Thrash's takeover of heavy metal wasn't complete in the mid-1980s, but its dominance and influence on the genre can be traced to the events of one triumphant and tragic year: 1986.

An aggressive collision of punk rock energy with a generation's worth of hard rock riffs, thrash metal had already been peeling the paint off underground rock clubs in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York for a few years when the powder keg exploded with a trio of albums that laid the template for the next decade-plus of metal: Metallica's Master of Puppets, Megadeth's Peace Sells … but Who's Buying?, and Slayer's Reign in Blood.

"Eighty-six is kind of like [the] tipping point for thrash," says Albert Mudrian, founder and editor in chief of Decibel magazine. "I recognize '86 as the crowning year for that style, but at the same time, just the beginning of the end in a way."

By 1986, the classic thrash metal bands had fully formed identities reflected in the albums they released that year. In Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time, published in 2017, Peace Sells … but Who's Buying? ranked No. 8; Reign in Blood was No. 6; and Master of Puppets was No. 2. Anthrax's Among the Living, which came out in March of the following year, wasn't far behind at No. 20.

The Big Four of Thrash, as a journalist dubbed them in the '80s, were also charting on the Billboard Top 200, with Master of Puppets, the most successful thrash album from the class of '86, reaching the top 30 and eventually earning six-times platinum sales. While their contemporaries hung out on the chart's lower rungs, Megadeth's Peace Sells … but Who's Buying? would reach platinum, and the albums from Slayer and Anthrax were both certified Gold for half a million albums shipped.

Only a year earlier, record label bidding wars were heating up in the thrash metal scene. Metallica were the first band to sign with a major label, joining the Elektra Records roster in 1984. "Things were brewing — you could tell thrash metal was the next thing up to bat," says founding Megadeth bassist David Ellefson. "Mötley Crüe, Ratt, Quiet Riot, WASP, [all] the Sunset Strip bands were already enjoying their heyday, and our generation was the next thing to come up the ranks."

Michael Alago, the Elektra rep who signed Metallica, set his sights on signing Megadeth next. During a whirlwind week in New York, he took Ellefson and frontman Dave Mustaine to see Metallica open for Ozzy Osbourne at the Meadowlands and whisked them to clubs like CBGB and the Limelight. Megadeth signed with Capitol Records for Peace Sells … but Who's Buying?, but Metallica had paved the way for the thrash signing blitz.

"Metallica's trajectory was so huge. They carved such a wide path for all of us," Ellefson says. "And they were the model: independent to major label, land a huge, major tour like they did with Ozzy, play the arenas."

Released in March 1986, Master of Puppets put Metallica on a much larger stage than their first two albums, Kill 'Em All and Ride the Lightning. As Mudrian says, the band was "a fully formed machine" by then, a tight and relentless juggernaut that moved easily from neck-breaking headbangers like "Battery" and "Damage, Inc." to the epic, anthemic title track and the progressive instrumental "Orion." "It's insane," Mudrian says. "The pace of their evolution was just faster."

Metallica wasn't playing all the typical industry games at the time, though. They weren't on radio or television — they wouldn't even put out a promotional video for MTV until "One," the breakthrough single from 1988's … And Justice For All that introduced them to mainstream success. But the opening slot on the Ozzy tour was about as plum a gig as an up-and-coming metal band could land.

"The fact that Metallica got that slot on the Ozzy tour in early '86, that definitely exposed this new music to a massive mainstream audience," says Scott Ian of Anthrax. "Playing arenas with Ozzy [wasn't] so much the passing of the torch, but it's, 'Hey everyone, check this out, look how cool this is.'"

"There was a mystique around them because they didn't have videos," Mudrian says. "Everybody kind of knew that they were essentially the biggest band out of that group of bands, but it felt like they were kind of operating on their own plane."

Megadeth, meanwhile, had an ace to play that would set them apart from the pack: the mid-tempo, politically charged "Peace Sells," which had been going over well with fans at shows before the band recorded it. The song came together in the band's south-central Los Angeles rehearsal space, where Ellefson and Mustaine slept most nights when they couldn't find anywhere else to crash. Mustaine worked out the opening bass line and showed it to Ellefson, and the band finished the song in two hours at rehearsal that night.

Ian remembers thinking "Peace Sells" was unlike anything the Big Four bands had released to that point. "I was definitely jealous of that track," he recalls. "And what a lyric! I mean, just the whole concept — 'Peace sells, but who's buying' — it's so smart. We were a bunch of f*cking kids, and Mustaine came up with that when he was, what, 22? He's not just writing about axes and cleavers and the devil and Satan and blood. He came up with something super smart in that song, and what a hook."

Read: How 1995 Became A Blockbuster Year For Movie Soundtracks

MTV agreed. Not only did the video for "Peace Sells" enter rotation (albeit late at night), but the network also cribbed the opening bass lick for the theme music to their MTV News spots. "I remember we had the TV on in the background and [lead guitarist] Chris Poland was doing the dishes," Ellefson says. "And out of nowhere they said, 'MTV News' [hums bassline]. And Chris goes, 'Holy sht, was that our song?' And I go, 'Fck, I think it was!' We started to hear it more and more, and eventually that 'Peace Sells' bass intro became synonymous with MTV News."

By the spring of '86, Slayer had wrapped sessions for its third album, the brutal Reign in Blood, at Hit City West in mid-city LA with their new producer and label head, Rick Rubin of Def Jam Records. In his first rock production role, Rubin established the template he would use to reinvent artists like The Cult and Danzig: straightforward arrangements and bone-dry production.

"We really didn't know to what extent the impact was going to be," says drummer Dave Lombardo. "We were just doing what we loved and recording the songs that we were creating, and Rick Rubin was helping us mold this music in a direction that we weren't really accustomed to. I believe that Rick was really good at trimming the fat in music. Whatever's not necessary, it shouldn't be there."

Rubin's work didn't compromise Slayer's intensity; if anything, he sharpened the band's attack. His influence resulted in shorter songs and a total runtime under 30 minutes, meaning the entire album fit on one side of a cassette. They simply repeated the entire 10-track set on side B. Only two songs — the opener "Angel of Death" and closer "Raining Blood" — exceed four minutes in length, and the shortest, "Necrophobic," is barely a minute and a half long.

"Hell Awaits [1985] was such a statement because it really was at the furthest boundaries of extreme in metal at the time," Ian says. "I remember one of my initial reactions to [Reign in Blood] after listening to it all the way through, I'm like, 'Where's side two?' Of course I f*cking loved it, but I thought there was going to be another 20 minutes of it."

Slayer is fortunate it was released at all. Columbia Records, Def Jam's distribution partner, refused to ship it after hearing "Angel of Death," a song about the crimes of infamous Nazi doctor Josef Mengele. After a six-month delay, Geffen Records stepped in to distribute the album. The band later celebrated Reign in Blood on tour in 2004 with full-album performances culminating in the band being drenched in fake blood that rained from the lighting rig during "Raining Blood."

After Metallica completed their dates with Ozzy, they headed to Europe with Anthrax and Metal Church for the next leg of the Damage, Inc. Tour. Although Anthrax was technically touring their Island Records debut Spreading the Disease, soon-to-be-classics from Among the Living such as "I Am the Law" and "Caught in a Mosh" were popping up in their sets.

"We knew when we were just playing them as a band in our room that we had stepped into a really, really big pile of sh*t because of how excited we were playing those songs and just knowing how the crowd would react," Ian says. "Once we put those in front of a crowd … we were right. We had something special."

Read: For The Record: How Led Zeppelin Finally Conquered The World With Led Zeppelin IV

The tour wound through the British Isles and then crossed over to the Scandinavian Peninsula for three shows before hitting mainland Europe. But they never made it past Stockholm, Sweden. On the morning of September 27, just before 7 a.m., their tour bus skidded off the road, killing Cliff Burton, the Metallica bassist who helped steer the band into the adventurous melodies and textures of songs like "Orion." The tour, at least for the moment, was done.

"We all went home [but] I went straight to San Francisco," Ian says. "I was actually staying with James [Hetfield, Metallica singer/guitarist] in his little apartment. Every day we would go out to Kirk [Hammett, Metallica lead guitarist]'s house. He was still living with his mom in the East Bay and we would just hang out and drink beer and shoot the sh*t and talk. They were able to just hang out and tell stories and move forward."

Within a couple of months, Metallica was ready to plug in again. They recruited Flotsam and Jetsam bassist Jason Newstead and returned to the road, where they would stay through 1987. Megadeth would, too, after hooking up with Alice Cooper, who was newly sober and back to playing arenas in support of Constrictor. Anthrax finished tracking Among the Living prior to resuming the Metallica tour. And Slayer teamed up with NYC thrash band Overkill for a U.S. tour of their own.

Metal was quickly evolving due to the influence of thrash. Slayer's lineage led straight to death metal, which began popping up in '87 and '88 and continued to push the genre to new extremes. The influence of Megadeth, Mudrian argues, skipped a generation but surfaced in a big way with metalcore bands in the 2000s. Metallica, of course, went on to recreate hard rock in its image with 1991's Black album, which sold more than 30 million copies worldwide and gave them the widest influence of all the thrash bands.

The Big Four finally appeared on the same bill together in 2010 in a series of concerts in Europe and the US. Any lingering animosities and jealousies were laid to rest — Mustaine, who Metallica fired before recording Kill 'Em All, jammed onstage with his former bandmates, and the bands gave their legions of fans the concert bill they always wanted to see.

"Thrash metal was always this counterculture style of metal, and it has survived strictly on the merit of our fans," Ellefson says. "As much as we've all gone to the Grammys and we've got multiple platinum albums and we've done these big tours, the real success is that our fans made us who we are. And even when mainstream media came and went, the fans kept us alive.

"I think that's telling for the staying power of our genre," he adds. "As I look at the Big Four plaque on my wall with 85,000 fans in Sofia, Bulgaria in 2010 — that wasn't [due to] one or two hit records and a smash on MTV. That's not, like, just a bunch of really great numbers on Spotify. That's a groundswell of, at that time, 30 years of growing something."

How 1995 Became The Year Dance Music Albums Came Of Age

On their new album, 72 Seasons, Metallica circle the wagons and consolidate all the elements that make them… well, Metallica. Which, granted, many bands tend to do when they cross the four-decade mark. But for these eight-time GRAMMY winners, it's entirely a new look.

"There was this strange thing for many years in our band," drummer and co-founder Lars Ulrich told The New York Times in 2016. "We were in such a hurry to move forward, and in such a hurry to move away from certain perceptions about us, that we kept chasing something that we didn't really need to chase."

Much like its predecessors, 2008's Death Magnetic and 2016's Hardwired… To Self Destruct, 72 Seasons eschews any detours they've taken in the past. The songs sprawl; guitar solos are firmly back; there are no NWOBHM covers or symphonic collaborations. The title is backward-looking in a different way — a reference to the years between birth and age 18. And the ouroboros nature of 72 Seasons applies to the lyrics, too.

"Full speed or nothin'," founding vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield barks in lead single "Lux Æterna," a direct quote of "Motorbreath" from their 1983 debut album, Kill 'Em All. In "Room or Mirrors," he quotes "broken, beat and scarred" from Death Magnetic. Those 42 years together — approximately 168 seasons? — are clearly on these four men's minds.

With 72 Seasons tantalizingly close to release, take a look back, just as Metallica do on record — and find answers to six key facts about the world-dominating thrash titans.

Who Used To Be In Metallica?

While Metallica has maintained its current lineup since 2003 — Hetfield, Ulrich, guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo — the band has some famous former members.

The spirit of their early bassist, Cliff Burton, hangs heavy in the rearview; he died in a touring van accident in 1986, right as they hit a zenith with 1986's Master of Puppets.

In a spat that honestly deserves its own article, Megadeth leader Dave Mustaine was the original lead guitarist of Metallica; he's credited as a songwriter on a handful of songs on Kill 'Em All and their celebrated second album, 1984's Ride the Lightning.

Other past members include their original bassist, Ron McGovney, and mid-period bassist, Jason Newsted, who left the band in 2001 to focus on his band Echobrain.

How Many Albums Has Metallica Sold?

Metallica have sold more than 125 million albums worldwide — 67 million of those stateside.

At press time, their best-selling album is 1991's Metallica, or The Black Album — the one with indelible hits from "Enter Sandman" to "Nothing Else Matters" — with a whopping 17 million sales.

How Many GRAMMYs Has Metallica Won?

As of 2023, Metallica have won eight GRAMMYs and been nominated for 18.

In order, those eight wins were for… 

• Best Rock Performance ("One")

• Best Metal Performance ("Stone Cold Crazy")

Best Rock Performance (Metallica*)

• Best Metal Performance ("Better Than You")

• Best Hard Rock Performance ("Whiskey in the Jar")

• Best Rock Instrumental Performance ("The Call Of Ktulu")

• Best Metal Performance ("St. Anger"),

• Best Metal Performance ("My Apocalypse")

Check out Metallica's complete GRAMMY stats here!

What Is Metallica's Biggest Song?

By the standard of the Billboard Hot 100, Metallica's most successful song was "Until It Sleeps" from their 1996 album Load — their sole top 10 hit, which peaked at No. 10 and remained on the chart for 20 weeks.

(As per the Billboard 200, their most successful album is The Black Album, which peaked at No. 1, hung there for four weeks, and spent an incredible 706 weeks on the chart.)

Song-wise, though, a look at more granular Billboard categories provides a clearer picture. 

"Master of Puppets" is their biggest track in the Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart; it peaked at No. 5. It's also their most successful song in the Rock Digital Song Sales chart, at No. 2; Hot Rock Songs chart, also at No. 2; Hard Rock Digital Song Sales chart, Hard Rock Streaming Songs, and Hot Hard Rock Songs, all at No. 1; and Rock Streaming Songs chart, at No. 3.

As per the Rock & Alternative Airplay chart, "Lux Æterna" leads the pack, with a peak position of No. 2. And while one can go much deeper into the Billboard archives for further information — and factor in non-stateside success — it's clear "Master of Puppets" comes out on top.

Does Metallica Have A New Album?

They certainly do. As stated, 72 Seasons will be released April 14 via Blackened Recordings. It was teased via four singles: "Lux Æterna," "Screaming Suicide," "If Darkness Had a Son," and the title track.

Early reviews are strong: Rolling Stone called it "some of the deepest, hardest-hitting music of their career." Opined Consequence: "It's the sound of a band having fun, laying into a ton of riffs and embracing its own legacy as metal masters."

When Is Metallica Going On Tour?

Metallica will embark on the M72 world tour starting in late April. The trek, which stretches in 2024, will bring the foursome across Europe and North America. 

Check here for their complete tour dates, and be sure to take a dive into 72 Seasons — the perfect impetus to consider the metal heroes' past, present and exceedingly bright future.

How 1986 Became The Epicenter Of A New Metal Sound: Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, And The Albums That Defined Thrash Metal

Chat Pile know they're odd ducks in their hometown of Oklahoma City. "It's either you're hardcore or you're shoegaze," the ascendant sludge-metal or noise-rock or whatever-you-call-it band's bassist, Stin, rues to GRAMMY.com. "Those seem to be kind of the two main options around here."

But it goes several steps beyond that. From singer Raygun Busch's idiosyncratic bark to their themes of mundane horrors to the sheer volume of memes swirling around their 2022 debut, God's Country, there's hardly an analog for this band anywhere.

On the other hand, Nerver are right at home in Kansas City, five hours northeast. The bludgeoning punk band, who released their whiplash second album, CASH, in 2022, are part of a rising tide of dark, heavy weirdos in KC. They're flourishing in many pockets up and down the I-35, which stretches from Duluth, Minnesota to the border between Texas and Mexico.

Birds of a feather: when Nerver played their first-ever Oklahoma City gig, Chat Pile were on the bill, and they became fast friends. Now, this nexus between two potent bands, regions and scenes — in what some dismiss as "flyover country" — is marked with a musical document.

Chat Pile and Nerver are out with a new split EP, Brothers in Christ, out Apr. 14 — a split-label release between Austin label Reptilian Records and Kansas City–based The Ghost is Clear Records. While Chat Pile's two offerings, "King" and "Cut," home in on their odder, mellower side, you'll rarely hear Nerver as heavy as they are on "Kicks in the Sky" and "The Nerve."

Ahead of the EP's release, Stin and Nerver’s bassist/vocalist and drummer — Evan Little and Mathew Shanahan — sat down with GRAMMY.com about how Brothers in Christ came to be, the emerging heavy scene in the central United States and their mutual love of Metallica deconstructions on YouTube.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

How did your two bands arrive in each other's lives?

Stin: It's kind of a funny story. I think the third show that Chat Pile ever played was this warehouse show in Oklahoma City. We were supposed to play; there were a couple of local punk bands. But then Nerver were on the bill, and so was Bummer. But Bummer bailed and Nerver ended up showing up, and we just met at the show and hit it off immediately, and we've been good friends ever since.

Evan Little: I think the I-35, as it usually is, was down to one lane, full of construction. We showed up to Oklahoma City super late and loaded in, and Chat Pile had just started playing. We watched them, and I don't think I had ever played Oklahoma City before. I don't want to speak for everybody, but…

Mathew Shanahan: It had been years for me.

Evan: We watched Chat Pile and were like, "Hey guys, that was a great set. Can we stay at any of your houses?" [Laughs.]

Stin: We've just kind of stayed in touch ever since then. We went on a mini-tour with Chat Pile, Nerver, and a band called Meth from Chicago, and we played five or six dates through the Midwest.

Evan: It was in May of '22, because we had originally planned on doing it in 2020, and then COVID shut everything down. Also, Minneapolis was in an uproar when we were originally supposed to play…

Stin: Oh, that's right.

Evan: George Floyd got killed. It was like COVID shut everything down, George Floyd got killed and my dad died all on the same weekend. So, s— just hit the fan, and everything went away. So we were like, "OK, maybe we'll try again in two years." And then it ended up eventually working out.

Stin: That was a really fun tour, too. That was a good time. And the funny thing, too, is I think from the get-go, we had talked about doing a split together. It just took a really long time for us to get our s— together to make it happen.

Evan: We were eager to do a split, and we met those guys around the same time. We lived close enough to each other to where collaborating would be pretty easy.

Stin: That's a good point, too. The proximity is kind of a big thing, because Chat Pile's based in Oklahoma City and Nerver is based in Kansas City, which is about five hours away. You guys have definitely traveled down a couple of times to come hang out with us. 

And music aside, we've come up there and hung out a few times with you guys at different points, too. So, I think that helps. The collaborative part of it has been really cool and fun.

Evan: Even in the middle of the country, five hours is close.

Tell me a little bit about the OKC and Kansas City heavy-music scenes and where your bands fit into those puzzles.

Stin: In Oklahoma City, the heavy scene has changed so much over the years. It used to be relegated to more DIY, Maximum Rocknroll-style hardcore bands.

But after COVID shut everything down, this new hardcore scene has emerged across the globe that has more of what I would call a beatdown quality — that type of hardcore, and it's all people who are extremely young. But it's cool, because the scene is sort of exploding right now with that type of activity. You're seeing an explosion of bands coming around.

As far as more experimental, noisy stuff goes, there's not really a ton of that. I know people will call Chat Pile "noise rock" or whatever, and we're kind of the only band like that in Oklahoma City. It's either you're hardcore or you're shoegaze. Those seem to be kind of the two main options around here.

Kansas City, on the other hand, seems like it's got a lot going on. In fact, I would say it's one of the more exciting music cities in the country right now, at least with the type of stuff that Chat Pile and Nerver are doing.

Evan: There are a lot of really cool bands happening in Kansas City. A lot more noise-rock stuff. Like Austin was saying, we met Chat Pile when we were on tour with Bummer, and there seems to be a scene for loud, sort of darker bands happening right now. So, that's been great for us and allowed us to tour easier and play shows with similar bands easier.

Stin: Matthew, you turned me on to Nightosphere, and they only have a couple of songs out, but man — I can't get enough of those. They just put out a three-way split with Flooding and Abandoncy. One of those bands is from Lawrence [Kansas], right?

Evan: Flooding is from Lawrence.

Stin: Yeah, but still, it's that region. You guys have an embarrassment of riches in terms of all that stuff. Then, I would also say the Denton area of Texas has that kind of stuff going on as well, so it's sort of weird. I guess Kansas City's not really I-35, but…

Evan: Oh, it is.

Stin: OK, it is: cool. So, that switch of I-35 from North Texas to Kansas City: there's a little scene going on of cool, noisy bands right now.

Evan: Yeah, from Austin and Minneapolis. There's a bunch of good bands existing around one interstate. It's good. It's convenient.

Chat Pile. Photo: Juliette Boulay

Tell me about the tunes themselves — how they came to be, how you curated them to swim in the same bowl.

Stin: On the Chat Pile side of things, we wrote and recorded these songs after God's Country came out. So, the flavor of it is a little bit different than what is on the album. We're leaning more into the indie-rock side of our taste a little bit. We thought this EP would be a good place to put that type of stuff.

The other thing that was kind of crazy about it: like I was saying, it took us a long time to get our act together to put this out. Instrumentally, our songs were written for months and months.

It took forever to do vocals because our singer's partner has some health issues, so he wasn't even living in the state with us at the time. So, we had to wait a long time for him to contribute his part of the music.

Evan: For at least one of the songs on the split, we tried to include it on our 2022 album. We were completely fried from recording and decided, "Let's not push this; let's save the song for another day." And then, Chat Pile was like, "Go ahead, we're ready. We have songs written; we're good to go."

The other song, we wrote specifically knowing that it would end up on a split with them. I know we usually write as we write, and it's never that we write a song for a specific release that we're going to know all the context of beforehand.

We went and recorded both songs at the bass player of Shiner, Paul Malinowski's studio in the suburbs here. Zack Alvey engineered and mixed it. It was a very easy and pleasant recording experience, and the songs turned out good. I think both sides of the split ended up complementing each other really well. It all flows well together, I think.

Stin: I feel the same way. And what's funny, too, is I feel like it's you guys at your heaviest, and us at our most mellow.

Evan: There's a slow song and a fast song, and then two of you guys' weirdest songs.

Stin: We deliberately wanted to do the record with Reptilian and The Ghost is Clear. Reptilian is based out of Austin, and The Ghost is Clear is based out of Kansas City. We wanted to do the record through them to tie everything back to the locale — the regionality of the whole project.

Stin, how has it felt being memed into oblivion?

Stin: It's really flattering, honestly. Because when we started the band, we never in a million years imagined that people would care about the music we're making. That's been the story of our lives up until this point.

So, my thought is: if anybody's thinking about us, whether they hate our band or think we're funny enough to meme or anything, all that's cool with me, because I would rather have people pay attention to us. They say the opposite of love isn't hate.

It's complimentary, too. Some of the memes are really, really funny. Those are the ones that we tend to share. We've obviously struck a chord in some way with people, and it's resonating, and that feels good.

Jonathan Tuite [The Flenser founder/owner, who released God’s Country] seems to have this weird knack for grabbing people's imaginations.

Stin: His tastes are incredibly eclectic, and he has a way of finding bands that live in this Venn diagram. They all circulate into or converge into this depressive, sad sort of world.

But it's tongue-in-cheek at the same time.

Stin: Well, I think you can be depressed and sad and angry and still have a sense of humor. Some bands on the label are funnier than others, but I do think that despite the kind of depressive nature of everything, he does have a tendency to pick bands that have some self-awareness and can joke around about that kind of stuff.

As underground musicians, what role do the GRAMMYs play in your lives?

Stin: I would say none at all, other than I am very much aware that people were mad that Metallica lost to Jethro Tull for The Black Album.

I'm a Jethro Tull fanatic.

Stin: OK, this is going to derail the question a little bit. But I absolutely love The Black Album, and sometimes I forget how much that album is imprinted on my psyche.

I've been reminded of it lately, because I've been going down this YouTube rabbit hole. There are people whose entire thing is they cover Metallica songs, but they do it in the style [of another album]. So, they'll take a song from Ride the Lightning and play it as if it were on …And Justice for All. They copy the style, the production elements… all of it.

There's this guy — I can't remember his name — but he's genius-level at doing this. The best ones are all the songs that get transcribed and played as if they're on The Black Album. I'm like, "Damn, maybe The Black Album is actually my favorite Metallica album," weirdly enough.

Evan: I've been in a YouTube rabbit hole of people replacing every snare in every Metallica song with the St. Anger snare. I think that's my favorite one. They should win a GRAMMY for that — the people who put that s— together.

Mathew: It was cool that Body Count won one not that long ago. That seemed cool. It was the same year that Power Trip was up for it right after [vocalist] Riley [Gale] died, and a lot of people were up in arms that Power Trip didn't win, which they should have. But Body Count still f—s.

Evan: I have no idea what's going on at the GRAMMYs — who wins or who's nominated. I can say confidently that I've never thought about it at all.

You're thinking about it now, buddy.

Evan: Exactly. When Stin told us this interview was happening, he said, "Get your tuxedos ready, boys."

Stin: It's funny, too, because whenever any type of awards show happens, my Twitter feed becomes insufferable for a day or two. It's like, look: awards can be fun. I'm sure it's fun to go, also, and put on your outfit. Look, my dad knowing that I'm doing an interview right now with the GRAMMYs — he can die happy now. So, there are many advantages to it.

Evan: I'm glad that Brendan Fraser won something. I don't know if they're all related, or what.

Where are your bands at in your trajectories? What are you primed to do next?

Stin: Chat Pile is working on a second album right now. It's slowly coming together. But in the meantime, we're gearing up to be way more of a road band than we've ever been before.

In fact, a week from today, we leave to go play Roadburn in the Netherlands, then we're going to play Roskilde in Denmark. Then, we have a weeklong tour in the UK. And then, we're going to embark on two coastal tours, which have not been announced whatsoever.

We're basically gearing up to do lots and lots of touring, and then hopefully, we'll have a second record out. We'll say the goal is by next year, but time will tell what happens with that.

Mathew: We're going on tour next month for 25 days.

Evan: If you live on the West Coast, come see Nerver.

Real quick, before we go: is there anyone you're excited about in your scene or an adjacent one that you'd like to shout out?

Stin: Hell and Primitive Man, to me, are making some of the most exciting music out there right now. I love Jesus Piece. I think they're amazing. I could actually see them being GRAMMY winners in a couple of years.

Evan: OK, I've got a really good answer. This band Missouri Executive Order 44 that just started here. Their whole thing is they play the heaviest music you've ever heard while dressed like bicycle missionaries. All the songs are about being Mormon, and it's a lot of fun to watch. Max makes everybody pray. It's a lot of fun. You guys should definitely give that band a GRAMMY.

Like Turnstile And Code Orange? 10 More Bands Expanding The Boundaries Of Hardcore

Between the annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Coachella and a release calendar stacked with fresh debuts and long-awaited returns, this April makes for an exciting time for music lovers.

This month sees Everything but the Girl's first album since 1999, as well as milestone freshman releases from IVE and Yaeji. Hard rock legends Metallica blend punk with heavy metal on 72 Seasons, and Illenium introduces a host of rock subgenres to his EDM catalog. Y La Bamba and Daniel Caesar bear the honesty and confusion of heartbreak, while Bebe Rexha and NF look toward a more promising future. 

From country jams to pop divas, GRAMMY.com delivers a guide to 15 essential albums dropping in April 2023.

Daniel Caesar - NEVER ENOUGH

Release date: April 7

With three critically acclaimed albums and a hit collaboration with Justin Bieber under his belt, a soulful rendition of Kanye West's "Street Lights" and his own passionate love ballads, Daniel Caesar has solidified his place as one of R&B's key players. 

Caesar's first studio album in nearly four years, NEVER ENOUGH, features introspective heartbreak singles "Do You Like Me?" and "Let Me Go," each of which meld blues and R&B. Caesar will commence the Almost Enough: The Intimate Sessions tour through North America on April 6 to highlight the new music.

Yaeji - With A Hammer

Release date: April 7

After a successful slew of festival appearances, mixtapes, EPs and even a merch drop on Animal Crossing, house DJ Yaeji is opening a new chapter of childlike exuberance. Her debut studio album, With A Hammer, features collaborations with fellow rising EDM artists Loraine James, Enayet, K Wata, and Nourished By Time and will dovetail with a North American tour later this month.

In an interview with Pitchfork, Yaeji explained that she curated a 111-page booklet to contextualize the release. The With A Hammer booklet details a fictional journey tinged with magical wizard dogs and conscious hammers, which she loosely references in the music video for the album’s second single, "Done (Let’s Get It)." Yaeji refers to the story as her inner "spunky kid who has just awakened and is trying to scream."  

Rae Sremmurd - SREMM4LIFE

Release date: April 7

In the mid-2010’s, Rae Sremmurd’s "No Flex Zone," "No Type" and "Swang" dominated radio stations and streaming platforms. The Mississippi-based hip-hop duo' "Black Beatles" had similar resonance, becoming the theme song for 2016's viral mannequin challenge and inspired Nicki Minaj's flirty remix, "Black Barbies."  

There has been no news of a comeback since 2018's SR3MM, while frequent solo endeavors from Swae Lee made a fourth release seem unimaginable. On March 9, the pair unexpectedly announced that the wait was finally over: Rae Sremmurd has finally reunited for their fourth album, SREMM4LIFE, leading with the cheeky single, "Tanisha (Pump That)."

Linkin Park - Meteora (20th Anniversary Edition)

Release date: April 7

Revisit the magic of Linkin Park's Meteora with a repackaged 20th Anniversary Edition. The group's sophomore album features some of the best-selling tracks in the band's discography, including the quadruple-platinum, GRAMMY-winning "Numb" and the Billboard Modern Rock chart-topping "Faint."

The revamped version includes six unreleased songs from the Meteora archives, most notably "Lost," which showcases the vocals of late frontman Chester Bennington. In a press statement, guitarist and vocalist Mike Shinoda said, "Finding this track was like finding a favorite photo you had forgotten you'd taken, like it was waiting for the right moment to reveal itself. For years, fans have been asking us to release something with Chester's voice, and I'm thrilled we've been able to make that happen in such a special way."

NF - Hope

Release date: April 7

Rapper NF is a silent star, quietly creeping onto the scene in late 2017 with his hit single, "Let You Down." Despite pulling over a billion streams on a single song, most people tend to overlook the existence of the artist born Nathan Feuerstein. In fact, he prefers it that way. NF's music was never about fame, but a place to lay out his battles with OCD and grapple with the resulting trauma of his upbringing.

On his upcoming project, HOPE, NF turns a new leaf, welcoming fans to indulge in a more optimistic view of the future. As he acknowledges the happiness he’s found in his wife and children on the album's titular single: "I'm a prime example of what happens when you choose to not accept defeat and face your demons." 

IVE - I’ve IVE

Release date: April 10

After stepping into the K-pop landscape in December 2021, IVE quickly became one of the industry's leading fourth generation girl groups. Tracks "Love Dive" (2022) and the viral Gloria Gaynor-sampling "After Like" (2022) ruled Korea's music charts, simultaneously receiving acclaim in the United States as one of the best K-pop songs of 2022 by NME and Teen Vogue. With such skyrocketing success, it's an understatement to say the anticipation for IVE's first studio album, I've IVE, is high.

I've IVE is a culmination of the confident IVE ethos, as their company, Starship Entertainment, described in a press release. To celebrate the release of their long-awaited album, IVE will begin the second leg of their Asia tour, The Prom Queens, this June.

Metallica - 72 Seasons

Release date: April 14

Fans have eagerly anticipated the heavy metal legends’ return since March 2019, when bassist Robert Trujillo teased the start of their eleventh studio album. Kicking off their new album is the guitar-heavy, punk-influenced "Lux Æterna." Following "Lux Æterna" are two more classic heavy metal tracks, "Screaming Suicide" and "If Darkness Had a Son."

In support of 72 Seasons, Metallica will embark on a North American tour  with support from Architects, Mammoth WVH, Five Finger Death Punch, Volbeat, Ice Nine Kills, Pantera, and Greta Van Fleet. Each city will see Metallica in a two-night performance containing two completely different setlists and opening acts.

Hunter Hayes - Red Sky

Release date: April 21

Knowing that the hazy turquoise of Hunter Hayes’ Wild Blue would be his final major label studio release, his seventh full-length album, Red Sky, becomes all the more symbolic. 

Red skies often signify change — a fitting title and visual as Hayes comes into himself as a fully independent artist. "This project is about the adventure of finding yourself," Hayes said on Instagram after unveiling two pop-country singles, "Sober" and "Someone Will." "Lyrically, it's for anyone who needs a reminder of how unique your fire inside is and how much the world needs more you in it." 

Hayes will begin his Red Sky Tour on May 6 in San Diego, culminating in Denver on June 3. 

Easy Star All Stars - Ziggy Stardub

Release date: April 21

New York-via-Jamaica reggae collective Easy Star All-Stars are known for their addicting interpretations of music’s most renowned albums: They’ve conquered the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Michael Jackson’s Thriller, and Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon.

Next on their list is David Bowie’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, now titled Ziggy Stardub, out on Easy Star Records. The album will feature guest appearances from Macy Gray, Steel Pulse, Alex Lifeson of Rush, Fishbone, Vernon Reid of Living Colour, and more. The first glimpse into the cosmic world of reggae Ziggy Stardust is "Starman," a charismatic take on Bowie’s single of the same name.

Jethro Tull - RökFlöte

Release date: April 21

On RökFlöte, prog rock pioneers Jethro Tull offer their own take on Norse mythology, specifically the apocalyptic tale of Ragnarök. The band's 23rd album launches with the release of "Ginnungagap," a flute-led rock tune inspired by the god Ymir. 

According to their press release, RökFlöte will largely be an instrumental homage to the group's incorporation of the flute. Throughout, Ian Anderson and co. will explore the storyline of "the characters and roles of some of the principal gods of the old Norse paganism."

Everything but the Girl - Fuse

Release date: April 21

It was an entirely different century the last time we saw Everything but the Girl. Since the release of Temperamental in 1999, the duo behind the sophisti-pop band got married to each other, published memoirs, and worked on solo efforts. Fuse holds Everything but the Girl in a modern context, exploring topics of love and anxiety.

Chatting with the New York Times, EBTG's Tracey Horn credits quarantine boredom for sparking the idea of reuniting as a duo. "We were confronted with the decision that a lot of people were confronted with: what are we going to do now? Are we going back to what we were doing? Or, is this the start of something new?"

Bebe Rexha - BEBE

Release date: April 28

In 2018, Bebe Rexha's contemplative Expectations narrated negative self-talk, heartbreak, and instability.  With the release of her 2022 chart-topper, "Blue (I'm Good)," and the lead single from her forthcoming self-titled album, Rexha reveals that she's settled into a happier place. No longer tied down to broken relationships or burdened by depression, Rexha just wants to have fun — and it shows on "Heart What It Wants." 

Bebe is a celebration, a requiem to the nights spent crying that led to her current bliss. Most importantly, it's an opportunity to connect with her supporters. "I want to see my fans in person. I want to play the deeper cuts, feel the energy of my fans," Rexha told Elite Daily in November.

Y La Bamba - Lucha

Release date: April 28

Latin indie alternative band Y La Bamba's Lucha has been a long time in the making, starting development right before the outbreak of COVID-19. Eventually, Lucha grew into a collection of stories of queerness, Chicanx identity, and loneliness prompted by the isolation of the pandemic. 

The album's lead single, "Dibujos de Mi Alma," chronicles the ambivalent feeling of loving someone but also recognizing it's time to move on. As lead vocalist Luz Elena Mendoza croons in Spanish, "Although it hurts, you will find/ The traces of another will give you affection." If "Dibujos" is any indication, the rest of Lucha's vulnerable yet relatable tracks will pull at your heartstrings.

Jessie Ware - That! Feels Good!

Release date: April 28

Fresh off Harry Styles' Love On Tour, Jessie Ware returns with her fifth studio album, That! Feels Good! The lead single, "Free Yourself," confirms that the singer is not leaving the disco present on her previous What's Your Pleasure? just yet.

In a press release, Ware explained that the album’s second single, "Pearls" was heavily influenced by disco divas Donna Summer, Evelyn "Champagne'' King, Teena Marie, and Chaka Khan. The album is a reflection of her growth, she continued. "That! Feels Good! stems from over 10 years of understanding who I am, and who I enjoy being as an artist and the thrill of performance."

Illenium - ILLENIUM

Release date: April 28

You probably know Illenium from his dance-pop tracks and remixes, including collaborations from the Chainsmokers, Khalid, Tori Kelly, and most recently, a rendition of Taylor Swift's Midnights' single, "Anti-Hero." But on his upcoming self-titled album, the EDM heavyweight is charting new territory.

With assistance from Jxdn, Travis Barker, Avril Lavigne, All Time Low, Motionless in White, and others, Illenium will be crossing over into rock sub-genres, ranging from emo rap to heavy metal. If you're a lover of EDM-pop fusion, don't worry too much — this album still holds Illenium's signature sound in his tracks with MAX, Nina Nesbitt, JVKE, and Skylar Grey.

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Can rock 'n' roll be defined as the loud blues- and guitar-based stylings purveyed by everyone from the Rolling Stones to Greta Van Fleet? Perhaps it's the smart, Brit-punk energy of Idles, or the lush new wave-alt-rock stylings of Phoenix? Or maybe rock is really in the grooves of stoner/doom band Windhand, or classic thunder of NWOBHM icons Iron Maiden?

In a word, yes.

Established radio formats and charts have long organized and codified an ever-increasing amount of bands, artists and songs. But that organization is a trap, making it necessary to divide rock  — sometimes randomly and incorrectly — into pigeon holes. Terrestrial and satellite radio and streaming service playlists remain divided, creating categories such as active rock, classic rock, or Adult Alternative. Yet these categories inevitably leave out key bands and songs, or include questionable entries.

In reality, listeners aren’t bound to genre as in the past. Today’s music world is proof positive that as lines blur, our concept of and interest in various forms of rock is expanding. An arena might see the fans at a Rage Against The Machine or Ghost show coming back on a different night to see Harry Styles or Rhianna.

The colloquial expression "I know it when I see it" (first used as a threshold test for obscenity in a 1964 Supreme Court case!) could also be applied to an attempt to define rock. Whatever rock is, it’s not dead, and these five trends that attest to the strong pulse of rock music in 2022.

Girl Power Makes A Comeback

Although powerful women like Lizzo and Lady Gaga top the pop charts — female representation is more scarce in the higher echelons of the rock world. While Lzzy Hale of Halestorm and Taylor Momsen of the Pretty Reckless play with the boys at the big venues, a new wave of rock bands featuring women and all-female bands are bubbling up, claiming their power.

From Los Angeles comes punk-glam-pop-rock powerhouse lineup Starcrawler, fronted by bold changeling Arrow De Wilde. On the darker City of Angels tip is the heavy charm of "satanic doo-wop" band Twin Temple, who made major inroads opening arena shows for Ghost. Also making noise from SoCal are garage-rock trio L.A. Witch, self-described "California doom boogie" band Death Valley Girls, disarming old-soul singer Lauren Ruth Ward, punk singer/guitarist Suzi Moon, and a host of other creatively bold women.

NYC is home to the firebrand vocalists of SuSu (Liza Colby, Kia Warren) and Woodstock, NY birthed fuzzy punk weirdos the Bobby Lees. Elsewhere, Australia's  Amyl & The Sniffers bring propulsive, in-your-face songs like "Guided by Angels" and ‘Hertz." Other shining lights include former Melvins collaborator and bilingual powerhouse Teri Gender Bender, plus plenty of young women making noise, like Pinkshift. While punk schoolgirls the Linda Lindas owe more to X than the Runaways, their cohort gives hope that the kids are alright.   

Classics Rock The Small Screen

Rock, mainstream and otherwise, helped make some of the coolest television shows even better in 2022. "Stranger Things" gave the 36-year-old Metallica song "Master of Puppets" new life among a younger crowd. (During their Lollapalooza set, Metallica paid tribute to the sci-fi show, and jammed with actor Joseph Quinn backstage.)

The Cramps’ goth-kitsch stylings made an appearance on TV sets via Tim Burton’s "Wednesday." The titular Wednesday Addams character danced her way into weird-girl hall of fame with the lo-fi legends’ 1981 version of "Goo Goo Muck." (And let’s not forget Ms. Addams' stellar cello version of the Stones’ "Paint It Black.")

The psycho-billy/horror-punk track was streamed on-demand over 2 million times in the U.S. — a more than 8,650 percent increase from the average 47 weeks before this year, Billboard reported. While it’s not quite Kate Bush-in-"Stranger Things"-numbers, it’s a nice bump that indicates a new generation of listeners for the wild and wooly lo-fi legends.

Other 2022 small-screen rock surprises include the sci-fi German epic period drama 1899, which uses a cover of Jefferson Airplane’s "White Rabbit" as its theme music. In an interesting anachronistic approach, the surreal period show uses songs that wouldn’t be created for more than six decades. The classic rock cuts include "Child in Time" by Deep Purple, Echo and the Bunnymen’s "The Killing Moon" and Black Sabbath’s "The Wizard." The sometimes-subtle song use certainly led to Shazams from kids and cheers from older folks.

Festivals Continue To Diversify

Once upon a time (not that long ago!) Ozzfest and Family Values were the "metal" festivals, Lollapalooza ruled the alternative nation, and rarely would the twain meet. (In a nod to the times, Ozzfest held a free, online-only virtual 2022 version that didn’t exactly draw raves from rock fans.) But 2022 saw the continuation of a sea change, with heaviness becoming the common denominator in a variety of festivals.

As demonstrated by Metallica at Lollapalooza 2022, and Nine Inch Nails and Slipknot billed alongside KISS and Red Hot Chili Peppers at the four-day Louder Than Life fest in Kentucky, sub-genres of industrial, metal, glam and alt-funk are meshing with ever-increasing ease. At Psycho Las Vegas, thrash band Suicidal Tendencies were billed alongside Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, while Wu-Tang Rapper GZA headlined a night that also featured black metal group Mayhem.

Vegas was also a destination in 2022 for the inaugural ‘90s and ‘early-2000s When We Were Young Festival, which served up nostalgia (and a few contemporary acts) from 64 of the biggest names in pop-punk, emo and hardcore. The sold-out event featured performances by My Chemical Romance, Avril Lavigne, AFI and Dashboard Confessional — acts which, back in the day, were often seen as reflecting separate subgenres.

Diverse rock festivals will continue in 2023 with the inaugural Sick New World festival. Set for May, the festival will feature bands once in the "nu metal"-plus genre — such as System Of A Down, Korn, Deftones and Incubus — alongside more diverse groups like Evanescence, GRAMMY-nominated hardcore hitmakers Turnstile, Chevelle, Mr. Bungle, Placebo, Spiritbox, and the Sisters of Mercy.

A Reignited Rage

Rage Against The Machine were one of the bigger bands that reunited for a tour in 2022 — joining the ranks of Pantera, the Mars Volta, Biohazard, Yellowcard, God Forbid, Roxy Music, the Gaslight Anthem, Taproot, and Sunny Day Real Estate.

But their tour was a long time coming. Rage first announced dates for a reunion tour in 2020  — their first full-length world jaunt in 20 years — but were sidelined by COVID. As the pandemic  raged on, racial and political unrest gripped America and the world, making Rage’s political musical messages in songs like "Killing in the Name" as relevant as ever.

The bright side? Rage’s self-titled debut (which celebrated its 30th anniversary in November) jumped back on to the Billboard 200 charts. So when the quartet played their first concert in 11 years on July 9, 2022 in East Troy, Wisconsin, hopes were high — and fan expectations were more than met. Yet two days after the tour began, singer Zach De La Rocha injured his leg; one month later, they canceled the European leg of their tour on doctor’s orders, and the remaining shows on the 2023 North American leg of the tour were scuttled due to the severity of de la Rocha's injury.

Rage closed things out with an incendiary three-night stand at Madison Square Garden beginning Aug. 11. De La Rocha was carried onstage by crew members and sang seated on an amp — but he brought the noise.

Backing Tracks Get The Spotlight

As metal and rock stalwarts continue to perform into their 60s and 70s (Mick Jagger turns 80 in 2023), fans still demand that their heroes sound like they did in their heyday, so it’s likely they might need some assistance. While it’s been a not-so-hidden secret that Ozzy used singer Robert Mason, hidden offstage, to supplement his vocals, bands like Aerosmith make backing tracks less of a secret, using singing keyboard players.

In October, a Twitter war began after Falling in Reverse canceled an Illinois festival gig, citing lost laptops. Reverse's Ronnie Radke posted an explanatory video message on TikTok where he said the band had "no other option" to cancel, because "as a band in 2022, you need your laptops. It's like driving a car without an engine."

Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx jumped online to agree with the use of backing tracks, but Sirius XM DJ/author Eddie Trunk was astonished. "First I heard about this I thought it was a joke to wind me up. How much longer are fans, promoters , media, just going to accept the epidemic of live rock shows… not really being live?"

Former Skid Row singer Sebastian Bach, a veteran of Broadway, concurred with Trunk, while Radke tweeted at the metal DJ, writing: "you wanna talk hella s— about laptops but go watch kiss lip sync, Steven Tyler plays the piano then half way through the song he stands on top of piano while it sill [sic] plays yet here we are acting like they all don't use tracks you f—ing idiot."

Blackie Lawless, whose 40-year celebration tour with metal band W.A.S.P. earned rave reviews, admitted to using backing tracks. "If I'm a fan and I'm coming to a show, I want that thing to sound as good as it can," he said during a fan meet and greet that was posted on YouTube."When we go into a studio — and let me clarify that statement; that's me singing — we do choruses, we double, triple, quadruple the vocals," he said. "When I listened to live YouTube [recordings of our shows] and we weren't doing that, it sounded thin. When we started supplementing it, it sounded better.

"If I'm a fan and I'm coming to a show, I want that thing to sound as good as it can," he continued. "There are other bands — the QUEENs of the world — they cannot duplicate 24 vocals at one time. That's what they do on those records. If you want it to sound like those records, you've gotta have some help."

Even if Falling in Reverse got blowback from peers, their transparency is becoming the new norm. It brings the fans closer to their heroes, mere mortals who struggle with addiction, have personal lives, and occasionally use backing tracks.

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