Chris Chantler

Chris Chantler

Chris has been writing about heavy metal since 2000, specialising in true/cult/epic/power/trad/NWOBHM and doom metal at now-defunct extreme music magazine Terrorizer. Since joining the Metal Hammer famileh in 2010 he developed a parallel career in kids' TV, winning a Writer's Guild of Great Britain Award for BBC1 series Little Howard's Big Question as well as writing episodes of Danger Mouse, Horrible Histories, Dennis & Gnasher Unleashed and The Furchester Hotel. His hobbies include drumming (slowly), exploring ancient woodland and watching ancient sitcoms.

Articles by: Chris Chantler

Dragonforce 2024

"Wacky avalanches of overripe gorgonzola delivered with the band’s trademark OTT exuberance and virtuosic flair": Dragonforce's Warp Speed Warriors might be more meme than music, but it still delivers the goods

By Chris Chantler published

Dragonforce prove they are still guitar heroes through and through

Bruce Dickinson standing tall in 2023

"The Mandrake Project flies by but still feels like an epic journey": Bruce Dickinson's first solo album in almost 20 years is a resounding triumph

By Chris Chantler published

The Mandrake Project sees Bruce Dickinson return to solo output almost 20 years after A Tyranny Of Souls

Various metal albums

10 metal bands with obscenely long gaps between albums

By Chris Chantler published

Guns N' Roses and Tool can take a back seat: here are some metal bands who took literal generations to produce follow-ups to their early albums

Various classic metal EPs

The 50 greatest metal EPs of all time

By Chris Chantler published

From the early days of Def Leppard and Iron Maiden to modern classics via the likes of Sleep Token and Spiritbox, these are the best metal EPs in history

2023 end of year

Metal Hammer's 50 best albums of 2023 (and the stories behind them)

By Rich Hobson published

Sleep Token, Creeper, Within Temptation: 2023 has been a massive year for metal, and these 50 records represent the very best the year has had to offer

This month's best new metal bands

Here are the best new metal bands you need to hear this month

By Merlin Alderslade published

From Skyrim-inspired nu-industrial noise to happy-go-lucky black metal (wait, what?!), here are some of the best new metal bands we've found for you this month

Doro Pesch looking majestic

"I’m not so lonely now, there are other girls to talk with and exchange tips and tricks on how to survive a tour!" Heavy metal Queen Doro on a career in rock, near-death experiences and, erm, fighting ducks

By Chris Chantler published

We interviewed living metal legend Doro Pesch using questions from her biggest fans

Green Lung in front of an old rock

Green Lung's This Heathen Land: London's stoner-doom heroes have brewed up a beguiling, surprisingly diverse concoction of killer riffs, bewitching folklore and knockout songs

By Chris Chantler published

Green Lung are one of the most hyped young metal bands in the UK right now, and on This Heathen Land, they show exactly why

Various Iron Maiden Eddies across the years

Metal Hammer's writers battle it out to decide which is Iron Maiden's best album

By Merlin Alderslade published

Iron Maiden have made some absolute classics across their near-five decade career, so we got the Maiden megafans in our ranks to argue over which is the greatest album of them all

KK's Priest

New KK's Priest album The Sinner Rides Again isn't reinventing any wheels, but when you have K.K. Downing and Tim 'Ripper' Owens together on this kind of form, who cares?

By Chris Chantler published

You know exactly what you're getting with K.K. Luckily, what you're getting is top-tier, classic heavy metal

KK Downing

"There’s no reason why Judas Priest and KK's Priest can’t coexist happily": K.K. Downing on reuniting with Tim 'Ripper' Owens, nu metal and why he won't ever rejoin Judas Priest

By Chris Chantler published

Legendary former Judas Priest guitarist K.K. Downing answers your questions on everything from nu metal and Judas Priest to which buscuit is best

Cronos, Tommy Lee with Fred Durst, and Blackie Lawless

“She's got a fire raging in between her thighs, I got a hose to put it out, try this for size”: a deep dive into terrible heavy metal lyrics about sex

By Chris Chantler published

Metal might nail it when it comes to lyrics about death, war, Satan and existential terror...but sex? Um, not so much

Classic albums by Skyclad, Amorphis and Primordial

A beginner's guide to folk metal in five essential albums

By Chris Chantler published

Think folk metal is all just a bit of hey nonny-nonny with a riff or two? Have we got some albums to show you

Various speed metal albums

A beginner's guide to speed metal in five essential albums

By Chris Chantler published

From its 80s heyday to its 2000s rejuvenation, here are the five albums that have defined speed metal through the years

Brothers Of Metal

"Playing our songs in t-shirts and jeans is not the way." Brothers Of Metal look like vikings, play power metal and are annoying elitists - and they're loving every second of it

By Chris Chantler published

Could Brothers Of Metal make viking metal bigger than ever?

Various death doom albums

A beginner's guide to death-doom in five essential albums

By Chris Chantler published

From its murky, understated beginnings to spectacular, three-disc concept albums, this is the story of death-doom through five classic records

Lemmy and various bands he has influenced

15 bands to check out if you miss Motorhead

By Chris Chantler published

The world will never see another legend like Lemmy. Luckily, there are some brilliant bands keeping his legacy alive

Pagan Altar in a cemetary in the early 1980s

Human skulls, ghostly witches and Satanic invocations: the mysterious story of Pagan Altar, the greatest doom metal band the world doesn’t know about

By Chris Chantler published

Pagan Altar are the cult doom band to end all cult doom bands

Some of the new new wave of British heavy metal

10 bands proving that NWOBHM is alive and kicking

By Chris Chantler published

Think the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal died off after the 80s? Think again

Steel Beans

How Keith Moon-loving, kimono-wearing multi-instrumentalist Steel Beans became Tenacious D’s favourite new band

By Chris Chantler published

Jeremy DeBardi is Steel Beans' drummer, guitarist and singer... all at the same time. And Tenacious D love him so much they invited him on tour

Dave Grohl and Jack Black, an image from Dungeons & Dragons and Clutch’s Neil Fallon

11 metal songs inspired by Dungeons & Dragons

By Chris Chantler published

From Clutch to Probot, here’s an orc’s nest of D&D-indebted bangers to soundtrack your next campaign

Type O Negative, Lacuna Coil and Paradise Lost

A beginner’s guide to goth metal in 5 albums

By Metal Hammer published

The beating black heart of goth metal summed up in five essential albums

Killer albums you need to hear in March 2023

7 killer metal albums you might have missed this month

By Rich Hobson published

From Kruelty and Demonstealer to Ad Infinitum, nothing,nowhere. and Lana Del Rabies, don't sleep on these brilliant new metal albums

Dungeons & Dragons

The epic story of metal’s love affair with Dungeons & Dragons

By Chris Chantler published

From a love of fantasy to being targeted in the Satanic Panic, all the way to Stranger Things, heavy metal and Dungeons & Dragons have a shared history that goes back decades

Iron Maiden - Piece Of Mind

Piece Of Mind at 40: inside Iron Maiden's first true fantasy epic

By Chris Chantler published

After 1982's chart-topping Number Of The Beast, the pressure was on for Iron Maiden - and Piece Of Mind proved their ambition was unparalleled