Metal Hammer Features

The DVD that came with Metallica’s St Anger makes metal’s most maligned album make sense

By Matt Mills Published 21 July 26

Footage of the metal giants’ 2003 rehearsals offers a clearer glimpse at their vision after facing oblivion

10 classic rock albums from the 70s that unintentionally paved the way for heavy metal in the 80s

By Andrew Daly Published 21 July 26

The 1980s didn't just happen by accident: here are 10 albums from the previous decade that laid the groundwork

Here's what Chester Bennington had to say about his dear friend, Chris Cornell

By Rob Barbour Published 20 July 26

In summer 2017 following Chris Cornell's death, we spoke to his friend Chester Bennington about the Soundgarden man's legacy. Sadly, it'd prove to be Chester's final interview

The story of Ghost mainman Tobias Forge's long lost death metal band, Repugnant

By Dave Everley Published 20 July 26

Before Ghost, there was Repugnant - but even Tobias later admitted they were never destined for greatness

The turbulent story of Celtic Frost’s avant garde thrash masterpiece Into The Pandemonium

By Malcolm Dome Published 19 July 26

How Celtic Frost demolished metal’s boundaries with their classic 1987 album Into The Pandemonium

Metal Hammer's tracks of the week: July 17 2026

By Rich Hobson Published 17 July 26

Mastodon team up with Josh Homme, Bury Tomorrow go industrial and In This Moment make the world's most oppressive club anthem on this week's best new metal song roundup

Armored Saint have always struggled to fit in – but they're still willing to try something different

By Dave Ling Published 17 July 26

Inspired by Motown and R&B as much as by UFO, Queen and Judas Priest, Armored Saint have been ploughing a singular furrow for more than four decades

How a ghost ended Tony Iommi's writer's block and inspired one of Black Sabbath's greatest riffs

By Greg Prato Published 15 July 26

With Tony Iommi suffering from writer's block, Black Sabbath did the most logical thing: They hired a haunted castle

Even a band as huge as System Of A Down had to start somewhere. This is the story of Soil

By Dave Everley Published 15 July 26

Before System Of A Down, there was Soil. Its former members look back on what would be the birth of a metal legend

From collabing with Gerard Way to hanging with Robb Flynn, five minutes with Frozen Soul's Chad Green

By Rich Hobson Published 15 July 26

Frozen Soul are one of the most exciting bands in death metal right now - and it turns out MCR's Gerard Way agrees!

The 10 best Rollins Band songs chosen by guitarist Chris Haskett

By Simon Young Published 14 July 26

Chris Haskett was the guitarist for the Rollins Band for a decade

Mastodon’s Crack The Skye was a triumph – but it could have been a whole lot more

By Malcolm Dome Published 14 July 26

They basked in the 70s prog glory of King Crimson, Yes and Genesis to make their fourth album with a concept so strong they wanted to make it into a movie, but failed

How Tool shot some old pianos to bits for a 15-minute song about crying carrots

By Simon Young Published 14 July 26

The closing song on their debut album Undertow was tucked away after 59 silent tracks

Every Queens Of The Stone Age album ranked from worst to best

By David McLaughlin Published 14 July 26

Post-Kyuss, Josh Homme embarked on a mission to create rock music “heavy enough for the boys and sweet enough for the girls”: here are QOTSA's eight albums in order of greatness

Tarja picks the songs that have soundtracked her life

By Rich Hobson Published 14 July 26

Former Nightwish singer and solo star Tarja picks her records, artists and gigs of lasting significance, and names the music that terrifies her

From cult psychedelic warriors to global rock superstars: Every Scorpions album ranked from worst to best

By Malcolm Dome Published 14 July 26

UPDATED The Scorpions' 19 studio albums, ranked from woeful to wonderful

Hail to the King by Avenged Sevenfold: the story behind the song

By Simon Young Published 13 July 26

The title track of Avenged Sevenfold's 2013 album has earned over 819.8 million streams to date

Concubine by Converge: the story behind the song

By Simon Young Published 13 July 26

Converge released the classic Jane Doe in 2001 and reshaped hardcore forever

The story of the most ambitious song in death metal history

By Matt Mills Published 13 July 26

In 1996, Sweden’s Edge Of Sanity filled an entire album with one winding track, inspired by black metal, melodeath, prog and plenty more. It remains a towering achievement long after the band’s break-up.