In Flames’ Whoracle: the cult Swedish classic that changed the course of metal forever By Malcolm Dome How what began as a death metal side project accidentally made one of the most influential metal albums of the 90s
Why Ennio Morricone’s The Ecstasy Of Gold is more than just metal’s greatest intro music By Malcolm Dome How Ennio Morricone’s The Ecstasy Of Gold become part of metal’s mythology courtesy of Metallica
10 great bands whose debut albums weren't actually great By Fraser Lewry, Dom Lawson, Malcolm Dome, Jon Hotten, Sleazegrinder, Stephen Hill, Rob Hughes, Dave Ling, Alec Chillingworth Everybody's got to start somewhere, and some of our very best bands started slowly. Here's 10 great bands whose debut albums weren't actually great
The story behind the song: Thin Lizzy's The Boys Are Back In Town By Malcolm Dome Had Thin Lizzy's manager not had an ear for a good tune and some American DJs not picked up on it, the band might never have even bothered to record what became their signature song, The Boys Are Back In Town
10 cult 80s thrash albums every metal fan should know about By Dom Lawson, Malcolm Dome, Jerry Ewing, Dave Ling Forget Metallica, Slayer and the rest – we drill down into the depths of the 80s thrash scene to uncover some lost treasures
10 bands whose best album was recorded live By Fraser Lewry, Geoff Barton, Sleazegrinder, Paul Elliot, Dave Ling, Rob Hughes, Malcolm Dome 10 live albums that remain a career pinnacle for 10 legendary bands
Lamb Of God’s New American Gospel: inside the album that kick-started 21st century metal By Malcolm Dome How $5000 and a lake of booze set Lamb Of God on the road to stardom with their first album New American Gospel
The prog credentials of Blue Öyster Cult By Malcolm Dome They were called the "thinking man's metal band" and there was a lot more prog going on in Blue Öyster Cult than people realise
The 10 worst albums by 10 brilliant classic rock bands By Geoff Barton, Paul Elliot, Sleazegrinder, Ian Fortnam, Fraser Lewry, Malcolm Dome, Jon Hotten, Hugh Fielder Even the best can get it wrong sometimes: here's the worst albums by 10 of rock's greatest bands
Dennis DeYoung's 26 East: Volume 1 - breathtaking in scope and sound By Malcolm Dome 26 East: Volume 1 is a lavish, theatrical, inspired album from former Styx man Dennis DeYoung
The 11 songs that changed Klaus Meine's life By Malcolm Dome Scorpions singer Klaus Meine selects 11 extraordinary singles, and reveals how he tried and failed to bring peace to the Korean peninsular
Every Cheap Trick album, ranked from Worst to Best By Malcolm Dome, Fraser Lewry Cheap Trick's long career has seen them celebrated by everyone from Steve Albini to the entire nation of Japan. Here are their 20 albums, ranked in order of growing magnificence
What happened when David Lee Roth took over Van Halen By Malcolm Dome It's backstage in Vancouver in 1984, and David Lee Roth is having the time of his life. The other band members? Not so much
How Sepultura’s Chaos AD changed the game for 90s metal By Malcolm Dome The story behind Sepultura’s Chaos AD – the album that turned four Brazilian metalheads into global stars
The Moody Blues: the ultimate interview By Malcolm Dome The Moody Blues' astonishing journey from high living in the 60s, pioneering musical alchemy in the 70s to prog's elder statesmen of today
Trivium's What The Dead Men Say: a multi-layered merging of melody and mania By Malcolm Dome Trivium provide fury and finesse in one package on ninth album What The Dead Men Say
Testament's Titans Of Creation: a peerless example of thrash craft By Malcolm Dome Not yet rated A titanic thrash statement from Testament on 13th album Titans Of Creation
Judas Priest: The making of British Steel By Malcolm Dome A tale of bottles and Beatles: Metal Hammer unfurls the story of one of the most influential albums of all time
10 essential 70s metal albums By Malcolm Dome The 1970s was the era when the great heavy metal pioneers laid down the blueprint for everything that was to come after. Here are the 10 most essential albums from that glorious decade
The 30 albums that built heavy metal By Geoff Barton, Malcolm Dome, Jerry Ewing, Dave Ling The 30 albums that define heavy metal as we know it
The Darkness's Justin Hawkins: 10 Records That Changed My Life By Malcolm Dome Justin Hawkins from The Darkness picks ten albums that shone a light down the path to rock'n'roll triumph
10 essential tracks from Keith Emerson By Malcolm Dome Ten moments of maverick musical genius from the late Keith Emerson
Collateral by Collateral: fizzing, but also flat and frustrating By Malcolm Dome So close to being a powerhouse debut from NWOCR hopefuls Collateral
Interview: producer Hugh Padgham on Yes, Genesis and Derek & Clive By Malcolm Dome "Working with Yes was full of drama," says producer Hugh Padgham
Black Sabbath and the story of the album that gave birth to Metal By Malcolm Dome They were four lads from Birmingham who took one day to record an album that would give birth to heavy metal. This is the story of Black Sabbath's first album