Mining Metal: Acausal Intrusion, Barrow Lord, Cartilage, Fluisteraars, Miscreance, Pakosteň, Sněť, unknindness

Mining Metal is a monthly column that showcases noteworthy new music from the non-mainstream metal scene. The column aims to highlight releases from small and independent labels, as well as unsigned acts. According to Langdon Hickman and Colin Dempsey, who contribute to the column, extreme metal often draws inspiration from the deranged psychedelia of the 1980s bedroom posters and cautionary films.

This imagery is avant-garde, as it significantly deviates from both good taste and commonality. The column also touches upon the idea that heavy metal is a reaction to the world's evils, providing a form of escape and manifestation for its listeners. Heavy metal is portrayed as a drug that opens doors to alternative realities and imagination, offering a wild delight to its followers.