Latest Features on Metal Hammer
“Fed the metal scene with its most prog-friendly material in years”: Just before grunge, this was an alternative
Anomaly-chasing quartet’s challenging response to funk metal came out of their love for Rush, Phil Collins and being odd
Perturbator aka James Kent on why Vangelis’ music endures
French electronic composer discovered Greek genius through the Blade Runner soundtrack, and began to incorporate similar ideas in his own work – even if he didn’t have the technology to do it
How Dave Grohl, Ben Stiller, and Maynard James Keenan helped Tenacious D unleash Tribute
Tenacious D had friends in high places, and they used them to bring this 2000s smash hit to life
How Machine Head made a Master Of Puppets for the 21st century
Machine Head’s The Blackening is one of the greatest metal records of the 21st century
The true story of Hear 'n Aid, the heavy metal Band Aid
Eat your heart out, Bob Geldof – Hear ’n Aid saw the hard-rock community muscling in on the charity single bandwagon. Cue a heavyweight cast, guitar battles and big hair contests
The story of You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’: the song that made Judas Priest icons in America
With one big single, and a little help from an Iron Maiden tour, the Brummie underdogs found their footing across the pond
The 10 best doom and stoner metal albums of 2025
2025 might have been the year we said goodbye to Black Sabbath, but these 10 albums prove their influence still looms large
The story of Rats and Ghost’s ascent to arenas
One year after their singer was sued by his ex-bandmates, Ghost regrouped and released a song which catapulted them to the next level
How 747 (Strangers In The Night) made Saxon unexpected stars of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal
Inspired by a widespread blackout in the 1960s, the Yorkshire band switched from their usual “street fighting and girls” lyrics and reached new heights
Serial killers, sex and Satan-crazed filth: How the 1980s tried to destroy AC/DC
By the mid-80s, the huge success of Back In Black was a fading memory, AC/DC were on the ropes, and there was worse to come
The best metal albums that you almost definitely missed in 2025
From psychedelic Brazilian black metal to space-faring tech-death, you won’t discover these excellent albums in many other places
When Linkin Park exposed a different side of themselves with Breaking The Habit
Originally written by Mike Shinoda, this shining moment from 2003’s Meteora moved Chester Bennington to tears and helped Linkin Park break out of the nu metal bubble
The ultimate Motorhead playlist (as picked by Metallica, Judas Priest and more)
We asked some of metal's biggest names to share which Motorhead songs mean most to them
Inspired by astrology and tragedy, Tool’s Maynard James Keenan wrote his most personal song. He came to regret it
It was the emotional highlight of Tool’s 10,000 Days album
The 10 best alt-metal and nu metal albums of 2025
Babymetal, Bloodywood and Sleep Token pulled influence from some esoteric places this year, and they lifted metal to new heights in the process
How Type O Negative, Sepultura and Life Of Agony helped turn Roadrunner Records into the most influential metal label of the 90s
