THE BIG DEBATE

WHAT A PERFECT YEAR!

ALRIGHT, LET’S CUT the bullshit: for the most

THAT TIME WE LET ROB ZOMBIE RUIN CHRISTMAS

EVEN US BLACK-HEARTED heavy metal journalists like to

WE NEED MORE FEUDS

...and other demands, curiosities and queries you guys chucked at us this month

HAMMER STEREO

What’s been blowing our office speakers

HOARD ALMIGHTY

Box sets, underground oddities and all the essential merch you need this month

DON’T CALL IT A COMEBACK

…but System Of A Down shocked the world by dropping two surprise new songs last month – their first in 15 years. Is this the start of a new era, or just a one-off?

10 THINGS WE LEARNED THIS MONTH

What’s been blowing our tiny brains

EVER THINK ABOUT SINGING BARBERSHOP?

And some other questions you gave us to ask Alter Bridge frontman and Top Slash Lad, Myles Kennedy

CHRIS ROBERTSON

The Black Stone Cherry frontman tells us the songs that inspired him from the backwoods of Kentucky to headlining arenas around the world

JAMEY JASTA

Hatebreed’s leader is one of metal’s greatest ambassadors and refuses to be ground down by the industry. Too fucking right

LIGHT THE TORCH

Howard Jones et al get to work on their next metalcore banger

HEARTS ON FIRE BY HAMMERFALL

Forming when heavy metal was a dirty term in the rock scene, Hammerfall produced a breakthrough single that would defy all odds. And embrace… um… curling

HJELVIK

Kvelertak seemed on top of the world when frontman Erlend Hjelvik suddenly left the fold in 2018. After some serious soul-searching, he’s back with a project that’s all his

MIMI BARKS

Meet trap metal’s most colourful young graduate

KAONASHI

Melding the heart of emo with the calculated fury of mathcore, these Philly moshers bring emotion to their riffs

IN THE KNOW

What your favourite bands are listening to

WATERTANK

This French post-hardcore crew will club you to death… with pop hooks

KATLA

Earth-shaking grooves and storm-building riffs shape the sound of Iceland’s newest breakout band

2020 WAS THE YEAR THAT... METAL KEPT GOING

COVID-19 might have swept the planet, but metal survived and thrived. From charity campaigns and BLM protests, to livestreams and new songs, we were here for it all

THR YEAR THAT... TRIVIUM RULED THE INTERNET

Not only did they drop a career-best album, they raised the bar for livestreaming and pulled off a landmark event

THE YEAR THAT... JUDAS PRIEST CELEBRATED 50 YEARS

As well as blowing out their candles and gracing our cover, Rob Halford and guitarist Richie Faulkner started on new music

THE YEAR THAT... METALLICA KEPT US ENTERTAINED

All things considered, metal’s biggest band could have been forgiven for taking 2020 off. No chance

THE YEAR THAT... AMY LEE GOT POLITICAL

After their tour got cancelled, Evanescence began releasing new music. With the rousing Use My Voice, frontwoman Amy Lee took a stand

THE YEAR THAT... MUSIC WENT WEIRD

As if reflecting a year full of the unexpected, the underground came under siege from some of metal’s strangest creative forces. We loved it

THE YEAR THAT... METAL MOURNED RILEY GATE

We asked music legend and close friend of Riley, Ice-T, to pay tribute to one of the scene’s most beloved young names

THE YEAR THAT... BACKXWASH RIPPED UP GENRES

Fusing metal and hip hop in a hard-hitting album about growth, identity and forgiveness, Backxwash represented the evolution of heavy

THE YEAR THAT... COREY TAYLOR WENT IT ALONE

With a new solo album a world away from Slipknot and Stone Sour, metal’s Big Mouth divided opinion again

THE YEAR THAT... WE CELEBRATED HYBRID THEORY

Metal’s best-selling record of the century turned 20! After we’d stuffed ourselves with cake, here’s what we learned about Linkin Park’s masterpiece

THE YEAR THAT... PUSCIFER NAILED A MOOD

Their first album in five years investigated society’s problems, but was also full of humour and hope

THE YEAR THAT... WE LOST EDDIE VAN HALEN

Metal’s biggest guitar hero might be gone, but he’ll never be forgotten. Halestorm’s Lzzy Hale remembers a legend

50 BEST ALBUMS OF 2020

We polled our entire team of critics, and the results are in: here are the 50 albums that defined your year

CIRITH UNGOL

Making their first album in 29 years, the Californians rediscovered their passion for epic metal. And now they’re never going to stop

GAMES OF THE YEAR

The adventures that locked down our thumbs

EPs OF THE YEAR

The short but sweet spots of 2020

MIDNIGHT

Graduating from the underground to Metal Blade, mastermind Jamie ‘Athenar’ Walters made a life-affirming old-school record

STREAMS OF THE YEAR

2020’s spectacular ‘fuck-you’s to COVID

BURY TOMORROW

The UK’s metalcore heroes delayed their album due to lockdown, but it still hit the mark with their fans

OCEANS OF SLUMBER

The Texan prog-metallers didn’t write a concept album, yet their music captured the zeitgeist of life in 2020

A.A. WILLIAMS

Combining a classical education with her love of metal, the singer-songwriter produced one of the debuts of the year

CODE ORANGE

Releasing a groundbreaking album and pioneering streamed gigs, the Pittsburgh innovators are one of 2020’s biggest success stories

DEFTONES

In an unpredictable year, we knew we could rely on Deftones to deliver the goods. They didn’t let us down

DANIEL TOMPKINS

Daniel Tompkins finds a new angle for his

AKHLYS

Melinoë DEBEMUR MORTI PRODUCTIONS USBM visionary

DEAFHEAVEN

Deafheaven attempt to outdo the Newport hellicopter 10

DEEDS OF FLESH

Deeds Of Flesh have wrung triumph from tragedy

DEFTONES

Deftones shift the EQ on their equine odyssey

IMHA TARIKAT

Imha Tarikat take an earth-shattering approach to black metal

OPIUM WARLORDS

Opium Warlords: queasy listening Nembutal SVART Ex-Reverend

RESPIRE

Respire’s team-building exercise wasn’t exactly a roaring success

VOLBEAT

Volbeat eye up Donington’s top spot Rewind, Replay,

RESU RRECTIONS

Unearthing the latest metal reissues

NIGHTWISH

Our favourite Finns are due to hit arenas on their rescheduled dates next year

LIVE EVIL

Your essential guide to the best and the biggest metal bands hitting the UK

WHILE SHE SLEEPS

Having introduced a whole new way for Sleeps fans to support the band, the guys are looking ahead to Slam Dunk 2021

METALLICA

METALLICA HQ, SAN RAFAEL Thrash metal

PUSCIFER

ARCOSANTI AMPHITEATER, ARIZONA Maynard James Keenan

ARCHITECTS

ROYAL ALBERT HALL, LONDON Brighton’s metalcore

ICE NINE KILLS

THE PALLADIUM, WORCESTER Boston’s horror aficionados

MOTIONLESS IN WHITE

WIWMERCH.COM Industrial metalcore ghouls celebrate

MR. BUNGLE

Mike Patton puts in a regular day at

PALM READER

ST. EDMUND’S CHURCH, ROCHDALE Nottingham metalcore

FIVE MINUTES WITH BRENT SMITH SHINEDOWN

Brent waxes lyrical on drugs, tears, George Floyd and his side-project, Smith & Myers