MetalMania Live — The Only Station That Plays 100% Live Metal and Hard Rock. Every Song. Every Time.
The closing days of January 2026 are detonating across the heavy metal universe. Tours are launching, festival lineups are locking into place, and thousands of devoted metalheads are counting down the final hours until the world’s most legendary metal voyage sets sail.
And standing at the center of it all is MetalMania Live — the radio station where every track is the live version. No studio takes. No artificial polish. Only the raw power of metal and hard rock as it exists in its natural habitat: onstage, amplified, and alive.
This week’s metal headlines read like a manifesto of volume and movement:
The 70000 Tons of Metal cruise is days from departure. Major tour announcements are stacking across North America and beyond. Festival season is taking shape. Band news is shaping the sonic landscape of the year ahead.
Strap in. The stage lights are rising.
The World’s Loudest Cruise Is About to Leave Port
As of January 26, 2026, the floating cathedral of heavy metal — 70000 Tons of Metal — is only three days away from departure.
On Thursday, January 29, Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas will sail out of PortMiami carrying thousands of fans and sixty bands performing more than 120 live sets across four onboard stages. The route runs from Miami to Nassau, Bahamas, before returning February 2 — transforming open ocean into a nonstop live concert zone.
Boarding begins at noon on departure day, with final check-in by mid-afternoon. Once the ship clears the harbor, the real voyage begins: four days where sleep is optional, riffs are mandatory, and every performance is delivered in living, breathing real time.
For MetalMania Live listeners, this cruise is the physical embodiment of our broadcast philosophy — a world where every song exists only in its live form. Unique setlists. Surprise collaborations. Deep cuts. Improvised moments. Songs reborn nightly.
Exactly how metal is meant to be experienced.
A Lineup That Defines Global Metal
The 2026 roster spans nearly every subgenre in heavy music, from melodic power metal to blackened avant-garde, thrash, doom, death, folk, symphonic, and beyond. Every band performs twice, ensuring constantly shifting setlists and once-in-a-lifetime versions.
Notable 2026 Highlights
• VBO (Vice Business Only) makes its world live debut, merging synthwave atmosphere with crushing heavy rock — first-ever live performances that will instantly enter underground lore.
• Izegrim returns for a 30th Anniversary Reunion, delivering Dutch death-thrash after six years away from the stage.
• Recent additions Paradise Lost and Arkona deepen the darkness and folk power of the lineup.
• Metal giants including Anthrax, Amorphis, Kamelot, Tribulation, Royal Hunt, Vader, Soilwork, Eluveitie, Wind Rose, Insomnium, Týr, and many more guarantee wall-to-wall live intensity.
Sixty bands. One ship. Infinite volume.
And yes — expect many of these performances to find their way into MetalMania Live rotation, because the most ferocious versions of songs are born on stage, not in studios.
Artist-Led Shore Excursions: Metal Takes Over Nassau
Day three of the voyage turns Nassau into a metal playground with artist-hosted excursions — where fans step off the ship and directly into shared experiences with the bands.
• Harbor cruises hosted by Skeletal Remains
• Dolphin and beach days with Beast In Black, Soilwork, and Wolf
• Snorkel adventures guided by Insomnium, Kamelot, and Cemetery Skyline
• Historical land-and-sea tours with Heathen and Seven Spires
• James Bond filming location explorations with Rhapsody of Fire and Vader
• The legendary Swimming Pigs Express hosted by Hour of Penance and In Mourning
Only in heavy metal does your vacation include reef snorkeling with your favorite bands before seeing them perform that night.
Major 2026 Tours Are Rolling Worldwide
Beyond the cruise, the touring calendar is exploding:
• Alice Cooper launches his Spring 2026 U.S. tour — shock rock spectacle reborn.
• Demon Hunter headlines a powerful April–May run with Convictions and Cultist.
• Architects begin the Broken Mirror Tour April 28 with HOLYWATR.
• Onslaught returns to North America for the first time in over a decade with Warlord — thrash revival incoming.
• Pallbearer performs Foundations of Burden in full starting February 19.
• L.A. Guns embark on a massive world tour promoting Leopard Skin, with Tom Keifer appearing on select dates.
For MetalMania Live, these tours mean one thing: a relentless pipeline of fresh concert recordings, crowd energy, and live sonic destruction feeding the airwaves all year.
Festival Season Builds Toward Summer Chaos
Summer 2026 is already heating up:
• Mosh the Rock Island MetalFest in British Columbia unveils an August lineup featuring Anciients, Arrow in the Quiver, and Squidhammer.
• MMRBQ 2026 lands May 9 at Freedom Mortgage Pavilion in Camden, New Jersey — poised to become one of the East Coast’s largest rock gatherings of the year.
Festival stages are where bands push tempos harder, stretch songs longer, and ignite crowd singalongs — precisely the kind of live moments MetalMania Live exists to preserve and broadcast.
Band News Shaping the Year Ahead
Across the metal world, major developments continue:
• Ghost cancels select U.S. dates due to extreme winter weather — proving even dark rituals bow to nature.
• Suicidal Tendencies officially welcomes new drummer Xavier Wade.
• Slipknot’s Clown confirms the long-awaited experimental album Look Outside Your Window will finally surface in 2026.
• Sacred Oath frontman Rob Thorne recovers from a recent health scare while new material moves forward.
• Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine reflects on the band’s legacy as fans await the final studio chapter Tipping Point.
Every headline signals one thing: 2026 is shaping up as one of the most active years in heavy music in decades.
MetalMania Live: Where the Stage Never Goes Silent
As metal charges into cruise decks, arena tours, festival fields, and underground club circuits, MetalMania Live remains the constant signal connecting fans to the living pulse of the scene.
We are not a standard rock station.
We are not a playlist station.
We are not a nostalgia station.
We are the home of live metal and live hard rock only.
Every track you hear comes from real concerts.
Real crowds.
Real amplifiers.
Real once-in-a-lifetime moments that can never be recreated.
No studio gloss.
No artificial perfection.
Only the sound of bands doing what they were born to do — performing live.
Late January 2026 proves that metal thrives on movement, community, and shared volume. Whether it’s a floating metal city at sea, a reunited thrash assault, or the roar of festival fields under summer skies — the future of heavy music is alive, electric, and unstoppable.
And MetalMania Live will be there for every second of it.
Live metal.
Live hard rock.
Always live.
Confirmed 70000 Tons of Metal 2026 Band Roster (60 Bands) Lineup
The lineup spans nearly every subgenre of metal, with each band scheduled to perform twice across the ship’s four stages.
- Ad Infinitum
- Amorphis
- Anthrax
- Arkona
- Beast In Black
- Bloodred Hourglass
- Cemetery Skyline
- Darkane
- Dark Tranquillity
- Dødheimsgard
- Dragonland
- Dust Bolt
- Eluveitie
- Ereb Altor
- Firewind
- Gama Bomb
- Groza
- Haggard
- Harakiri For The Sky
- Heathen
- Hiraes
- Hirax
- Hour Of Penance
- Ignea
- Illdisposed
- Illumishade
- In Mourning
- In Virtue
- Insomnium
- Izegrim (30th Anniversary Reunion)
- Jag Panzer
- Kamelot
- Kanonenfieber
- Orden Ogan
- Paradise Lost
- Persefone
- Rhapsody Of Fire
- Royal Hunt
- Satan
- Saturnus
- Seven Spires
- Skeletal Remains
- Skyclad
- Soen
- Soilwork
- Suidakra
- T.H.E.M
- Tribulation
- Týr
- Vader
- VBO (Vice Business Only) (Live Debut)
- Vio-Lence
- Vitam Et Mortem
- Wind Rose
- Wolf
- Xandria
(Note: Remaining spots are typically reserved for last-minute “United Nations of Heavy Metal” surprises.)
Artist-Escorted Shore Excursions (Nassau, Bahamas)
These excursions take place on Day 3 of the cruise (January 31, 2026).
- Discover Nassau Harbor Cruise: Hosted by Skeletal Remains. Includes a catamaran tour and 1-hour open bar.
- Dolphin Swim & Beach Day: Two separate sessions hosted by Beast In Black and Soilwork & Wolf at Blue Lagoon Island.
- Nassau by Land and Sea: Hosted by Heathen & Seven Spires. Highlights include the Atlantis Resort, Fort Charlotte, and a harbor cruise.
- Sail & Snorkel Adventure: Hosted by Cemetery Skyline, Insomnium, and Kamelot at reefs near Spruce Cay.
- Bond 007 in Nassau: Hosted by Rhapsody Of Fire and Vader. Visits iconic filming locations from Casino Royale and Thunderball.
- Swimming Pigs Express: Hosted by Hour Of Penance and In Mourning. An eco-friendly boat ride to interact with the famous Bahamian swimming pigs.