Mastodon

Metallica, Megadeth and Slipknot have all turned some of their heaviest songs into lovely acoustic numbers

Metallica, Slipknot and Megadeth have all played fan-favourite albums in their entirety to very, very lucky audiences

When it came to recording a follow up to 2009's progtastic Crack The Skye, the band wrote bigger choruses for 2011's The Hunter but their prog roots remained the same

These masterpieces by Megadeth, Judas Priest and Lamb Of God all put their greatest moments at the very start

From Metallica to Slipknot, Sylosis frontman and guitar virtuoso Josh Middleton picks 10 heavy riffs that are far harder than they sound

Iron Maiden's only number 1 single, an AC/DC classic and title-tracks aplenty - we're amazed these songs haven't been played more

From nu metal classics by Slipknot, Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit to metal legends like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest bouncing back in style, these are the albums that defined the 2000s

From the Louisiana swamps to Washington State and beyond, these five albums defined sludge metal's history

Mastodon performed a raging extreme metal song as animated characters in the Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie – and stole the entire show.

Brain-melting music meets head-scratching concepts – step into the epic world of prog metal with these five must-hear albums