Latest articles by Stephen Hill
10 metal bands who completely changed and immediately made a masterpiece
Bands need to evolve to survive, and these classic albums by Metallica, Avenged Sevenfold and Sepultura are masterclasses in switching everything up
A beginner's guide to Sonic Youth in five essential albums
Where to start with New York's most influential 'underground' guitar band since The Velvet Underground
The success of this summer's Outbreak and Supersonic festivals mean a line has now been drawn in the sand: no longer can heavy music festival bookers utter the lie "We would book more women/people of colour, but there aren’t any”
There was much more to Outbreak and Supersonic than white men with guitars, and the UK festival scene now feels vital and vibrant again
With any justice, A Sign Of Things To Come is the album that will finally take Sylosis out of the British metal underground and into the big time
Sylosis have been at the forefront of the underground British metal scene for over a decade. A Sign Of Things To Come is proof they're ready for bigger things
“As soon as I heard it, I just started laughing!” How Alien Ant Farm’s bizarre cover of Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal turned them from D-listers to nu metal giants (at least, for a short while)
In 2000, Alien Ant Farm were nu metal also-rans struggling to find their place. Then an endorsement from Papa Roach and one hard-rocking Michael Jackson cover thrust them up the charts
10 iconic metal bands with one bad album
Metallica, Slipknot and Avenged Sevenfold are all hugely reliable bands – apart from on one painful occasion
“It’s like our Ace Of Spades. I’ll have to play it forever!” How Roots Bloody Roots made Sepultura nu metal superstars – before the band tore themselves apart
Roots Bloody Roots made Sepultura one of metal’s biggest bands in 1996. Not even a year later, the lineup that made it imploded.
“I don’t want to equal people’s expectations – I want to exceed them.” How Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith returned to Iron Maiden and saved the band's career
In the late ’90s, Iron Maiden were creatively flagging and unable to fill venues. Then two of their most adored members, Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith, returned to make them megastars again.
“We put a lot of money, time and effort into it, then it disappeared.” The story of Metallica: Through The Never – how metal’s biggest band and a Spider-Man star disastrously bombed at the box office
Metallica wanted to make their answer to Pink Floyd’s The Wall and Led Zeppelin’s The Song Remains The Same, and even hired future Spider-Man star Dane DeHaan to help. But then Metallica: Through The Never became one of the band’s most costly misadventures.
Reading Festival 2023 showed that when Matty Healy tones down his nonsense, The 1975 remain a top tier live band
Low on controversy and high on great songs, this is the kind of 1975 set we need in our lives
"The closest metal scene was two hours away. We couldn't just go and see a show." From being an outsider to playing Sepultura songs with Max Cavalera, these are the life lessons of Gojira's Joe Duplantier
Joe Duplantier is one of metal's most thoughtful and widely respected figures. This is what he's learned through a career in music
"The songs have a vibe of, Get the f**k off me, and quit telling me what I should be doing": Why XO is the most perfect representation of Elliott Smith's brooding, beautiful genius
Released on August 25, 1998, Elliott Smith's XO is a treasure-trove of brilliance from a true cult artist
A beginner's guide to deathcore in five essential albums
Think deathcore is a bit one-note? Think again. Here are five albums that perfectly chart its evolution over the past two decades
"I was considered an enemy": In the face of misogyny, sexism, corporate bullying, betrayal and abuse, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is the joyous, defiant, fierce and fearless sound of an artist refusing to shut up and sing
A salute to the power and majesty of The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill as its 25th anniversary approaches
10 hard rock and heavy metal music videos that got banned for the dumbest reasons
Classic songs by Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Slipknot have all been taken off the airwaves with the most frivolous excuses
“We were going to take the world by any means necessary”: How Slipknot’s Wait And Bleed punished the mainstream and became the essential nu metal song
Wait And Bleed was just a demo in dire need of a chorus in 1998. One year later, it was a cornerstone of Slipknot’s stunning debut album and on track to become a megahit.
"I remember driving round listening to Jane Doe by Converge and being so inspired": How members of Biffy Clyro, Oceansize and Slayer teamed up to make one of 2023's most extreme metal debuts
How Biffy Clyro members Simon Neil and Mike Vennart joined forces to make one of 2023's most extreme metal debuts
"Metal was getting heavier and heavier again. I had this idea..." How Metalocalypse finally brought heavy metal back to the TV screen
With the likes of Beavis and Butt-head and Headbanger's Ball disappearing from TV, metal needed some new representation on the small screen. Enter a goofy, animated extreme metal band named Dethklok
10 metal riffs that look easy but are incredibly difficult to play
From Metallica to Slipknot, Sylosis frontman and guitar virtuoso Josh Middleton picks 10 heavy riffs that are far harder than they sound
10 terrible thrash metal albums with one classic song
Metallica, Megadeth and Exodus all have some clangers in their catalogue – but at least these songs saved them from being total write-offs
10 heavy metal TV shows that need to come back
Headbangers Ball, Raw Power and Metalocalypse blasted heavy, nasty music into everybody’s living rooms – and we need them back
“They pelted the s**t out of them!”: The night Iron Maiden were egged by Sharon Osbourne and friends live on stage
In 2005, Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath co-headlined Ozzfest for what should have been a dream festival tour. It became infamous for one of the most public spats in metal history
The 50 best metal albums of the 2000s
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
A beginner’s guide to Metal Blade Records in five essential albums
From the ferocity of Slayer to Amon Amarth’s viking melodeath, Metal Blade Records are masters of getting in on the ground floor with the next big thing
"It feels like we're poised to take the reins." We got Wargasm, Loathe, Heriot, Ithaca and Blackgold together to discuss why British metal is entering a new golden age
British metal is more exciting, diverse and vibrant than ever, so we got five of the scene's leading young figures to talk about why it's finally coming of age
