How do you follow a comeback issue that features two of the most iconic faces in heavy metal? With one of the best bands on the planet, of course! Mastodon don’t make bad albums, and their new record Emperor Of Sand is up there as one of their best, so we dig deep into the band’s minds, hearts and souls to discover the painful story behind it.
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Talking exclusively to all four members of Mastodon, we uncover the 18 months of heartache and anguish that led to the creation of their masterpiece, Emperor Of Sand. In the band’s most honest and brutal interviews ever, they reveal the incredible story behind their new music. You don’t want to miss this.
We get down and dirty with Jonas Akerlund, director of Rammstein’s latest concert movie Rammstein: Paris. What is it like to be on the road with one of the greatest live bands of all time? How do the band manage to survive the walls of fire they create? And how crazy must you be to actually stand there filming it while your eyebrows burn off?! This is an essential look into the madness of Germany’s firebreathing monster.
There’s so much mystery surrounding Ghost that we thought enough was enough, so we kidnapped a Nameless Ghoul and tied him to a chair for you to interrogate. Metal Hammer readers threw out questions about their next album, the next Papa, WWE and, um, lingerie. You won’t have read a Ghost interview like it…
We sit down with academics and artists to discuss the often taboo subject of metal illness and ask why depression is on the rise in metal bands and in the music industry. Talking with musicians who have suffered with their mental health, including Jesse Leach, Joel Birch and Chris Robertson, we discover why bands are pushed to the edge and why the music industry isn’t always as fun as you think.
It’s been 10 years since Machine Head stunned the world with The Blackening. To celebrate their landmark album, we chat to mainman Robb Flynn about its angry birth, why their crosshairs were pointed at politics, and how it changed the life of the band forever.
After laying waste to venues across the UK with The Dillinger Escape Plan earlier this year, we head to the Los Angeles home of punk-rap genre-fuckers Ho99o9. They tell us why they wear wedding dresses and throw cereal, why they’re the real deal, and why they’re coming for us all…
On the cover of this month’s Subterranea are the Arkansas doomlords Pallbearer, who are breaking free from their comfort zone into the stereos of music lovers everywhere. Is this the start of the doom revolution?
And we’ve got loads of features from Steel Panther, Armored Saint, Volbeat, Creeper, Zeal & Ardor, the Caribbean metal scene, Me And That Man, and more!
Oh, and there’s a FREE and exclusive Mastodon iron-on transfer. Now you can turn your boring clothes into rifftastic shirts of glory!
And that’s not all! We’ve got TWO GIANT POSTERS of Mastodon and Slayer, and a 15-track CD full of new music from Mastodon, While She Sleeps, Code Orange, Thy Art Is Murder, Body Count and more!
The new issue of Metal Hammer is in stores now and is available to order online.
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