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Nothingness x 56 Brewing: Hopslaughter
Hopslaughter is a limited-release collaboration beer between Minneapolis death metal band Nothingness and 56 Brewing, poured to celebrate the band's third full-length album, Godslaughter. It debuted at a release party in 56 Brewing's Barrel Room on Friday, October 2, 2026

Randall Wilburn
5 days ago4 min read


Have Metal, Will Travel: Runar Pettersen and the Map of Metal
Three decades of festivals, pubs and graveside detours have turned one Norwegian Iron Maiden fan into the metal world's most obsessive travel agent. We talked to Metal Travels founder Runar Pettersen about tracking down album-cover locations, dodging fake "metal bars" and the one Motörhead pilgrimage we both still owe ourselves.

Randall Wilburn
Sep 308 min read


TRIVAN: Discipline After Collapse
TRIVAN could have vanished for months and returned with a finished record. Instead, the Zagreb black metal outfit is building Eternal Shore single by single, in full view of everyone listening — grief, discipline, and one anti-Christmas song at a time.

Randall Wilburn
Sep 287 min read


Mastodon Unleashes Poisonous Weapons Hazy IPA with Crosstown Brewing
Beer of the week: A new Mastodon beer Hazy IPA based on the song "Poisonous Weapons" the thier 9th album " Marrow Deep".

Tim McShane
Sep 96 min read


Four Shades of Bay Area Heavy: Marrower, Theya, Kings Beneath and Prima Materia Descend on The Hub
Prima Materia, Kings Beneath, Theya and Marrower didn't simply give Redwood City four metal bands. They demonstrated four very different answers to the same basic question: just how heavy can heavy become?

Randall Wilburn
Sep 312 min read


Four Bands, Two Countries: The Hub's August 18 Trad-Metal Bill
Space Vacation, Tower Hill, Adamantis and Hands of Goro brought four different interpretations of old-school heavy metal to an unlikely Peninsula stronghold on Tuesday, August 18. That night ,in downtown Redwood City, the distance between the Bay Area, the Canadian Prairies and Boston suddenly became very small...

Randall Wilburn
Aug 2113 min read


Doing Time, Drinking Well at Slowburn Co-Op Brewery
How does an American spend the Fourth of July in 2026, the 250th anniversary of the country's founding? Not with the usual hollow celebration via flag-waving, dog terrorizing explosions, and gluttonous consumption of food, but with the freedom to ignore it completely and go drink some damn good beer inside a decommissioned prison. That was the plan on Saturday, July 4th, one day after I'd spent a night working through The Zeppelin Bar and Left Hand Path downstairs, where I

Randall Wilburn
Aug 1813 min read


Camden Town: Metal, Punk and Independent Beer in London’s Loudest Neighborhood
The Black Heart, The Devonshire Arms, Werewolf Beer, and The Underground form a compact Camden circuit where visitors can move from locally brewed beer to a metal pub, an upstairs gig room and, finally, a full-volume Sunday-night show.

Randall Wilburn
Aug 136 min read


Beer, Metal and a Little Balance: MetalYoga at the Cart & Horses
On Tuesday, July 7, 2026, those who had signed up and made the trek to London’s legendary Cart & Horses were presented with a combination that, on paper, sounds almost deliberately contradictory: yoga, heavy metal and beer. In this context, it made considerable sense.

Randall Wilburn
Aug 105 min read


Eddie Takes Over Paris: Inside Iron Maiden's 2026 Eddie's Dive Bar
And, for one weekend in Paris, Eddie didn't just rule the stage.
He had his own bar.

Randall Wilburn
Jul 287 min read


Phrenetix: Forged by Loss, Driven by Thrash, and Still Moving Forward
Lina Vaštakaitė of Phrenetix playing at Kilkim Zaibu 2026

Randall Wilburn
Jul 248 min read


Out of the Mists: Ūkanose on Folklore, Folk Metal, and Fourteen Years of Kilkim Žaibu
A late-night interview with Ūkanose guitarist Linas Petrauskas in Kaunas — the band's formation in Vilnius, the folk-metal balance behind Šiaurum Vėjum, the record heat of Kilkim Žaibu 2026, and the mead he brings on tour.

Randall Wilburn
Jul 913 min read


Deliver Us From Ordinary Wine: Inside Italy’s Heavy Metal Winery
Daniele Santori — metalhead, vocalist, and winemaker — has built a winery in Marche, Italy that screams Heavy Metal. From his band The Dogma to his family's Collemara estate, the story of Heavy Metal Winery runs deeper than the label.

Randall Wilburn
Jul 48 min read


Iron Maiden's Epic Return to Paris
Iron Maiden's June 22, 2026 filmed concert at La Défense Arena was upended by a city-wide power outage mid-set. A full recap of the night — including the blackout, the recovery, the setlist, and what was being poured at Eddie's Dive Bar and venue concessions.

Randall Wilburn
Jun 235 min read


The Trooper Lands in Petaluma: My Day at the Lagunitas x Iron Maiden Release Party
A first-person Fermented Metal field report from Lagunitas Brewing Company's June 6, 2026 Trooper West Coast IPA release party in Petaluma, featuring Iron Maiden fandom, brewery-tour details, Maiden United, and an air-guitar contest.

Randall Wilburn
Jun 810 min read


Forbidden Comes Home: A Generational Bay Area Bill at the Great American Music Hall
Forbidden Comes Home: A Generational Bay Area Bill at the Great American Music Hall

Tim McShane
Jun 38 min read


May 28th: Sepultura's Celebration of Life Through Death Tour
Sepultura's Celebrating Life Through Death farewell tour rolls into Berkeley with Exodus, Biohazard, and Tribal Gaze. A first-person live report from the UC Theatre, May 28, 2026.

Tim McShane
May 299 min read
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