Stephen Hill

How a beloved rock band took aim at a pop megastar and ushered in a genre-mashing masterpiece with a 90s classic

By Stephen Hill Published 5 February 26

This Faith No More song is so catchy, Disturbed covered it on two separate occasions

Nirvana's most controversial song and why it made a US President smash up his own kid's CD

By Stephen Hill Published 3 February 26

Kurt Cobain was convinced no one could misunderstand the intent of the lyrics to this track. Sadly, many still did

From Soviet Union pop to Ukrainian metal, this is the life story of Jinjer's Tatiana Shmayluk

By Stephen Hill Published 3 February 26

As frontwoman of tech metal stars Jinjer, Tatiana Shmayluk has manifested an incredible career against the odds

How the reluctant ‘Godfathers Of Hardcore’ wrote the mosh-pit classic that put East Coast punk on MTV

By Stephen Hill Published 31 January 26

Sick Of It All helped take hardcore into the mainstream

The three iconic metal albums that changed Ice-T’s life

By Stephen Hill Published 31 January 26

Riffs, beats and smackdowns - this is the soundtrack to Ice-T’s life

The chaotic and confusing story of Metallica’s abandoned album

By Stephen Hill Published 28 January 26

In 2001, Metallica hired an old army barracks in California to try and record album eight. The songs were scrapped when James Hetfield entered rehab, but many fans still want to hear them finished.

The cult US hardcore band who smashed boundaries to make one of the 21st century’s most influential albums

By Stephen Hill Published 26 January 26

Converge’s 2001 classic Jane Doe is one of the greatest albums of the last 30 years

The alt-rock superstars who trolled their fans with a 70s easy listening cover – and scored a huge hit with it

By Stephen Hill Published 26 January 26

Faith No More had already covered War Pigs

How metal’s ‘mad scientist’ swapped craziness for commerciality – and confused the hell out of a prog legend

By Stephen Hill Published 25 January 26

Devin Townsend dialled back the aggro with Strapping Young Lad’s 2005 classic Love?

The story behind the Nirvana song that Dave Grohl was too nervous to include on In Utero

By Stephen Hill Published 16 January 26

Dave Grohl has proven himself as a hell of a songwriter, but it took some support from his dear friend Kurt to get some self-belief

How Trent Reznor's most brutal diss track savaged Courtney Love, Fred Durst and more

By Stephen Hill Published 12 January 26

This classic 90s industrial metal banger is also one of the angriest

How cult fixtures Prong found their brief mainstream moment

By Stephen Hill Published 9 January 26

1994’s Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck was a hit, but it wasn’t enough for the hardcore-turned-metal band’s big-label bosses

The best new metal bands you need to hear in January 2026

By Paul Travers, Jon Garcia, Stephen Hill, Perran Helyes Last updated 9 January 26

From 'nu deathcore' pioneers Autumn Lies Buried to Finnish black metallers Svarta Havet, Black Label Society side project Dark Chapel and psychedelic sludgers Witchrot, these are the metal bands you need to hear in January 2026

Human Waste Project, the lost nu metal band who should have been huge

By Stephen Hill Published 9 January 26

Fronted by the magnetic Aimee Echo, the four-piece had a major record deal and were close friends with Korn. But their career was sadly short-lived.

How Sugar started System Of A Down’s climb to dominance

By Stephen Hill Published 9 January 26

1998 single Sugar brought the future nu metal superstars to the dance – and they were weird as hell

How an unexpected arrest accidentally gave Limp Bizkit their big break

By Stephen Hill Published 28 December 25

How Type O Negative, Sepultura and Life Of Agony helped turn Roadrunner Records into the most influential metal label of the 90s

By Stephen Hill Published 27 December 25

"It was the perfect tragedy. Heavy metal albums found in their rooms, antisocial behaviour." How Lemmy, Corey Taylor, Henry Rollins and the metal community united to save three teenagers at the heart of a murder case that shocked America

By Stephen Hill Published 26 December 25

The story of the West Memphis Three captured the attention of the metal world - and some of its biggest artists took action

Metal Hammer's albums of the year: 2025

By Metal Hammer Published 25 December 25

From chart-toppers Ghost and Sleep Token to rising stars Lorna Shore and Spiritbox, 2025 has been a massive year for metal

A Perfect Circle have made four albums. These are the stories behind them all

By Stephen Hill Published 21 December 25

A Perfect Circle’s Billy Howerdel breaks down his band’s four studio albums

How Killswitch Engage's The End Of Heartache brought some romance to the metal scene

By Stephen Hill Published 15 December 25

One of the gretaest metalcore songs ever written turned this band into household names

How Skindred mixed reggae and metal to produce a classic 2000s rock banger

By Stephen Hill Published 9 December 25

How Skindred hit on the ragga-metal classic that would save frontman Benji Webbe’s career

How Laid To Rest – against all odds – gave Lamb Of God an actual career

By Stephen Hill Published 8 December 25

The opening track of 2004’s Ashes Of The Wake helped lift the band from heavy metal underdogs to generation-defining superstars

The story behind the Foo Fighters classic that everyone assumed was about Kurt Cobain

By Stephen Hill Published 7 December 25

People misinterpreted this song's meaning for years, but it made it no less poignant