Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett’s five favourite cult horror movie villains
Kirk Hammett knows his horror – and these are his ultimate movie villains
Metal Hammer Features
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"I was in the hallway with Slipknot and I got screamed at." Vended might have big links to heavy metal royalty, but that doesn't mean they're getting an easy ride
Vended feature two spawns of Slipknot, but they're attempting to build their own legacy through their own terms. We head to LA to find out more
"People said, 'You're going to be a one hit wonder.'" How Higher cemented Creed as rock's new superstars
Inspired in part by recurring nightmares and visions of heaven, Higher cemented Creed as one of the most successul rock bands of the new millennium
The chaotic story of Lamb Of God’s New American Gospel, the album that kickstarted 2000s metal
Lamb Of God’s New American Gospel ushered in the New Wave Of American Heavy Metal a couple of years early
Why the return of Linkin Park was so important
The countdown, the comeback, the controversy - Linkin Park's return was one of the biggest stories of 2024
We went backstage with Powerwolf, Hammerfall and Wind Rose on the power metal tour of the year - and it was absolutely ludicrous
Inside the biggest (and most over the top) power metal tour of 2024
A metal fan’s guide to Deep Purple, one of hard rock’s original Holy Trinity
Along with Sabbath and Zeppelin, Deep Purple helped craft the primordial goop that spawned metal
Conjure up some Yuletide magic with Justin Hawkins' amazing Christmas playlist
The only music you'll need this Christmas Day is this brilliant, ludicrous playlist from The Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins
How Max Cavalera came through his personal dark ages to make Soulfly’s Omen album
Quitting? That’s not Max Cavalera’s style
The 10 best death metal albums of 2024
From the cosmic death exploration of Blood Incantation to the welcome return of Nails and Job For A Cowboy, these are the 10 albums that defined death metal in 2024
How Manowar helped invent power metal with Hail To England
Bow down before Manowar’s false metal-slaying third album, 1984’s Hail To England
The tangled tale of X Japan, Japan’s biggest rock band
Fame, death and resurrection – X Japan’s Yoshiki looks back on his band’s unique journey
From GN’R and Pantera to Ozzy Osbourne and God, Zakk Wylde is the most connected man in rock
It’s Zakk Wylde’s world - we just live in it
How Queensryche made conspiracy theory-based masterpiece Operation: Mindcrime,
Metal’s all-time greatest concept album? Operation: Mindcrime could be it
"Babymetal were written into the script as a placeholder. I didn’t think we’d actually get them!" Heavier Trip director Juuso Laatio on making 2024's most metal movie
Juuso Laatio talks directing Babymetal, 'playing' Wacken and whether we'll ever get that Impaled Rektum album
Bullet For My Valentine's Matt Tuck and Trivium's Matt Heafy answer your questions
Two of metal's best Matts answer questions from their biggest fans (and no, we still don't know who the next Metallica is)
Giant Walker chase an audience who wouldn’t normally bother with their style of groovy riffs
With elements of Deftones and Soundgarden in their experimental approach, Newcastle quartet want to preach their prog news at the heavier festivals
Nightwish’s constant reinvention could be a chain reaction that explodes out of control
With close harmonies and a full orchestral suite on Human. :||: Nature. the band proved it was capable of endless expansion. But the experience of being mobbed and drowned out in South America offered pause for thought
"Slash comes up to me and gives me a hug, and that was a moment that I will take to my grave." We asked Myles Kennedy to make us a playlist, and what he gave us is pure gold
From rock icons like Guns N' Roses and Queens Of The Stone Age to metal behemoths Gojira, it's safe to say Myles Kennedy knows his way around a riff
