Metallica hosting their own festival could have easily been a failure. In fact, when the band initially announced the Orion Music & More Fest, many said it would be. With a lineup of bands that included Modest Mouse, Arctic Monkeys, The Gaslight Anthem, and chart-topping country artist Eric Church, the inaugural festival seemed diverse at best, and “not metal at all” at worst. Then it added more heavy bands, including Sepultura, The Sword, Torche, Ghost and Baroness. When it came festival time, Metallica not only introduced many of the bands, but actively watched them. Robert Trujillo even reunited with his former band Suicidal Tendencies to play some songs from their side project he was part of, Infectious Grooves. In short, the diversity helped keep the fest from becoming repetitive, it was run amazingly well thanks to promoter C3 (Austin City Limits), and while it didn’t sell out, everybody that went to Atlantic City’s Bader Field had a great time and got their money’s worth. The band’s already announced that there will be another one.
Puscifer officially launched their first-ever comic series, Tales From the Pusciverse. The debut issue centers on the character Bellendia Black. The group recently shared more visual details on the comic series during the visualizer for their latest single,...
German rock/metal trio The Hirsch Effekt have never been especially interested in blunt-force emotionalism. Their music has always behaved more like a conversation you replay later, wondering why it felt heavier after the fact. Their new single, “Die Brücke,” leans...
Swedish heavy metal outfit Bullet have teamed up with Metal Insider to share a track-by-track guide on their new album, Kickstarter, available now. Formed in 2001 with a mission to carry the torch of late '70s and early '80s heavy metal, the group has spent nearly 25...
New & Noteworthy is Metal Insider’s weekly column highlighting some of the newest rock and metal releases coming out each week. This week counts new music from the likes of Alter Bridge, The Protomen, Zu Beyond The Black and Bullet amongst the many outstanding...
New & Noteworthy is Metal Insider’s weekly column highlighting some of the newest rock and metal releases coming out each week. Kicking off 2026, this week’s new music includes albums from the likes of Excavated Graves, Fuath, Wildhunt and Dawnbreaker amongst the...
New & Noteworthy is Metal Insider’s weekly column highlighting some of the newest rock and metal releases coming out each week. This week sees new muisc from the likes of Peter Criss, Dead Sun and Lychgate amongst the many outstanding works hitting shelves. Don’t...
