Dom Lawson

Dom Lawson

Writer

Dom Lawson has been writing for Metal Hammer and Prog for over 14 years and is extremely fond of heavy metal, progressive rock, coffee and snooker. He also contributes to The Guardian, Classic Rock, Bravewords and Blabbermouth and has previously written for Kerrang! magazine in the mid-2000s. From 2014-2016, Dom worked as Editor-At-Large at Metal Hammer, overseeing the front section of the magazine and helping to mould the some of the features that ran in print every month. Outside of his writing duties, Dom has been a longtime radio host for Total Rock, where he currently hosts The Dompilation Tapes, a show dedicated to excellent music from pretty much each and every genre you can think of. Much like his hero, Iron Maiden bassist and founding member Steve Harris, Dom is a lifelong West Ham supporter.

Articles by: Dom Lawson

Body Count

"Thirty years after Cop Killer, Ice-T is still committed to making music that goes harder than the rest." From THAT Pink Floyd cover to collabs with Corpsegrinder, Max Cavalera and more, new Body Count album Merciless is an ice-cold knock-out

By Dom Lawson published

Body Count only seem to improve with age courtesy of their heaviest album yet

Geddy Lee

“Sometimes you have to take the piss out of the nerdiness in yourself!” How Geddy Lee geeked up for his Big Beautiful Book of Bass

By Dom Lawson published

Rush icon planned to buy 12 instruments for his own enjoyment – but when his collection reached 250 he decided to justify the expense by writing a 600-page book (of which 408 were published)

High Parasite

High Parasite are fronted by Aaron from My Dying Bride, produced by Greg from Paradise Lost and led by a fella called Tombs. You already know they're your new favourite goth metal band

By Dom Lawson published

With some true underground metal royalty in their ranks and a tour with Cradle Of Filth under their belts, High Parasite are the goth metal fix you've been looking for

Peter Hamill: Incoherence (Expanded) cover art

"One of the great man's most powerful creations": The expanded version of Peter Hammill's Incoherence offers a unique glimpse into the febrile mind of a restless genius

By Dom Lawson published

An ambitious peak from a prog maverick revisited

Love And Rockets posing for a photograph in the mid-80s

“We sabotaged it all to a degree. We wouldn’t play a proper set, we’d do a wall of sound”: The story of Love And Rockets, the former Bauhaus members who helped sell goth to America

By Dom Lawson published

Love And Rockets emerged from the ashes of Bauhaus – but unlike their old band, they hit big in the States

Klone – The Unseen

“They stopped making a furious racket a long time ago, but they’ve never sounded as elegant or assured as they do here”: Klone’s The Unseen

By Dom Lawson published

Continuing the melodic explorations they began in 2019, French prog metallers’ 10th full-length album is a beautiful and sophisticated piece of work

Rosalie Cunningham: To Shoot Another Day

"A giant glitter-puff of pure magic": Rosalie Cunningham's innate theatricality and clever songwriting shine on To Shoot Another Day

By Dom Lawson published

Glittering prog-psych indulgence for all

Trivium posing for a photograph in 2013

“David Draiman wanted to help us make the best music we could. He didn’t ask us to write The Sickness!”: Why Trivium enlisted some superstar help to make Vengeance Falls

By Dom Lawson published

Trivium’s career has been a whirlwind of highs and lows – but with 2013’s Vengeance Falls, they finally learned to follow their own instincts...

Rob Zombie posing for a photography wearing sunglasses with blood on his face

“Grunge ruined the party. Do you want to be in a band to be boring? I don’t get it”: How Rob Zombie brought the schlock back with killer metal sequel Hellbilly Deluxe 2

By Dom Lawson published

Most sequels suck – but Rob Zombie’s 2010 album Hellbilly Deluxe 2 put modern metal’s favourite boogie-man back on top

Lunatic Soul

“This is very strange music!" Lunatic Soul and the making of Walking On A Flashlight Beam

By Dom Lawson published

With 2014's fourth album Walking On A Flashlight Beam Lunatic Soul found themselves travelling down a far deeper and darker path

Metallica posing for a photograph in 2013

“I am absolutely proud of it. It was a big risk for us. Everything good usually is”: How Metallica tried to reinvent the rock movie with Through The Never

By Dom Lawson published

2013 was a banner year for Metallica – a brand new record label, their first gigs in China and the ambitious but divisive 3D movie Through The Never

Toni Iommi and Glenn Hughes: Fused and DEP Sessions cover art

"Glenn Hughes might just have saved Iommi from terminal creative frustration": Tony Iommi unveils new skills on Fused and The DEP Sessions

By Dom Lawson published

The solo adventures of Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi, revisited

Blood Incantation

"Absolute Elsewhere is a mind-blowing masterpiece." Blood Incantation's new album is two songs long. It's also pure prog-death perfection and one of the best metal albums of 2024

By Dom Lawson published

Blood Incantation confirm themselves as one of the most innovative and interesting bands in modern death metal

Machine Head posing for a photograph in 2011

“I’m watching American TV and it’s like ‘Wow, man… what is this? This isn’t my America’”: How Machine Head followed a 21st century metal classic with Unto The Locust

By Dom Lawson published

Machine Head’s Unto The Locust was the follow-up to career high-point The Blackening – but Robb Flynn wasn’t feeling the presssure

Marillion group shot in 2012 taken at Proud Cabaret surrounded by glamorous women

“It’s hard to be angry young men at our age, but there are some pretty heavy duty lyrics here. Sometimes you’ve got to speak up”: When Marillion defied expectations (again) with Sounds That Can’t Be Made

By Dom Lawson published

The band deliberately – but doubtfully – pushed boundaries with the subjects they explored on their 17th studio album

Trelldom Press Pic

"Dissonant, angular and blearily psychedelic, it absolutely reeks of madness." Black metal icon Gaahl has made one of this year's weirdest extreme metal albums with Trelldom's ...By The Shadows

By Dom Lawson published

Trelldom only return when they have something to say, and new album ...By The Shadows... proves well worth the 17 year wait

Megadeth posing for a photograph in 2009

“I’m going to get into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame one way or another and Lars Ulrich can’t keep me out!” How Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine used old rivalries as fuel for the Endgame album

By Dom Lawson published

Megadeth‘s 2009 album Endgame capped a killer decade for the thrash veterans

Meer – Wheels Within Wheels

“Prog pop, maxed out and magnified… they sound like a band built for enormodomes”: Meer’s Wheels Within Wheels sees them braced for the big time

By Dom Lawson published

Norwegian sibling-powered band increase the drama and bombast on perfectly-produced third album

Nile

Death metal veterans Nile have crafted their best album in nearly 20 years with The Underworld Awaits Us All

By Dom Lawson published

No one does death metal quite like Nile. Their 10th album is a ferocious reminder of why

Body Count posing for a photograph backstage at a gig

“Rage Against The Machine, Korn, Limp Bizkit – we opened that lane up”: How Ice-T and Body Count returned to the fray to reclaim their throne with Manslaughter

By Dom Lawson published

Ice-T is one of metal’s most influential frontman, and 2014’s Manslaughter album proved it

Machine Head posing for a photograph in 1994

“We smoked so much weed that we set off the fire alarms and almost killed everybody with the gas that was going to be released”: The story of Machine Head’s Burn My Eyes, the debut album that revitalised 90s metal

By Dom Lawson published

On the 30th anniversary of Machine Head’s Burn My Eyes, mainman Robb Flynn looks back on the making of his band’s classic debut

Beardfish – Destined Solitaire

“The perfect doorway into a world of energy, invention, badass musicianship and great songwriting”: Beardfish’s 15th anniversary edition of Destined Solitaire

By Dom Lawson published

Rikard Sjöblom and co mark their return with first vinyl version of breakthrough fifth album

Andy Tilllison studio portrait

"While I made the album alone, the bassist and drummer fell out with each other": The Tangent's Andy Tillison wound up arguing with himself as he created To Follow Polaris

By Dom Lawson published

When circumstance presented the opportunity to face a challenge that had always intrigued him, the prog mastermind embraced it fully. But what will happen when his bandmates return?

XTC

“I loved Yes – but for me every eight-minute Yes song could have been four two-minute singles!” It might have taken a while to admit it, but XTC know they were prog

By Dom Lawson published

Emerging in the punk era, they were described as “too clever, “too quirky” and even as “prunk,” but Andy Partridge’s account of the band’s inspiration and motivation makes the truth crystal clear

Orange Goblin

"Science, Not Fiction is a formidable show of strength from one of the greatest bands ever to do it." Almost 30 years in, Orange Goblin have made one of their very best records - and one of the best metal albums of 2024

By Dom Lawson published

Orange Goblin have thrown absolutely everything at their 10th studio album