Miss May I Drops 'Death Threat,' Enslaved Unveils 'Mið,' and Ohio's Metalcore Roots Get a National Spotlight
There's a particular kind of pride that comes from watching a band you've followed since their local-show days show up on Blabbermouth with a new album cycle underway. That's the feeling coursing through Ohio's heavy music circles this week, as Troy natives Miss May I dropped the music video for "Death Threat," the latest single off their upcoming record "No Place For Me," due October 2 via Solid State Records.
Levi Benton, Jerod Boyd, Ryan Neff, and Elisha Mullins have spent close to two decades building Miss May I into one of the most durable names to come out of the Buckeye State's metalcore pipeline, and "Death Threat" leans into exactly the kind of blunt-force aggression that made the band a staple of the Warped Tour era before that whole ecosystem evaporated. The video pairs the track's confrontational lyrical stance with visuals that match its title — no subtlety, no metaphor-hunting required. It's the sound of a band that knows precisely what its audience wants and isn't interested in reinventing itself to chase a trend cycle that's already moved on twice since they started.
What makes this moment worth dwelling on for Ohio Metal Index readers isn't just the single itself, but what it represents for the region. Miss May I remains one of the few Ohio-bred metalcore acts operating at a national label level, and every time they put out a video that lands on the front page of Blabbermouth, it's a reminder that the state's contribution to the genre didn't end when the mid-2000s scene splintered. "No Place For Me" will be worth tracking closely as October approaches — early singles are often the least interesting part of an album cycle, and if "Death Threat" is the sharpest edge of the record, the full tracklist could be one of the year's more aggressive metalcore statements.
Enslaved's 'Mið' and the Long View on Extreme Metal Songwriting
On the extreme metal side of the ledger, Enslaved announced their new album "Mið," set for release October 30 via Nuclear Blast, alongside the first single "Solar Will." For a band with a discography this deep, the announcement alone is enough to get longtime listeners talking, but "Solar Will" backs it up — it's blistering in the way only a band with decades of technical command can pull off without sounding like they're trying too hard.
There's a lesson buried in Enslaved's longevity that's worth applying to Ohio's own death metal and black metal underground: consistency of vision matters more than chasing whatever the algorithm rewards this quarter. Bands operating in similar sonic territory locally — the crushing brutal death metal of Chingada Carne, the technical density coming out of Symphisiotomy, or the melodic death metal approach of Dead of Night — are all, in their own ways, playing a long game in a scene that doesn't always reward patience. "Mið" is a reminder that extreme metal's biggest international acts got there by refusing to rush, and that's advice worth internalizing for anyone grinding through the DIY circuit in Columbus, Cleveland, or Akron right now.
The Road Isn't Always Kind: Buckcherry's Bus Accident and Chris Holmes' Ongoing Fight
Not every story out of the national scene this week was about new music. Buckcherry's tour bus was involved in a multi-vehicle accident on Interstate 26 in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, early Friday morning. Thankfully, the band and crew have confirmed everyone is safe and unharmed, but the incident is a stark reminder of just how much risk touring bands absorb every night just to get to the next stage. Anyone who's spent time around the DIY and regional touring circuit here in Ohio knows this danger isn't exclusive to bands with tour buses and crews — it's the same overnight drives, the same exhausted lineups, the same interstate gamble that local acts take every time they book a run of shows outside the state.
Meanwhile, former W.A.S.P. guitarist Chris Holmes continues to be candid about his prostate cancer battle, describing recent weeks as among the sickest periods of his life while undergoing chemotherapy in France. Holmes has been transparent about the financial toll of treatment through his GoFundMe campaign, and it's the kind of story that puts the entire touring economy in perspective — the same industry producing riffs that soundtrack a generation often leaves its veterans without a safety net once the spotlight moves on. It's a sobering companion piece to any conversation about the glamor of a life in metal.
Mutt Lange, Def Leppard, and Why Ohio's NWOTHM Revival Owes the 80s a Debt
Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen made headlines this week for crediting producer Robert "Mutt" Lange with roughly 99% of the band's success in the 1980s, a characteristically blunt assessment from a guitarist who's never been shy about giving credit where it's due. Lange's fingerprints — meticulous layering, vocal stacking, and an obsession with hooks buried inside heavy riffs — helped define what an 80s metal band could sound like on a mainstream stage, and that influence hasn't faded. It's still audible in every corner of the New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal revival happening right now, including here in Ohio.
This is a genre pocket Ohio Metal Index hasn't spent nearly enough time covering, and Collen's comments are as good an excuse as any to highlight it. The state's NWOTHM contingent — bands like Arena, Tilt, and Alexander — are working in a lineage that runs directly back to the arena-rock precision Lange helped engineer decades ago. That's not a coincidence. When people talk about the best metal albums of all time, the conversation almost always loops back to that 80s production playbook: big drums, bigger choruses, guitar tones sharp enough to cut. Ohio's NWOTHM bands are proof that formula hasn't lost its power, even stripped of the major-label budgets that made "Hysteria" possible in the first place. If you're building a list of the best heavy metal songs to blast on a road trip, odds are at least half of them trace their DNA straight to that Lange-era template — and the current crop of traditional metal revivalists knows it.
Where This Leaves the Local Scene
Between Miss May I's continued national relevance, Enslaved's disciplined extreme metal craftsmanship, and a renewed appreciation for the 80s production values fueling Ohio's NWOTHM underground, this week's headlines make a strong case for range. The best metal bands, whether they're playing metalcore, black metal, or straight-up traditional heavy metal, tend to share the same trait: they know exactly what they are and refuse to dilute it chasing a trend.
That's a mindset worth carrying into however you're planning your next few weekends. If you're searching for metal concerts near me and coming up short, don't sleep on the smaller rooms — Ohio's basements, VFW halls, and mid-size venues are where the next wave of new metal bands 2026 will be cutting their teeth long before any of them land a Nuclear Blast or Solid State deal. Keep an eye on upcoming shows across the state, because as touring picks back up heading into metal bands touring 2026 season, the gap between the bands making national headlines and the ones playing your local dive bar is often just a matter of time and reps.
And if you're in one of those bands grinding through that gap right now, we want to hear about it — submit your band and help us keep building out the most complete picture of what Ohio's metal scene actually sounds like, one release at a time.