Articles by Emily Swingle

Full-time freelancer, part-time music festival gremlin, Emily first cut her journalistic teeth when she co-founded Bittersweet Press in 2019. After asserting herself as a home-grown, emo-loving, nu-metal apologist, Clash Magazine would eventually invite Emily to join their Editorial team in 2022. In the following year, she would pen her first piece for Metal Hammer - unfortunately for the team, Emily has since become a regular fixture. When she’s not blasting metal for Hammer, she also scribbles for Rock Sound, Why Now and Guitar and more.

Articles by: Emily Swingle

"The world can be far too angry - we want to distract people from that." Japan's Paledusk mix gacha pop with metalcore, influenced Bring Me The Horizon and want to be their country's "first legendary metal band”

By Emily Swingle published 22 May 24

There's no one in the metal scene quite like Paledusk right now

Talking Heads tribute album Everyone’s Getting Involved is well-produced karaoke, but the joyous experimentation which fuelled David Byrne's iconic band is only fleetingly present

By Emily Swingle published 18 May 24

Miley Cyrus, Paramore, Girl In Red and more pay homage to Talking Heads, with mixed results

"If Graham Norton ripped into me, I would totally respect it." Ireland's Bambie Thug explains why Eurovision is great for metal and alternative communities

By Emily Swingle published 9 May 24

When Lordi won Eurovision in 2006, it opened the gates for other metal acts. Now Ireland's 2024 entry Bambie Thug is hoping to push boundaries even further

"I had to be there for my daughter's birth - even if it meant cancelling a show with Metallica.“ From touring with Metallica to his surprising breakdancing skills, Michael Poulsen shares what he's learned in his time with Volbeat, Asinhell and beyond

By Emily Swingle published 8 May 24

Volbeat and Asinhell's Michael Poulsen shares the secrets of his success and happiness

"Who could have guessed that a band that hide behind masks would be so mysterious?" Everything you need to know about Slipknot's chaotic year - and what comes next

By Emily Swingle published 25 April 24

We take a deep dive into the wild last twelve months in the world of Slipknot

"It's a song for the losers!" How Halestorm's Here's To Us became the ultimate underdog anthem - and ended up being covered by everyone from Slash to the cast of Glee

By Emily Swingle published 22 April 24

Halestorm's classic power ballad made such an impact that it'd be rerecorded just a year later with Slash, David Draiman, Maria Brink and more getting involved

"I honestly can’t find the inspiration to write": Don't hold your breath if you're hoping for a new Jinjer album in 2024

By Rich Hobson published 16 April 24

Jinjer vocalist Tatiana Shmayluk says she has "99 problems I have to solve" before she can think of working on the band's next album

“I was just lying in my own self-pity for months”: How an unlikely collaboration with Post Malone helped revive Ozzy Osbourne’s career

By Emily Swingle published 12 April 24

Ozzy Osbourne had no idea who Post Malone was at the start of 2019. By the end of the year, the rap superstar had thrust the Prince Of Darkness into the US top 10.

"Half Living Things is a record that satisfies that mosh-hungry hardcore itch." Alpha Wolf mix rampaging heaviness with injections of vulnerability on album number three

By Emily Swingle published 5 April 24

This is textbook Alpha Wolf, and we are here for it

Every Jinjer album ranked from worst to best

By Emily Swingle published 29 March 24

We’ve put the four studio records by Ukraine’s sonic wrecking machine in reverse-order of magnificence

Linkin Park performing at Grand Central Station in 2017

"Everything we're doing right now is way different." What happened the day Linkin Park played a set at Grand Central Station

By Emily Swingle published 20 March 24

On what would have been Chester Bennington's 48th birthday, watch him and his fellow nu metal stars entertain a bustling terminal at America's most famous train station

Maynard James Keenan singing onstage with Tool in 1991

“I needed to destroy”: Watch video footage of the first-ever Tool concert in 1991

By Emily Swingle published 13 March 24

On October 7, 1991, Tool played their primal debut gig, and so began three decades of prog metal trailblazing

“We want to be a voice for those who don’t dare speak up." Dogma are a bunch of sexually-charged, corpsepainted, metal-playing nuns. And they're here to spread liberation and queer love in the rock scene.

By Emily Swingle published 4 March 24

Dogma aren't quite like anything you've seen in metal before. You might want to watch their videos away from the office, though

"Formidable hard rock confidence, yet would benefit from that fearless unpredictability of their youth": New Years Day don't quite find their way on Half Black Heart

By Emily Swingle published 29 February 24

Five albums in and New Years Day are maturing - but losing of the charm of their youth on new album Half Black Heart

"Gothic, brooding poignancy offset by a sense of wonder and grace": why Depeche Mode are at the top of their game in 2024

By Emily Swingle published 30 January 24

Depeche Mode weave darkness and light into a mesmerising, magical soundtrack to life, love and loss at Manchester's AO Arena

"I wanted to be Aaliyah so bad": Escuela Grind's Katerina Economou picks the ten records that changed their life

By Emily Swingle published 29 January 24

From Aaliyah and Minnie Riperton to Gorguts and Trapped Under Ice, Escuela Grind vocalist Katerina Economou shares the songs that put them on the path to music

Chester Bennington of Linkin Park onstage with Jay-Z

“We were all saying, ‘We’re gonna make this something they can never follow up.’” How Linkin Park and Jay-Z united for the ultimate metal and hip hop crossover, Collision Course

By Emily Swingle published 24 January 24

Nu metal’s leading lights were supposed to collaborate with the world’s biggest rapper for just one episode of TV. In the end, they made a blockbuster EP and dazzled an entire generation of hard rock and hip-hop fans.

Tool, Iron Maiden, Slipknot and Spiritbox performing onstage

10 metal bands’ first-ever concerts caught on film

By Emily Swingle published 15 January 24

Want to see Ghost, Rage Against The Machine and Spiritbox’s first times on a stage? These clips have got you covered!

"Change is good - and bold transformation is exactly what has allowed the metalcore collective to stay relevant over the years." Bring Me The Horizon show Manchester AO Arena why they're this metal generation's top dogs

By Emily Swingle published 15 January 24

If Jordan Fish's exit has shaken the band, they show no signs of it with an immense, retina-singeing headline show in Manchester

"Without Black culture, hardcore wouldn’t even exist": Zulu are calling for unity and cultural recognition in the modern alternative scene

By Emily Swingle published 7 January 24

Zulu's debut A New Tomorrow mixed hardcore with the likes of Nina Simone, Bob Marley and Curtis Mayfield, but the band are planning even bigger things in future

Asinhell/Body Void/Creak/Celestial Sanctuary

4 brilliant new metal bands you need to hear this month

By Rich Hobson published 3 January 24

From Newcastle nu-metalcore bruisers Creak to Asinhell, the death metal project from Volbeat's frontman, Cavalera-endorsed death metallers Celestial Sanctuary and New England industrial doomsters Body Void, these are the bands you need to hear in January 2024

Sophie Lloyd holdimg a guitar over her shoulder

Sophie Lloyd: 10 records that changed my life

By Emily Swingle published 3 January 24

From Van Halen and Iron Maiden to Disturbed and Bring Me The Horizon, these are the bands that helped Sophie Lloyd become a shred goddess

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

By Rich Hobson published 27 December 23

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

Photos of Metallica, Green Lung, Ghost, Limp Bizkit, Sabaton and Code Orange performing live onstage

Metal Hammer writers name their best gigs of 2023

By Matt Mills published 21 December 23

From the monolithic Metallica to rising stars like Green Lung, these are the greatest shows that Team Hammer saw this year

Oli Sykes of Bring Me The Horizon onstage with Ed Sheeran

10 pop stars who’ve championed heavy metal bands

By Emily Swingle published 13 December 23

Ed Sheeran, Billie Eilish and Megan Thee Stallion have proven that metal and pop needn’t be polar opposites

Emily Swingle

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