Mörat

Writer

A veteran of rock, punk and metal journalism for almost three decades, across his career Mörat has interviewed countless music legends for the likes of Metal Hammer, Classic Rock, Kerrang! and more. He's also an accomplished photographer and author whose first novel, The Road To Ferocity, was published in 2014. Famously, it was none other than Motörhead icon and dear friend Lemmy who christened Mörat with his moniker.

Articles by: Mörat

Five Finger Death Punch posing for a photograph in 2013

“At first people thought, ‘Knucklehead Americans!’ and now they’re starting to figure it out”: How Five Finger Death Punch silenced the haters with The Wrong Side Of Heaven Volumes 1 and 2

By Mörat published

War, liberty, controversy – Five Finger Death Punch face it all down

Ozzy Osbourne grimacing at the camera and Lemmy smoking a cigarette

“Given the state he was in I would have given him two years, tops. But Sharon literally rescued him”: Inside the booze-soaked 35-year friendship between Lemmy and Ozzy Osbourne

By Mörat published

Drink, drugs, urinating up unsuspecting keyboard players’ legs – fellow hellraisers Ozzy Osbourne and Lemmy were partners in crime for decades

Korn in 2016

“I was very successful working in the mortuary, and then I was living in a closet. It was worth it, suffering for my art”: The dark and twisted history of Korn, the band who invented nu metal

By Mörat published

In 2016, all five members of Korn looked back on the ups, downs and madness of their rollercoaster career

Soundgarden

“I wanted to be in a band that would appeal to younger musicians like Pink Floyd or the Ramones did to me. That’s the pinnacle of our success”: How Soundgarden returned from the wilderness with King Animal

By Mörat published

Soundgarden’s 2012 comeback album King Animal was their first in 16 years – and it found the grunge pioneers finally comfortable with their legacy

Clutch posing for a photograph in the 2000s

“Getting validation from Beavis And Butt-head was much more gratifying. It showed that people do like this band even if your sales may not reflect fame and fortune”: How stoner rock enigmas Clutch became metal’s favourite weirdbeards

By Mörat published

Straight out of Maryland, Clutch have spent 30 years following their own path and no one else’s

Monster Magnet posing for a photograph in 1995

“I thought it was the height of hilarity to promote drugs and Satan while not doing any of it”: How Monster Magnet became metal’s ultimate space lords

By Mörat published

Monster Magnet’s Dave Wyndorf on comic books, psychedelia and near death experiences

Korn posing for a photograph in 2013

“Head and Fieldy are born-again Christians. I don’t choose sides. I’ve got Christian friends and Satanist friends”: How a reunited and rebooted Korn put religious differences aside to make The Paradigm Shift

By Mörat published

In 2013, former Korn guitarist Head rejoined his ex-bandmates to make The Path Of Totality - this is how it happened

Kyuss posing for a photograph in 1992

“There was some smoking and drinking but it wasn’t a lot of drugs. We weren’t coked out of our minds or shooting heroin”: The epic story of Kyuss, the stoner metal visionaries who blazed brightly and burnt out

By Mörat published

Motorhead frontman Lemmy posing for a photo in 2013

“The best advice anybody’s given me? Don’t die ashamed”: An epic interview with Lemmy about fame, Bob Dylan and driving on LSD

By Mörat published

Even nine years after his death, Motörhead frontman Lemmy remains one of rock’s greatest and funniest icons

Members of punk metal supergroup Teenage Time Killers in a montage

“It reminds me of the days when I used to put on punk rock shows and I’d get my friends to come”: the story of Dave Grohl and Corey Taylor’s forgotten punk-metal supergroup Teenage Time Killers

By Mörat published

Formed by members of Corrosion Of Conformity and My Ruin, Teenage Time Killers were the ultimate 2010s punk-metal supergroup

Korn in 1998

"Craziness, drugs, alcohol, chicks – you name it, I did it." How Korn's most chaotic and hedonistic era birthed a nu metal classic in Follow The Leader

By Mörat published

Follow The Leader officially confirmed Korn as nu metal superstars. It also sent the band flying off the rails.

Sick New World 2023

"My dad listened to nu metal a lot." We spent two days in Las Vegas at the world's biggest nu metal festival, and it was an eye-opener

By Mörat published

With headliners System Of A Down alongside new bands Turnstile, Spiritbox and Loathe, Sick New World was supposed to be the ultimate nu metal celebration. But could it live up to hype?

Clutch’s Neil Fallon staring into the camera

Clutch’s Neil Fallon: “Rock’n’roll is no longer king of the hill, and that’s OK”

By Mörat published

From touring with Motörhead to not wanting to be Dave Grohl, Clutch’s Neil Fallon shares the lessons life has taught him

The Damned

Every The Damned album, from worst to best

By Mörat published

Smash it up! Smash it up! Not every The Damned album warrants your attention, but here's their catalogue, ranked worst to best

Discharge/Sepultura/Slipknot/Metallica/QOTSA

10 bands that wouldn't exist without Discharge

By Mörat published

From Metallica to Slipknot, Machine Head to Napalm Death, heavy music wouldn't be the same without Discharge

Slipknot

Corey Taylor on the future of Slipknot: “This is the end of what was”

By Mörat published

Corey Taylor talks Slipknot’s divisive new album, the memory of Paul Gray and Joey Jordison, and that Pantera ‘reunion’

Opinion: Hey Corey Taylor, call people out – but don't kick them out

By Mörat last updated

Should you be allowed to behave as you wish at gigs? Hammer writer Mörat shares his thoughts...

Kirk Hammett live

Some Kind Of Monster - Kirk Hammett: We're A Little Thrash Band From California

By Mörat last updated

His day job might be with Metallica, but Kirk Hammett's has another passion for the macabre, Metal Hammer travels to his inaugural Fear Festevil to witness the horror at first hand...

Corey Taylor in a book shop

Corey Taylor's Top 10 Books

By Mörat last updated

Slipknot and Stone Sour frontman Corey Taylor picks his favourite moments of literary genius

Five Finger Death Punch

“Articifial Intelligence will defend itself at all costs” Five Finger Death Punch face the future

By Mörat last updated

Near-death-experiences, bust-ups and solo albums - Five Finger Death Punch pushed themselves to their limits to make new album AfterLife

Queen and Five Finger Death Punch

Five Finger Death Punch's Zoltan Bathory compares his band to Queen

By Merlin Alderslade published

"Those guys didn't give a s**t, they wrote whatever the hell they felt like writing"

Chris Cornell

Louder Than Love: Metal Hammer remembers Chris Cornell

By Mörat published

First published in 2017, Metal Hammer writer Mörat's tribute to his friend Chris Cornell remembers a frontman like no other

The 9 best metal covers of old school punk songs (plus one absolute f**king stinker)

By MÖRAT last updated

This is what happens when the worlds of punk and metal collide

Motorhead

The 10 best Motörhead B-sides

By MÖRAT last updated

They're not singles, but they're still stone-cold Motorhead classics

Al Jourgensen with a skull microphone stand

The Top 10 best Ministry songs

By MÖRAT last updated

The best songs from Al Jourgensen's industrial metal crew