Innehållsförteckning för November 2025 från Metal Hammer UK

PACKING FOR A trip can be tough. Have you remembered your toothbrush? Will your bag zip up? Have you got enough Iron Maiden t-shirts? So spare a thought for Sabaton, who have to take a whole goddamn tank when they travel. This month, our Stephen Hill flies to the band’s hometown of Falun, Sweden, to visit their secret lock-up, full of grenades, er, pinball machines and – yes – tanks. But Falun is more than just a storage base. It actually shaped who the band are today. From a work ethic that can be traced back to the copper mines, to the military base at the heart of the town, Sabaton are a product of their environment as much as the history books they’ve read. Oh, and did we mention they’ve…

WHEN CASTLE RAT take to the stage, you’re met with a fever dream’s assortment of a D&D party: a plague doctor, a vampiric count and a woodland druid. Up top, singer Riley Pinkerton – in the guise of ‘The Rat Queen’ – leads this merry band into fabled adventure, each show climaxing with her sword duel with the rodent-masked, stockings-wearing, scythe-wielding Rat Reaperess. But despite having become a successful global festival act off the back of their 2024 debut album, Into The Realm, their odds-and-ends fantasy appearance born in the clubs of Brooklyn came about entirely by accident. “When I started the band, it was just a name and we all wore black, but then we got booked on a Halloween show so I very last minute crudely put together…

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THE STRANGER MASK “In 2017, we did a show called the Theatre Of Fear, and we had this huge mask made of The Stranger – it was 20 feet tall, made out of steel, and it had lasers coming out its eyes. A fan from Las Vegas wanted to buy it and put it up in the desert, but the logistics of shipping it over were a nightmare.” COFFINS “We once put Darcia in a coffin with purple lining. We propped it up on two risers either side and she almost fell through the middle of it. Ridiculous.” DECAPITATED HEAD “If I ever need a severed head, I just call up our pal Clive like, ‘So, Clive, can we make it look like my eyeball has exploded?’ and he’s like…

DVNE THE DOME, LONDON It’s been five years since Night Verses last headlined a tour, during which time DVNE have gone from virtual unknowns to one of the hottest post-metal acts. Everything about the Edinburgh cosmonauts screams ‘rising stars’, as they take the stage in an already-heaving Dome and tear through 50 minutes of sci-fi myth-making. Although the likes of Cobalt Sun Necropolis may seem sprawling and high-concept, Dvne aren’t above the occasional knuckle-head riff, and there’s a tangible surge towards the merch stand after their show. Set course for much bigger rooms in the near future. As staggering as NIGHT VERSES’ members are at their respective instruments, the trio make tech-metal for the everyman. Their jams are more about tension and release than showing off, with opener Arrival igniting…

THE KEY CLUB, LEEDS You feel King 810 before you see them. An ominous rumble of bass and feedback seeps from the speakers, unsettling the bowels. It’s been more than a decade since the band’s debut, Memoirs Of A Murderer, landed in a storm of controversy due to its flagrantly violent narratives and harrowing tales of growing up in Flint, Michigan. And while that initial publicity hasn’t translated into bigger venues, there’s no doubt that in that time, K810 have quietly become iconic. There are calls of reverence from the crowd as the band appear under blood-red lights and tear into insidious opener Rustbelt Numetal. Over the years, they’ve consistently released music, some of it more thoughtful and experimental than their thuggish reputation would have you believe, but tonight’s set…

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC, MANCHESTER Finland’s Nightwish-affiliated progressive folk troupe bewitch the North DESPITE FORMING, IN concept at least, almost a decade-and-a-half ago, Auri are currently on their first international tour. Aside from a one-off London show in 2018, they’ve only ever played in their home country of Finland. Three of Auri’s six-member live line-up are full-time Nightwish members – Kai Hahto joining Tuomas Holopainen and Troy Donockley for the tour – yet despite the smattering of merch representing that association, Auri are a different beast entirely. Vocalist, and wife of Tuomas, Johanna Kurkela, exudes grace in her stunning gown with long, red hair as the band storm through a mammoth 19-song folk-prog setlist, split by an interlude, but notably lacking much from their most recent record, III –…

PAUL TRAVERS WRITER Paul has spent decades in the trenches of metal journalism, first at Kerrang! and now at Metal Hammer. This issue, we deployed him to, er, his hometown of Sheffield to hang out with British bruisers Malevolence. EMILY SWINGLE WRITER This month, Emily chatted to Creeper and Bury Tomorrow, which meant visiting a strange props store and a ‘rage room’ full of broken tellies. Sorry, Emily! We’ll send you somewhere a bit more glamorous next time… JAKE OWENS PHOTOGRAPHER The lovely Jake has spent more than a decade shooting bands for us, and also does the business at weddings. This month’s Creeper shoot is definitely not romantic, unless you’re into blood, leather and chains. No judgement here!…

AT THE GATES Slaughter Of The Soul “The blueprint for melodic death metal and beyond. Rest in peace, Tomas Lindberg” ELEANOR GOODMAN EDITOR CORONER Dissonance Theory “A jaw-dropping thrash masterclass that’s both authoritative and kaleidoscopically expansive” JONATHAN SELZER REVIEWS EDITOR TRIVIUM Struck Dead EP “Stunning! Can’t wait for their 11th album!” VANESSA THORPE PRODUCTION EDITOR AFI Silver Bleeds The Black Sun… “I love how 80s goth this is!” LOUISE BROCK ART EDITOR ORBIT CULTURE Death Above Life “Absolutely massive - and if there’s any justice in the world, it’ll make the band massive too” RICH HOBSON STAFF WRITER CATHEDRAL Society’s Pact With Satan “Thirty minutes of black-hearted bliss from the temporarily reanimated doom lords” DAVE EVERLEY ASSOCIATE EDITOR…

VAMPIRES ARE SEXY. Whether it’s Bill Skarsgård flopping around with a prosthetic penis in Nosferatu or David Boreanaz pulling off the tortured-vamp-with-a-soul in Buffy, there’s an undeniable link between eroticism and the fanged undead. So what do you do when you’ve written a concept album about vampires and, erm, aren’t that? “I’m not seven feet tall and I don’t have black hair… yet,” concedes Jordan Olds, mastermind behind New York’s Blood Vulture. “I don’t relate to a lot of the tropes of vampires; some are powerfully romantic, others are all about debauchery, some are just pure evil… but that’s all been done and doesn’t relate to me. So what do I relate to? The loneliness and existentialism.” Those weighty, human themes form the key pillars for Blood Vulture’s debut, Die…

Matt Heafy might be the busiest man in metal. The Trivium frontman is cruising through Orlando as he answers our call, making his way to the converted airplane hangar where he and his three bandmates jam, write and plot world domination together. It’s 10am on a Friday, and so far he’s already exercised (“Monday, Wednesday, Friday is strength and conditioning, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday is yoga, jiu-jitsu four to six times a week”), had breakfast with his wife Ashley and twin five-year-olds Mia and Akira, taken the kids to school, and spent an hour playing Trivium songs on livestream for thousands of fans. He’ll now spend the rest of the day laying down ideas for the new Trivium album, before going home for dinner with the fam, reading with the…

PANTERA COWBOYS FROM HELL (1990) Avishek: “It is what it is!” Bikrant: “Dime forever.” SLIPKNOT SLIPKNOT (1999) Avishek: “At school, someone accidentally left a CD in my drummer’s bag. We put it on and it was like ‘The whole thing I think it’s sick’ [mimes drums]. It was such a monumental thing, I had never heard anything that intense.” LAMB OF GOD ASHES OF THE WAKE (2004) Avishek: “There was so much groove, there was such a dynamic. And not just anger – like, beautiful little thrash groove stuff. I love that kind of music.”…

AGRICULTURE The Spiritual Sound THE FLENSER LA’s ‘ecstatic’ black metallers transcend their moorings Dubbing your band ‘ecstatic black metal’ feels like a goad to genre purists, but Agriculture’s second album hammers home exactly why they deserve the tag. This is a deep, dense, complicated record that demands total immersion and complete emotional surrender. While there’s no shortage of scything heaviness, the band also weave in slowcore and devotional elements like it’s the most natural thing in the world. There can’t be many bands capable of subtly twisting between the sounds of Krallice, Torche and Mazzy Star over the course of the same album, let alone the same song, yet Agriculture make it seem effortless. A grand endeavour that’s as pained, thrilling and glorious as the gift of life they celebrate.…

GIRLI/LAKE MALICE O2 FORUM, LONDON LA’s unabashed provocateur gets London in the mood UNSURPRISINGLY FOR SCENE Queen, there’s a lot of pink in the crowd for the self-styled bimbocore star, with sequinned cowboy hats and loud Y2K fashion a regular sight alongside the more expected black band shirts of a metalcore show. Welcoming early comers, LAKE MALICE fuse glitchy hyperpop to crunchy metalcore, lyrically taking aim at predatory, misogynist behaviour as well as shining a light on mental health struggles. Though just a three-piece onstage, they sound huge; the guitars have some serious weight, while vocalist Alice Guala commands the crowd to open the first pit of the night with Creepers’ frantic breakdown. GIRLI pulls from Y2K in a different vein, channelling upbeat pop with a subversive twist both lyrically…

MUZIEKGIETERIJ, MAASTRICHT, NETHERLANDS Ihsahn and Psychonaut lead a two-day voyage into the esoteric PELAGIC FEST HAS returned to Muziekgieterij, showcasing the progressive talent of its namesake record label in a venue renowned for its audio quality and light shows. PSYCHONAUT were supposed to be here last year, but pulled out due to the death of bassist/vocalist Thomas Michiels’ father. On Saturday, the trio play new songs partially inspired by that loss, including tech metal marathon Endless Currents. However, as Thomas and guitarist/co-singer Stefan de Graef harmonise and let out cosmic riffs in front of a crammed auditorium, this feels more like a victory than a lamentation. THIS WILL DESTROY YOU top the bill on the Saturday, but the metalheads’ headliner of choice is Australian extremists LO!. By some distance the…

CAMDEN ASSEMBLY, LONDON There’s barely room to breathe in an overflowing Camden Assembly tonight. Everyone’s crammed shoulder to shoulder to witness Urne’s first show since announcing third album Setting Fire To The Sky, appropriately kicked off by raging new number Be Not Dismayed. Despite only being released mere hours beforehand, the song already sounds like classic Urne, emulating the sprawling aggressive complexity of …And Justice for All-era Metallica while dragging it into the 21st century. Expanded to a quartet with the addition of second guitarist Kurtis Bagley, the band are overwhelmingly tight, as evidenced by the silence-is-deafening grand pause of fan favourite Becoming The Ocean. James Cook’s drumming is unremittingly precise, Angus Neyra’s tasteful leads are masterfully executed, and presiding over it all with effortless wit and natural charm is…

ORIGIN THE UNDERWORLD, LONDON Twenty-five years since they set out their stall with their self-titled debut, ORIGIN show no sign of mellowing out. Their technical death metal is still a ferocious maelstrom of superhuman speed and heaviness: savage, yet delivered with surgical precision. John Longstreth is a blur behind the kit and bassist Mike Flores’s fingers almost start smoking at one point. It’s been an even longer 35 years since ATHEIST unleashed their first masterpiece, Piece Of Time – 40 since their first incarnation as R.A.V.A.G.E. – and while they blazed a trail for many progressive death metal bands to come, the Florida pioneers’ debut remains one of DM’s finest moments. Room With A View and early R.A.V.A.G.E. classic On They Slay hit like a shotgun blast. Even the jazz…

PARADISE LOST ASCENSION: PICTURE VINYL BOX SET NUCLEAR BLAST £89.99 THE UK’S UNDISPUTED kings of gloom return with their 17th album and, as you’d expect, there’s no shortage of grandiose misery. And what better way to bask in Ascension’s crushing riffs and stately gothic flourishes than with this lavish special edition, which sees the album draped across two picture discs and a 7” EP? The vinyl comes housed in an austere die-cut box, which also contains a digipack CD and assorted artistic oddments. With enough visual and aural stimuli to sink you into a weekend of misery, we wouldn’t blame you if you don’t leave the house while it all seeps in. If that’s the case then there’s an added boon - the set also includes an exclusive t-shirt (black, of…

TEMPLARS It’s about: Medieval military and religious order The Knights Templar. Joakim: “Templars set the tone for the whole album – very dramatic and theatrical. This song is not typical, super-traditional Sabaton, but it still has a lot of that in there.” HORDES OF KHAN It’s about: Ruthless Mongol leader Genghis Khan. Joakim: “We made the music video at the Natural History Museum in London, and we had a bunch of kids playing the instruments and being the main characters in the video instead of us. We received letters from them afterwards saying it was an inspiring event in their lives.” A TIGER AMONG DRAGONS It’s about: 2nd-century Chinese general Lü Bu. Joakim: “This has war drums in it. The vibe of the song, and everything from the instrumentation to…

Cristina Scabbia is one of the most recognisable voices in metal. Since she joined Lacuna Coil almost three decades ago as the band’s co-vocalist alongside barker Andrea Ferro, they’ve risen to become the biggest metal band in Italian history. In that time, they’ve constantly evolved and reinvented themselves. They broke through with the ethereal gothic metal of 2002’s Comalies, flirted with nu metal on 2006’s Karmacode, and have steadily embraced a heavier sound over the last decade. Through it all, Cristina’s crystalline vocals have remained a crucial element of the band’s serene/harsh sound. And they’re continuing to soar; their latest album, 2025’s dark and decadent Sleepless Empire, is one of the band’s best offerings to date. But Cristina wasn’t always comfortable in the spotlight. “I was always… not even drawn,…

CARACH ANGREN The Cult Of Kariba SEASON OF MIST These five sumptuous tracks confirm Carach Angren remain masters of musical tension. Their grisly narrative thrust still drips with conviction, their heaving sound picture still optimally balanced. CHRIS CHANTLER GORE. If You Do Not Fear Me… SPINEFARM Combining corrosive growls and poignant croons with heavyweight djent, Gore. navigate between aggro and vulnerability on this fearsome EP – and vocalist Haley Roughton absolutely smashes it. EMILY SWINGLE KITTIE Spit XXV SUMERIAN Twenty-five years after they released their incendiary debut, Kittie have rerecorded four of the album’s tracks, adding even more grit, groove and punch to one of nu metal’s landmark albums. DANNII LEIVERS…

MACHUKHA OSLO HACKNEY, LONDON There’s a blinding barrage of flashing lights accompanying MACHUKHA’s abrasive black metal assault. And then, it’s dead quiet. The minimalist strums of the guitar paired with the dulcet tones of a saxophone. Then, without warning, it is back to bedlam. Their set is a masterclass in contrasts, ending in a searing crescendo before they bow out to rapturous applause. AGRICULTURE are something else. Touring before the release of their second album, The Spiritual Sound, the LA outfit deliver their self-professed brand of ‘ecstatic black metal’. New tracks like Bodhidharma feel immense with a tremendous wall-of-sound to accompany them. It’s a exercise in musical acrobatics, with each member getting a solo as tremendous as the last. Black metal, prog, thrash, grind, soft-to-harsh vocals, and even flashes of…

DEADWAX/DEKAYTAH ACADEMY 3, MANCHESTER Nu metal revivalists party like it’s 1998 on first headlining tour IF IT WEREN’T for the fact that they’re safely anonymised behind their shiny masks and stage names, it could be claimed that Blackgold were unashamedly leading the UK arm of the nu metal revival movement. Having fun isn’t a crime, though and, as frontman Spookz so eloquently declares on elasticated opener It’s Art, ‘I don’t give a fuck if you don’t like this shit.’ DEKAYTAH understand their assignment. The majority of the local-ish quartet’s set is a scowling metalcore roar but, as vocalist Joe Hill points out, “Our job is to get the party started and we appreciate most of you don’t know who the fuck we are.” Strangers become instant friends as they launch…

ELECTRIC BALLROOM, LONDON Cult riff-wielders forge an elevating alliance in London NOT EVEN TUBE strikes can stop Londoners from getting their metal fix. Tonight’s first co-headliner, CAVE IN, start their set at 8:10pm sharp, and the Electric Ballroom is already rammed as the post-hardcore mavericks take the stage. They’re here to perform 2000’s Jupiter in its entirety, celebrating 25 years of the album that lifted them beyond their Converge-inspired roots with its prog and space rock grandeur. As you’d expect, what’s now commonly considered to be Cave In’s magnum opus was derided by purists when it came out, but none of those detractors are here tonight. The first lines of the title track – ‘The metronome was wrong again! My heart has surely gone and skipped a beat!’ – are howled…

CABAL THE KEY CLUB, LEEDS Ten56.’s first UK headline tour is long overdue. It’s been more than four years since vocalist Aaron Matts formed the band after leaving metalcore stalwarts Betraying The Martyrs and, in that time, his current enterprise have released two storming EPs, and a brilliantly brutal full-length debut, IO, which dropped earlier this month. To celebrate the long overdue moment, CABAL warm up the crowd with a short set of unadulterated intensity. The Danes have got a lot going on in their sound; their disgustingly heavy deathcore features flashes of grandeur, industrial and tech, and it’s chaos from the moment the opener Everything Rots descends into its first sordid breakdown. It’s an excellent appetiser for TEN56.’s aural feast, and crowdsurfers fly through the air as soon as…

Do you think you’ve helped metalheads broaden their tastes with Europop and dance? Kevin: “I once read a headline that said that we make metal more accessible for people, and I love that! We didn’t fit in 15 years ago because we used some instruments and sounds that were ‘dance’ based. People always strive give music names, to pigeonhole. Why? If you like something, you like it.” Nico: “I don’t believe in guilty pleasures. These typical metalheads, long-haired with their jackets on and everything, they’re the ones standing there singing [Cascada cover] Everytime We Touch with us with tears in their eyes, and singing along to Backstreet Boys. It’s an evolution that I love, because we don’t have to feel that it’s wrong anymore.” On that note, what’s your least…