Subject: Metal and Hardcore

• Backwash

  July 13, 2000

• Anvil! The Story of Anvil

  June 4, 2009

• Best Web Site With Bite

  April 4, 2002

• Probot

  February 12, 2004

• Mushroomhead

  April 29, 2004

• ZAO

  May 27, 2004

• The Beatdown

  June 3, 2004

• The Birthday Girl

  July 1, 2004

• Shadows Fall

  August 5, 2004

• Best Long-Winded Metal Album Title

  March 24, 2005

• Best Tribute Band

  March 24, 2005

• Best Frontman

  March 24, 2005

• The 69 Eyes

  June 21, 2007

• Vader

  November 22, 2007

• All That Remains

  February 14, 2008

• Saviours

  February 14, 2008

• Sworn Enemy

  March 6, 2008

• Meshuggah

  April 10, 2008

• In Flames

  April 10, 2008

• Car Bomb

  August 28, 2008

• Irepress

  April 2, 2009

• Goblin Cock

  February 19, 2009

• Rodrigo y Gabriela Prove Their Metal

  July 17, 2008

• Harping on It

  May 1, 2008

• Mini Reviews

  April 24, 2008

• Meet Napalm Death, grindcore's progenitors

  May 7, 2009

• The young men of Havok prove their metal

  May 14, 2009

• Last night: Gojira at the Marquis

  Krallice as seen through the lens of Tom MurphyGojira, Krallice and Wolves in the Throne Room Wednesday, May 13, 2009 Marquis Theater, Denver Better Than: A nationalist rather than socially conscious black metal show. Krallice opened the show. A four-piece whose membership includes Mick Barr, one of Marnie Stern's primary influences, the outfit at first sounded like a progressive metal band, but went on to showcase guitar work that was a little too weird and outside the lines to fit strictly in

  May 14, 2009

• Rocky Mountain Low top seller at Wax Trax again

  Rocky Mountain Low, a compilation of Colorado underground bands from the late-'70s, grabbed the top spot at Wax Trax for the week ending June 7. The album, which was the top seller a few weeks ago, beat last week's top seller, Sunn O)))'s Monoliths & Dimensions and Rancid's new album, Let the Dominoes Fall. See the full breakdown after the jump.

  June 8, 2009

• Westword Music Showcase reviewed: Broadways

  Aaron ThackerayHavok led things off at Broadways. See more photos from Broadways at westword.com/slideshow. Havok, 12 p.m. This four-piece band sounded like classic Bay Area thrash, stuff reminiscent of Testament and Exodus with a splash of Anthrax. The guitar work owed a clear debt to a death metal influence, and the vocalist's wail and singing was akin to that of Tom Araya circa Show No Mercy and Reign In Blood. Over halfway through the set, Havok performed a fairly faithful cover of "Number

  June 15, 2009

• Q&A with Terrance Hobbs of Suffocation

  The Suffocation piece running in this week's paper was culled from Phil Freeman's recent conversation with Terrance Hobbs of Suffocation. As with many of our other Rough Mixes features, there's far more to the story of this stalwart New York-based death metal band than there was space. As such, after the jump, we've posted Freeman and Hobbs's exchange in its entirety.

  June 17, 2009

• Suffocation is still deadly after all these years

  June 18, 2009

• Ascaris considers itself a punk band that plays metal

  June 25, 2009

• Alert at the Gemini Party

  June 18, 2009

• Born in Winter

  July 2, 2009

• Judas Priest

  August 6, 2009

• Ronnie James Dio made a fine replacement for Ozzy in Sabbath. Who are some other notable surrogates?

  August 13, 2009

• Sunn O)))

  August 13, 2009

• The band retains the name

  ​In the world of heavy metal, lead singers are as indispensible as riffs and distortion--that is, except for when they get used up and thrown away like yesterday's drumsticks. While frontmen are the face and voice of many bands, they seem particularly prone to quitting, dying or getting fired, leaving groups in the strange position of having to find an entirely new public image. Some bands, like AC/DC, have managed to make the most of replacement lead singers. Others, like Van Halen, haven't.

  August 12, 2009

• Last night: Sunn O))) at the Bluebird

  Sunn O))) rise (Tom Murphy)​SunnO))), Eagle Twin and The AccüsedBluebird TheaterThursday, August 13th, 2009Better Than: Some commentators on SunnO))) would have you believe. The two-piece Eagle Twin kicked off the show in high spirits. Although mining similar artistic territory as Isis, Twin brought its own take on experimental metal. With the sometimes staggered, sometimes storming percussion and the sculpted guitar distortion channeled into elastic rhythms coupled with the gravelly, hist

  August 14, 2009

• The Westword.com blog shortcut, August 14 edition

  Photo by Tom MurphyThe Sunn O))) will come out tomorrow....​Getting your weekend off on the right note.... Today in Backbeat Online: • Last night: Sunn O))) at the Bluebird. • Hearsay bits: Van Morrison, Yonder Mountain String Band, Tyler Despres Band, Pictureplane. • Freaky Friday - "Performance" -- MC SpandX. • Remembering Les Paul, June 9, 1915-August 13, 2009. Today in Cafe Society: • Tonight: Mastering the art of French cooking at the Kitchen Table Cooking School. • Myst

  August 14, 2009

• Danava

  August 20, 2009

• And the winners of the Tauntaun tickets are...

  ​All right, the Tauntaun contest is over. Today's Friday, and we've picked the winners as promised. Thanks to everyone who entered. It was genuinely surprising to see how much everyone knows about Tauntaun, about the members past history, ie., what bands they've all played in (Sleeper Horse, Grace Like Gravity, Uphollow, Voices Underwater, Ian Cooke Band, Ian O, Drag The River, Rocky Votolato, Love Me Destroyer, Gamits, Pinhead Circus. Yes, we know that's eleven. We just learned how to count.)

  August 28, 2009

• Cattle Decapitation

  October 8, 2009

• Avett Brothers top seller at Bart's CD Cellar

  ​The Avett Brothers' I and Love and You, released last week on American Recordings, grabbed the top spot at Bart's CD Cellar for the week ending October 4. Jay-Z's The Blueprint 3 and Alice in Chains' Black Gives Way to Blue nabbed the second and third slots while Mariah Carey's Memoirs of an Imperfect Angels and Trick Daddy's Finally Famous rounded out the top five. See the full breakdown after the jump.

  October 8, 2009

• Over the weekend: Dethklok at the Fillmore

  Dethklok (Aaron Thackeray)​Dethklok, Mastodon, Converge and High on Fire Saturday, October 10, 2009 Fillmore Auditorium Better than: Seeing the Archies, Alvin and the Chipmunks or any other cartoon rock band "There sure are a lot of nerds here for a heavy metal show," said a friend while overlooking the sea of fist-pumping, metal-crazed fans covering the floor of the Fillmore on Saturday night. With acts such as the seminal hard-core outfit Converge and reigning metal kings Mastodon on the sa

  October 12, 2009

• Heavy Rotation, our top spins for the week of October 26, 2009

  ​As music critics, the most common question we get asked (and ask each other, for that matter) is, "What are you listening to?" The pervasiveness of this query is precisely what inspired Heavy Rotation, our latest feature. For the benefit of those who happen to be curious, we've compiled a list of all the things we're listening to this week. Feel free to chime in with picks of your own after the jump.

  October 28, 2009

• Slayer top seller at Wax Trax

  ​Slayer's eleventh studio album, World Painted in Blood, released last week on American recordings grabbed the top at Wax Trax for the week ending November 8. Themselves came in second with CrownsDown while the all-star metal band Shrinebuilder grabbed the third spot with its self-titled debut. Jason Molina of Magnolia Electric Co. and Will Johnson of Centro-Matic and South San Gabriel came in fourth with their new collaboration, Molina & Johnson, released last week on Secretly Canadian. S

  November 9, 2009

• Q&A with Alex Webster of Cannibal Corpse

  Alex Solca​Cannibal Corpse didn't invent death metal, but it has become one of the genre's definitive bands. Forming in Buffalo, New York in 1988, Cannibal Corpse quickly came to prominence due to its decidedly brutal music and horrifically detailed lyrics to match. From the beginning, Cannibal's album covers were a source of controversy, leading to bans on the albums and songs in several countries. Former senator Bob Dole, among others, accused the band of being purveyors of immoral music cap

  November 18, 2009

• This Just In: Slayer, John Mayer, Cheech & Chong shows announced

  ​Slayer and Megadeth team up for KBPI's Midwinter Melee on Monday, January 25 at DU's Magness Arena. It's the first time the two bands have co-headlined in two decades, and as a bonus for diehard metal heads, Testament gets things started. General admission floor seats are $49.50, while reserved seats go for $39.50 - $45, along with $10 "recession-proof" tickets. Tickets go on sale this Friday, November 20 at 10 a.m. On the decidedly less brutal end of the spectrum, John Mayer visits the Pepsi

  November 19, 2009