JUDICATOR

WE ROLL ON

IT’S JUST WHAT we humans do, isn’t it? Whatever the

THE DAY METAL FINALLY CAME TO GLASTO

WHILE SMATTERINGS OF heavy bands had played Glastonbury over the

...WHAT NOW?

AFTER MONTHS OF uncertainty, the music world is finally moving

10 THINGS WE LEARNED THIS MONTH

A possibility, according to drummer Christoph Schneider. But we’ll believe

HOW DO YOU QUIT DRINKING?

LAMB OF GOD’S Randy Blythe enjoyed his spring lockdown a

JOHN D. CRONISE

“ONE OF MY earliest memories of hearing a rock song

DAVE NAVARRO

DAVE NAVARRO HAS, over the course of his 30-plus year

AMARANTHE

WHILE THE GLOBAL touring industry skidded to an abrupt halt

WE CARE A LOT BY FAITH NO MORE

WHILE IT WAS Epic that truly broke down the door

PUT ROCK IN RIO IN THE CINEMA!

Loved all the stuff about the year 2000 in the

BEGGAR

AS DISAPPOINTING AS it is, being in a heavy metal

TETRARCH

OUTCASTS OF THE metal scene in Atlanta, Georgia, rising nu-metalcore

FOOL’S GHOST

FOR MARRIED COUPLE Nick and Amber Thieneman, Fool’s Ghost’s hauntingly

ENTRY

SOUNDS LIKE: Blistering, righteously pissed hardcore with just the right

VIDEO NASTIES

SOUNDS LIKE: Carpenter Brut’s visual aesthetic getting basement tortured by

IN THE KNOW

“I FOUND CARNIVORA through their singer after she posted a

HOARD ALMIGHTY

THE STOOGES’ SECOND album, Fun House, is a genuine landmark

WE’RE OUT OF LOCKDOWN

Reckon a pandemic is gonna stop 2020 being Code Orange’s

THE STATE OF THE NATION

“I thought I would be happier on this day, when

THE STRUGGLE WITHIN

Lzzy Hale remembers all too well when the Black Dog

“TEAR ALL THAT SHIT DOWN”

Robb Flynn didn’t need a global pandemic to stay under

LACUNA COIL WERE THE FIRST METAL BAND TO BE CAUGHT IN THE PANDEMIC

Metal lived the COVID-19 emergency through Lacuna Coil before we

THE HU

Gala (lead vocalist): “We started our world tour in early

TWIN TEMPLE

HELLO! HOW ARE YOU DOING? Alexandra James (vocals): “We are

WARDRUNA

Einar Selvik: “The idea of doing a song about the

IN FLAMES

HOW DID YOU COME UP WITH THE ILLUSTRATION? Anders Fridén:

EUROPEAN METAL FESTIVAL ALLIANCE

Vicky Hungerford (Bloodstock Festival Director): “It was inevitable, unfortunately. A

ORPHANED LAND

Orphaned Land were supposed to support Iron Maiden in Tel

METAL X RUN-DMC

When we found out metal and hip hop were colliding

TESTAMENT

A few years back, Alex Skolnick was working on a

3TEETH

HEY LEX, HOW’S IT GOING? Lex Mincolla (vocals): “I’m doing

THE IT CROWD

Brann Dailor is drawing his Dalmatian, Thriller, wearing a hat

LOVEBITES

Haruna: “Since I was little I loved playing with dollhouses,

ALIEN WEAPONRY

HOW DID THE PANDEMIC AFFECT YOUR PLANS TO RECORD THE

FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH

WHAT WERE THE CHALLENGES YOU FACED, MAKING THE VIDEO FORA

DORO

Doro: “We didn’t know if the fans would like it,

CHTHONIC

YOU’RE A SINGER AND AN MP ALREADY. WHY DID YOU

SABATON

If there’s one band that can keep rolling through the

THE REBIRTH OF THE ACACIA STRAIN

At the end of 2017, after 16 years of being

IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT

DEATH METAL’S ARTISTIC ascent in the early 90s and the

AHTME

“With this new album, we tried to include plenty of

BEDSORE

Bedsore have clearly emerged from some ancient mausoleum with a

BLACK CROWN INITIATE

Mixing gorgeously clean-sung rock with ultra-nasty tech-death, Black Crown Initiate’s

AVATAR

AVATAR HAVE BEEN in metal’s ‘increasingly difficult to classify’ pile

CARDIAC ARREST

Although they arrived on the scene 10 years too late,

EMBR

Written in the midst of a tumultuous time for this

EMPRESS

Canadian trio Empress formed after two members went to see

ENTRY

With two recording engineers comprising their rhythm section, the production

FALL OF MESSIAH

When Fall Of Messiah debuted in 2011, they were screamo

FROM THE VASTLAND

From The Vastland mainman Sina left Iran for Norway in

HEATHEN BEAST

With every track picking a different political or religious target

GAEREA

Shadowy Portuguese cult open up a thrilling new black metal

INGESTED

IT REALLY IS about time that Ingested were properly recognised

INTER ARMA

Richmond’s Inter Arma used to practise in a Garber Street

KATALEPSY

Four years after the exhilarating onslaught of Gravenous Hour, Katalepsy

KULK

Hazy doom duo invite you to tune in and drop

MANTAR

German sludge duo Mantar - drummer Erinç Sakarya and guitarist

ON HOLLOW GROUND

On Hollow Ground’s debut album sees the Leeds metalcore crew

ONSLAUGHT

Onslaught’s seventh album marks the studio debut of vocalist David

SMALL MERCIES

An Icelandic-Germanic collision of blackened doom energies greets us on

MISERY SIGNALS

CANADIAN METALCORE HEROES Misery Signals last released an album in

PRIMAL FEAR

After 13 studio albums and 22 years, we know exactly

RAZOR SHARP DEATH BLIZZARD

With tracks like Fascist sat next to a song called

RUMAHOY

With a new Alestorm album just released, humanity’s need for

DEE SNIDER

The stage is where Dee Snider is at his best,

STILLBIRTH

A German death metal sextet with an unfathomable penchant for

STONEBIRDS

These prog-leaning sludge-conductors sound as though they’ve lodged their harpoons

TAV

Tav’s debut album is as enigmatic as the nameless band

SELBST

Epic black metal introspection from the tortured heart of South

SEPTICFLESH

IN THE TWO decades since Metallica’s S&M performance celebrated how

THIS IS ENDLESS

Picking up from a promising 2016 EP, This Is Endless

THUNDERMOTHER

With a name like Thundermother you’d expect this band to

VÄKI

Väki’s debut album displays some of the miasmic characteristics of

WORLD SERVICE

These Chileans aim for some Katatonia-like rhythmic intricacies and the

VALKYRIE

Steeped in the fuzzy tones and exploratory fervour of the

STEVE VON TILL

Steve Von Till’s fifth solo outing sees the Neurosis man

WREN

Having taken us through autumn’s fading light and the barren

ZOMBI

Zombi have steadily shifted and grown while hewing so closely

YEAR OF THE KNIFE

INTERNAL INCARCERATION MAY be Delaware hardcore five-piece Year Of The

LIVE EVIL

DEVIN TOWNSEND, JUDAS PRIEST, SAXON, BURY TOMORROW, DARK TRANQUILLITY, THE

ENSLAVED

Ivar Bjørnson (guitar): “Our first virtual show happened already on

WARGASM

What was it like for you guys having to see

DOWNLOAD TV

2020 is the first year since 2003 without the annual

STEEL PANTHER

STEEL PANTHER HAVE become metal’s unofficial COVID-19 comedians. As the

HANK VON HELL

There’s something charming about a middle-aged man shouting “We’ve gotta

VULTURE INDUSTRIES

If you’re only going to watch one hastily arranged live-stream

PAPA ROACH

PAPA ROACH MAY have survived the nu metal boom, but

FIVE MINUTES WITH MICK JEFFERY AVERSIONS CROWN

“The lack of normality in your life. You miss out