’ll know more than the little instrumental snippet shared on the announcement post.
All we know now is that Patton’s involved, it’s coming at the end of the week, and that it was written and produced by Beth’s partner, Johnny Hostile.
Patton, who’s been in the news lately for both the announcement that Tomahawk’s reuniting for a tour and the fact that he felt the end of Faith No More was an unspoken truth. You can guess which one people were most stoked about.
If you’d like to catch Patton live with Tomahawk, you can do so at the dates listed below.
“A Huge Waste of Your Time and Money” 2026 U.S. Tour dates:
July 18 Nashville, TN Brooklyn Bowl
July 20 Austin, TX Emo’s
July 21 Dallas, TX Granada Theater
July 23 New Orleans, LA House of Blues
July 24 Atlanta, GA Buckhead Theatre
July 26 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
July 27 Philadelphia, PA Union Transfer
July 28 Brooklyn, NY Brooklyn Steel
July 30 Boston, MA House of Blues
July 31 Buffalo, NY Electric City
August 1 Cleveland, OH House of Blues
August 3 Detroit, MI The Fillmore
August 4 Chicago, IL The Riviera Theatre
August 5 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
August 7 Denver, CO Ogden Theatre
August 8 Salt Lake City, UT The Union Event Center
August 10 Portland, OR Pioneer Courthouse Square
August 11 Seattle, WA The Showbox
August 12 Seattle, WA The Showbox
August 14 San Francisco, CA The Warfield
August 15 Los Angeles, CA The Belasco
The post Mike Patton Featured on New Jehnny Beth Single “Look At Me” appeared first on MetalSucks.
Right now, it appears that Compton club-music traveler Channel Tres is on a mission to pay tribute to all the best clubby R&B tracks of the early ’90s. I sincerely support him in this endeavor. A few months ago, Channel Tres released his take on the En Vogue classic “Free Your Mind.” Today, he drops…
The post Channel Tres – “Medicine” appeared first on Stereogum.
Fear Factory’s first LP with singer Milo Silvestro promises a conceptual journey through AI, dystopia, and the band’s signature futuristic metal.
The post DINO CAZARES Details The Upcoming FEAR FACTORY Album: "Humanity In Fragments, AI Dominates" appeared first on Metal Injection.
Rising from the ashes of Las Vegas Deathfest, the inaugural extreme metal festival brings 25 bands, freakshows, firebreathers, and unrelenting riffs.
The post Vegas Un Alive Festival 2026 Announces Lineup Featuring DECREPIT BIRTH, THE CONVALESCENCE, CASKET ROBBERY & More appeared first on Metal Injection.