Metal stories

Well, it didn’t take long. Just days after Zoë Federoff shocked fans by leaving CRADLE OF FILTH mid-tour, her husband, guitarist Marek “Ashok” Šmerda, has officially announced that he’s clocking out too. Posting to Facebook, Ashok confirmed what everyone suspected: that he’ll be finishing the band’s current Latin American run […]

The extreme metal community is mourning the loss of Nils “Nisse” Joel Karlén, founding vocalist, guitarist, and lyricist of the Swedish melodic black metal band Sacramentum. He passed away at the age of 50, having chosen to end his life. In a statement shared by the band, Sacramentum wrote: “With […]

In a plot twist so very Cradle of Filth, Zoë Marie Federoff-Šmerda has announced her sudden exit from the band mid-tour. The 33-year-old vocalist/keyboardist, who joined the eternally rotating lineup of CRADLE OF FILTH in 2022, bowed out with a statement citing “personal reasons” and a polite request for privacy. […]

For nearly two decades, Finland’s Hooded Menace have been less a “bridge” in the world of underground metal and more of a concrete pillar covered in cobwebs, mildew, and probably some ectoplasm. With their upcoming seventh full-length, Lachrymose Monuments of Obscuration (out October 3, 2025 via Season of Mist), the […]

Zoë M. Federoff has just dropped a bombshell – she’s outta CRADLE OF FILTH. 🎤💥 The 33-year-old vocalist/keyboardist, who joined the British goth-metal circus in 2022, posted this gem on social media today (August 24): *”It is with deep regret I share that for personal reasons I am unable to […]

Pittsburgh deathcore giants Signs Of The Swarm have unleashed their sixth full-length album, To Rid Myself of Truth, today (August 22nd) through Century Media Records. To mark the release, the band has also dropped a crushing new video for the track “Natural Selection”, now streaming on YouTube here. The video, […]

The metal community is mourning the loss of Brent Hinds, former guitarist and vocalist of MASTODON, who was reportedly killed in a motorcycle accident in southeast Atlanta, Georgia, on Wednesday night (August 20). He was 51 years old. According to Atlanta News First, the Fulton County medical examiner’s office confirmed […]

Remember when bands used to mean it when they said “farewell”? Yeah, us neither. SEPULTURA, currently in the middle of their “final world tour” (final in the same sense that Mötley Crüe’s retirement was final), have already started talking about—wait for it—new music. Because apparently nothing screams the end like […]

Metal often sings about death, but what does reality look like when we examine how its musicians actually pass away? Using the R.I.P. archive from Metal Archives, we analyzed the last ten years of entries (2015–2025). Out of nearly 4,700 records, 1,855 had a clearly listed cause of death. Here’s […]

AT THE GATES have issued an update on the recent silence surrounding the band, revealing a deeply personal message from vocalist Tomas Lindberg, written this past March, alongside news of his ongoing health challenges. The band explained that in early May 2025, Tomas experienced a health setback that led to […]