Slayer star in the most shocking issue of Metal Hammer ever

Here we go folks, it’s new issue of Metal Hammer time and this issue is brought to you by the mighty Slayer!

PICK UP YOUR COPY OF METAL HAMMER 276 HERE

War. Gore. Satan. Heavy metal. Slayer are the undisputed Kings Of Hell, and for our special cover feature we chat to masterminds Kerry King and Tom Araya about their amazing early days, the true stories behind those ‘Satanist’ rumours and why they were the most shocking band to ever break out of America. From the influences of Venom and the Metal Massacre compilation, we look back at how these four kids from California sent grannies running in fear with shitty knickers.

Of course, Slayer aren’t the only shocking band metal has ever seen. We investigate the history of shocking moments in our world from Marilyn Manson invading the mainstream, Dillinger Escape Plan crapping in a bag onstage, L7 throwing used tampons into the crowd and GWAR sodomising priests. You won’t believe what some bands got up to over the years.

We travelled to an Arizona vineyard to catch up with Tool and Puscifer frontman and visionary Maynard James Keenan for a straight-talking interview about life, the universe and everything… and wine. Lots of wine.

One of Australia’s biggest heavy bands The Amity Affliction reveal just how they’ve gone from strength to strength – by putting friendship first. Coming from a tiny town Down Under they didn’t have it easy, but stuck together (even when frontman Joel pissed in guitarist Ahren’s sister’s bedroom) and now it’s paying dividends.

Hammer favourites Clutch have just dropped another slab of groovetastic riffage full of surreal imagery and divisive political views. So it makes perfect sense for Neil Fallon to give us an emergency state of the nation address.

But that’s not all! We’ve packed the new issue with loads more from Tesseract, Saxon, August Burns Red, The Devil Wears Prada, Abbath, With The Dead, Counting Days and more!

Plus there are TWELVE posters in our killer artwork special from the likes of Every Time I Die, Rammstein and Sylosis. And four beer mats from Ghost, Slayer, Machine Head and Trivium (check ‘em out below).

AND an ear-wrecking 15-track CD with the hottest new bands in heavy music – from Skyharbor to Earthside to Abhorrent Decimation.

Oof. That’s a lot of freebies, huh?

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Founded in 1983, Metal Hammer is the global home of all things heavy. We have breaking news, exclusive interviews with the biggest bands and names in metal, rock, hardcore, grunge and beyond, expert reviews of the lastest releases and unrivalled insider access to metal's most exciting new scenes and movements. No matter what you're into – be it heavy metal, punk, hardcore, grunge, alternative, goth, industrial, djent or the stuff so bizarre it defies classification – you'll find it all here, backed by the best writers in our game.