Twenty Years of Goblin Chaos: How Nekrogoblikon's Anniversary Reflects California's Weirdest, Widest Metal Scene
There's a particular kind of pride that comes from watching a band you've followed for two decades still find new ways to be ridiculous, relevant, and — somehow — genuinely great. This week that band is Nekrogoblikon, the Los Angeles comedy metal outfit that just marked its 20th anniversary with a typically unhinged essay from frontman John Goblikon, who used his MetalSucks column to trace the band's origin story and admit, with a straight face, that the members are now officially too old to still be quoting Leonardo DiCaprio memes at each other backstage. It's a funny bit, but underneath the gags is a real point: California has produced some of the most durable, genre-scrambling acts in heavy music, and Nekrogoblikon's blend of comedy metal, melodic death metal, and power metal is a reminder that this state has never needed to pick a lane.
Twenty years is a long time for any band, let alone one built on goblin masks and songs about depression disguised as party anthems. Nekrogoblikon's longevity says something about the appetite California fans have always had for bands that refuse to be boxed in — a trait that runs straight through the region's California metal scene from the thrash pioneers of the Bay Area to the deathcore and progressive bands filling out club bills in 2026. If you're building a mental list of the best metal bands this state has ever exported, Nekrogoblikon's staying power earns it a spot in the conversation, if only for proving that weird and worthy aren't mutually exclusive.
Goblikon Goes Philosophical on GWAR
Goblikon didn't stop at nostalgia this week. In a separate MondaySucks column, he turned his attention to GWAR's now-infamous stage bit involving the on-stage dispatching of an orange-hued political caricature, arguing — tongue firmly in cheek — that the shock-rock legends were actually performing an act of inclusivity by giving everyone, regardless of political stripe, someone to boo. It's the kind of gonzo media criticism that only makes sense coming from someone who's spent two decades inside a goblin mask, and it's a good example of how California's metal writers and musicians increasingly double as scene commentators, not just performers. That blurred line between band member and columnist is becoming its own minor trend, and it's one worth watching as more musicians pick up bylines alongside microphones.
MetalSucks Reinvents the Review, One Absurd Column at a Time
Speaking of new formats, MetalSucks rolled out a couple of fresh recurring features this week that are worth flagging for anyone tracking how metal media covers this region. Dave Mustcomplain's Disgruntled Dad Reviews column tried out a new rating system on Northern California grindcore-death outfit Deathgrave's record, continuing the site's tradition of filtering brutal death metal through the lens of a burnt-out parent who's seen it all. Meanwhile, the outlet's new Wednesday advice column, Do I Suck?, tackled a genuinely California-flavored pit dilemma: is it acceptable to spray perfume in the middle of a mosh pit? It sounds like a punchline, but anyone who's stood in a crowd at a Bay Area basement show or a Southern California hardcore matinee knows pit etiquette is a real and constantly negotiated social contract. As California's upcoming shows calendar fills back up heading into 2026, these are the kinds of unwritten rules that keep circle pits from turning into actual fights — and it's refreshing to see a major outlet finally treat scene etiquette as worthy of serious, if comedic, discourse.
Heavy Metal's Elder Statesmen Remind California Where It All Started
Zoom out from the comedy and columns and there's a quieter thread running through this week's headlines: heavy metal's old guard is still restless. Blaze Bayley, who fronted Iron Maiden more than 25 years ago, told Greece's Altars of Metal he's in the early stages of "catching ideas" for a follow-up to 2024's Circle of Stone, insisting the material has to feel right before he commits. Around the same time, original AC/DC vocalist Dave Evans dropped a new single, "Loup Garou," the second cut from his album Justice. Neither of these artists is a California act, but their continued presence on the touring and release circuit matters here because it underlines just how much of the genre's foundation was built by singers and bands who are still working, still releasing music, decades after their most famous records became fixtures on every list of the best metal albums of all time.
That kind of longevity is exactly what's fueling renewed interest in California's own heavy metal and NWOTHM underground — a scene that's long been underserved by press coverage relative to its size. Bands like Tyrant carry that classic heavy metal torch locally, part of a broader lineage that includes stalwarts like Y&T, Armored Saint, and newer traditionalist acts such as Death Dealer, Morrill, Secular Stranger, and Worldview. This is a genre with deep California roots stretching back to the era of the 80s metal bands that put the state on the metal map in the first place, and it's still producing bands worth your attention if you're willing to dig past the festival headliners.
The through-line here isn't nostalgia for its own sake — it's proof that the songwriting instincts that built the genre's most enduring catalog are still being passed down, refined, and reinterpreted by California bands who grew up on those same records.
Industrial and Extreme Metal Keep Pushing Forward
Elsewhere in the news cycle, drummer Raymond Herrera returned to the kit after a reported 16-year break to join Christian Olde Wolbers' Angst Fabrik project, a rumored rival outfit connected to Fear Factory's industrial metal legacy. That kind of unexpected reactivation is a good reminder that industrial metal, despite rarely dominating headlines, still has a devoted following capable of pulling veteran players out of long layoffs. California's own industrial contingent, including Three Sixes, continues to blend that harsher, machine-driven aesthetic with thrash energy, keeping the sound alive locally even as the genre's pioneers make their own comebacks elsewhere.
On the extreme metal side, South African deathcore act Vulvodynia premiered "Twin Tyrants," the first track to feature new vocalist Maya Pobst since she officially joined this past July. It's not a California story on its face, but it's relevant to anyone tracking how deathcore and technical death metal are evolving as genres in 2026 — vocalist transitions like this one tend to reshape a band's sound entirely, and California's own scene has plenty of acts navigating similar creative pivots as they look toward the next wave of new metal bands 2026 is expected to produce.
Keeping Watch on the Home Front
None of this week's headlines were dominated by massive California tour announcements, but that doesn't mean the state's scene is quiet. If anything, weeks like this one — filled with anniversaries, new columns, veteran comebacks, and lineup shifts — are exactly when it's worth remembering how much connective tissue exists between California's bands and the broader metal world. Whether it's a comedy metal band marking two decades of chaos, a heavy metal legend quietly sketching out his next chapter, or an industrial drummer dusting off his kit after sixteen years away, the stories all point back to the same idea: metal's staying power comes from people who keep showing up, in whatever form that takes.
As always, keep an eye on upcoming shows for what's coming to venues across the state as touring schedules for 2026 start to solidify, and if you're in a band that deserves coverage here, don't wait for us to find you — submit your band and let us know what you're working on. Between the comedy, the throwback heavy metal, and the extreme metal churn, California's scene remains as unpredictable and essential as ever.
