Vaults, Vices, and Vacancies: Metal's Reckoning With Its Own Mythology This Week

Some weeks in metal feel like a séance. Archives get opened, old wounds get poked, and the people who built this genre spend as much time looking backward as the bands spend looking forward. This is one of those weeks — a stretch where legacy acts are confronting mortality, loyalty, and memory loss, while a new generation quietly keeps the riffs coming. Here's what's actually worth your attention across the global metal scene right now.