Latest articles by Malcolm Dome
How Iron Maiden made a 21st century masterpiece with A Matter Of Life And Death
In this classic Metal Hammer interview, Bruce Dickinson and Steve Harris reveal the story behind Iron Maiden’s 2006 album A Matter Of Life And Death
“We introduced his influence and found ourselves”: Mike Oldfield is Gojira’s prog hero
French metal guitarist-vocalist admits it’s odd – but where he grew up there was no such thing as pigeonholing artists in genres
The ZZ Top albums you should definitely listen to
The hirsute Texan rockers have an extensive track record – here we pick out the ZZ Top records essential for any collection
How Manowar delivered death to false metal with Hail To England
Manowar’s Hail To England is a mid-80s heavy metal classic
In 2009 another new technology was threatening music, but Radiohead had a solution
When social media rumours ran wild that the band were splitting up, bassist Colin Greenwood revealed the complexities and confidence of what was really going on
“We’ve moved beyond metal”: how Judas Priest reached for the sky with Nostradamus
Judas Priest released their controversial double album Nostradamus on June 16, 2008
How violence, rocket attacks and the Cold War helped Voivod make prog-thrash masterpiece Dimension Hatröss
The story of Voivod’s ground-breaking 1988 album Dimension Hatröss, the album that helped shaped modern prog metal
With a future Uriah Heep singer and rapidly changing style, were Lucifer’s Friend prog?
Embracing jazz, working with Krautrock icon Conny Plank and becoming early adopters of orchestration, the German band often didn’t know what was going to come out of their studio sessions
The Hawkwind albums you should definitely listen to
For more than half a century, Hawkwind's ever-changing line-up of space rockers has consistently created challenging and highly influential albums
“I even suggested it was a yoghurt!” How Tangerine Dream got their name (we think)
It wasn’t a misunderstanding. Instead, Edgar Froese merged a psychedelic lyric with a surrealist joke to name his band – or at least that’s what he told us
How The Haunted rose above the chaos to make a cult 21st century metal classic with Made Me Do It
The chaotic story of Swedish ragers The Haunted’s classic second album, Made Me Do It
If you know how Henry Cow got their name, please tell the band
Percussionist Chris Cutler can only guess at the reasons behind the admittedly effective title
How Helloween invented power metal with Keeper Of The Seven Keys Parts I and II
The story of German power metal icons Helloween’s landmark late 80s Keeper Of The Seven Keys albums
The chaotic story of Misfits’ horror-punk classic Earth A.D./Wolfsblood
1983’s Earth A.D./Wolsblood album showed off Misfits at their fastest and most vicious – but it would become their gravestone
Call them what you like, but Chicago know they’re a prog band
One of the few groups to ever get away with releasing a double-album as a debut, they’d started out as a covers band who’d rebuild and extend every song they played
10 times metal bands worked with really unlikely collaborators
From members of the Monty Python crew to famous evolutionary biologists, here are some of the strangest hook-ups in rock history
The story of Sabbat’s cult late 80s pagan-thrash classic Dreamweaver: Reflections Of Our Yesterdays
UK thrashers Sabbat made an overlooked classic with their second album, Dreamweaver: Reflections Of Our Yesterdays
When Sir Christopher Lee met Tony Iommi: “When I go to see a good concert from a metal band, it’s exhilarating”
In 2010, Metal Hammer brought together acting legend Sir Christopher Lee with Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi for the ultimate metal summit
Testament’s The Legacy: the story behind a classic thrash metal debut album
Testament never scaled the heights of Metallica or Slayer, but their 1987 debut album The Legacy remains a thrash classic
"Our style has always been defined by the fact that we sound a little like Pink Floyd, Genesis and Marillion." Mystery and the making of One Among The Living
Best known as Jon Anderson’s replacement in Yes, Benoît David rejoins cult Canadian proggers Mystery, as they prepare to release the strongest album of their career.
“We took influences from the New York hardcore scene. Our stuff was faster than in the Bay Area”: the 100mph story of East Coast thrash
The inside story of 80s thrash’s great East Coast vs West Coast rivalry
The money Caravan spent, and the money they never received
When Pye Hastings and Geoffrey Richardson were interviewed by snooker icon Steve Davis, they admitted their “floaty and disorganised” state meant they were doomed to be victims of bad business decisions
“Grindcore really resonated with Americans. Our bands were being noticed before they’d even gone over there”: the ear-splitting history of Earache Records, the label that changed metal
“Often derided as a huge error by the NWOBHM heroes, it’s the start of an artistic journey that was never taken further”: Diamond Head’s dalliance with pure prog on Canterbury
Visionaries Sean Harris and Brian Tatler came up with something so demanding they had to change rhythm section - which only served to confuse diehard fans
The manager said, ‘Ian Anderson and the boys don’t want you in the band so you’ve been fired.’ I replied, ‘How can you fire me when I quit three weeks ago?’” Mick Abrahams’ life after Jethro Tull
Health issues have made it almost impossible for Blodwyn Pig founder to play guitar – but he maintains ”it could be worse”
