Today the A.V. Club published the first of a four-part series on the oral history of Chicago's underrated metal music scene. more ›

Today's listings include a night of metal at Reggie's. more ›

We felt very minor key today. Here's something to scratch that itch - the first ever performance from Antioch Secret Society in 2005, recorded at Double Door. more ›

Someone just dialed up the awesome to immeasurably improve one of Katy Perry's typically bland musical numbers. more ›

X Japan is accustomed to selling out 55,000 seat venues in Japan. They're one of the largest and most popular groups in the world. Their shows are orgasms of pyrotechnics, drama and excess that makes Lady GaGa look downright lazy. And you've probably never heard of them. more ›

At the very least, Chicago metal quartet Bongripper can’t be accused of false advertising. Albums like Hippie Killer and the group’s recently released sixth record, Satan Worshipping Doom, are filled with thick-as-molasses, cannabis-laden mix of doom and trash metal. more ›

Torche's new EP Songs For Singles isn't exactly make-out music for a first date. Well, unless your idea of making out has to do with breaking a bunch of shit in your bedroom as you and a partner fling each other violently on and off the bed in shotgun blast-worthy fits of passion. more ›

Legendary heavy metal singer Ronnie James Dio, 67, passed away over the weekend. While no official cause has been announced, Dio had announced last year he was battling stomach cancer. Most well known for his time with Black Sabbath, Dio rocked Chicago on a number of occasions and The Beachwood Reporter has collected several Chicago performances by Dio for our enjoyment. [via] more ›

We're fans of the Winter Olympics, especially the sport of curling. And what goes together better than curling and...Swedish metal music? The women in the video are members of Sweden's Olympic curling team who - as of right now - are heavy medal favorites. more ›

The first time we heard Kylesa was when they did a cover of Pink Floyd's "Interstellar Overdrive" for a metal Syd Barrett tribute record. We dug the heavy way they attacked the song but what really impressed us was the nuanced handling of the center psych-out section of the song. But it was just one song on a tribute record so we kind of forgot about them. more ›

Ah Pelican ... remember when they were at the forefront of that whole "skinny indie dudes playing tooth rattling stoner metal" movement? Well, now there are a zillion of those bands out there, but we still think the Chicago four-piece is one o0ff the ones that do it best. Their new disc What We All Come To Need doesn't come out until later this fall, but we just got this taster of what to expect. more ›

If you are of a certain advanced age, and were ever into the rock and/or roll of the hair metal variety, chances are you patronized The Thirsty Whale. It closed in 1996 after a long run of playing host the the harder rocking bands throughout Chicago and it's suburbs. O.K., and Indiana too. Our band once played there but we didn't quite fit the mold since we sang wearing a hockey mask and a black one-piece dress ... but we did at least have the prerequisite long hair. more ›

Local alt-metal mavens Pelican just released a new video for their song "Lost In The Headlights" from their album City of Echoes. It's not the most inventive video of all time, but it certainly fits the band's aesthetic. more ›

When the inevitable chill finally hits the air each fall, some people relish the process of pulling sweaters out of mothball storage, mulling some spiced cider to enjoy in front of a roaring fire. more ›

We finally saw the Heavy Metal in Baghdad documentary last night and walked away rather stunned. It follows the one and only metal band in Iraq, Acrassicauda, from just after Saddam's defeat through 2006 when they are seeking refugee status in Syria. (Currently the band is in Turkey.) more ›

We guess this is what happens when you live in the suburbs. Oak Lawn has recently had a rash of theft. The object, manhole covers. There's been eight stolen since mid March, but authorities think it's more than just a prank. more ›

It's been a long week, the weather sucks, this day seems like it's never going to end ... so leave it to Thor, the God of Metal, to cheer us up. more ›