Indholdsfortegnelse for March 2025 i Metal Hammer UK

LISTEN NOW To hear Eicca’s choices, head to tinyurl.com/Eiccaslist “THE REFLEX BY DURAN DURAN was the first thing that I was a huge fan of. My dad had a massive classical collection, and my older sister had Michael Jackson and Wham!, but Duran Duran were the first band that I found. I had all the posters, and my schoolmates were all into Twisted Sister and W.A.S.P., which I liked too, but I was the only one who liked Duran Duran. They had great songs and the sound was interesting, but it still had some edge in the guitar playing. “I didn’t have money to buy albums, so I would go to the local library and borrow from there. From THE JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE I had this live album, Winterland, and…

Fata Morgana A rabid opener that immediately plunges us into a world much darker than anything on Eternal Blue. Mike: “I would describe Fata Morgana as the mission statement of the album. It just comes out swinging, and it is very, very heavy.” Black Rainbow Three and a half minutes of bleak and mechanical tech metal, the pits aren’t going to know what’s hit them this summer. Mike: “I would say it’s a continuation of Fata Morgana and probably the heaviest song on the record.” Courtney: “Black Rainbow is FREAKY!” Perfect Soul Calling to mind Architects’ Doomsday, this is Spiritbox at their most ethereal and melodic. Courtney: “It’s like a little bit of hopefulness. The first part of the album that has a little bit of hopefulness and yearning in it,…

In 2010, a bright-eyed 21-year-old Janine Shilstone went to London to try out for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical adaptation of The Wizard Of Oz. With a passion for musical theatre and a yearning to escape into fantasy worlds, it seemed like becoming Dorothy was her destiny - but then, she realised her heart wasn’t in it. “I got down to the last 21 girls, but I hated it,” she recalls of the auditions. “Once I was singing for Andy, and he said, ‘I can tell you’re not enjoying this. You want to be yourself – you’re a rock star.’” For the last 14 years, Janine’s been the rock star frontwoman of Scottish pop-metallers Vukovi. Onstage, she shines, and is far more chaotic than a poised performer in a Webber production.…

When Cristina Scabbia and Andrea Ferro first met in a metal dive called The Midnight, in their home city of Milan in the early 1990s, the prospect of forging a musical partnership that would take them all around the world for the next three decades was not even a fantasy. “Italy doesn’t really have the history of rock’n’roll or metal roots or culture,” says Cristina more than 30 years on. “When we were sending our details to labels using a fax machine, we couldn’t even imagine getting signed.” Back then, no Italian rock band had broken out on a global scale, but Lacuna Coil would change that, becoming international stars and Italy’s biggest-ever metal export in the process. Today their ongoing journey has brought them to Nottingham’s Rock City, where…

This Consequence METAL BLADE Westfield’s metalcore masters return in furious form IT’S BEEN SIX years since Killswitch Engage released Atonement, marking their longest gap between albums by far. The pandemic during that period appears to have been on vocalist Jesse Leach’s mind during the crafting of the band’s ninth album. He’s spoken about his consequent mental struggles, his initial rage and frustration turning to sadness and despair at the fractured state of the world. That journey can be heard throughout This Consequence. Jesse expresses feelings of loneliness and abandonment with furious anger, before calls for humanity to unite and heal come soaring in. His lyrics can often be cloaked in metaphor, but his passionate delivery always connects deeply, and here he’s sparked the strongest KSE album in well over a…

Duél NAPALM Ukraine’s progressive metal champions go deeper into the maelstrom A LOT HAS happened in Jinjer’s world since they released 2021’s exceptional Wallflowers album. In those four years, the Ukrainians’ profile and popularity have skyrocketed, they’ve toured with Slipknot, Disturbed and Bullet For My Valentine, and have drawn massive main stage crowds at summer festivals. They’ve defied expectations that a band this progressive, aggressive and knotty would remain on metal’s fringes. They’ve also become staunch ambassadors for their homeland, following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine – a trauma that is palpably etched into the steely fabric of fifth album, Duél. ‘Have you heard of the storm/That uprooted my home?’ sings Tatiana Shmayluk, on dependably fantastic form as always, as she segues effortlessly between harsh and clean vocals, and bellows…

Amidst The Ruins SEASON OF MIST Scotland’s folk/black metal visionary goes deeper into the wilds INSPIRED BY THE lineage of European black metal bands who have so effectively imbued their music with their nation’s traditional folklore and instrumentation, Andy Marshall, Saor’s sole musician, wondered why similar hadn’t been done for Scotland. He set out to do just that with his 2013 debut, Roots. Five albums later, he’s consolidated a legacy of self-coined ‘Caledonian metal’. A supporter of Scottish independence, he took the band name from the phrase ‘Saor Alba’ (‘Free Scotland’) but distances himself from the political connotations. ‘Saor’ also means ‘unconstrained’, suiting his focus of liberation through losing himself in the outstanding beauty of his homeland. Fascinated by the echoes of the past that dwell in the Highlands’ midst,…

Hey Djamila, how are ya? We can’t believe Ithaca are splitting up… “I still feel quite emotional! I didn’t really know what to expect; what the reaction would be, if people would be sad or angry about it, or even just like, ‘Boo, you suck!’ We’ve known for quite a long time this was happening, and it’s been really hard to not be able to talk about it and let people know what’s going on. In a way I feel better, but sad.” What prompted the decision to end the band? “There’s a whole bunch of reasons, and a lot of it is – a tale as old as time – we can’t afford to be in a band. The point of success we reached with our last album was…

DEREK BREMNER PHOTOGRAPHER We sent Del to an East End graveyard to go foraging with Wardruna’s Einar Selvik, and he came back with these absolutely gorgeous portraits (p.58). However, he didn’t drink Einar’s nettle and hummingbird nectar smoothie. Coward! VANESSA THORPE PRODUCTION EDITOR As well as keeping Team Hammer on track, Vanessa will be running the London Marathon in April for Breakthrough T1D, a charity funding developments and treatments for Type 1 diabetes. See more at: tinyurl.com/vanessamarathon KATJA OGRIN PHOTOGRAPHER Katja lives in Birmingham with her three black cats, and has shot everyone from rock stars to ballet dancers. We’re in awe of her talent – just look at her stunning Slipknot photos on page 98. A leaping Tortilla! A wild Corey Taylor!…

VOWER’S MUSIC CAN’T be pigeonholed. The British five-piece – whose members formerly played in beloved cult bands Toska, Black Peaks and Palm Reader – write anthemic metal songs with an intellectual twist. Their choruses are moreish and their breakdowns beefy, yet they’re framed by intricate riffing and off-kilter drums. “The phrase that we chucked around at the start was ‘big riffs, large hooks’,” laughs guitarist Rabea Massaad. “But also, I really, personally love pushing the boat out with instrumentation and arrangement.” Vower started in 2021. Shortly after his prog trio Toska split, Rabea began jamming with drummer Liam Kearley, whose own band Black Peaks had just called it quits too. Guitarist Joe Gosney, also ex-Black Peaks, and bassist Rory McLean, Rabea’s friend of 15 years, soon joined. All they needed…

Experts have long known the Pacific Northwest is a ticking time bomb. For decades, millions living in the stretch from Canada’s British Columbia to the state of California have been warned about ‘The Big One’, an 8.0- or 9.0-magnitude super-earthquake destined to trigger a massive tsunami, which will unleash hell right down the coast. And unfortunately, the science tells us it’s not a matter of if… but when. Bang in the path of destruction is Vancouver Island, located 60 miles west of Vancouver, across the Strait of Georgia. The island’s capital, Victoria, is the hometown of vocalist Courtney LaPlante and her husband, guitarist Mike Stringer. It’s the place where they masterminded Spiritbox, one of the most hyped and exciting metal bands of the last decade. Mike was born on the…

They used to do it all for the nookie, but now Limp Bizkit are all about the love. That much was abundantly clear on March 17, 2024, at Lollapalooza Argentina. “Is everybody happy?” singer Fred Durst asks, surveying a 100,000-strong crowd who seem down with the fact that he’s wearing the kind of garish, multicoloured tracksuit once the preserve of 1980s kids TV presenter Timmy Mallett. He soon gets his response. As Limp Bizkit tear into set-closer Break Stuff, the audience go ballistic, bellowing the lyrics so loudly it drowns out Fred as a sea of bodies bounce and mosh as far as the eye can see. Footage of the craziness soon goes viral, notching up more than a million views in 24 hours. Nearly a quarter of a century…

Fit For An Autopsy are an angry band. They sound angry, their unique ‘post-deathcore’ a savage outcry about the state of planet Earth. While some of their peers write posturing anthems driven by aimless rage, everyday heartbreak or juvenile gore and grisliness, FFAA dig into real-world trauma – like Gojira and Cattle Decapitation before them, they’re making extreme music with a purpose, tackling political injustice, the environment and capitalistic corruption. They also look angry. Promotional photos show six big, glowering, tattooed dudes staring down the camera, and live shows reveal a frontman who looks like a pissed-off Uruk-Hai as he screams and bellows his guts out. So yeah, Fit For An Autopsy are angry. They’re furious, in fact. Scratch that: they’re positively seething. They’re… they’re… all bopping around this freezing-cold…

Sleepless Empire CENTURY MEDIA Gothic metal maestros lean into their heavy side LACUNA COIL’S LATTER-DAY career has been an exercise in resilience and reinvention. After a mid-career wobble, where albums like Shallow Life missed their earlier spark, the Italian gothic metal icons came storming back with Black Anima. Their heaviest album to date, it was dark, uncompromising and full of bite, reminding the world why Lacuna Coil have always been more than just scene staples. Now, with Sleepless Empire, they’ve gone even heavier, delivering an album packed with bone-crushing riffs, haunting melodies, and the kind of unrelenting energy that feels fresh yet unmistakably theirs. The Siege crashes in with dense riffs and primal energy. Andrea Ferro’s guttural growls anchor the chaos, while Cristina Scabbia’s soaring lines slice through the mix with…

Cross Me Twice EARACHE Phoenix’s nu breed metallers attempt to spread their wings NU METAL HOARD Sicksense have been nudging themselves onto the scene for the last few years, with 2022’s Kings Today and 2023’s Fools Tomorrow EPs painting them as a modern answer to Linkin Park. Of course, Sicksense don’t want to be a nostalgic nu metal place-holder forever; keen to assert themselves as a powerful band in their own right, Cross Me Twice is an attempt to further diversify their hybrid sonic palette. However, it sometimes tackles more textures than it can chew, and suffers from a touch of lyrical cheese. Initially, this debut feels like it’s going to be a winner. Sellout is a solid rumble of nu metal, sparkling with space-tinged sonics that crash into pummelling drums…

ON DECEMBER 21 it was announced that Casey Chaos – real name Karim Chmielinski – had passed away. Best known as the frontman and founder of Amen, he was renowned as an anarchic force of nature, his band straddling the line between nu metal and hardcore punk. Casey formed his first band, Disorderly Conduct, as a teenager in the 80s, after being inspired by seeing Black Flag play his hometown of Florida. By 1994, Disorderly Conduct had disbanded and Casey was living in Los Angeles, where he would form Amen, releasing their debut album, Slave, that year. With help from producer Ross Robinson, Amen signed to Roadrunner Records and put out their self-titled record in 1999. The band would release two more studio albums, but fell into periods of inactivity…

REJOICE! THE MAGICAL German ‘metal opera’ project Avantasia are back with their 10th album, Here Be Dragons, an uproarious new video for punchy, three-minute advance cut Creepshow (filmed at Allerton Castle in Yorkshire); and a show at London’s prestigious Roundhouse venue. To celebrate the return of this symphonic supergroup and their rotating stack of megastar guest vocalists, we got hold of Avantasia mastermind, Edguy frontman and all-round lovely chap Tobias Sammet, and asked him your questions about all the important subjects, from Freddie Mercury to giant rats. What’s the most metal opera? Alex Badger, email “I know of one or two that are called The Metal Opera, so based on the name they’ve got to be the most metal operas! I have no idea, because the funny thing is, although…

TEN THOUSAND FEET in the air, hanging off the side of a plane over Lake Elsinore, California, it hit Parkway Drive vocalist Winston McCall that he’d probably made a terrible mistake. When the Australian metalcore band had pitched the idea of skydiving for the music video for Vice Grip, the first single from their fifth record, Ire, they hadn’t actually expected director Frankie Nasso to take it seriously. None of them had ever done a skydive in their lives, they only had a week and a half before they were due to be in Canada to record the rest of the album and, to top it off, Winston was deathly terrified of heights. Why hadn’t they just gone to a deserted warehouse like every other metalcore band on the planet?…

PART NU METAL fantasy, part steely eyed social commentary, Zero Hour is a warning, according to Cantervice’s Robert Matlock. The debut album from the Dallas, Texas band takes inspiration from dystopian cinema like Blade Runner, cutting it with the industrial might of Rammstein and the raw emotion of Linkin Park, all to explore a concept where the media is used to spread hate, divide and control. Sound familiar? It’s a reflection of the world around us, but the project’s been a long time coming. Robert first began toying with the idea of Cantervice in 2015, after stints in local metalcore bands. It’s only when he met a producer who understood his vision (Evan McKeever) that things began falling into place. The creeping, menacing The Machine was released in 2022, with…

“Come on, man!” barks Wardruna’s Einar Selvik. “Get it down you!” We’ve done some weird stuff in the name of journalism, from riding on Tommy Lee’s rollercoaster drumkit in front of thousands of Mötley Crüe fans to scaling a blizzard-blasted Austrian mountain to meet Powerwolf, but we’ve never stood in an East London cemetery on a freezing winter morning, with a blond-haired, bearded Viking gazing intensely at us, about to pop a raw stinging nettle we’ve just pulled up from the base of a gravestone into our mouth. “Come on, get it down you,” repeats Einar, as the rolled-up leaf hovers near our mouth. A grin spreads across his face, almost like he’s taking some pleasure in our discomfort. And so, literally grasping the nettle, we pop it in. Down…

Axl Rose has had enough. It’s June 3, 1992 and we’re in Hanover at the Niedersachsen Stadium. He’s sitting on the drum riser, a sweaty, seething, 60,000-strong stadium rock crowd swarming in front of him. The band tore onto the stage (on time, for the first time on their massive Use Your Illusion tour), ripped through three songs, but now something’s not right. The petulant singer doesn’t say one word to the assembled throng, and he’s sitting down. Not the usual behaviour for a man who ordinarily races around like a maniac. Slash, Duff, Matt and Gilby all share confused glances. They’re running around, doing their best to cover up, galloping around the stage. The monitors are checked. The teleprompter is checked. And rechecked. Nothing’s wrong. Except the singer’s behaviour.…

Parasomnia INSIDEOUTMUSIC Prog metal’s kingpins get revitalised by their prodigal son THE DADDY OF prog metal drumming finally came home with the milk. Almost 40 years after co-founding Dream Theater and 13 since leaving to explore other musical avenues, Mike Portnoy returned in 2023 to much jubilation. If excitement was already at red-hot levels, it boiled over with the news that the New Yorkers were immediately starting work on album 16. Parasomnia is as forward-thinking as you can get while offering a heavy dose of nostalgia. Co-written by Portnoy, it carries a darkness seldom tapped during the band’s decade-and-a-bit with predecessor Mike Mangini. Night Terror matches the overtones of its title, as ominous arpeggios ring from John Petrucci’s guitar. Yet it’s also a celebration of Dream Theater’s ‘classic’ line-up reuniting.…

Post Apocalyptic Depression METAL BLADE Teutonic twosome hit the gnarly, anthemic motherlode WHEN MANTAR EMERGED, just over a decade ago, there was some debate about where they sat on the metal spectrum. Their 2014 debut album, Death By Burning, was variously described as black metal, noise rock, sludge metal and any number of niche, gnarly subgenres. Since then, Hanno Klänhardt and Erinc Sakarya have flourished in their own self-created and perennially tumultuous grey area, where the only thing that really matters is the size of the riff and the amount of ruthless determination used to perform it. A two-man band that have always sounded like (at the very least) a quartet, Mantar make such an ominous, hateful noise that it would be easy to miss what an incredible rock’n’roll band they…