Latest articles by Joe Daly
Control Denied: The story of Death leader Chuck Schuldiner’s boundary-breaking final project
Between Death’s swan song and his passing in 2001, Chuck Schuldiner released one album with progressive trad-metal outfit Control Denied. This is their story.
Bruce Dickinson's first solo show in 20 years was a triumph
Here's what happened when Bruce Dickinson rocked up to the intimate Whisky A Go Go for a historic first solo show in 22 years
“I’m always ready for a kitty cat!” We gave Judas Priest legend Rob Halford a load of kittens to play with and asked him about heavy metal, becoming a gay icon and (sort of) being Dolly Parton's BFF
Rob Halford, a room full of kittens and a leather codpiece - what more could you ask for?
“I feel like your spirit lives on in another reality. I feel like it gets transferred to another dimension”: how Mastodon transcended death and tragedy to make Emperor Of Sand
The story of Mastodon’s 2017 album Emperor Of Sand, a yell of defiance in the face of death
"Before Deathgasm, whenever movies needed a bully, they put them in an Anthrax t-shirt": One of the best heavy metal movies ever is getting a sequel, and it's going to be even more bloody, messy... and metal (of course)
Writer/director Jason Howden is working on Deathgasm 2: Goremageddon with soundtrack contributions from Matt Heafy
Judas Priest’s Rob Halford unknowingly gatecrashed AC/DC’s compound at Power Trip festival: “I look around and there’s Brian, sitting on a couch having a cigarette.”
Judas Priest frontman Rob Halford learned there are some spots even a Metal God isn’t allowed in at last year’s Power Trip festival
“Lääz Rockit were headliners, and the band in the middle was Metallica.” The story of Lääz Rockit: the unsung thrash heroes who changed the future of metal’s biggest band
With a pioneering sound, packed-out San Francisco shows and a kinship with Metallica, Lääz Rockit could have been the fifth part of the Big Four. So why did they call it quits as early as 1992?
18 all-star singers, two cult albums and one personalised gravestone: The story of This Is Menace, the most underrated metal supergroup of the 2000s
In 2004, two members of Pitchshifter started a supergroup with the frontmen of Killing Joke, Carcass, Napalm Death and many, many more. It only lasted four years. Here’s what happened.
The 10 best Led Zeppelin songs that aren’t by Led Zeppelin
Soundalikes, homages and bare-faced rip-offs – these are the 10 best Led Zeppelin songs not actually by Led Zeppelin
Every Anthrax album ranked from worst to best
From thrash innovators to rap metal collaborators, Anthrax have repeatedly changed the heavy music game. But which of their 11 albums stands tallest?
The 10 greatest slide guitar moments in rock
From Johnny Winter to Led Zeppelin, here’s how a hit of slide guitar can lift a song to the heavens
“As a band you can be just awful and still have lots of success. But they were truly great.” The tragic story of Snot, the best lost band in nu metal history
Snot were set to be the next Faith No More. But then the death of magnetic frontman Lynn Strait cut their ascent heartbreakingly short.
10 classic metal albums celebrating major anniversaries in 2024
From Judas Priest's seminal debut to nu metal and metalcore landmarks, these iconic records all changed the game
The 10 best Jimmy Page riffs
To mark Jimmy Page’s 80th birthday on January 9, here are the former Led Zeppelin guitarist’s 10 all-time greatest riffs
“I don’t mean to sound arrogant, but we had the goods. We knew what we were doing”: how Bad Company conquered in America in the ’70s
Bad Company played their first US gig in July 1974. Within 12 months, they were one of the biggest rock bands on the planet
10 times bands made masterpieces late in their career
Some bands run out of juice towards the ends of their career. These bands and artists are the exception
Metal Hammer's 50 best albums of 2023 (and the stories behind them)
Sleep Token, Creeper, Within Temptation: 2023 has been a massive year for metal, and these 50 records represent the very best the year has had to offer
The guide to Led Zeppelin’s Swan Song Records in 10 essential songs
Led Zeppelin, Bad Company, The Pretty Things, Maggie Bell – Swan Song Records was one of the great maverick labels of the 1970s
Metal Hammer writers name their best gigs of 2023
From the monolithic Metallica to rising stars like Green Lung, these are the greatest shows that Team Hammer saw this year
“Everybody thought they were gonna get blown to bits!” The track-by-track guide to Black Sabbath’s Paranoid
From War Pigs to Fairies Wear Boots, this is everything you need to know about each song on Black Sabbath’s chart-topper
The 50 best metal albums of 2023 - as voted by the readers of Metal Hammer
From Metallica to Sleep Token, Avenged Sevenfold to Babymetal, these are the best metal albums of 2023 - as voted by you!
“The blueprint for the beginning of death metal.” How Slayer dragged metal to new depths of evil with Show No Mercy
From the otherwise hair metal backdrop of Los Angeles, Slayer began a campaign of pure, satanic thrash with Show No Mercy
The tragic life and unavoidable death of Scott Weiland
Former Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver frontman Scott Weiland's death was the sad culmination of a long downward spiral of drug abuse – one which he had little chance of escaping.
