Latest Features on Metal Hammer
Louder Than Life has announced set times - get planning on how you'll be spending your time at America’s largest rock and metal festival and grab tickets while you still can
With almost 200 bands playing Louder Than Life 2026, you'll wanna get organised
The story of Mr Bungle: how Mike Patton’s ex-high-school band made one of the strangest debut albums in heavy metal history
On this day in 1991, Mr Bungle’s self-titled debut came out – confusing many but inspiring Korn, Avenged Sevenfold and other greats
The stories behind every song on Metallica’s Black Album
35 years ago, Metallica cemented themselves as the biggest metal band on Earth. This is your track-by-track guide to their landmark moment.
The life and times of Tony Iommi, metal’s indestructible dark lord
If it wasn’t for Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi, the world would sound very, very different
Metal Hammer's tracks of the week: July 31 2026
Tony Iommi makes a long awaited return, Electric Callboy channel their inner boyband and Sheri Moon Zombie strikes out as a solo artist in this week's best new metal songs round up
How Trivium defied the gatekeepers and split the critics with The Crusade
Trivium broke big with 2005’s Ascendancy – but a year later, The Crusade saw the backlash hit
How Dimmu Borgir became black metal's biggest band
Dimmu Borgir were decried as sell outs from their first single, but they broadened the scope of black metal to impossible new heights
“People might be surprised, but Roxy Music influenced Celtic Frost”: Extreme metaller Tom G Warrior’s prog roots
He pics his favourite Roxy record – but says it’s insulting to be made to choose just one artist from all those who matter to him
From Avenged Sevenfold to Neurosis and Stray From The Path, why more and more metal bands are surprise-releasing albums: “At what point do people critique success on sales rather than how big your balls are?”
As heavy artists grow sick of music industry convention, surprise releases have become increasingly common – but are they worth the commercial risks?
Sevendust's 30-Year odyssey: Success, near-bankruptcy and new purpose
Sevendust were a gold-certified, shit-hot live act making serious money – but they weren’t seeing any of it. Staring down bankruptcy and on the brink of collapse, they refused to be knocked down
Inside Slaughter To Prevail's bloodiest gig ever
Slaughter To Prevail's Blood4Blood is the first event of its kind: metal bands, bare-knuckle fights and buckets of blood
Meet Excide, the band looking to reinvent hardcore
South Carolina's Excide aren't afraid to mix things up
Venom frontman and godfather of black metal Cronos on his brilliantly bizarre double life
Best known as the godfather of black metal, Cronos is also a birdwatcher, a fitness instructor, a multimedia engineer, a pepperhead and a Kate Bush nut
Addiction, Doris, Riots and Tub Tarts: An A-Z Of Metallica
Your alphabetical guide to the world’s biggest metal band
Dream Theater, Voivod, Watchtower and the rise of prog metal
Refusing to be talked out of merging classic vibes with thrash-infused attitude, North American musicians took up the 70s prog torch and ran into the 80s with it – sometimes very, very fast
“I was struggling. I had a real problem with alcohol again”: Napalm Death’s Shane Embury goes prog to search his soul
The bassist’s desire to “jump into the unknown” inspired Bridge To Revolution, his most progressive album yet, as the Rush fanatic continues work on his Cardiacs-inspired project
Burning keyboardists, flying tanks and free suncream - inside Wacken Open Air 2026
The world's biggest metal festival puts on a weekend to remember for its 35th anniversary
