Innehållsförteckning för Summer 2025 från Metal Hammer UK

MAX CAVALERA IS living proof that you can transcend your circumstances. He was just a kid from Belo Horizonte when he helped put Brazil on the musical map as the frontman of Sepultura, while his next band, Soulfly, saw him become a cross-cultural lightning rod for likeminded musicians such as Corey Taylor and Chino Moreno, who wanted to step into his world. As he brings Nailbomb, his recently reactivated cult industrial metal side-project, to Europe, he looks back on what he’s learned from his epic, if sometimes turbulent, life. MY MUSIC CAME FROM MY DAD “He was very musical. He played acoustic guitar, he sang Italian songs, there’s a photo of him singing on Brazilian TV. He died when I was young, so I didn’t really get to hang out…

BRISTOLIAN ‘NU GAZE’ quintet Split Chain formed in 2023, when bassist Tom Davies was getting sober and found that he had far more free time on his hands than he was comfortable with. “Bert [Martinez-Cowles, vocalist] being the mate that he is, decided he was going to help me through it,” Tom remembers. “Bert and I were just watching skate videos, listening to music, and we decided to write a Superheaven song for fun. We wrote the two demos for Get Inside and Future and thought, ‘Fuck, this is actually really good!’” Lyrically, their songs are deeply personal. “I’m Not Dying To Be Here is about dealing with family, and being at such a toxic and horrible point,” Bert says. “The point of the song is that I’m not going…

The Rooftop at Pier 17 is an open-air club atop a building along New York City’s East River, which offers panoramic views of the area, taking in the Empire State Building, the financial district and the Brooklyn Bridge. It’s a dream setting, in a part of the US that Scottish metalcore band Bleed From Within have been longing to return to since April 2023, which was when they supported August Burns Red with The Devil Wears Prada at Palladium Times Square. “When you think of America, the first thing that comes to mind for most people is New York,” says drummer, tour coordinator and band manager Ali Richardson, from a cosy chair in the dressing room the band are sharing with August Burns Red, on their current tour with Trivium…

Metal Forth CAPITOL Kawaii superstars forge a future metal army SOMEWHERE BETWEEN THE worn temples of old-world metal and the rave-lit coliseums of tomorrow, Babymetal have spent 15 years building a world that feels both impossible and oddly inevitable. Metal Forth, their fifth campaign, plays out like a high-velocity, high-stakes experiment in what heavy music could become if it let go of outmoded notions about genre loyalty – smashing pop and metal together not as a gimmick, but as an operating principle. And while not every moment lands with equal weight, the cumulative force is unmistakable. METAL FORTH IS A HIGH-VELOCITY, HIGH-STAKES EXPERIMENT It would be easy to sneer at the sheer number of guest spots on Metal Forth, but every collaborator is swept into Babymetal’s orbit, not the other…

Savage New Times REIGNING PHOENIX MUSIC Arizona groove/thrash prodigies fail to set the pace INCITE HAVE BEEN around for more than two decades now, but, seven albums in, they’ve still yet to release something that makes them an imposing thrash/groove metal force in their own right. On paper, the Arizonans have the pedigree to take off. Frontman Richie Cavalera is from the revered Cavalera dynasty; his dad Max and uncle Iggor were the fulcrum of Sepultura for 13 years, and his brothers Zyon and Igor have both been part of Max’s band Soulfly. However, this four-piece have always felt somewhat derivative. Their influences are clear, but have never resulted in a coherent identity of their own, and their biggest tours have always been whenever they got to support one of…

In Devastation EARMUSIC Bereaved supergroup deliver a classy third sermon THE BRAINCHILD OF current Kreator bassist and all-round metal polymath Frédéric Leclercq, Sinsaenum have navigated the untimely passing of legendary drummer Joey Jordison while keeping the 90s death metal flag flying with gusto. In Devastation arrives seven years after Joey’s last hurrah, Repulsion For Humanity, but the essence of this all-star band’s sound remains the same. This is imperious, immaculate extremity, with a clear debt to Morbid Angel, but with sharper melodic sensibilities and a penchant for muscular, mid-paced and gothic sturm und drang. There are still moments when Sinsaenum go for the jugular, but this is a more accessible record than either of its predecessors. Co-vocalists Sean Zatorsky (Dååth) and Attila Csihar (Mayhem) maintain levels of incensed, vein-popping fury throughout,…

HALESTORM / THE RAVEN AGE LONDON STADIUM, LONDON Heavy metal’s indefatigable troopers host a 50th anniversary homecoming IT’S PARTY TIME in East London, the birthplace of Iron Maiden. On a treacly hot day, the British legends are celebrating 50 years of active and fruitful service by commandeering West Ham’s London Stadium and turning it into a heaving maelstrom of slightly pissed and rowdy joy. Up, as they say, the Irons. Earlier in the day, THE RAVEN AGE and HALESTORM put in enjoyable shifts as the audience trickles in, and somehow manage to keep the energy in the venue up, despite the fact that atmospheric conditions can, at best, be described as squelchy. But as the PA suddenly crackles into life, and UFO’s Doctor Doctor bursts forth, the roar of adoration…

WHEN HAMMER VIDEO-CALLS Bloodywood guitarist/founder Karan Katiyar, the Indian nu metal sensations are two days away from jetting to the US for some shows with Babymetal. It’ll mark the first time the guys have ever supported another artist on the road, which says everything about how quickly they’ve ascended through heavy metal’s ranks. Since rocketing to online fame with their souped-up Bollywood covers, Bloodywood have released two vibrant albums, packed countless venues and appeared on the soundtrack for Hollywood blockbuster Monkey Man, so it’s high time they faced our readers’ questions. You lot took full advantage of the opportunity, quizzing Karan on travel, going viral and whatever the hell ‘metal tikka masala’ is. What’s been your most memorable tour moment in recent years? James_wakelin95, Instagram “It was a show from our…

IN 2004, DIMMU Borgir guitarist Silenoz sat in a Texas cinema. As the lights dimmed and the movie previews started to show, one of them hit a little different. Accompanying the trailer for director Guillermo del Toro’s new Hellboy film came the unmistakable orchestral blasts of Progenies Of The Great Apocalypse, from Dimmu’s extravagant new album, Death Cult Armageddon, released in September the previous year. Just a decade before, the members of Dimmu Borgir were teenagers being indoctrinated into the radical new sounds of Norwegian black metal through obscure records purchased at the Helvete record store in Oslo, run by Mayhem mastermind Euronymous. Now, through them, black metal had broken Hollywood. “It was a culture shift,” Silenoz reflects today. “Sat there, surrounded by people who have no clue who you…

JUST 18 MONTHS AGO, Moon McBee was a chef. Now, alongside her husband Jonny and drummer Brandon Funera (both members of electronicore outfit The Browning), she’s released an album with her industrial metal band, The Defect, and toured the US. Formed last year as Death X Destiny - a name that’s been given to their debut album – The Defect were born of Jonny’s desire to separate The Browning’s heavier tracks from the more melodic, synth-led music the band had dabbled in. As a debutant vocalist, Moon not only had to learn how to sing, but also how to become a professional musician. “Other than singing in the car, I haven’t done shit,” Moon admits with a laugh. “I feel like true musicians hear music in layers and they hear…

METALLICA LOAD: DELUXE EDITION BOX SET UMR £261.75 DID YOU KNOW there are people who honestly believe Load is rubbish? Think of that! For those who quite rightly appreciate that Metallica’s sixth studio album is full of fascinating side-turns, emotional epics and straight-up ragers, you’re gonna froth at the sight of the metal titans’ latest deluxe reissue. Boasting a remastered edition of the Bob Rock-produced original, this set also comes with (deep breath) a bonus Mama Said picture disc, three live LPs, 15 (!) CDs and another four DVDs packing all manner of previously unseen/unheard content, including extra live shows, demos and more. Not enough? You’ll also find tour laminates, a poster, patch, print, picks, lyric sheets, a 128-page hardcover book… Look, this thing is packing more than 300 tracks…

Inside a sweltering room in Leeds, 1,000 people are hyper-ventilating en masse. As Paleface Swiss vocalist Marc ‘Zelli’ Zellweger leans over the barrier, rapping, screaming and gasping his way through an almost comically brutal Nail To The Tooth, the crowd keep pace with every word, eyes bulging, fists punching the air. The riff that follows is filthier than a slaughterhouse, before Zelli randomly bellows the weirdest mosh call you’ll hear all year: “We are the reason for the holes in the Swiss cheese!” “The singalong stuff is something that gets me all the time,” Zelli tells Hammer later with a huge grin. “That’s the thing I live for. I don’t think that my style of vocals is super-easy to sing along to!” Only a year earlier, Paleface Swiss were opening…

Scott Burns remembers the first time he saw Deicide play live. The exact date has been lost to time but it was sometime the late 80s, and Scott was the engineer at Morrisound Studios in Tampa, Florida – the nexus of the state’s emerging death metal scene. Deicide were still called Amon at the time, and were an unknown quantity, hence the fact that they were opening for local heroes Morbid Angel and Nocturnus. “Nobody knew too much about them,” Scott says now. “They come out wearing spikes and armour, they’ve hung up these effigies of the Virgin Mary, then [singer/bassist] Glen Benton smashes them and they’re full of guts and blood and stuff. That was something to see!” They were animal guts, but if ever something could be defined…

Everest ATLANTIC Nashville’s stadium-blazing rockers grow fresh roots from familiar ground FEW BANDS HAVE come charging out of the blocks as fully formed as Halestorm. Right from the beginning, the Nashville quartet knew exactly who and what they wanted to be, and with their 2009 self-titled debut they laid down the blueprint with which they’d build their career. Hook-heavy hard rock, squealing guitar solos and world-class, iron-lunged vocals from singer and guitarist Lzzy Hale are their bread and butter – a formula that has lifted them into arenas, onto main stages, and bagged them a support slot with Iron Maiden this year. On sixth record Everest, things start out the way you expect them to carry on. The band’s last album, 2022’s Back From The Dead, saw them turn in…

DONINGTON PARK, DONINGTON Korn and Sleep Token make Donington headline debuts for the ages FEW WOULD ARGUE 2024 was a bumper year for Download. Downpours, reports of food poisoning, and shortened sets across the board contributed to a sense that those who triumphed did so against the odds. But come rain or shine, one thing’s always sure; the masses will be back at Donington Park next year. So, how gratifying it is to see the sun shining down as Japan’s SIM open the main Apex Stage with their reggaepunk-metal. There’s an air of Skindred to their infectious stage patter, frontman Mah whipping the crowd up and making jabs at their 30-minute set, then being forced offstage before they can finish F.A.I.T.H. with Crossfaith’s Kenta Koie, Mah quipping, “Next time we’ll…

BOYS NOIZE O2 ARENA, LONDON Trent Reznor’s industrial legends continue to smash perceptions and instruments WHEN NINE INCH Nails first shot to prominence in the early 90s, their reputation was of a live band that thrived on pure nihilism and total destructive chaos. It’s quite incredible to see how they have evolved and adapted three decades down the line, and while that sense of darkness and self-loathing still looms large in Trent Reznor’s music, this evening they put on one of the most unique, dynamically vast and beautiful arena spectaculars you’re likely to ever see. A small stage in the middle of the O2 is obscured by curtains as support act BOYS NOIZE finishes his noisy DJ set. The second his booming electro house ends, the drapes drop to reveal…

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It’s not often that the sound of wind chimes twinkles across Donington Park, but then Download festival has never had a headliner like Sleep Token before. As this unlikely intro music intensifies, signalling the imminent start of the biggest and most important show of this enigmatic band’s career, all eyes focus on the main stage. Many here are curious as to what all the fuss is about, but others have clearly pledged their allegiance to Vessel and are wearing the homemade robes and masks to prove it. Sleep Token’s sharp ascent has been staggering. In 2020, they were headlining the 900-capacity Islington Assembly Hall, but in 2023 they sold out London’s Wembley Arena in under 10 minutes, before playing two nights at the city’s vast 02 Arena the following year.…

20 Years Of Five Finger Death Punch – Best Of Volume 1 BETTER NOISE Arena metal heavyweights give the hits a bit of spit and polish FIVE FINGER DEATH Punch actually making it to two full decades is something of a minor miracle. One of modern metal’s most combustible bands, they’ve had all manner of breakdowns over the years, on and offstage. To that end, a celebration of 20 years of putting out arena metal bangers makes sense, and to the band’s credit, they’ve pushed the boat out by completely re-recording all 14 studio tracks included here, as well as throwing in some live versions for good measure. Few 21st-century metal bands can stand toe-to-toe with 5FDP when it comes to crafting instantaneous, earwormy metal anthems, and they’re here in abundance.…

Opvs Noir Vol. 1 NAPALM Germany’s industrial glam stage-stormers retune to their dark side WITH EUROVISION AND a spell touring with Iron Maiden in their rearview, the next record from Lord Of The Lost had to be something appropriately ambitious. Enter Opvs Noir Vol. 1, the first in a trilogy of albums that ushers in a darker, more melancholic era. The German darkwave metallers aren’t reinventing themselves, however; Vol. 1 is a kind of reintroduction to the band that existed long before they were ever on our television screens. That’s not to say they’ve left their glam industrial-goth sound behind, but, having previously dabbled in orchestration on the 2015-2020 Swan Songs albums, they’ve now brought that element back, adding a robustness and theatricality that suits the album’s grand intent. Opening…

GDAŃSK SHIPYARD, POLAND Sepultura, Vader and King Diamond take Poland’s famed shipyards by storm NOTHING SAYS ‘METAL’ quite like a post-industrial landscape, so there’s no finer setting for Poland’s biggest metal festival than amid the shipping containers and looming cranes of Gdańsk Shipyard, as Mystic returns for a triumphant fourth year at the historic site. The thrum of excitement is set early on the Wednesday as WITCH CLUB SATAN’s seething howls of Fresh Blood, Fresh Pussy do little to deter the squeeze of flesh into the Sabbath Stage. By the time the Norwegian black metallers strip naked mid-set, it feels less an act of subversive feminism and a necessary survival tactic to escape the miasma of misanthropy, blastbeats and sweaty jiggly bits. Cracks of lightning pierce the sky as WHITECHAPEL…

SPIRITBOX WEMBLEY STADIUM, LONDON California’s alt metal torchbearers re-up their rebirth AS EMILY ARMSTRONG unleashes that massive, Chester Bennington-alike scream during Heavy Is The Crown – seemingly a song about the weight of taking over from such a beloved frontman under such difficult circumstances – you’re reminded how remarkable it is that Linkin Park are back, let alone doing their biggest-ever headline show, at Wembley Stadium. But first, SPIRITBOX. They’re a much heavier prospect, and by the time the brutal closing trio of Soft Spine; No Loss, No Love and Cellar Door rolls around, some in the crowd look seriously stunned. Nevertheless, with arresting sci-fi visuals and Courtney’s magnetic presence, it’s a spectacle no one can look away from. As Les Misérables’ I Dreamed A Dream fades out, and the…