Articles by Paul Travers

Paul Travers has spent the best part of three decades writing about punk rock, heavy metal, and every associated sub-genre for the UK's biggest rock magazines, including Kerrang! and Metal Hammer.

Articles by: Paul Travers

A montage of photos of Jimi Hendrix, Ace Frehley, James Hetfield and Kurt Cobain

10 cover versions that are way more popular than the originals (according to Spotify)

By Paul Travers published 24 November 23

The Beatles, Bowie, Bob Dylan and Stevie Wonder have all seen covers of their songs become more popular than the original version

Images from the videos for Weezer’s Buddy Holly, Red Hot Chili Peppers Under The Bridge and Meat Loaf’s I’d Do Anything For Love

10 A-list Hollywood directors who have directed music videos

By Paul Travers published 10 November 23

Zack Snyder, Michael Bay and David Fincher have all sprinkled a little Hollywood magic on some classic music videos. And a couple of stinkers

"A rush of almost spiritual ecstasy": Death Cult find joy in dragging skeletons from the closet on 40th anniversary tour

By Paul Travers published 10 November 23

The Cult's Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy resurrect Death Cult, summoning old ghosts to powerful effect

The best metal albums of 2023 so far

By Rich Hobson published 8 November 23

From Metallica to Babymetal, Cattle Decapitation to Sleep Token, these are the best metal albums of the year to date

"There was always an undercurrent of youthful exuberance, violence and piracy": Why The Cult's Billy Duffy and Ian Astbury aren't scared of summoning the ghosts of their past by resurrecting Death Cult

By Paul Travers published 30 October 23

The Cult's guitarist Billy Duffy explains why he and vocalist Ian Astbury have resurrected Death Cult for a 40th anniversary tour

Arthur Brown, 4 Non Blondes, Crazy Town and The Buggles

The second biggest hits by 10 one-hit wonders

By Paul Travers published 20 October 23

Believe it or not, but Iron Butterfly, The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown and The Buggles all released more than one song

Rising UK doom stars Green Lung say their upcoming album This Heathen Land is their Number Of The Beast

By Paul Travers published 18 October 23

Green Lung's This Heathen Land comes in November - and marks a massive change for the rising doom stars

Lemmy, Iggy Pop, Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson and Ratt in TV adverts

10 rock stars who have appeared in ridiculous TV ads

By Paul Travers published 29 September 23

Lemmy flogging milk? Iron Maiden pushing road safety? Dokken hawking anti-virus software?! Here are 10 times rock stars have appeared in crazy TV ads

Jailbreak shows that, despite the chaos of their lineups, Brazilian thrashers Nervosa are still a powerful force to be reckoned with

By Paul Travers published 26 September 23

They may have suffered all manner of turbulence with their lineups, but Nervosa are still one of thrash's modern leaders

"There’s a lot of similarities in watchmaking and Anthrax." Here's what members of some of your favourite metal bands went and did after quitting the music industry

By Paul Travers published 21 September 23

From the Anthrax guitarist who is now a master watchmaker to the death metal bassist who hung out with "sweary Muppets", these are the most unique post-music career paths of metal musicians

From channeling Converge and Fantomas to Slayer legend Dave Lombardo's incredible drum work, Biffy Clyro side-project Empire State Bastard just put out one of 2023's best extreme metal albums with Rivers Of Heresy

By Paul Travers published 31 August 23

Empire State Bastard's Rivers Of Heresy is the heavy album Biffy frontman Simon Neil has been waiting years to make

"We don’t take our brotherhood for granted now": Max and Iggor Cavalera on mending fences, Sepultura and the legacy of global metal

By Paul Travers published 19 August 23

From blinding each other as kids to meeting Pelé and Javier Bardem, Max and Iggor Cavalera reflect on 40 years of music

Al Jourgensen, George W Bush and Serj Tankian

“We have got to get that monkey out of the office before he kills us all.” How metal (mostly) united against George W. Bush in the 2000s

By Paul Travers published 18 August 23

Years before Trump dragged US politics into the gutter, George W. Bush's Presidency caused outrage amongst many prominent metal bands

David Bowie, Ian McKellern as Gandalf, WASP’s Blackie Lawless and The Terminator

10 rock stars who missed out on their dream movie roles

By Paul Travers published 11 August 23

David Bowie in The Lord Of The Rings? John Lydon in Quadrophenia? WASP’s Blackie Lawless as The Terminator? These are the Oscar-winning performances that never were

The 50 best metal albums of the 2000s

By Merlin Alderslade published 28 July 23

From nu metal classics by Slipknot, Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit to metal legends like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest bouncing back in style, these are the albums that defined the 2000s

Freddie Mercury, Serj Tankian, Linkin Park and Led Zeppelin

These are the rock and metal songs that have achieved a billion or more streams on Spotify

By Paul Travers published 19 July 23

Queen, AC/DC, Nirvana, Journey, and who else? The rock tracks that have achieved over one billion streams on Spotify

The band Iron Maiden and the cover of Iron Maiden’s Maiden Voyage album

10 non-famous bands who have the same name as a way more famous band

By Paul Travers published 8 July 23

The psychedelic Nirvana, the thrash Poison and the early 70s Iron Maiden - come on in, your time is now

“Led Zeppelin write weak, unimaginative songs”: 10 original reviews of classic albums that got it completely wrong

By Paul Travers published 29 June 23

Everyone from Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath to Iron Maiden and Guns N’ Roses had their haters

Green Lung/Blood Ceremony/Twin Temple/Lucifer/Electric Wizard

13 bands keeping occult rock alive who aren’t Ghost

By Paul Travers published 24 May 23

Ghost might be bringing Satan to the masses, but these bands are putting the 'cult' in occult rock and metal

Ghost’s Tobias Forge, Iron Maiden’s Steve Harris and Tina Turner and Mel Gibson

The story behind every cover version on Ghost’s new Phantomime EP

By Paul Travers published 19 May 23

Everything you need to know about Ghost’s covers of classics by Iron Maiden, Genesis and Tina Turner

Tenacious D’s Kyle Gass and Jack Black onstage

The top 20 best Tenacious D songs ever

By Paul Travers published 18 May 23

The 20 best songs by the greatest band on earth – these are Tenacious D’s most epic anthems

Babadooks, drag kings and The Devil’s Arse: inside the world’s first Ghost convention

By Paul Travers published 16 May 23

The world's first fan-organised Ghost convention was a gloriously OTT event held in a cave called The Devil's Arse

"I had been running, numbing and self-medicating": How The Interrupters turned abuse, trauma and depression into triumph on Into The Wild

By Paul Travers, Paul Brannigan last updated 23 March 23

The Interrupters' Aimee Allen and Kevin Bivona reveal how laying some life-long demons to rest resulted in the most essential, emotional ska punk album of recent times