Metal Hammer UK

For over three decades, Metal Hammer has brought the biggest and the best in the world of metal each and every single month. From exclusive interviews with the biggest bands in our game to celebrating the rise of the new artists taking our genre into its next chapter, we represent heavy music in all its many forms, offering world class features, unbiased reviews and special looks inside the scenes no one else will talk about. Be it heavy metal, punk, hardcore, grunge, alternative, goth, industrial, djent or the stuff so bizarre it defies classification, you'll find it all here and backed by the best writers and photographers in our game. If you like heavy music on any level, welcome to your new favourite magazine.

Metal Hammer

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UNFINNISHED BUSINESS • The movie Heavy Trip introduced us to spoof Finnish band Impaled Rektum. Now they’re back for a sequel

HAMMER STEREO • What’s been blowing our office speakers

WHAT RIFF WILL DEFINE ALICE IN CHAINS? • Jerry Cantrell answers your questions on legacies, misplaced brain cells and the greatest Seattle record of all time

MIKAEL STANNE • The Dark Tranquillity/Halo Effect/Cemetery Skyline singer champions Marillion, Pallbearer and everyone in between

ALEX SKOLNICK • Testament’s six-string superstar reflects on the chaos of the Bay Area, guesting with Lamb Of God and studying with jazz legends

THEY SAY SCARS ON BROADWAY • The song that put Daron Malakian back in the spotlight after System Of A Down stalled

ANTE-INFERNO • The Scarborough black metallers bringing a touch of sadness to the seafront

CONQUER DIVIDE • The metalcore mob using pop alchemy to fuel their second coming

FAETOOTH • Doom and shoegaze collide in the fae realms of Los Angeles

AVOID • The Seattle metalcore crew proving it isn’t all grim in the Emerald City

DEFENCES • The alt metal quintet daring to reach their true potential

HOARD ALMIGHTY • Box sets, underground oddities and all the essential merch you need this month

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THE RETURN OF HEAVY • In 2005, Trivium’s Ascendancy and Bullet For My Valentine’s The Poison helped rewire metal. As the two bands gear up for a joint 20th-anniversary tour, frontmen Matt Tuck and Matt Heafy remember the year where shit got heavy again

THE BRAND NEW HEAVIES • Ten releases that defined 2005

“WE FELT UNSTOPPABLE” • In 2005, four lads from the Welsh Valleys released their debut album, The Poison. Bullet For My Valentine frontman Matt Tuck shares the stories behind the songs

“IT WAS EFFORTLESS” • Recording breakthrough album Ascendancy was a breeze for Trivium, even if frontman Matt Heafy was battling inner demons. He talks us through every blistering track

50 ALBUMS YOU NEED TO HEAR IN 2025 • From Sleep Token and Halestorm to Limp Bizkit and Jinjer, here’s your soundtrack to the next 12 months

EDDIE MUNSON IS BACK! • Well, sort of… In this new Stranger Things prequel comic series, we find out how the beloved metalhead discovered Dungeons & Dragons and ended up leading the Hellfire Club

DOING IT FOR THEMSELVES • Sisters Nyrobi and Chaya started Alt Blk Era as a lockdown project – now they’re the alt scene’s fastest-rising band

NITA STRAUSS • She’s the guitar hero who has played with everyone from Alice Cooper and Demi Lovato to Michael Jackson’s brother… – and even a brush with a tornado couldn’t stop her

What we do In the shadows • Vampires have long provided dark inspiration for bands, from Cradle Of Filth to Creeper. As the new Nosferatu movie hits cinemas, this is the story of metal’s undying love affair with the...