Will Marshall

From the post-hardcore squall of Hidden Mothers to Lutharo's invigorating mix of power metal and melodeath, to one-woman black metaller Hulder and Saudi Arabian tech-prog-metallers Ana.n7n, these are the bands you need to hear in January 2025

From Italian power metallers Alterium to French psych metal from Slift, Brighton's prog metal mavericks El Moono and death metal horror fanatics Fulci, these are the bands you need to hear in December 2024

From Finnish supergroup Crownshift to crossover brutes Drain, doomgazers Iress and nu metal revivalists Profiler, these are the bands you need to hear in October 2024

From Folterkammer's femme-dom black metal to Belushi Speed Ball's 'pizza thrash', Dermabrasion's occulty goth rock and the bizarre alt. metal of Battlesnake, these are the bands you need to hear in September 2024

From sword'n'sorcery loving power metallers All For Metal to Will Putney's all-star metalcore mob END, these are the bands you need to hear in June 2024

Emma Boster, vocalist of kickass metalcore crew Dying Wish, breaks down her life's mixtape

The metal scene is more exciting and diverse than ever, and here's the proof

From Slipknot and Linkin Park to Converge, Norma Jean and Mansions, these are the records that shaped Of Mice & Men frontman Aaron Pauley

Every Ghost album is a fan-favourite, but which one is the ultimate in their devilish discography? We got the five biggest fans in Team Hammer to fight it out.

From returning icons to underground heroes and metal's next generation, these are the albums you should be excited about this year

After Repentless, Slayer guitarist Kerry King promised the thrashers had enough music left over to make a 13th album. It never materialised.

From greatest hits to rarity-stacked soundtracks, these are the best compilations in the history of heaviness

Ozzy Osbourne, Bruce Dickinson and Jason Newsted have all recreated metal classics with all-new lineups around them

From Adrian Erlandsson to Gene Hoglan, these drumming dynamos all have the skills needed to join The Nine

Despite their undeniable talent, the likes of Carcass, Godflesh and Sikth never got enough praise in the States

From Black Sabbath’s debut album to Cynic’s Focus, these metal masterpieces were either lambasted or ignored when they first came out

Masked enigmas Sleep Token are the fastest-rising band in modern metal. If you’re just jumping onto the bandwagon, here’s your essential breakdown of their lore, members and musical history.

Kiss, Judas Priest and Mötley Crüe have all made their goodbyes, only to continue touring and recording anyway

Looking for something new and heavy to listen to? We've got you covered

Common wisdom says that replacing a singer is a dangerous idea, but Bruce Dickinson, Corey Taylor and Rob Halford pushed their bands to new heights

Rage Against The Machine, Alter Bridge and Enter Shikari have made it to the top without any change in members along the way

Changing your sound is a bold step, but Slayer, Mötley Crüe and Kiss absolutely fumbled it

What’s a great band without a great mascot? Iron Maiden, Megadeth and Ghost all prove that a made-up character can carry you far!

Black metal covers of Justin Bieber, gothic post-punk revival and Linkin Park style nu metal from the former guitarist of letlive. - make sure you check out these brilliant new bands this month

Simone Simons talks Disney covers, pastafarianism and how Epica worked out their collaborative EP The Alchemy Project