Reinvention Is the Only Constant: What Mastodon, Bruce Dickinson, and Ohio's Own Shape-Shifters Have in Common
Every so often the national metal press accidentally writes a thesis statement for an entire genre. This week it came from Bring Me the Horizon frontman Oli Sykes, who told Estherini's Esther Wang that "the only rule with our music is we never write the same album twice." It's a tidy line, but it's also a challenge — and a useful lens for looking at what's happening across the country and right here in Ohio, where reinvention has quietly become the region's defining trait.
Mastodon's Big Swing and the Case for Never Standing Still
Nowhere is that reinvention conversation louder right now than around Mastodon. Drummer/vocalist Brann Dailor recently told Australia's Rebel FM that the band's upcoming album "Marrow Deep," due August 28 via Loma Vista Recordings, is "the right record for us at this point in time" — notable because it's the first Mastodon full-length to feature guitarist Nick Johnston, a genuine lineup shakeup for a band that's spent two decades mutating from sludge-caked riff monsters into arena-sized art-rock heavyweights. That kind of restlessness isn't unique to bands with major-label budgets and orchestra-sized ambitions, either. It's the same instinct that's kept Akron's own If These Trees Could Talk vital across a discography that's drifted from Appalachian-tinged post-rock into denser, heavier post-metal territory without ever repeating a formula — the exact kind of evolution that gets picky critics like MetalSucks' Dave Mustcomplain to (grudgingly) pay attention. Ohio's post-metal scene has always rewarded patience over spectacle, and that's a lesson bands chasing trends could stand to learn.
You can hear the same shape-shifting DNA in Ohio's instrumental corner. Cloudkicker, the long-running djent and post-metal solo project out of Columbus, has built a cult following precisely because it refuses to sit still stylistically — one release leans mathy and aggressive, the next drifts into ambient, atmospheric territory. It's a very Ohio approach to songwriting: don't chase the algorithm, chase the idea.
The NWOTHM Gap Nobody's Talking About
Meanwhile, Bruce Dickinson just wrapped vocal tracking on his eighth solo album, recorded at Dave Grohl's Studio 606 with mixing sessions heading to Florida next. It's a reminder that the appetite for classic, riff-driven heavy metal songwriting hasn't gone anywhere — if anything, the New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal revival has only grown louder as younger bands rediscover what made 80s metal bands so enduring in the first place: hooks, harmonized leads, and a total lack of irony.
Ohio's NWOTHM contingent deserves a lot more ink than it's gotten. Bands like Alexander are carrying the torch for that classic, galloping heavy metal sound without treating it like a museum piece, while Midevil and Trenchgoat split the difference between old-school heavy metal and thrash aggression in a way that would've fit comfortably on a mid-80s Cleveland bill. Add in the speed-metal-leaning Wyld Timez and the straight-ahead heavy metal of Skar, and you've got a genuinely deep bench that's largely flying under the radar compared to the state's death metal and hardcore scenes. If you're compiling a list of the best metal bands to watch out of Ohio in 2026, this is the pocket of the scene that's currently underserved by press coverage but absolutely not underserved on talent.
The Touring Machine Keeps Rolling
On the road, the scale of what's possible for heavy music keeps expanding. Godsmack headlined Poland's Pol'and'Rock Festival in front of a reported 700,000 people — a genuinely staggering number for a free, open-air event that's become one of Europe's biggest gatherings for rock, punk, and metal fans. It's the kind of crowd size that puts American festival culture in perspective, even as Ohio's own Inkcarceration continues to prove that a prison-yard setting at the Ohio State Reformatory can pull national-level lineups without needing seven-figure attendance to matter.
Closer to club level, sludge and Southern rock road warriors Weedeater and Zeke just added three more dates to their tour with Royal Thunder and Yes Ma'am — Minneapolis, Charlottesville, and Savannah joining an already sprawling itinerary. It's a good reminder that 2026's touring circuit is packed with exactly the kind of heavier, riff-forward package tours that used to be a rarity outside major markets. If you're the type who searches "metal concerts near me" hoping something worthwhile pops up in the Midwest, keep an eye on upcoming shows around the state — routing patterns like this one tend to swing through Ohio rooms in Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati sooner or later, and local sludge and doom acts frequently land direct support slots when they do.
Speaking of sludge, Ohio's own Dead Ecstasy works in the same murky, downtuned territory as Weedeater, and it's exactly the kind of band that benefits when a tour like this rolls through and reminds promoters the genre still draws.
Underground Doom and Black Metal Keep Their Own Counsel
Elsewhere in the underground, Texas doom institution Solitude Aeturnus announced James-Paul Luna, formerly of Holy Grail, as their new vocalist, replacing Robert Lowe. It's a significant move for a band that's been carrying the doom torch since the late 80s, and it's a good excuse to point back toward Ohio's own thriving doom corner. Bands like Atma, working the black-doom border, and Close the Hatch, straddling doom and post-metal, prove the state's slow, heavy scene doesn't need a Texas or European pedigree to hit just as hard. Doom's whole appeal has always been patience and repetition done right — a lineage that runs straight from bands like Solitude Aeturnus down to whatever's rattling the windows at a DIY show in Akron or Dayton this month.
Japanese avant-garde legends Sigh also resurfaced this week with "Unputenpu," a new track featuring Opeth's Mikael Åkerfeldt, continuing a 35-year run of embracing chaos and genre-blending rather than fear of it. That same fearless, kitchen-sink approach shows up locally in bands like Deapscufa, who blend black metal and symphonic elements without worrying whether purists approve, and in the atmospheric black metal of Echushkya and Void Meditation Cult, both of which lean into mood and texture over strict genre orthodoxy.
A Few Signals Worth Watching
Northlane have started teasing their seventh studio album with a title that reportedly leans nostalgic — worth watching for anyone tracking how established metalcore-adjacent bands handle the same reinvention-versus-legacy tension Sykes was talking about. Lacuna Coil's Andrea Ferro, meanwhile, spoke to Rock Hard Greece about how differently music discovery works now compared to when he came up, a conversation that lands differently depending on whether you're a band trying to break out of a regional scene or a fan trying to find your next favorite record. Composer Mick Gordon is set to perform his 2016 DOOM soundtrack with a full orchestra at the 2027 Radar Festival, proof that even video game metal has an appetite for scale and reinvention. And on a lighter but genuinely moving note, a power metal band was booked to perform for a hospitalized patient this week — a small story, but a real one, and a good reminder of why this music matters to people beyond the riffs.
Put it all together and the throughline is clear: whether it's Mastodon bringing in a new guitarist, Bruce Dickinson chasing a new solo sound, or a doom band across the country replacing a longtime frontman, the bands that last are the ones willing to risk getting it wrong in service of not repeating themselves. Ohio's scene has been quietly operating on that same principle for years, across post-metal, NWOTHM, doom, and black metal alike. If your band is part of that story and you haven't gotten in front of us yet, submit your band — we're always looking for the next Ohio act that refuses to sit still.
