Updated! Here’s what happened as it happened at Download Pilot Festival – the return of bands, fans and some classic Download weather

A new generation of influencers are introducing music fans to metal in a whole new way – and they’re taking over social media

If the Brits’ organisers cared at all about heavy music, this is what the winners’ list would look like

How Ghost’s Tobias Forge built a world around a myth, and reaped a gleeful “pure eighties rock-club banger” in Dance Macabre

Twin Temple preach Satanism, bathe their crowds in blood and love Elvis. And metal loves them

The gospel according to Nightwish singer Floor Jansen

S&M2? Epic livestreams? Writing new material? Metallica made 2020 a little bit more bearable

Metal Hammer editor Merlin Alderslade takes a deep dive into System Of A Down’s first new songs in 15 years, Protect The Land and Genocidal Humanoidz

From Mastodon to Bowie, this is the music that made metal-loving comedian and Strictly Come Dancing star Bill Bailey the wizard he is

Power Trip frontman Riley Gale’s death at the age 34 shocked the metal scene. We look back at the life and times of a genuine one-off

Rehab, cancelled shows, a global pandemic and the long-awaited release of S&M2 – Lars, Kirk and Robert look back on 12 rollercoaster months in the life of Metallica

Synthwave wizard Dan Terminus’ Last Call For All Passengers is the perfect soundtrack to a party at the end of the world

Slipknot, Pantera, Weird Al Yankovic – these are the sounds in Motionless In White frontman Chris Motionless’ head

In 2018, Power Trip singer Riley Gale spoke to Metal Hammer about life, death and everything in between. Here’s what he had to say

Dropping incendiary new songs, taking to the streets to protest, spicing things up at home: Machine Head mainman Robb Flynn hasn’t wasted his lockdown time

How Avenged Sevenfold’s 2005 breakthrough turned them from metalcore upstarts into genuine contenders

Jason ‘Jay And Silent Bob’ Mewes reaches into his record collection and pulls out King Diamond, Slayer and Björk

Limp Bizkit’s Chocolate Starfish And The Hot Dog Flavored Water sent nu metal supernova and changed everything for the band that made it – and not necessarily for the best

From metal’s need for unity to the joys of Tiger King, this is the world according to Trivium’s Matt Heafy

You put the questions to Within Temptation singer Sharon den Adel

From teenage basketball camp to the arenas of the world, this is the inside story of Avenged Sevenfold’s stellar rise