Dom Lawson

The turbulent story of Anvil, the band who claim to have brought heavy metal to North America

By Dom Lawson published 15 March 26

Anvil should have been huge, but fate had other plans

"We were like, ‘What if we take speed? Maybe we can play even faster!’ We were definitely better without the drugs." How Europe's biggest thrash band went from getting their mum to sign deals to satanic metal mastery

By Dom Lawson published 5 March 26

"When we heard Venom, all our songs became satanic."

Every Megadeth album ranked from worst to best

By Metal Hammer published 25 February 26

The metal icons have released their final album and are on their last-ever tour – here’s how they got here

The trailblazing German thrash queen who inspired a generation of female singers

By Dom Lawson published 14 February 26

Holy Moses’ Sabina Classen is one of metal’s great pioneers – but she rarely gets the credit she deserves

“If I find him haunting me, I’ll know I did something wrong”: How Cardiacs completed late leader Tim Smith’s album LSD

By Dom Lawson published 11 February 26

A brother who took over the band, a singer who struggled to keep the secret and a determination to do exactly what their late leader would have wanted led to the end of an 18-year journey

The pioneering European metal queen loved by Dio, Lemmy and Gene Simmons

By Dom Lawson published 1 February 26

The life and times of Doro Pesch

“Ghosts, rustling, scraping at the window… happening every full moon”: The creepy tale of Camel’s Moonmadness

By Dom Lawson published 30 January 26

Charged with matching The Snow Goose’s surprise success, Andy Latimer’s band wrote a record about themselves – disguising their vocals because they’d been told they couldn’t sing

Every solo album by Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson ranked from worst to best

By Dom Lawson published 28 January 26

Even if you take The Beast out of the equation, Bruce Dickinson has had a magical career. Here are his seven albums in reverse-order of excellence.

“I could have ‘guitarist for Genesis and Yes’ on my CV”: Why Steve Hackett didn’t take up Chris Squire’s Yes offer

By Dom Lawson published 26 January 26

Hackett was in reflective mood when he released 2019 album At The Edge Of Light – which he described as not remotely progressive, explaining why that was a good thing

The 80s metal anthem that turned the band who wrote it into global superstars – and the X-rated title it nearly had

By Dom Lawson published 24 January 26

Things could have turned out very different if the drummer had his way

“I was 100 per cent sure I was going to die”: Leprous’ Einar Solberg faced his teenage demons on solo debut 16

By Dom Lawson published 18 January 26

Abandoning attempts to dial down his own drama, he delivered a moving and multifaceted collection of collaborations in 2023. He immediately wanted to do it again

"We went to his place, had a jam, and then he asked if I’d ever played with a Ouija board."

By Dom Lawson published 15 January 26

Recording outside Germany for the first time, Warlock's swansong would also launch an international metal icon

Every year the most unlikely prog supergroup spend three days shaping weirdo music. It works.

By Dom Lawson published 5 January 26

The trio have refined their approach to a project they only started for fun, admitting it’s exploded beyond any of their expectations and changed they way they look at their more usual activities

In the desperate moments before grunge, this British band offered an ambitious alternative

By Dom Lawson published 3 January 26

Anomaly-chasing quartet’s challenging response to funk metal came out of their love for Rush, Phil Collins and being odd

How Machine Head made a Master Of Puppets for the 21st century

By Dom Lawson published 1 January 26

Machine Head’s The Blackening is one of the greatest metal records of the 21st century

How 747 (Strangers In The Night) made Saxon unexpected stars of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal

By Dom Lawson published 30 December 25

Inspired by a widespread blackout in the 1960s, the Yorkshire band switched from their usual “street fighting and girls” lyrics and reached new heights

Metal Hammer's albums of the year: 2025

By Metal Hammer published 25 December 25

From chart-toppers Ghost and Sleep Token to rising stars Lorna Shore and Spiritbox, 2025 has been a massive year for metal

How a dead psychic inspired Iron Maiden to make one of the maddest concept albums of the 80s

By Dom Lawson published 20 December 25

Maiden’s seventh album is the ultimate fan favourite

Jethro Tull’s manager asked Ian Anderson to write a hit. He tried not to, but failed

By Dom Lawson published 18 December 25

1969’s Living In The Past reached the Top 10 in both the UK and US, and led to an uncomfortable experience on Top Of The Pops

Devin Townsend discusses his prog world (while he’s hiding from his dogs)

By Dom Lawson published 3 December 25

Stick-collecting Canadian who preferred Motorhead to Marillion says Captain Beefheart didn’t know he was nuts, the Interstellar soundtrack floored him, and the Wildhearts are prog

10 Cardiacs albums to listen to and one to avoid

By Dom Lawson published 2 December 25

Cardiacs are easy to hate, with music that's unfathomable at times, but for fans of the weird and wonderful there's nothing else like them

The heartbreaking tragedy that produced a cult early 90s metal anthem

By Dom Lawson published 29 November 25

Armored Saint should have been bigger than they were – but they produced a classic in Last Train Home

Fuelled by humanistic thinking and pure, feminine power, Bianca's debut album is more proof that black metal has progressed far beyond Satanism and petulant rebellion

By Dom Lawson published 25 November 25

This is a special debut from a special new force in extreme metal