
Dom Lawson
Dom Lawson has been writing for Metal Hammer and Prog for over 14 years and is extremely fond of heavy metal, progressive rock, coffee and snooker. He also contributes to The Guardian, Classic Rock, Bravewords and Blabbermouth and has previously written for Kerrang! magazine in the mid-2000s. From 2014-2016, Dom worked as Editor-At-Large at Metal Hammer, overseeing the front section of the magazine and helping to mould the some of the features that ran in print every month. Outside of his writing duties, Dom has been a longtime radio host for Total Rock, where he currently hosts The Dompilation Tapes, a show dedicated to excellent music from pretty much each and every genre you can think of. Much like his hero, Iron Maiden bassist and founding member Steve Harris, Dom is a lifelong West Ham supporter.
Latest articles by Dom Lawson

“He asked if we could make music for his abstract dance performance. We had absolutely no clue whatsoever about that world, so of course we said yes!” Ring Van Möbius’s Six Drops of Poison project
By Dom Lawson published
Norwegian retro-prog outfit say their unexpected turn after a Google search could take them further off grid – perhaps leading to horror movie soundtrack

“If people had the right mindset they could make a lot of money from peace!” Banco del Mutuo Soccorso challenge the status quo with Orlando: Le Forme Dell’Amore
By Dom Lawson published
Italian prog legends Banco del Mutuo Soccorso continued their resurgent form with 2022's concept album Orlando: Le Forme Dell’Amore

"Cannibal Corpse are still the hardest hitters in the business": death metal legends continue to brutalise with Chaos Horrific
By Dom Lawson published
Cannibal Corpse's sixteenth studio album Chaos Horrific is more proof that the death metal legends are still at the top of their game

"Our first album was the first NWOBHM album." Saxon's Biff Byford on being heavy metal pioneers, touring with Motorhead and rocking Top Of The Pops
By Dom Lawson published
From leading the charge with the New Wave Of Heavy Metal to finding new life in the 2000s, Biff Byford talks us through Saxon's whirlwind career

“The crusty thing becoming a fashion was really quite odd… people thought it was a real movement so we pretended that it was for a bit, and got quite far up the charts because of that”: the rise of Ozric Tentacles
By Dom Lawson published
At one point it seemed Ed Wynne’s band were everywhere – but, driven by a simple desire to create music, he was always more interested in longevity

“Succinct, fat-free songwriting alongside a generous helping of more indulgent material”: The Flower Kings’ Look At You Now
By Dom Lawson published
Roine Stolt and friends continue to ride their second wind since their 2019 return

The most underrated albums by 10 major prog bands
By Classic Rock published
Showing a little love for the overlooked classics by prog giants Yes, Genesis, Jethro Tull, Rush and more

10 up-and-coming thrash metal bands every self-respecting metalhead should listen to
By Dom Lawson published
From Pest Control to Cryptosis, the genre that Metallica and Slayer popularised is raging its way into a glorious future

Slipknot sound like a deranged and destructive organism on the 77-minute sensory blitzkrieg of Live At MSG
By Dom Lawson published
Slipknot's historic 2009 Madison Square Garden show, now available for the first time on vinyl

The best new metal bands you need to hear this month
By Merlin Alderslade published
From history-obsessed power metallers to sonically devastating singer-songwriters, here are the new artists you need to know about

“If they had the flares and beards and the record was from 1971 or 1972, that was what I wanted… records that looked odd and I could afford”: How Opeth’s Mikael Åkerfeldt discovered prog
By Dom Lawson published
From extreme metal to Camel and Genesis to collaboration with Steven Wilson, the Swedish musician's career is surely one of the most progressive

“I didn’t have much knowledge of Marillion. A singer who painted his face like Peter Gabriel? It all seemed a little bit derivative…” How Marillion reinvented themselves with Steve Hogarth and Seasons End
By Dom Lawson published
When Fish left Marillion, the band had two options: Move forward or become a parody. And then they met an aspiring – and initially sceptical – art-pop singer-songwriter called Steve Hogarth…

“We’ve had a few Floyd moments… we got a giant ghetto blaster on a boat and parked it in the harbour… we closed down an airport for six hours!” The Orb were prog all along
By Dom Lawson published
Accidental albums with David Gilmour and Robert Fripp aren’t the only connections Alex Paterson’s psychedelic electronic group have with the progressive genre

30 musicians on the album that changed their life as a kid
By Classic Rock published
Members of Kiss, Black Sabbath, Guns N’ Roses, Def Leppard, Rage Against The Machine and more reveal the albums that set them on the path to rock stardom

"We were ahead of our time": How tales of Thor, lightning-spewing hammers and a battle to the death at the end of the world turned Amon Amarth into the world's favourite heavy metal Vikings
By Dom Lawson published
Amon Amarth's Thor-referencing epic Twilight Of The Thunder God also gave the band their breakthrough hit

Skindred have just released the banger-packed, life-affirming soundtrack to everybody’s summer
By Dom Lawson published
Benji’s banger brigade hit new heights as Skindred release liberating eighth album Smile

The 10 greatest Megadeth riffs of all time
By Dom Lawson published
Love him or hate him, no one can deny that Megadeth mastermind Dave Mustaine has written a host of legendary riffs. Here are the 10 most neck-snapping.

The 50 best metal albums of the 2000s
By Merlin Alderslade published
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

If it's big, boisterous, melodic metal anthems you're after, Elegant Weapons may be just what you need
By Dom Lawson published
Judas Priest man Richie Faulkner returns, backed by Rex Brown, Ronnie Romero and Scott Travis, on Elegant Weapons' debut Horns For A Halo

7 brilliant metal albums you might have missed last month
By Rich Hobson published
Grave Pleasures, As Everything Unfolds and Dodheimsgard are among the albums that might have flown under the radar in April

How Iron Maiden created their definitive masterpiece with Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
By Dom Lawson last updated
The epic concept album was more than just Iron Maiden’s most successful album of the 1980s – it took them to heavy metal immortality

Last In Line looser and grittier than before on the classy Jericho
By Dom Lawson published
Former Dio men Vivian Campbell and Vinnie Appice return with third album of thunderous hard rock, Jericho

7 killer metal albums you might have missed this month
By Rich Hobson published
From Kruelty and Demonstealer to Ad Infinitum, nothing,nowhere. and Lana Del Rabies, don't sleep on these brilliant new metal albums
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