Suede photo gallery by ©Richard Bloom

Photos by Christian Berg. Kylesa at Gebäude 9 in Cologne on 17 June. Christian’s gallery page. 

Photos by Andreas Ljungman. Youth Code at Skeppet in Gothenburg on 16 June. Andreas’ gallery page.

Photos by Christian Berg. Guitar Wolf at Druckluft in Oberhausen on 16 June. Christian’s gallery page. 

There was a time when sludge and stoner metal sat comfortably atop the underground’s food chain. Bands like Baroness, Red Fang, Black Tusk and Mastodon were defining the sound of heavy music’s more adventurous corners — and right there among them stood Kylesa. Yet despite following the band for years, they somehow remained a glaring omission on my live résumé. …

Conan Gray has built a career out of turning the intimate details of growing up into widescreen pop. Born in California and raised in Georgetown, Texas, Gray first found an audience through YouTube, where his vlogs, covers and early songs established the conversational, confessional style that would become his trademark. That direct connection with listeners carried into his music, transforming …

Few bands have shaped heavy metal as profoundly as Iron Maiden. Formed in London in 1975 by bassist Steve Harris, the band emerged from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal before becoming one of the biggest and most enduring acts in rock history. Albums such as The Number of the Beast, Piece of Mind, Powerslave and Seventh Son of …