Watch: Life on the road with Misery Index, one of metal's most industrious bands

(Image credit: Heidi Strengell)

Being on the road is hard and nobody knows that better than an extreme metal band. Let's face it, playing death metal, grindcore or black metal will never fill stadiums comparable to Metallica or Avenged Sevenfold, but extreme metal players are talented musicians who tour extensively for the sheer love of their craft – they are "lifers" as Misery Index guitarist Mark Kloeppel puts it. 

If you've ever wondered just how much hard work goes into being a touring band, new mini docuseries from deathgrinders Misery Index, Chronicles, gives you an exclusive look behind the scenes of one of the metal underground's most relentless touring bands. 

To celebrate the band kicking off their European tour with Napalm Death and Rotten Sound today, we've got the first instalment of the new series entitled History is rotten exclusively for you guys, our loyal Hammer readers. 

Misery Index explain: “As we venture, yet again, into the halls of the night with our friends Napalm Death, Eyehategod, Rotten Sound, and BAT, we are proud to offer up the first installment of our mini-documentary series Chronicles.  

"We wanted to start telling our story in a way other that avoided flash-in-the-pan social media stories, or daunting lengthy singular pieces. This is the result. 

"Taking its namesake from a song off our first album, this first installment, History Is Rotten, offers our origin story and a brief glimpse into life on the road.  Be on the look out for future entries into our on-going project Chronicles.”

Whether you are an extreme metal fan or not, it's a telling glimpse into the realities of being a band on the road. Check it out below:

Napalm Death, Eyehategod, Rotten Sound and Misery Index 2020 Tour Dates 

Feb 07 Oberhausen Kulttempel DE
Feb 08 Hamburg Gruenspan DE
Feb 09 Nuremberg Der Hirsc DE
Feb 11 Vienna Arena AT
Feb 12 Prague Roxy CZ
Feb 13 Leipzig Werk 2 DE
Feb 14 Berlin Astra DE
Feb 15 Mannheim MS Complex DE
Feb 16 Antwerpen Trix BE
Feb 18 Bournemouth The Old Fire Station UK
Feb 19 Cardiff Tramshed UK
Feb 20 Brimingham O2 Institut UK
Feb 21 Glasgow Slay UK
Feb 22 Leeds Stylus UK
Feb 23 London The Electric Ballroom UK
Feb 25 Haarlem Patronaat NL
Feb 26 Saarbrucken Garage DE
Feb 27 Lyon Ninkasi Kao FR
Feb 28 Nantes Warehouse FR
Feb 29 Toulouse Metronum FR
Mar 01 Biarritz Atabal FR
Mar 03 Paris La Machine du Moulin Rouge FR
Mar 04 Stuttgart Im Wizemann DE
Mar 05 Lindau Club Vaudeville  DE
Mar 06 Muncich Backstage DE
Mar 07 Zurich Meh Suff! Winter Fest CH
Mar 08 Cologne Essigfabrik DE

(Image credit: Press)