Articles by Dannii Leivers

Danniii Leivers writes for Classic Rock, Metal Hammer, Prog, The Guardian, NME, Alternative Press, Rock Sound, The Line Of Best Fit and more. She loves the 90s, and is happy where the sea is bluest.

Articles by: Dannii Leivers

Electric Callboy behind the scenes Elevator Operator

"There is a big difference between being funny and being ridiculous." Why Electric Callboy don’t want to be known as metal’s silliest band

By Dannii Leivers published 15 April 25

How Electric Callboy went from down-and-out metalcore also-rans to rave-starting, arena-filling electronicore heroes with the best music videos in the business

Every Lacuna Coil album ranked from worst to best

By Dannii Leivers published 20 March 25

We’ve ranked every studio album to bear the Lacuna Coil logo, from In A Reverie to Sleepless Empire

"A cocktail of pure fire and creativity." How Limp Bizkit went from nu metal's whipping boys to a beloved cultural force (again)

By Dannii Leivers published 12 March 25

Limp Bizkit have proven time and again they can roll with the punches

"I hate so many people!" Spiritbox give us a track-by-track guide to Tsunami Sea

By Dannii Leivers published 7 March 25

Spiritbox's immense new album Tsunami Sea is finally here - so we got Mike Stringer and Courtney LaPlante to talk us through every track on the record

"I was emotionally moved watching Megan Thee Stallion interact with her fans." From surprise collabs with rap superstars to playing with Bring Me The Horizon and explosive new album Tsunami Sea, inside Spiritbox's incredible year

By Dannii Leivers published 5 March 25

How Spiritbox have taken steps to world domination

"You can hear everything from Metallica to Nick Cave and Tom Waits." With Vice Grip, Parkway Drive went from metalcore stars to future festival headliners - and jumped out of a plane

By Dannii Leivers published 5 March 25

How Vice Grip took Parkway Drive from metalcore heroes to future festival headliners

4 brilliant new metal bands you need to hear this month

By Rich Hobson published 1 March 25

Meet the "deathcore Slipknot" Paleface Swiss, to Danish prog metallers Danefae, concept-driven Texan metalcore mob Cantervice and UK alt metallers Vower

They've toured with Slipknot, become unlikely ambassadors for Ukraine and smashed main stages at festivals. Now Jinjer have made their darkest, angriest album yet with Duél

By Dannii Leivers published 4 February 25

Thought Jinjer might have used their growing popularity to write an album of big, catchy bangers? Nah. No chance

"The most successful symphonic metal band in the world." Every Nightwish album ranked from worst to best

By Dannii Leivers published 16 December 24

The biggest symphonic metal band of them all have had a glittering career so far. Here is every Nightwish studio full-length ranked

"This could all fall apart at any moment." From collaborating with Bad Omens and Knocked Loose to touring with Bring Me The Horizon, Poppy might be metal's most vital artist of 2024 (just don't call her a metalhead)

By Dannii Leivers published 13 November 24

Starting out as a YouTube sensation with a robotic persona, Poppy has broken out to become a hyperpop/metal crossover star

"She's made the jump from bizarre YouTube content creator to one of the brightest stars in metal." A guide to every Poppy album

By Dannii Leivers published 1 November 24

We dissect the fascinating career of genre-hopping alternative artist Moriah Rose Pereira - known to millions as Poppy

"Heavy doesn’t have to start with guitars." How Heriot became UK metal's most exciting underground band

By Dannii Leivers published 23 October 24

Mixing death metal, sludge, metalcore and shoegaze, Heriot represent the diverse new direction metal is headed

"They’re doing collab songs with Babymetal so we're low on the priority list." Bury Tomorrow's Dani Winter-Bates answers fan questions on meet and greets, going deathcore and the band they'd love to collaborate with

By Dannii Leivers published 18 October 24

Standalone single Villain Arc suggests a heavy new direction for Bury Tomorrow - but are they really going deathcore?

"At their heaviest, they feel genuinely dangerous." Heriot live up to their potential as Britain's best new metal band on Devoured By The Mouth Of Hell

By Dannii Leivers published 26 September 24

Beloved by Lamb Of God, Trivium and Machine Head, Heriot just proved that 2022's Profound Morality EP was just a taste of what they can do

Cassyette This World Fucking Sucks Album Cover

"It feels like a vision for the future." Nu gen star Cassyette lives up to the hype on her long-awaited debut album This World F***ing Sucks

By Dannii Leivers published 20 August 24

From supporting Bring Me The Horizon to writing a Eurovision anthem, 2024 has been a massive year for Cassyette - and she's just getting started

"I remember getting offstage like, ‘I feel like Dave Grohl right now!'" From sweaty basement shows to Coachella, Madison Square Garden and Fred Durst: how Scowl became the most exciting new band in hardcore

By Dannii Leivers published 29 July 24

Scowl could well be the next hardore band to break out of the scene

The 100 Songs That Changed Metal

By Metal Hammer published 18 July 24

From founding fathers like Black Sabbath, Rainbow and Judas Priest to metal's modern leaders such as Ghost, Sleep Token and Spiritbox, these are the songs that have defined a genre

"An ambitious blend of groove, death and nu metal elements, with frenzied Afrobeat polyrhythms." Dzikkuh proves Togo's Arka'n Asrafokor are the band every metalhead should know in 2024

By Dannii Leivers published 18 July 24

Cited as "Togo's only metal band", Arka'n Asrafokor set their sights on global recognition with ambitious second album

"At a certain point we beat Britney Spears!" How Ice Queen made Within Temptation symphonic metal's first superstars - and changed heavy music forever

By Dannii Leivers published 17 June 24

With Ice Queen, Within Temptation helped to crystallise the scene we know today as symphonic metal

"They bombed a medical supplies warehouse. You could smell medicine in the air..." Sharon Den Adel went to Ukraine to film Within Temptation's latest video. This is what she found.

By Dannii Leivers published 7 June 24

Hiding from drones, hoping to hear the voice of Mark Hamill – Within Temptation's Sharon Den Adel experiences the war in Ukraine first-hand in this exclusive diary

"The whole thing was such a shock, because it came out of nowhere." A public letter, tears and the Finnish Prime Minister: inside the crazy day Nightwish parted ways with Tarja Turunen

By Dannii Leivers published 5 June 24

When Nightwish dismissed their lead singer via open letter, the fallout was so public and intense that even the Finnish prime minister got involved

Loz Taylor and Oli Sykes singing together

"There was a bit of argy-bargy between us and Bring Me The Horizon." How tragedy, Brexit and a certain Oli Sykes helped While She Sleeps break big with Silence Speaks

By Dannii Leivers published 27 May 24

While She Sleeps take us inside their biggest song

"We opened up for Billie Eilish...the first two songs were just everybody in shock and awe." Halestorm's Lzzy Hale on rock, religion, queer awakenings and a whole lot more

By Dannii Leivers published 25 May 24

Lzzy Hale dishes out the lessons she's learned during a life in rock 'n' roll

“A lot of the things we were doing 25 years ago seemed so new." Kittie broke the mould in the male-dominated world of nu metal. Now they're back for an almighty victory lap

By Dannii Leivers published 29 April 24

Kittie look back on their turbulent career and what comes next as they return to the metal scene

"A lot of American men were messaging me saying that they were going to kill me." Meet Delilah Bon, the self-proclaimed 'brat punk' raging against misogyny with genre-splicing bangers

By Dannii Leivers published 25 April 24

Delilah Bon's blend of punk, nu metal and hip hop hits hard, and her message seems to be infuriating all the worst people

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Dannii Leivers

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