Artists have to explore. It's what they do. If they don't, as Behemoth's Adam Nergal Darski says, "it's a paradox." Once they start settling, compromising, copping out, the "art" becomes another thing entirely.
Sometimes that creative exploration is conscious, a deliberate effort to rebuild and redefine; sometimes it's subconscious, guided by instinct, dream logic or drug experience. Sometimes it means traveling the world, communing with shamans and street musicians and rented Japanese dogs; sometimes it means reaching out into different mediums, genres, colors and emotions.
Artists like Nergal, Glenn Danzig, Matt Pike, Turnstile, Cypress Hill, Greg Puciato and John Carpenter are all restless explorers. As fans, we might want to pin them down sometimes, see them play only the "old shit," stick with tried and true formulas, but, as the saying goes, if you love them, let them go. And hope that they drag us, even if it's kicking and screaming, along for the ride.
In that spirit, we present Revolver's "Explorers" issue.
Grab the Glenn Danzig limited-edition box set with three bonus covers, the Behemoth limited-edition box set with three bonus covers, the High on Fire cover and the Turnstile cover
Five Artists You Need to Know Now
Touché Amoré–approved post-hardcore group Gouge Away, ex–Dillinger Escape Plan singer Greg Puciato's electronic project the Black Queen, U.K. metallic hardcore act Leeched, L.A. scuzz-rockers Starcrawler and raging hardcore quintet Jesus Piece
Glenn Danzig
Whether in punk and metal, comic books or now horror movies, Danzig has always followed his own left-hand path. Why? Because "anything else is bullshit."
Behemoth
Adam Nergal Darski has communed with cannibalistic priests, faced his deepest fears in the Alps and made his most blasphemous album yet. It's all part of his lifelong mission to defy systems of control and expand his horizons.
High on Fire
Acid trips. Conspiracy theories. Dream logic. A self-described "true seeker," Matt Pike harnesses the psychedelic and esoteric into his primal stoner metal.
Turnstile
Hardcore's great new ambassadors take us along as they play Tokyo's Bloodaxe Festival, visit giant Buddhas, rent dogs, sing late-night karaoke and face off with busking Godzillas
Cypress Hill
From hip-hop to rock, from L.A. to Egypt, from champions of weed to Elephants on Acid, the West Coast rap pioneers have wandered far and wide over 30 years, but they've never stopped being family
Rez Metal
Since the Eighties, a select group of Diné has been cultivating new storytelling customs around heavy metal. We present a photographic introduction to this underappreciated music and scene, dubbed "Rez Metal" (shorthand for "reservation metal") by its creators.
John Carpenter
The director, composer and "Horror Master" revisits Halloween in the age of the Kavanaugh hearings
Plus, original black india ink piece by VBERKVLT/Justin Bartlett (Kvelertak, Trap Them), inspired by the artwork from Glenn Danzig's "vivid and pioneering music career" with the Misfits, Samhain and Danzig.
