
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

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

Five cool new prog acts you need to hear this March
By Jerry Ewing, Jeremy Allen, Gary Mackenzie, Matt Mills, Dom Lawson published
Check out Moundrag, EBB, Cabiria, Wizrd and Shell Beach – five great new up and coming prog artists

Uriah Heep's Mick Box: "I feel like I’ve done ten rounds with Mike Tyson and not got a punch in"
By Dom Lawson published
Uriah Heep have lost a few friends but are enjoying a golden era, and new album Chaos & Colour is defiantly upbeat and inspirational

New singer, new attitude, new era: how Iron Maiden’s The Number Of The Beast changed metal forever
By Dom Lawson last updated
Bruce Dickinson joined Iron Maiden in time for the band's iconic third album, The Number Of The Beast. Things would never be the same again

"I’ve never made a deadline in my life. They’re finished when they’re finished.” Spiritualized and the story of their first four albums
By Dom Lawson published
Jason Pierce guides us through those first four groundbreaking Spiritualized albums

20 killer metal albums turning 10 in 2023
By Paul Travers published
From Bring Me The Horizon’s Sempiternal to Ghost’s Infestissumam, happy birthday to these absolute montsers

Uriah Heep: still fully in touch with what made them great 50 years ago
By Dom Lawson published
Another Box-fresh hard-rock bull’s eye as Uriah Heep release album number 25 Chaos And Colour

The making of Riverside's Shrine Of New Generation Slaves
By Dom Lawson published
Following a Number One album in their home country, Poland's Riverside hit new heights with 2013's Shrine Of New Generation Slaves

Dark-prog magi Katatonia deliver more epic gloom on Sky Void Of Stars
By Dom Lawson published
Album review: Katatonia’s 12th album Sky Void O Stars proves that they’re the masters of sumptuous sullenness

“I realised quite early that this album would deal a lot with growing up." Beardfish's 2015 album +4626-COMFORTZONE would also be their last until they reformed last year
By Dom Lawson published
Released in 2015, +4626-COMFORTZONE was Swedish prog rockers Beardfish's eighth studio album. It also would also be the band's last for nine years...
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