COULD YOU TAKE JASON MOMOA IN AN ARM WRESTLE?

WAIT, IT’S DECEMBER?!

THAT CAN’T BE right; we’re all still processing

FAMILY REUNION

DANNY WIMMER PRESENTS/ANA MASSARD IT WAS THE perfect

MALCOLM DOME 1955-2021

The rock and metal world pays tribute to one of music’s most influential journalists

MICHAEL POULSEN

From old-school death metal to the new generation of punk rock, Volbeat’s frontman has got it all covered

BILL WARD

Black Sabbath’s legendary original drummer talks high times, low points and rekindled friendships

MESHUGGAH

World exclusive: the tech-metal visionaries lift the lid on their upcoming ninth album

BODIES BY DROWNING POOL

It was one of the great moshpit anthems of the early 00s, yet the New Orleans metallers’ biggest hit was overshadowed by tragedy

ROCK REALLY IS DEAD

…and other melodramatic statements, furious demands and pleasant comments you left us this month

DYING WISH

Seething radical politics meets raw personal turmoil - metalcore’s next-gen firebrands are out to torch the status quo

POORSTACY

Nu metal-loving genre-smasher with the Oli Sykes seal of approval

THOUGHTCRIMES

Ex-Dillinger man aims to satisfy your post-hardcore needs

SWAMP COFFIN

Kylie-loving sludgesters stand defiant in the face of despair

EXTINCTION AD

Long Island thrashers re-emerge recharged and raring to go

IN THE KNOW

What your favourite bands are listening to

HOARD ALMIGHTY

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

2021: THE BIG REVIEW

2021 was a year that managed to bring

METAL BOUNCED BACK

After a year where tours and festivals were cruelly snatched from us and many bands were forced to push their album plans back, in 2021, the floodgates finally opened. Metal was back

METAL GOT BACK ON THE ROAD

Tours! Moshing! Crowd-surfing! Stupidly overpriced beer! Everything we’d dearly missed in 2020 was back with a vengeance

METALLICA CELEBRATED 30 YEARS OF THE BLACK ALBUM

The biggest metal band of all time celebrated the biggest metal album of all time - and as always, they didn’t do things by half

TRIVIUM SURPRISED US WITH THEIR GREATEST ALBUM EVER

Arriving 18 months after the excellent What The Dead Men Say, Trivium somehow raised the bar once more

METAL MOURNED ALEXI LAIHO

The Finnish shredder and former Children Of Bodom frontman played and partied hard. Mastodon’s Brann Dailor remembers his talented friend

JON SCHAFFER STORMED THE US CAPITOL

AKA: How to cancel yourself in spectacular style

ROCK RULED EUROVISION

Fifteen years after Lordi took the crown, the Eurovision Song Contest was smashed by new Italian rock icons Måneskin

MARILYN MANSON WAS NAMED BY EVAN RACHEL WOOD

In February, a statement posted by actress Evan Rachel Wood would precede a wave of allegations against Marilyn Manson

BABYMETAL TURNED 10… AND DISAPPEARED

They played 10 anniversary shows at Tokyo’s Budokan, and then waved goodbye. Metal Hammer Japan editor Takehide Okami was there to see it all happen

DOWNLOAD RETURNED

Arriving out of nowhere and giving us the most emotional weekend of the summer, Download Pilot gave us hope for festival season

WE LOST JOEY JORDISON

Co-founder of the ’Knot, extreme metal super-fan and a 21st century icon. Sinsaenum bandmate Frédéric Leclercq pays tribute

IRON MAIDEN RETURNED

It was the biggest metal story of the year, and with spectacular new album Senjutsu, Eddie and the boys showed us it had been worth the wait

SLIPKNOT GOT BACK IN THE SADDLE

From new music and new masks to returning to the stage and beefing with rappers, it was a busy ol’ time for The Nine

LIMP BIZKIT EMBRACED THEIR DAD VIBES

As nu metal officially became cool again, Fred Durst broke the internet twice - once with a new look, and again with a brand new Bizkit album

THE 50 BEST ALBUMS OF 2021

As voted for by our esteemed team of critics, these are the 50 albums that defined 12 months of metal. Strap in…

POWERWOLF

When their tour dates were paused, the lycanthrope-loving Germans hit the studio to make a defiantly bombastic album

JINJER

The Ukrainian metal sensations bet the house on a new album and a massive tour – and it paid off handsomely

BACKXWASH

The rapper revisited one of the darkest periods of her past, and took aim at those who make life difficult for others

CONVERGE & CHELSEA WOLFE

Following their live shows together, this album team-up saw Converge and friends pushing out of their comfort zones

SPIRITBOX

The rising Canadians lived up to the hype and delivered one of the best debut albums of the century

EMPLOYED TO SERVE

Woking’s finest released an album of straight-up metal bangers. Good job they’re supporting the mighty Gojira in arenas next year, then

GOJIRA

Offering blistering anger alongside hope, healing and a call to action, Fortitude was the album we needed in 2021

BABYMETAL

10 Babymetal Budokan COOKING VINYL

DEMONSTEALER

The Holocene Termination DEMONSTEALER

DOODSWENS

Dutch black metal debutants bring a sense of wonder with their rites

EPICA

Omega Alive NUCLEAR BLAST

SMALL MERCIES

Where EP is short for ‘Epic Potential’

GÅTE

Gåte are finally in their elements Nord INDIE

WORLD SERVICE

Heavy metal uprisings from around the globe

IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT

An Evening With Imperial Triumphant CENTURY MEDIA

YE BANISHED PRIVATEERS

A Pirate Stole My Christmas NAPALM

RESURRECTIONS

Unearthing the latest metal reissues

SLIPKNOT

KILLSWITCH ENGAGE/FEVER 333/CODE ORANGE/VENDED

DAMNATION FESTIVAL 2021

Carcass, Paradise Lost and Svalbard bring extremity back to the Midlands

CRADLE OF FILTH

Suffolk’s morbid metallers celebrate three decades in decadent style

A NIGHT OF SALVATION

Orange Goblin and Raging Speedhorn get the Damnation party started

ROLO TOMASSI

DEVIL SOLD HIS SOUL

BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE

TESSERACT/BLEED FROM WITHIN

BÖMBERS

THE BLACK HEART, LONDON

JOHANNES ECKERSTRÖM AVATAR

Metal’s court jester on where Black Sabbath went wrong and why he’s the Devil incarnate