Silvertomb's Gothic Doom Drop Has Us Thinking About Florida's Own Funeral Doom Underground
Halloween season always brings out the cobwebs in heavy music, and this year the timing couldn't be better for Silvertomb, the gothic doom supergroup built around former Type O Negative vocalist/guitarist Kenny Hickey and Type O/Danzig drummer Johnny Kelly. Their new lyric video for "Brain Matter / No God" dropped this week, and it's exactly the kind of doomy, dreamy dirge you'd want soundtracking a slow drive past a cemetery at midnight. Rounding out the lineup are Joe James (ex-Agnostic Front) on guitar, Hank Hell of Sheer Terror on bass, and Aaron Joos handling guitar, keys, and vocals — a pedigree that reads like a who's-who of East Coast heavy music royalty slumming it in the best possible way with Peter Steele's old sonic blueprint.
It's a good excuse to talk about doom metal here in Florida, because this state has its own lineage of slow, suffocating, graveyard-adjacent heaviness that doesn't get nearly enough shine next to our more famous death metal export. Florida funeral doom and black metal act Tomb has been carrying that torch locally, working in the same glacial, dirge-heavy territory that made Type O Negative gothic rock royalty in the first place. If Silvertomb's new single has you craving more doom in your life, do yourself a favor and dig into what Tomb has been doing in the Sunshine State's underground — it's proof that the funeral doom idiom isn't just a Scandinavian or New York export, it's alive and well in our own backyard.
Swedish Metal Royalty Goes Solo
Speaking of genre pioneers stepping outside their usual lane, Nicke Andersson — the man behind Nihilist, Entombed, and the Hellacopters — is releasing a solo album. Andersson's resume is one of the most important in Swedish death metal and rock history, and the fact that he's still restless enough after four decades to strike out under his own name says something about the creative itch that never really goes away for lifers in this genre. It's a reminder that the first wave of death metal innovators — whether they were in Stockholm or Tampa — are still shaping conversations in heavy music today, even as they branch into completely different sonic territory. Florida's death metal scene owes an obvious debt to that Scandinavian lineage, and vice versa; the cross-pollination between Tampa and Stockholm in the late '80s and early '90s is one of the genre's great untold stories, and Andersson's continued relevance is a nice reminder of how deep those roots go.
Slipknot's Next Chapter Takes Shape
Elsewhere in the news cycle, Slipknot drummer Eloy Casagrande confirmed in a new interview that the band is tracking "a lot of songs" for their next full-length, following up on the "Arsenal" single that dropped in September. Casagrande's quote — "we are making real music" — is the kind of thing that gets picked apart by forum dwellers for weeks, but the bigger takeaway is that one of the biggest bands in metal is still actively writing and recording rather than coasting on legacy touring. That's relevant to any regional scene, Florida included, because the health of the genre at the arena level trickles down to festival bookings, touring budgets, and the kind of exposure that gets new bands in front of bigger crowds. When Slipknot is active, promoters pay attention, and that's good news for anyone trying to build a upcoming shows calendar in this state.
The Touring Circuit Keeps Getting Bigger
On that note, Dave Mustaine dropped word that a 2027 package tour pairing Megadeth, Anthrax, and Kerry King is already in the works, even if dates are still pending. Thrash's old guard clearly isn't slowing down, and tours like this tend to have ripple effects on the regional club and amphitheater circuit here in Florida — when the big thrash package rolls through the Southeast, local support slots and pre-show buzz matter. It's also a reminder that the thrash revival conversation isn't just a nostalgia play; bands like Megadeth and Anthrax are still drawing massive crowds decades into their careers, and that bodes well for Florida's own thrash contingent, including bands like Grand Vulcanus and Thicket, who are carrying that tradition forward at the local level even if they're not the ones headlining amphitheaters yet.
Meanwhile, Iron Maiden's Adrian Smith gave a refreshingly grounded interview about where the band is at more than fifty years after Steve Harris founded it. His comment that the band might be "enjoying playing live as much, if not more than ever" is a nice counterpoint to the usual grizzled-veteran cynicism we expect from bands that have been at it this long. It's the kind of longevity that every band dreaming of a career in this genre should take note of — there's no shortcut, just decades of showing up.
NWOTHM Deserves More Ink — Including Down Here
Pro-shot footage of Nevermore tearing through "The River Dragon Has Come" at this year's Bloodstock Open Air surfaced this week, and it's a gorgeous reminder of how much technical heavy metal and power metal still resonate with crowds overseas. Nevermore's reunion touring plans next spring are generating real buzz, and it got us thinking about how underserved the New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal conversation is here on the blog. Florida has a deeper NWOTHM bench than people give it credit for — bands like Absolon, Murdok, and Hardwired are all mining that same traditional/power/neoclassical metal vein that acts like Nevermore helped popularize decades ago. If you're a fan of technical, riff-driven heavy metal and you've only been paying attention to the European festival circuit, it's worth carving out time to catch one of these Florida acts locally. The genre's roots run through this state just as much as anywhere else, even if the spotlight rarely swings this direction.
Metal's Mainstream Crossover Moment Continues
It's also been a big week for metal bleeding into unexpected corners of pop culture. HEALTH dropped two new tracks, "Negative Edge" and "Brainrot," written specifically for the new Street Fighter movie — following in a long tradition of heavy bands scoring blockbuster soundtracks. And The Pretty Reckless enlisted Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl and Pat Smear for a new version of "About You," with Taylor Momsen calling the studio session "an amazing time" in a new interview. Neither of these is a Florida story on its face, but they're both evidence of a trend worth watching: heavy music's walls are getting porous again, with metal and hard rock musicians showing up in film scoring, pop collaborations, and genre-blending side projects more than ever. For experimental-leaning Florida acts — a genre category that's honestly underrepresented in coverage around here — that porousness is an opportunity. Bands willing to blur lines between heavy, cinematic, and alternative textures are finding doors opening that didn't exist a decade ago.
Punk's Family Drama Never Ends
Over in the punk world, John Lydon used a UK morning show appearance to blast his former Sex Pistols bandmates as "deceitful, lying hyenas" over their decision to reform with Frank Carter on vocals, declaring he wants nothing more to do with them. It's messy, it's very punk, and it's a good reminder that the genre's internal politics have never been less dramatic than the music itself. Florida's own punk and crust lineage — from hardcore-adjacent acts to the heavier crust and sludge crossover bands in our scene — knows this story all too well. Lineup wars and bitter breakups are as much a part of punk history as three chords and a bad attitude.
The Takeaway for Florida
Between Silvertomb's doom resurgence, Slipknot's studio momentum, a stacked 2027 thrash tour, and Nevermore reminding everyone why technical heavy metal still matters, this week's national headlines all point back to the same conclusion: the appetite for heavy music in every subgenre — doom, death, thrash, power metal, and whatever experimental hybrid comes next — is as strong as it's ever been. Florida's scene has always punched above its weight in this conversation, and with new metal bands 2026 lineups starting to take shape across the state's club circuit, there's no better time to get out and support what's happening locally. If you're in one of those bands building a following right now, don't sleep on getting your profile in front of people actively looking for the best metal bands in this state — submit your band and make sure you're part of the conversation.