AFTER TWO ALBUMS, Ron ‘Bumblefoot’ Thal said prog metal supergroup Sons Of Apollo had “split into fragments”. Despite that, the former Guns N’ Roses guitarist never stopped writing with ex-Dream Theater keyboardist Derek Sherinian and, from those spl

REIGNING PHOENIX MUSIC Evil thrash royalty gets back in the ring with a vengeance RETIREMENT WAS NEVER an option for Kerry King. Even before the untimely passing of guitarist Jeff Hanneman in 2013, it often seemed that Kerry was hauling Slayer along

Back in the 1990s, National City wasn’t the kind of place you read about in the guide books. Amere stone’s throw from the touristy enclaves and glittering sands of San Diego’s Coronado Island and Imperial Beach, and a 20- minute car ride from Tijuana

POWERED BY SEQUINS, glitter and cheese, Eurovision once felt like the antithesis of metal –but that’s all changing. Over the past two decades, the annual song contest has warmed up to the heavier side of life. In 2006, Finnish monster-men Lordi bagge

ANNO DOMINI 1989-1995 BMG £120 SABBATH’S LATEST BOX set offers an overdue reassessment for a range of albums so contested within the band’s canon that they’re not even currently available on streaming services. By the time then-unknown vocalist Ton

MASCOT San Diego’s nu metal originals make a diminished return NOSTALGIA IS BIG business in 2024 –just look at the success of the When We Were Young and Sick New World festivals for proof. There’s never been a better time to be an early 00s nu metal

In a dark room, an orchestra strikes up. Violins play a staccato melody, and as more instruments join –a horn here, a crash of drums there –blue lights overhead cast an eerie glow. By the time the music hits a triumphant crescendo, the room is finall

KNIFE BRIDE / ANKOR ELECTRIC BALLROOM, LONDON Scotland’s pop-infused metallers bring North London to the boil AN INTERNATIONAL QUINTET based in the Catalonia region, ANKOR quickly set the incendiary tone for the evening with their explosive single,

PETER TÄGTGREN IS a busy boy. Frontman of Hypocrisy, Peter was also half of Lindemann until 2020 and is a prolific producer, working out of his Swedish studio, The Abyss. So it’s little wonder that he’s hardly had time for his industrial metal side-p

SOMETIMES YOU GET an itch that just has to be scratched. Maybe you want a beer, or a pie, or, in the case of End, to play some heavy-as-fuck metalcore that annihilates everything in its path. That’s where guitarist Will Putney found himself back in 2

“I HEARD THE band HAVE HEART, and it was a defining moment for me. The song Bostons inspired our song Fragments Of ABetter Memory –especially the bridge and the hook into the end breakdown, and the ‘I despise the drinking father’ aspect [Bostons feat

EVERY BAND THAT makes it has that one album. That career-changing moment that propels them to the next level. And for While She Sleeps, it was their third release, 2017’s You Are We. The Sheffield crew’s promise had been clear all along. With 2010 EP

NUCLEAR BLAST Arkansas’ doom heartbreakers unfurl the power of fragility LOOKING TO THROW your heavy metal claws aloft and mindlessly bellow “Yeaahhhhh!” at the rafters? That’s fine and all, but chances are this is not the doom you are looking for.

“IN SPAIN, METALHEADS and reggaetoneros [young people involved in the reggaeton culture] hate each other! It’s a massive thing,” says Future Static vocalist Ami Cook, explaining how the choice to cover 2004 reggaeton hit Gasolina helped her reconnect

AFTER ABRIEF stint in glam metal also-rans Madam X, Sebastian Bach shot to fame fronting Skid Row in the late 80s. Their first two albums were huge hits, but 1995’s Subhuman Race was a relative flop and Sebastian was booted out of the band. While Ski

WHEN WE CATCH up with Lzzy Hale, she’s sitting in her closet. “I’m adulting and I don’t like it,” the Halestorm vocalist and guitarist tells us, midway through house renovations and surrounded by leather jackets and stage outfits, although it’s an ap

even in a scene as boundary-pushing as black metal, Witch Club Satan are radical. While their sound is rooted in raw chaos, it’s fuelled by a unique and powerful perspective: female rage. The Norwegian trio take inspiration from injustices aimed at w

MEGAFORCE California’s alt metal mischief-makers jump back into the fray AT THE HEIGHT of the early 00s’ nu metal boom, it was Alien Ant Farm’s tonguein-cheek cover of Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal that temporarily turned the California veterans

Birmingham’s unyielding metal champions bestride the ages “THIS ONE IS Rainbow Demon, it came out in ’72,” says Uriah Heep frontman Bernie Shaw to an already near-full arena. “Who remembers that?” Alarge proportion of the crowd by the looks of it. T

Ministry frontman Al Jourgensen’s life has been one long, wild ride. Born in Havana, Cuba in 1958, he fled the island as a toddler with his family following a revolution that saw communist insurgent Fidel Castro seize power. Things have barely calmed

HOOTANANNY, LONDON Alt metal renegades bring their raw energy to Brixton ON AMINISCULE stage in Brixton, the new generation of alternative artists are defiantly ripping up the rulebook in front of our eyes, and it’s glorious. Donning black and white

On November 29 and 30, 2019, Slayer brought the curtain down on their 38-year career with the second of two consecutive shows at the 17,500- capacity LA Forum. It was a momentous occasion, but Kerry King, guitarist and co-lyricist since the very begi

IT’S OFFICIAL –AFTER 36 years, we’re finally getting a Beetlejuice sequel! Director Tim Burton is reuniting with original stars Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara for a follow-up to his 1986 horror fantasy hit. Titled Beetlejuice Beetl

All it takes is one word. Just one word, comprising three letters and one syllable, repeated twice. Bryan Garris, frontman of hardcore superstars Knocked Loose, looks out at the sprawling mass of bodies in front of him at London’s Kentish Town Forum,

ELECTRIC BALLROOM, LONDON Washington State’s cult mathcore crew return for one last stand THE LAST TIME Tacoma, Washingtonbased mathcore legends Botch played London, they supported The Dillinger Escape Plan at the Underworld. In their original incar

THE GARAGE, LONDON Ex-Dillinger figurehead brings a bitter pill to his synth-metal party GREG PUCIATO HAS always been one of metal’s great mavericks. As frontman of The Dillinger Escape Plan –who split in 2017, then shockingly announced three reunio