Latest articles by Jon Wiederhorn
How Pearl Jam made Lightning Bolt and embraced their inner Pink Floyd
Thirty years after being blindsided by fame, Pearl Jam were still doing things on their own terms
The blazing story of Shrapnel Records, the 80s label that gave shred to the world
How guitar shredders Yngwie Malmsteen, Racer X, Cacophony and Richie Kotzen turned Shrapnel Records into the fastest label of the 80s
How Metallica defied the haters and changed the course of metal with Ride The Lightning
Metallica’s second album Ride The Lightning turns 40 on July 27 – this is how they made one of metal’s greatest records
"I ordered Chinese food and beer for them, and we just sat there and talked": Metallica, Ride The Lightning, and the meal that got them signed
Metallica changed the rules with their second album, Ride The Lightning. It was only a matter of time before the rest of the world would play along
"We went through everything, from homelessness to starvation.” Megadeth at 40: how Dave Mustaine's "revenge" on Metallica lay the foundations for a thrash metal dynasty
Forty years on from their formation, Dave Mustaine looks back at the volatile early days of Megadeth
"Plenty of my guitars went down in flames. We smashed ’em and taped fireworks to ’em." How Damageplan gave Dimebag Darrell hope in a post-Pantera world
With Pantera in pieces and their legacy tarnished, Dimebag found himself desperately needing a new outlet for his talents. With brother Vinnie Paul beside him, he found one
"He was Slayer. He affected a lot of people and he didn’t even realise it.” The life and tragic death of Slayer’s Jeff Hanneman
Jeff Hanneman was the architect behind some of Slayer's biggest - and most infamous - songs but his 2011 passing was a tragedy that shook thrash metal
Meet the woman who let Metallica rehearse in her basement
In 1983, Victoria Calandra was the only person brave enough to give Metallica a home: "I was their housemother, cook and hairdresser, and made sure they followed all the rules"
Nine Inch Nails’ The Downward Spiral: the story of Trent Reznor’s nihilistic masterpiece
Darkness, perversity and the shadow of Charles Manson – how Nine Inch Nails’ The Downward Spiral turned Trent Reznor into America’s poster boy for nihilism
Woodstock ’94: inside the craziest festival of the 90s
Nine Inch Nails, Metallica and a whole lot of mud – this is the story of the US festival that defined the 1990s
The Story Behind The Song: Tool’s Prison Sex
Prison Sex was the song that made Tool famous – and even an MTV ban couldn’t stop them
Fire up the hot tub. Ice-T just invited us over to his house
Ice T doesn’t do house parties. So when the Body Count frontman offered to show us around his New Jersey mega-pad, we weren’t going to say no
Ice-T’s track-by-track guide to new Body Count album Carnivore
EXCLUSIVE Body Count frontman Ice-T reveals the stories behind the songs in this track-by-track guide to new album Carnivore
The Story Behind: Cowboys From Hell by Pantera
In 2010, 20 years after its original release, Phil Anselmo, Vinnie Paul and Rex Brown tell Metal Hammer the story behind Pantera’s classic breakthrough album.
1994: The albums that changed the world
1994 was the year when metal came of age, bands twisting heavy music into new forms that would echo through the ages. We take a look back at the year's essential releases
The Gospel According To Al Jourgensen
One of the most formidable characters in heavy music, Ministry's Al Jourgensen has done it all in every sense of the word. This is his story.
