10 THINGS WE LEARNED THIS MONTH

HATED. ADORED. NEVER IGNORED.

BULLET FOR MY Valentine have never been given

MEET THE BAND

EMMA JOHNSTON WRITER While most horror movies make

ARIES ‘EBEN’ TANTO 1975-2021

PRESS/REFANTHO RAMADHAN Metal Hammer was devastated to learn

WHAT DOES THE RISE OF THE TALIBAN MEAN FOR AFGHANISTAN’S METAL MUSICIANS?

The 20-year US conflict may be over, but for Afghanistan’s musicians the fight for survival is now more crucial than ever

WHICH BEARD FROM HISTORY WOULD YOU HAVE?

He’s Dream Theater’s guitar wizard and prog metal’s king of face foliage maintenance, but will your questions ruffle John Petrucci’s whiskers?

AARON WEAVER

Wolves In The Throne Room’s bassist-drummer takes a trip through the realms of psy-trance, sacred music and death metal

DANNY WORSNOP

What’s the best way to hustle your way to stardom? The Asking Alexandria frontman and reformed hellraiser has some tips

VENOM PRISON

Anxiety, incarceration, uprooting racism and sexism – extreme metal’s rising stars are tackling the big topics head on

TOUCH OF EVIL WARLOCK

How Doro Pesch’s original band Warlock made an occult-metal classic, with a little help from a restless spirit and a superstar drummer

LET THE KARDASHIANS REP CANNIBAL CORPSE

And other controversial opinions you shared with us this month

THE BIG DEBATE

Last month, Bruce Dickinson explained his comments on Brexit in an interview with Classic Rock. The Maiden frontman voted Leave, but has been dismayed by the UK government’s failure to make sure the music industry is looked after now that we’ve left the EU

HAMMER STEREO

What’s been blowing our office speakers

WITCH FEVER

Music industry misogynists, the church, Boris Johnson – Britain’s most in-your-face new band have everyone in their sights

BLODET

Former instrumentalists find their voice, and harness a newfound sense of power

DANA DENTATA

Catharsis and empowerment set to an exhilarating, genremashing soundtrack

ONE STEP CLOSER

Explosive emotional outburst from melodic-hardcore newcomers

COGNIZANCE

UK tech-death scene gets a kick up the jazz-hole

ANNISOKAY

What your favourite bands are listening to

HOARD ALMIGHTY

Hoard Almighty and Killstar have formed the ultimate Samhain and All Hallow’s Eve union to bring you the spookiest charms to raise the autumn spirits

NOTHING CAN STOP BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE

They’ve survived trolls, trends and even dodgy album experiments. But thanks to the self-belief of Matt Tuck, in 2021 Bullet are more fired-up than ever

THE 25 GREATEST SYMPHONIC METAL ALBUMS

It’s become one of metal’s most enduring subgenres - and it’s even spawned some of our biggest bands. Grab your keyboard and come dig inside some classics

THE SECOND COMING OF OZZY

Label fights, stinkbombs and Lemmy Kilmister: the making of No More Tears might have been chaotic, but it saved Ozzy Osbourne’s career… and maybe even his life

EVIL NEVER DIES

With Ice Nine Kills, Spencer Charnas hasn’t just created a vessel for his horror and metal obsessions to thrive – he’s built a home for fellow misfits the world over

DANI FILTH

Appearing on Never Mind The Buzzcocks. Collaborating with Bring Me The Horizon. Partying with Kesha?! Despite being mocked by the mainstream and derided by the underground, Dani’s turned Cradle Of Filth into a corpsepainted British Institution

“HE’ BE SO PROUD OF US”

When Mastodon’s beloved manager died in 2018, it was the latest in a line of heartbreaks to rock the four bandmates. Not for the first time, they poured their grief into something beautiful

MASTODO

HushedAndGrim

BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE

BulletForMyValentine

CRADLE OF FILTH

ExistenceIsFutile NUCLEAR BLAST

DIABLO SWING ORCHESTRA

SwaggerAndStrollDownTheRabbitHole

SMALL MERCIES

Where EP is short for ‘Epic Potential’

DREAM THEATER

A View From The Top Of TheWorld

EVERY TIME I DIE

Radical EPITAPH

ICE NINE KILLS

TheSilverScream 2:WelcomeToHorrorwood FEARLESS

WORLD SERVICE

Heavy metal uprisings from around the globe

LUCIFER

LuciferIV CENTURY MEDIA

MØL

Diorama

TOM MORELLO

TheAtlasUndergroundFire MOM + POP

WHITECHAPEL

Kin

RESURRECTIONS

Unearthing the latest metal reissues

MEGADETH

LAMB OF GOD/TRIVIUM/HATEBREED

VOYAGER

Australia’s electro-prog mavericks celebrate two decades in spectacular style

PROPHECY FEST

Primordial and Dordeduh raise the spirits in spectacular surroundings

WHILE SHE SLEEPS

LOATHE

HRH GOTH

THE FORUM, LONDON

TOGETHER WE'RE LOUDER

ADDI TRYGGVASON SOLSTAFIR

Sólstafir’s frontman on regressing to childhood and how to avoid accidentally sleeping with a relative