Dom Lawson

Dom Lawson has been writing for Hammer and Prog for 14 intermittently enjoyable years and is extremely fond of heavy metal, progressive rock, coffee and snooker. He listens to more music than you. And then writes about it.

Articles by: Dom Lawson

Kreator’s Hate Uber Alles: spite and triumph from Germany’s undying kings of thrash

By Dom Lawson published 28 May 22

Album review: age cannot wither Teutonic thrash titans Kreator, as fearsome new album Hate Über Alles proves

Anvil's Impact Is Imminent is thunderous, goofy, and impishly diverse

By Dom Lawson published 20 May 22

Celluloid’s speed-metal kings Anvil keep ’em coming on 19th studio album Impact Is Imminent

Danny Francis ushering Bon Jovi's Richie Sambora through a crowd

Michael 'Danny' Francis, bodyguard to the stars: my stories of Led Zeppelin, Kiss, Bon Jovi and more

By Dom Lawson published 17 May 22

When the going gets tough, bodyguard-to-the-stars Michael Francis – who's spent time with Elvis, lived with Cher and saved Paul Rodgers from several beatings – is the man you’d want on your side

"This is not background music": the story of Storm Corrosion

By Dom Lawson published 7 May 22

The 2012 collaboration between Steven Wilson and Mikael Åkerfeldt wasn't the prog metal supergroup many thought it might be, but something more experimental altogether

Matt Heafy’s black metal passion project Ibaraki hits hard with debut album Rashomon

By Dom Lawson published 2 May 22

Album review: Trivium’s Matt Heafy teams up with Emperor man Ihsahn and MCR’s Gerard Way on Ibaraki’s stellar debut Rashomon

Every Porcupine Tree album ranked from worst to best

By Dom Lawson published 22 April 22

Art-metal skronk-outs? Pink Floyd-inspired anthems? Epic trance workouts? This is where to start with Steven Wilson’s reunited prog visionaries

Spiritualized - Everything Was Beautiful: "adventurous and mind-bending"

By Dom Lawson published 22 April 22

Not yet rated

British psych veterans overdose on the overblown.

Dave Brock Presents This Was Your Future: Space Rock And Other Psychedelics (1978-1998) cover art

Dave Brock's space rock roundup is mind-expanding and spectacularly unhinged

By Dom Lawson published 22 April 22

Wild experimentation is the norm on This Was Your Future: Space Rock And Other Psychedelics (1978-1998), curated by Hawkwind spacelord Dave Brock

20 stoner albums that make a blazing soundtrack for 4/20

By Dom Lawson published 20 April 22

From Dopesmoker to Sweet Leaf, these 20 stoner-friendly records make the perfect 4/20 soundtrack

Euro-thrash legends Destruction channel the fury of youth on new album Diabolical

By Dom Lawson published 2 April 22

Album review: Destruction’s Diabolical album ticks every vintage thrash box you want it to tick with venomous results

Ian Anderson and Thick As A Brick II

By Dom Lawson published 2 April 22

"I didn't want to go back there," says Ian Anderson of revisiting Tull's 1971 masterpiece. But in 2012 that's exactly what he did!

The Top 20 best Meshuggah songs

By Dom Lawson published 1 April 22

How Meshuggah changed modern metal in 20 songs

Loop's new album is designed to pin your psyche to the wall at maximum volume

By Dom Lawson published 25 March 22

Brit-psych pioneers Loop defy time and blow minds on magnificent comeback album Sonancy

Iron Maiden’s The Number Of The Beast: the album that changed metal forever

By Dom Lawson published 18 March 22

Bruce Dickinson joined Iron Maiden in time for the landmark third album The Number Of The Beast. Things would never be the same again

Every Kreator album ranked from worst to best

By Dom Lawson published 18 March 22

German thrash pioneers Kreator's albums ranked in order of greatness

Melodic rock veterans FM deliver hooks galore on ageless album Thirteen

By Dom Lawson published 18 March 22

Steve Overland’s overlords FM casually batter the competition on cleverly titled thirteenth album Thirteen

Eric Wagner - In The Lonely Light Of Mourning

Eric Wagner’s In The Lonely Light Of Mourning is a fitting epitaph for the voice of doom

By Dom Lawson published 15 March 22

Album review: Trouble frontman and doom icon Eric Wagner’s posthumous In The Lonely Light Of Morning is a fitting goodbye to a legend

Napalm Death: Resentment Is Always Seismic cover art

Napalm Death explode with absurd levels of aggression and intensity on Resentment Is Always Seismic

By Dom Lawson published 12 February 22

Veteran noisy bastards Napalm Death keep the grind-bombs coming throughout Resentment Is Always Seismic

Every Carcass album ranked from worst to best

By Dom Lawson, Rich Hobson published 11 February 22

Hold on to your stomach and watch out for the bloody spray - this is the best (and worst) of innards-obssessed extreme metal icons Carcass

Amorphis - Halo: "rarely sounded so inspired"

By Dom Lawson published 11 February 22

Not yet rated

Finland’s prog metal pioneers continue to be brilliant

Saxon's Carpe Diem: "great songs, giant choruses, gritty musicianship and absolutely no mucking about"

By Dom Lawson published 3 February 22

NWOBHM heroes Saxon ride again on triumphant 23rd studio outing Carpe Diem

Lawnmower Deth's Blunt Cutters: "Still bouncing on Satan's Trampoline and spreading joy"

By Dom Lawson published 28 January 22

Mansfield's masters of metal mischief Lawnmower Deth return with Blunt Cutters - their first album in 28 years and a glorious reminder of why we loved them in the first place

The story behind the song: Warlock's Touch Of Evil

By Dom Lawson published 26 December 21

How spooky run-ins with Ouija boards and supernatural happenings in the studio helped Doro Pesch tap into the darkside on Warlock's heavy metal masterpiece Touch Of Evil

Wolftooth's mighty Blood & Iron conjures up heavy metal’s illustrious past

By Dom Lawson published 3 December 21

Midwestern metal mavens Wolftooth channel the greats on third album Blood & Iron

Every Judas Priest album ranked from worst to best

By Dom Lawson, Rich Hobson published 16 November 21

Judas Priest are the ultimate defenders of the faith: here, we rank the band's colossal back catalogue in order of greatness...

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