Chris Chantler

Overshadowed by the records either side of it, Iron Maiden’s second album remains the connoisseurs’ choice more than 40 years after its release

10 instrumental album intros that will get your blood pumping and rile you up for the metallic mayhem to come

You might think it’s easy being a rock star up onstage. But factor in an annoying audience member, a stray laser pen or too much pre-show booze, and you’re looking at a recipe for a meltdown

Bad News: the band who'd be as rich as the Stones if only they'd sold as many records as them

Iron Maiden took inspiration from the ruins outside of Mexico City

The very best songs co-written by longtime Iron Maiden guitarist Dave Murray

Freddie Mercury, Robert Plant, Bruce Dickinson and more in all their naked glory

Metal’s history with horror movies goes back decades. We count down the 20 greatest anthems inspired by the screen, from the gruesome, to the grizzly, to the straight-up glorious

The 1990s was the decade that forced thrash to go underground or die. But it didn’t just survive - it prospered

Forget Spotify playlists – here are 10 of the most speaker-shattering 80s and 90s metal compilations

As Gene Simmons takes another stack-heel tumble, we pay tribute to those musicians who've fallen in the name of rock... only to unsteadily rise again

Poems have inspired many metal anthems over the years, but these are the definitive best metal songs based on poetry

A lupine playlist featuring Ozzy, Metallica Type O Negative and more

Whether it's the Genevan student or his horrific creation, the story of Frankenstein has inspired these monster hits

Arcade games, werewolves and Satan himself – here are Iron Maiden’s 10 greatest videos

Unleash the fire-breathing dragons and alien power station towers! These are the greatest stage sets ever

The top ten thrash metal monsters from the 1990s

NWOBHM classics, punk bangers, malevolent goth rock slow-anthems: how Metallica made metal’s most famous covers album

Kirk Hammett is metal’s undisputed horror nerd king, so we got the Metallica axeman to give us his rundown of the underrated grizzly classics you need in your life

Get your Gandalf on with metal’s finest songs about our pointy-hatted friends

Snarling biker-doom, sword-waving ghouls and Orson Welles – this is the best of the original early 80s New Wave Of American Heavy Metal

They might be flamingo-loving Norwegian party boys, but they're writing about some seriously dark stuff

Hammerfall helped keep heavy metal alive in the 90s, but new album Hammer Of Dawn shows their quest is far from over