METAL HAMMER

Future PLC, 121 - 141 Westbourne Terrace,

A THUNDEROUS EFFECT

IS HOW LE Monde, France’s biggest newspaper,

ASCENSIONISM

EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK SLEEP TOKEN HAVE been announced as

2025’S EPIC SUMMER OF LIVE MUSIC

From Sleep Token at Download to Iron Maiden’s stadium megagig, the summer of 2025 is shaping up to be massive

HAMMER STEREO

What’s been blowing our office speakers

SMOOTH OR CRUNCHY PEANUT BUTTER?

Body Count leader Ice-T answers your questions on nuts, dinosaurs, and whether he still has it out for the cops

LIZ SELFISH

NOLA sludge, deathcore and Cali punk inspired BRAT’s vocalist to create her own genre called bimboviolence

BRANT BJORK

The godfather of stoner rock remembers generator parties, the breakdown of Kyuss, and supporting Metallica

OBLIVION MASTODON

How teenage trauma, head injuries and a team-up with the producer who broke Pearl Jam took Mastodon into the big leagues

SEVEN HOURS AFTER VIOLET

Shavo Odadjian ditches nu metal for deathcore

HIDDEN MOTHERS

Blackened post-hardcore with a heart of gold

LUTHARO

The Canadians blending euphoric power metal and melodeath

ANA.N7N

The Saudi Arabians proudly connecting their culture with prog metal

HOARD ALMIGHTY

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

THE YEAR THAT... THE WORLD WENT MAD – AND SO DID METAL

Controversies, beefs, hill-trolls and vegan handbags - these are metal’s best, worst and most WTF moments of 2024

THE YEAR THAT... GOJIRA LIT UP THE OLYMPICS

Fire, opera and decapitated royals – the French band’s revolutionary performance at the Opening Ceremony was 2024’s greatest spectacle

THE YEAR THAT GHOST WENT TO HOLLYWOOD

In his most ambitious undertaking yet, Tobias Forge took Papa and co. to the silver screen

THE YEAR THAT SLAYER MADE A SURPRISE COMEBACK

Absence makes the heart grow fonder – even if they’d only been away for five minutes

THE YEAR THAT METAL WENT COLLAB CRAZY

Ska-punk horror metalcore? Industrial threesomes? These were 2024’s best hook-ups

THE YEAR THAT ICE NINE KILLS MADE THE GORIEST VIDEO

The horror-movie obsessives went all-out for A Work Of Art, the official song of Terrifier 3

THE THAT YEAR LZZY HALE JOINED SKID ROW

When the 80s hard rock heroes needed an emergency singer, there was just one person to call – and even Sebastian Bach approved!

THE YEAR THAT BANDS CAME BACK TO LIFE

The death of a beloved singer doesn’t mean the end of a band, as Linkin Park, Power Trip and The Black Dahlia Murder proved

THE YEAR THAT SLIPKNOT CELEBRATED A BIG ANNIVERSARY

Clown and guitarist Jim Root look back on 25 years of the Iowa band’s game-changing debut album

THE YEAR THAT BLOODYWOOD SOUNDTRACKED THE GREATEST FIGHT SCENE

Monkey Man was the Indian John Wick – and star Dev Patel knew which band he wanted for its key scene

EUROVISION WENT OUIJA-POP

Last year it was Lord Of The Lost. This year it was Bambie Thug’s turn to terrify Graham Norton

METAL LOST AN ICON

Former Iron Maiden singer Paul Di’Anno passed away in October 2024. Without him, the career of one of the world’s biggest bands might have been very different

METALLICA TOOK OVER FORTNITE

The band appeared across the blockbusting game, and even played virtual shows, winning a new generation of fans

THE YEAR THAT NIGHTWISH DROPPED AN EPIC

Sweeping concepts, Tongan choirs, no tour – Yesterwynde was the year’s biggest and most enigmatic album

THE 50 BEST ALBUMS OF 2024

Our writers ranked their favourite records, and we pooled them into one big chart. Get ready for the ultimate playlist!

KALANDRA

Their Nordic folk created a therapeutic space for metalheads to retreat to

BIG | BRAVE

The Montreal trio gave fans a sense of belonging by channelling female, queer and mixed-race poets

GAMES OF THE YEAR

Here’s everything we spent hours and hours on

EPS OF THE YEAR

Because sometimes shorter means sweeter

DEVIN TOWNSEND

Written in just 11 days, Heavy Devy’s “party record” turned into his most personal project to date

JULIE CHRISTMAS

Her first solo record in 14 years was packed with the wisdom of lived experience

GATECREEPER

Inspired by their Swedish heroes, they laid down a catchy new blueprint for death metal

GIGS OF THE YEAR

All the stuff that made us go down the front

KNOCKED LOOSE

After their album hit the charts, the breakout hardcore stars went on a victory lap with Slipknot

BLOOD INCANTATION

Recording at the Berlin studio famed for Depeche Mode and Bowie, Denver’s psychonauts shook the foundations of extreme metal

PATRIARKH ПРОРОК ИЛИЯ (Prophet Elijah)

NAPALM

SMALL MERCIES

Where EP is short for ‘Epic Potential’

DAMNATION FESTIVAL

BEC ARENA, MANCHESTER

CHELSEA WOLFE

MARY JANE DUNPHE ACADEMY 2, MANCHESTER The Queen

HOUSE OF PROTECTION

Stevis commands the chaos BEN GIBSON Jordan Fish

WEDNESDAY 13

The Duke of Spook makes the Thekla feel

LACUNA COIL

Cristina Scabbia lifts the roof of the Roundhouse

CRADLE OF FILTH

No animal or man can scream like Dani

BLACK VEIL BRIDES/CREEPER

OVO ARENA WEMBLEY, LONDON

FIVE MINUTES WITH MIMI BARKS

The nu gen star talks abandoned bunkers, meditation and why fake long fingers make it hard to piss