Guardian Music — Afghan rock band eschew belting out Metallica covers in favour of poignant, Britpop-influenced escapism, finds Rosie SwashIn 2007, a documentary called Heavy Metal in Baghdad showed the quietly harrowing existence of the city's (self-proclaimed) only... more info

NME — Bands to release split 12-inch for Record Store Day more info

The Quietus — Just 1,000 copies will be available more info

411 Mania — From Lars Ulrich of Metallica, John Bonham of Led Zeppelin and Dave Grohl of Nirvana to Joey Jordison of Slipknot, Neil Peart of Rush and Bill Ward of Black Sabbath, the 411Music Staff rank their Top 5 Favorite drummers! See which drummers made the l... more info

Metalsucks — Passover starts at sundown tonight! If you’re like me and you hate your extended family, that’s terrible news. On the other hand, I get to ask the Four Questions a-fucking-gain, since my cousins and I all refuse to grow the fuck up and have babie... more info

Metal Injection — Welcome to Revelations of Doom, Metal Injection's friendly little periodic reminder that there's more to metal than Mastodon and Metallica. Kvlt correspondent Grim Kim toils away ceaselessly in the basements, back alleys, and blogs in which the essen... more info

Guardian Music — American soprano Renée Fleming has dazzled opera fans for decades. Now, suddenly, she's growling rock songs by the likes of Muse and Arcade Fire. Here she tells us why… Earlier this year New York musical manager Peter Mensch played a guessin... more info

Metalsucks — I’m not some demented ingrate, so I understand the reluctance of many fans to call bullshit on Metallica. After all, for a metal listener in the ‘80s, there was no discussion of the best or the most influential band: Metallica and Metall... more info

Guardian Music — Forthcoming 'remastering' of late singer-songwriter's debut album provokes complaints for correcting mistakes of originalA remastered version of the late Elliott Smith's debut album will be released next month, despite complaints from fans who, er, h... more info

411 Mania — From Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Cliff Burton of Metallica to Les Claypool of Primus and even John Entwistle of The Who, the 411 Music Staff discuss their top 5 favorite bassists in the latest edition of the 411 Music Top 5! See which bassi... more info