ALL HAIL HALESTORM
WHEN I WAS 18, I entered a Metal Hammer competition to review Australian grindcore band The Berzerker. With their gnarly masks and record-breaking rapid drumming, the show was a baptism of fire for a nu metal kid who had suddenly landed in extreme metal territory – but no matter what the subgenre, I knew I wanted to be a music journalist. It was a thrill to win and see my review in print, and it’s a thrill many years later to become editor of this very magazine.