Home//Metal Hammer UK/January 2020/In This Issue
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020HAS IT REALLY BEEN 10 YEARS?I STILL VIVIDLY remember the moment I found out that The Rev had died. I was at my mum’s, caught in that between-Boxing-Day-and-New-Year’s-Eve slump of leftover food and unopened Quality Street. I was lazily flicking between TV channels when a got a text from an old friend: ‘Have you heard about The Rev?!’ I jumped on a computer and couldn’t believe what I was reading.In an era where young metal bands were often accused of lacking spunk and personality, James Sullivan was a towering character: the life and soul of a band who’d begun to take their definitive steps to becoming one of the biggest names in 21st-century metal. More than that, though, he was a phenomenal drummer: prodigiously talented with the sticks, sure, but also a vital part of…1 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020SWEDE DREAMS“I HOPE YOU like my hat, I’ve become old and eccentric… and obsessed with cowboys,” states Opeth frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt dryly as he addresses the crowd at one of the most prestigious venues in the UK. Not many metal bands could so effortlessly look at home in such historically classy confines as the London Palladium, but the Swedes are cut from a different cloth and have morphed into one of the most sumptuous-sounding bands on the planet over the years. And, with material from new album In Cauda Venenum sounding as gloriously smooth and lush as they ever have, the Palladium feels like the perfect setting for Opeth in 2019. Don’t be fooled, though: when they succumb to the endless howls for “Death metal!” from the seated throng and launch…1 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020MEET THE BANDJONATHAN SELZER REVIEWS EDITOR If you see Selz over the festive period, please buy him a beer. Our December issue is when he has to shepherd all our contributors into handing in their Albums Of The Year list. Judging by the results, he’s amassed an army of reviewers with fine tastes indeed. ELEANOR GOODMAN DEPUTY EDITOR This month El went to a desert deep in the US to hang out with Alien Weaponry. No, she wasn’t pissing about at Area 51, but checking out one of the world’s most exciting young metal bands as they blew some pebbles off of Window Rock in Arizona. Resistance is futile. MATT MILLS WRITER Our Matt got stuck into the fascinating new documentary looking inside India’s complex underground metal scene. He also talked to…1 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020ACROSS THE NATIONIF YOU ASKED a metalhead to name their favourite band, it’s most likely that we’d name one from either Europe or North America. These two continents are, after all, where the vast majority of our genre’s commercially successful heroes have emanated from. But heavy metal is a worldwide phenomenon. It has spawned almost innumerable underground subcultures all over the globe, each teeming with artists driven to bless local fans with extreme, cathartic concerts. It is these seedy underbellies that inspired Indian documentarian Roy Dipankar to make his latest film, Extreme Nation. “I felt that there was a lot of underground activity within extreme music that was connecting my home country,” says the director, “but it wasn’t really being featured anywhere. I have been working for the last 15 years in…4 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 202010 THINGS WE LEARNED THIS MONTHR.I.P. TIMI HANSEN The Mercyful Fate and King Diamond legend passed away aged 61. Crank Abigail loudly today. MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE ARE BACK Secret emos across the Metal Hammer office have spent all month rejoicing. Good for them. …AND SO ARE RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE We’re gonna be honest: this is the reunion that truly matters to us at Hammer HQ this month. Now, who’s up for sending us to the USA? Anyone? …THOUGH THAT DOES MEAN PROPHETS OF RAGE ARE RIP While we’re happy to have Rage back, we definitely want to shout out B-Real and Chuck D for holding it down with the Rage guys in the meantime. AXL ROSE IS NAILS Take a tumble mid-gig? No problem. Axl continues to show he’s the most reformed man in…1 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020CARACH ANGRENIT’S JUST OVER two years since Carach Angren – one of The Netherlands’ biggest metal exports and undoubtedly one of the more successful black metal-related bands on the scene – released their fifth full-length, Dance And Laugh Amongst The Rotten. As it turns out, the genesis of their as-yet-untitled follow-up – scheduled for release in the first half of 2020 – dates back to almost the same point in time, as co-founder Ardek explains…When did you start writing the new record?“I’m always writing, and this album I’ve been working with on and off for over two years. I have an idea for a riff, I record it, put in some computer drums, put in some violins, then sometimes within days I’ll have a full song. I send it to the…3 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020#TWEETSHey @MetalHammer, I love Hoard Almighty but a lot of the tees are only for men and not available in ladies’ or XS size. As a shortarse lady I’d love to see tees that I could wear without major scissor activity! Cheers! @Hornsinair1No matter how disappointed a fan or fans might sound due to postponed/cancelled tours, please remember all fans would rather you put on the brakes when you need to stop, than lose you forever. Please never forget that. You’re our heroes. Let us be yours. @MollyGodfrey777I want to know why Ozzy being sick stopped Priest from playing South Africa this year. Broke my heart, never been so excited to see a band in my life! @AllHailMilamberI want to like Babymetal. My husband really likes them but I just…1 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020ALBUMS OF THE YEARHEALTHSlaves Of Fear “Nine Inch Nails meets Rammstein meets Ladytron in a haunting noise rock voyage. Awesome”MERLIN ALDERSLADE EDITORRAMMSTEINRammstein “Puppe alone was worth the 10-year wait. Welcome back, Rammstein!”ELEANOR GOODMAN DEPUTY EDITORMGLAAge Of Excuse “Black metal at its most monumental - an accusatory finger towering over mankind’s last throes”JONATHAN SELZER REVIEWS EDITORCHELSEA WOLFEBirth Of Violence “Utterly compelling and beautifully hypnotic. A dark, intoxicating fever dream”VANESSA THORPE PRODUCTION EDITORDARKTHRONEOld Star “It was a toss-up between Darkthrone and Swallow The Sun, but the crown had to go to the BM OGs”ALICE PATTILLO ONLINE EDITORRAMMSTEINRammstein “Absolutely love it! Don’t leave it another 10 years, please guys”LOUISE BROCK ART EDITOR…1 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020UNE MISÈRERAISED FROM THE barren landscapes of east Iceland, gloomy metallers Une Misère unleashed their debut album, Sermon, earlier this month. After a chance meeting at Iceland’s Eistnaflug metal festival, the genre-bending outfit joined forces to create a niche to suit their varied tastes.“I’m very much into blackened hardcore and Hatebreed,” frontman and vocalist Jón Már Ásbjörnsson tells Hammer. “Our drummer’s into techno and electronic music, another’s into jazz now and there’s another into lo-fi hip hop. We bring that all together while we write because genres don’t matter to us if the music is cool and the riff is good. I’ve never understood the elitism of sticking to a genre; look at Slipknot, doing everything and still super-relevant.”Reflected in the bleak atmosphere of their music, the isolation of their home…4 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020CVLT OV THE SVNWAITING BACKSTAGE IN London’s O2 Academy Islington, self-professed ‘occult murder pop’ crew Cvlt Ov The Svn are in the eye of the storm. Tonight is the first show for the sinister Finnish movement and their anonymous vocalist, wearing a mysterious black hooded cape and blackened eyes. “This band started for me as a therapy project four years ago,” he says. “I started writing rock’n’roll that sounded good to my ears just for fun, but when I played a few songs to friends, I started taking it seriously.”Crafting a new genre for himself, the ominous mastermind wrote and recorded brooding debut EP Luna In The Sky Forever almost single-handedly.“The last four years have been the biggest challenge because I’ve written more songs than ever before. I said I’d go to the…1 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020c*ntSWHEN HEAVY MUSIC starts getting boring, you can rely on c*nts to sort things out. A raging, mutant punk rock beast from LA featuring members of Dead Cross and Retox, they formed as a brutish and sardonic response to the blandness of the modern rock world.“We all miss the dangerous and unpredictable elements of rock n roll,” says guitarist Michael Crain. “We often lament on how the bands we grew up with were absolutely riveting live and were truly f*cked-up. They weren’t just putting on a show. They lived and breathed it. They didn’t give a f*ck.”Having found a natural home with Mike Patton’s Ipecac imprint and with a deranged and exciting debut album in the can, c*nts can hardly fail to grab attention. They play a grotesque hybrid of…1 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020HOARD ALMIGHTYCOVENHALF A CENTURY OF WITCHCRAFT VINYL BOXPROPHECY PRODUCTIONS£118ANY SELF-RESPECTING INITIATE into the ways of occult rock is aware that the sound as we know it started off with Coven’s scandalous debut album, Witchcraft Destroys Mind And Reaps Souls, released in 1969. Starting with the somewhat prescient track, Black Sabbath, ending with the recording of black mass ceremony, and featuring, within its gatefold sleeve, naked frontwoman Jinx Dawson laid out on a sacrificial altar, it was musically every bit as transgressive and ecstatic as its diabolical message. Praise the Horned One, then, because not only is it back in print on 180g vinyl, it’s part of a wickedly sumptuous box set, complete with their following two albums, Coven and Blood On The Snow, an extra disc of rarities, plus yet one…3 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020"HE NEVER CEASED TO CREATE MUSIC TAHT TOUCHED MY f*ckING SOUL"James Owen Sullivan was born in Tustin, California, on February 9, 1981 and his family soon moved to the idyllic seaside city of Huntington Beach. He spent his early days at the beach, boogie boarding with his two sisters, practising WWE moves in his bedroom and, of course, banging the ever-living hell out of his mother’s pots and pans. It was almost as if he felt his calling from the start…“He was the happiest kid you ever saw in your life,” remembers his mother Barbara. “And everything was funny! When he was growing up, you would try to reprimand him, but he’d be laughing so hard that it would be really difficult to tell him to stop. You’d say, ‘Stop it, that’s not funny!’ and he’d say, ‘It’s funny to…14 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020IRONBUNNYWHILE THE JAPANESE idol scene has been producing curious oddities for many years, Babymetal’s arrival midway through the decade signalled a whole new wave of eccentricity from the Land Of The Rising Sun. Since Gimme Chocolate!! ushered in the kawaii-metal phenomenon on an international scale, everyone from Band-Maid to Necronomidol to Ladybaby has been adding new shades to one of our world’s most colourful scenes. The newest kids on the block? Ironbunny – complete with a giant, cyborg guitarist. Obviously. “When I came to this era from the future, I had nothing but a guitar,” says Ediee, the aforementioned axe-slinging robo-lad. Oh, did we not mention he’s apparently from the future? “Rock’n’roll sounds became extinct in the future,” he explains helpfully. “I wanted to revitalise rock’n’roll, so I have transformed…2 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020THE 50 BEST ALBUMS OF 201950 CANDLEMASSNAPALMThe Door To DoomWe may all be doomed, but at least we have doom. Thirty-five years into their slow trudge towards oblivion, Leif Edling’s Candlemass pulled out one of their greatest records ever in 2019. Devoutly Sabbathian and yet brimming with its own dark charisma, The Door To Doom brought Leif’s riffs together with Johan Längquist’s glorious voice for the first time since seminal debut Epicus Doomicus Metallicus. Monu-f*cking-mental, then.49 DREAM THEATERINSIDE OUT MUSICDistance Over TimeDream Theater’s 14th outing was in stark contrast to 2016’s extravagant double-album, The Astonishing. Written and recorded in a remote residential studio in upstate New York, Distance Over Time was the sound of a band rejuvenated by their longstanding solidarity and reaffirmed their commitment to experimentation, utmost precision and dynamic hooks. Harnessing unruffled heaviness,…23 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020c*ntSCYHRA: PRESS. c*ntS: ANTHONY MEHLHAFF/PRESS. GREHAVEN: BOBBIE BATES/PRESS. WILL PUTNEY: PRESS. WHEN HEAVY MUSIC starts getting boring, you can rely on c*nts to sort things out. A raging, mutant punk rock beast from LA featuring members of Dead Cross and Retox, they formed as a brutish and sardonic response to the blandness of the modern rock world. “We all miss the dangerous and unpredictable elements of rock n roll,” says guitarist Michael Crain. “We often lament on how the bands we grew up with were absolutely riveting live and were truly f*cked-up. They weren’t just putting on a show. They lived and breathed it. They didn’t give a f*ck.” Having found a natural home with Mike Patton’s Ipecac imprint and with a deranged and exciting debut album in the can,…1 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020FILMS OF THE YEARFOR MORE FILM REVIEWS, SEE WWW.GAMESRADAR.COM/UK/TOTALFILMLORDS OF CHAOSBurning churches, suicide, murder… The Norwegian black metal scene of the early 90s makes for a distressing horror movie with midnight-black laughs. Included the year’s most shocking death scene.AVENGERS: ENDGAMETwenty-one Marvel movies had led up to this and it didn’t disappoint, as our mighty heroes fought to first turn back time and then defeat Thanos in an almighty dust-up. All that and Fat Thor!MIDSOMMARAri Aster followed his oh-so-dark debut Hereditary with this sun-soaked folk horror set during a Swedish celebration of the summer solstice. It was like The Wicker Man, but with toxic masculinity tossed on the pyre.JOKERTaking inspiration from 70s serial killer John Wayne Gacy, Rocky Horror’s Frank-N-Furter and, er, Katharine Hepburn, Joaquin Phoenix killed it in a persuasive, poignant, powder-keg origin…1 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020The perfect gift for just £21.99PLUS WIRELESS BOOMBAR+ SPEAKER Connect wirelessly and listen to music anywhere! A massive 20 hours of play time Easy to carry and store Your special Christmas offer Upgrade to include digital for only £2.50 Order the gift that keeps on delivering www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/mhr/xmas192or call 0344 848 2852 *Terms and conditions: Savings calculated against the full RRP (single issue price x frequency). Gift is only available for new UK subscribers and is subject to availability. Please allow up to 60 days for the delivery of your gift. In the event of stocks being exhausted, we reserve the right to replace with items of similar value. You can write to us or call us to cancel your subscription within 14 days of purchase. Payment in…1 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020CALIFORNIA SCREAMINGSo how did you first meet The Rev? “Bleeding Through and Avenged Sevenfold toured with each other all of the damn time, both the sh*tty tours and the good tours. The thing I remember about The Rev is that he was always the most positive person there.” How so? “At a show in Richmond, Virginia, everybody sat down during Avenged Sevenfold’s set. Like, it was some weird, stupid hardcore kids’ boycott of Avenged Sevenfold. After the show, I asked, ‘Dudes, how do you guys feel about that?’ and Jimmy was like, ‘We played f*cking awesome! I had a great time.’ No matter where he was, he was having the best time.” What kind of interests did he have? “For him, drumming was the pinnacle of his life – he made…1 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020SWALLOW THE SUNHow can a band possibly follow up an epic, three-hour triple album? Finland’s Swallow The Sun stepped into 2019 with When A Shadow Is Forced Into The Light – an album that vocalist Mikko Kotamäki says almost didn’t happen. “When Songs From The North came out, it was way too f*cking long and we were touring pretty much all the time for two years,” he says. “It was pure hell and we’re never going to do that again. At some point, it looked like we wouldn’t even release another album.”Written in the shadow of the death of Aleah Stanbridge, guitarist and songwriter Juha Raivio’s girlfriend, their seventh album conveys Juha’s feeling of shattering loss and devastation in their inimitable gloomy style. Despite its hard-hitting subject matter, Mikko explains that it…3 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020TOOLAugust 30, 2019. The date Tool finally released Fear Inoculum, following a 13-year wait for a new album. Clocking in at around 80 minutes, it was a spiritual experience for acolytes, who revelled in its familiar polyrhythms, poetic lyrics and high-level musicianship. It shot to the top of the US Billboard charts, unseating Taylor Swift’s Lover and causing consternation among her fans.The album had got off to a slow start. The quartet began writing fragments during the touring cycle for 2006’s 10,000 Days, with guitarist Adam Jones nailing Pneuma’s riff and Invincible’s intro early on. But it wasn’t until they started jamming that things came together, Adam taking his time to meticulously compose every note, Justin Chancellor’s basslines working in harmony, and jazz fan Danny playing more loosely, the tension…5 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020THE ODD COUPLEThe glass-walled, rooftop restaurant at the Kempinski Hotel Moika is a sight to behold – super-stylish with a whiff of imperial grandeur. High above the city of St Petersburg, we’re afforded a panoramic view of Russia’s surprisingly colourful second city; to our right, a block away and peeking between buildings, we can see the gilded, mint green walls of the opulent Winter Palace. The whole scene is impossibly swanky, but then…“You can tell the fish story…” says Rammstein vocalist Till Lindemann, leaning towards his bandmate, Hypocrisy and Pain’s Peter Tägtgren, with a mischievous glint in his eye.We’ve just asked the duo to describe the handful of gigs they’ve played so far as their side-project, Lindemann, but as Peter gives Till a distinct ‘Do you really want to go there?’ look,…9 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020United Nations“WEAPONRY! WEAPONRY! WEAPONRY!” The crowd inside Window Rock Sports Center chant and stamp the floor, as President Nez of the Navajo Nation presents their flag to Alien Weaponry. The New Zealand trio are mid-gig in the capital of the largest Native American reservation in the States, and the noise is thunderous.Earlier today, the band enjoyed a private audience with the President. “It’s crazy to think he’s a metalhead,” marvels frontman Lewis de Jong. “It’s an honour that our music has brought us to the point where we are meeting the head of America’s biggest native tribe.”Despite his wonderment, it’s not the first time the band have crossed paths with a political leader. They’ve twice shaken hands with Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s Prime Minister, and their reputation is growing rapidly at…12 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020GAMES OF THE YEARFOR MORE GAMES ACTION, SEE WWW.GAMESRADAR.COM DEVIL MAY CRY 5 A slamming soundtrack, slick cinematic action, and an array of scenarios to hack and shoot your way through made this one of the most outrageously entertaining games of the year. SEKIRO: SHADOWS DIE TWICE FromSoftware took its Dark Souls formula, stripped it of its gothic overtones, and whipped it into the Sengoku period of Japan. Sekiro revelled in making you eat sh*t over and over again! MORTAL KOMBAT 11 Is there anything more metal than ripping a dude’s skull from his skinsack and beating him to death with it? Hell no! Mortal Kombat 11 was gratuitous and gory, perfect for psychopaths who own two controllers. CONTROL Strange and psychedelic, Control felt like the meeting of Max Payne’s cinematic action with…1 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020UNHOLY NIGHT“I GENUINELY BELIEVED THAT EVERYBODY WAS GOING TO DIE”COLIN H. VAN EECKHOUTAhuge wooden structure is burning near the banks of the Leie River at the French-Belgian border. A varied and all-ages audience of around 1,000, from Amenra fans to local residents, encircle the blaze in the dark, while a short distance away the band play from a shadowy stage shrouded in smoke. As the flames break down the logs, a six-metre high statue is revealed from the embers – a headless figure flanked against the band’s emblemof upside-down gallows. It is a symbol of finding hope in the ashes, and a testimony to the immersive world that Amenra have created.Metal Hammer is in Menen, Belgium for Amenra’s 20th anniversary. During 2019 there have been many events marking the occasion, including…10 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020RITE-HAND MANHow did you become involved with Amenra?“There was a lot of talking about Colin around the city of Ghent. About the way he lived, what his interests were, but also that he helped a lot of people who had problems. So I thought, ‘I have to meet this man’. I did some research on the music and I was so astonished: this was so profound, something archaic. Something dark, but on the other side also positive: a very strange combination of these extremes. And once we started talking, we discovered that we had so much in common: psychologically, our interests in art. And out of this talking grew this project.”What do you have in common?“He is trying to find a solution for his personal life. He’s not only looking for…2 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020AVATARIUMThe Fire I Long ForNUCLEAR BLASTMore classy missives from the theatre of doomWHEN AVATARIUM FIRST emerged in 2013, their status as one of Candlemass mastermind Leif Edling’s various side-projects seemed to overshadow the fact that there was something truly magical going on. Graced with the extraordinarily powerful and evocative voice of Jennie-Ann Smith and, as you might imagine, blessed with Edling’s riffs at their disposal, the Swedes have quietly amassed an immaculate catalogue, wherein the imperious hulk of prime Sabbath collides with proggy hues, analogue keys and theatrical grandeur. And if you enjoyed any of the band’s previous three records, The Fire I Long For will definitely not disappoint.In truth, this feels like a partial return to the overt heaviness of Avatarium (2013) and The Girl With The Raven Mask…6 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020CYHRANo Halos In Hell NUCLEAR BLASTSwedish all-stars reunite for a show of melodic masteryPRODUCED AS IF it were a masterful concoction of 12 Hollywood epics, Swedish melodic metal supergroup Cyhra’s sophom*ore album delivers a stellar, rapid-fire performance from all angles. Combining forces from Amaranthe, Annihilator, In Flames, Kamelot and – surprisingly – Shining (SWE), it’s no surprise their sophom*ore opus tears melodic metal a new one: ‘I had your back, but who had mine?’ wails the vicious I Had Your Back, wielding a jaw-dropping solo of colossal proportions; picture the intensity of Iron Maiden with a glam metal heart on its sleeve. Dreams Gone Wrong’s near-demonic intent is gilded with some truly artistic stringsmanship from Jesper Strömblad, while the menacing defiance through I Am The One gives Alex Landenburg’s furious…1 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020WORLD SERVICEBEDNJADoline Su Ostale Iza Nas TRANSCENDING OBSCURITYFusing BM’s open-ended velocity with muscular, hardcore internal turmoil, these Croatians haven’t yet exceeded the sum of their parts, but their debut LP is an often enthralling act of personal testimony.JONATHAN SELZERFORSAKING FATEForsaking Fate SELF-RELEASEDThese South Africans’ ominous melodies, primal growls and blistering rhythm section place them somewhere between Pantera and Van Halen. Retribution’s riff-addled thunder is a highlight.SOPHIE MAUGHANPERIHELIONAgg APATHAThis Hungarian post-black/psych quartet recorded their fourth full-length live, lending their urgent blend of blackened rage, heartfelt misanthropy and bad-trip hallucinations a freewheeling, experimental air.TOM O’BOYLE…1 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020"DAVE IS THE SOUL OF MEGADETH AND I'M THE HEART"Did you ever have any doubts about moving forward with the cruise? Dave Ellefson: “We knew that people were flying in from all over the world. It’s a hard ticket. There’s no refunds. You have to get a flight, a hotel. This is a destination vacation. As soon as we got here, I felt like we made the right decision. As we were pulling up, you saw the line of cruisers getting on. They all had Megadeth, Testament and Overkill shirts.” Have you done a cruise before? “We were supposed to be on the Motörhead cruise a few years back, and we pulled off of that because Dave had a health issue. I said, ‘Hey, I’ve got an idea. A bunch of us are going to be on the boat,…2 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020BLOOD YOUTHHow has your 2019 been?Kaya Tarsus (vocals): “It’s been great! We embarked on our biggest and best headline tour, played crazy shows all over the place and our second album, Starve, was released in February. So much work went into writing and recording it, it was very surreal when people finally got to listen to it. We’re all really enjoying the vibe on this album cycle, it feels like we have taken some big steps forward as a band and as people.”What’s been your biggest highlight of the year?“Our sold-out headline show in London. When we got to the venue we were told that the show had actually sold too many tickets. By the time we got on stage the room was packed. When all we first started playing in…2 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020IT WASN’T EASY, BUT WE DID ITPRESS IT TOOK countless office arguments, last-minute reshuffles and extended Powerpoint presentations featuring a lot of deathbats. We amassed the 20 best Avenged songs to have seen the light of day in the two-decade career of one of metal’s greatest modern bands. And then ranked them. From the songs that broke them to their boldest sonic experiments, we present the ultimate, career-spanning countdown of all things A7X. Think we nailed it? Furious at your favourite missing out? Head over to www.facebook.com/MetalHammerReaders and let us know your thoughts! 20 WARMNESS ON THE SOUL (Sounding The Seventh Trumpet, 2001) That Avenged still occasionally flirt with an instrumental version of this song at their live shows demonstrates what an enduring impact it has had. A piano-led love song that swings into fullblown heavy…30 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020HAS IT REALLY BEEN 10 YEARS?I STILL VIVIDLY remember the moment I found out that The Rev had died. I was at my mum’s, caught in that between-Boxing-Day-and-New-Year’s-Eve slump of leftover food and unopened Quality Street. I was lazily flicking between TV channels when a got a text from an old friend: ‘Have you heard about The Rev?!’ I jumped on a computer and couldn’t believe what I was reading. In an era where young metal bands were often accused of lacking spunk and personality, James Sullivan was a towering character: the life and soul of a band who’d begun to take their definitive steps to becoming one of the biggest names in 21st-century metal. More than that, though, he was a phenomenal drummer: prodigiously talented with the sticks, sure, but also a vital part…1 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 202010 THINGS WE LEARNED THIS MONTHR.I.P. TIMI HANSENThe Mercyful Fate and King Diamond legend passed away aged 61. Crank Abigail loudly today.MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE ARE BACKSecret emos across the Metal Hammer office have spent all month rejoicing. Good for them.…AND SO ARE RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINEWe’re gonna be honest: this is the reunion that truly matters to us at Hammer HQ this month. Now, who’s up for sending us to the USA? Anyone?…THOUGH THAT DOES MEAN PROPHETS OF RAGE ARE RIPWhile we’re happy to have Rage back, we definitely want to shout out B-Real and Chuck D for holding it down with the Rage guys in the meantime.AXL ROSE IS NAILSTake a tumble mid-gig? No problem. Axl continues to show he’s the most reformed man in rock by shrugging it off and getting on with…1 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020WHAT’S YOUR BEST LEMMY STORY?ROB HALFORD IS ready to go when Hammer calls to ask him your questions. “I’ve been looking forward to this,” says the Metal God, who recently released a Christmas album and will be fronting Judas Priest’s 50th anniversary celebrations next year. What follows is a conversation that produces tears, laughter and interesting revelations.Will you guys ever play songs from the Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens era?@JJ66616 (Twitter)“Why not? Those records, Jugulator [1997] and Demolition [2001] are both part of the great history of Judas Priest. And Tim is a good friend of mine. I’ve never done any of the songs that he sang on but I’d definitely have a crack at them. I’m up for that. When? It could happen at any time, it wouldn’t need to be an anniversary. Before we…7 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020JOEL O’KEEFFEAIRBOURNE WENT BACK to basics for new album Boneshaker, flying to Nashville to record a stripped-back, rough and ready new album with famed country producer Dave Cobb. It was the latest learning curve in a career packed full of them, so naturally, we got frontman Joel O’ Keeffe to let us in on a few of his most sacred tidbits.GROWING UP IN AUSTRALIA WAS FANTASTIC“My brother Ryan [Airbourne drummer] and I were raised in a very small town called Warrnambool. Right over the back fence were cliffs and the ocean. There was no internet back then but we had all these VHS tapes of Iron Maiden and AC/DC playing at Donington and we ate them up. We used to stand at the top of those cliffs and say: Someday we…7 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020ANGEL WITCH BY ANGEL WITCHMOST MUSICIANS WOULD absolutely love to pick the song that becomes their most cherished anthem. Unfortunately, life doesn’t work like that. As he cheerfully admits today, Angel Witch singer/guitarist Kevin Heybourne wrote the song that would give his band its name and become their perennial set-closer, when he was still a teenager, “literally just mucking about on my guitar, trying to write a song.“It’s not like any of our other stuff, is it?” he continues. “At that point there was no Angel Witch anyway. I was just finding my feet as a songwriter. It was just bedroom stuff, when your parents tell you turn it down, you know?”Much has been written about those heady days in the early 80s when the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal swept across the…8 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020WHERE THE f*ck ARE CODE ORANGE?FIVE FINGER SALUTEBeen saying for ages that Five Finger Death Punch should be headlining Download by now! Glad to see Metal Hammer still supporting the band – they’ve done nothing but work hard, perfect their songwriting and tour their arses off. They’re an arena band around the world now! They deserve their chance at Download! Doug Glenister (email)We’re glad you (presumably) enjoyed our cover feature with the Five Finger Death Punch guys last month, young Douglas. Will they get the chance to strut their stuff on the biggest stage at Download? Did you ever think you’d read the words ‘strut their stuff’ and ‘Five Finger Death Punch’ in the same answer? These are the big questions.MIDDLE FINGER SALUTESorry, but Five Finger Death Punch cannot be taken seriously. They look like…4 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020THE BIG DEBATESHE SAID“The spotlight is finally starting to shine on the world of music. The pressures of working in the industry are becoming more widely acknowledged and there is more support available than ever, with charities like Help Musicians UK and MusiCares in the US spearheading change.”YOU SAY:I travelled doing heavy rigging for years. It doesn’t matter how famous you are: it’s easy to drink every night when you’re miles from home all the time. Phil Willis (Facebook)It’s a very tough battle, and I know personally that you can’t give up. I hope James comes back revived and ready to kick some ass! Seth Darrow (Facebook)I’m just glad music fans aren’t glorifying this stuff anymore. Addiction is no joke. It’s not rock’n’roll to be an addict. It’s a disease and its…1 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020ANGEL WITCH BY ANGEL WITCHMOST MUSICIANS WOULD absolutely love to pick the song that becomes their most cherished anthem. Unfortunately, life doesn’t work like that. As he cheerfully admits today, Angel Witch singer/guitarist Kevin Heybourne wrote the song that would give his band its name and become their perennial set-closer, when he was still a teenager, “literally just mucking about on my guitar, trying to write a song. “It’s not like any of our other stuff, is it?” he continues. “At that point there was no Angel Witch anyway. I was just finding my feet as a songwriter. It was just bedroom stuff, when your parents tell you turn it down, you know?” Much has been written about those heady days in the early 80s when the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal swept…8 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020CYHRAFORMER AMARANTHE VOCALIST Jake E is in sombre mood as we discuss the challenging touring climate facing his new melodic modern metal venture Cyhra. “There are so many bands now! There is so much talent and everything has changed so much. Ten years ago you could plan a tour four months ahead, but now you need to be two years ahead to make sure you get the venues that you want. The touring climate is packed; it’s like a highway that needs to have more lanes but no one can afford to build them.”The climate may be challenging, but Cyhra aren’t exactly the new kids on the block. The band itself may be only two years old, but the quartet possess a wealth of experience gathered from time with Amaranthe,…2 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020#TWEETSHey @MetalHammer, I love Hoard Almighty but a lot of the tees are only for men and not available in ladies’ or XS size. As a shortarse lady I’d love to see tees that I could wear without major scissor activity! Cheers! @Hornsinair1 No matter how disappointed a fan or fans might sound due to postponed/cancelled tours, please remember all fans would rather you put on the brakes when you need to stop, than lose you forever. Please never forget that. You’re our heroes. Let us be yours. @MollyGodfrey777 I want to know why Ozzy being sick stopped Priest from playing South Africa this year. Broke my heart, never been so excited to see a band in my life! @AllHailMilamber I want to like Babymetal. My husband really likes them…1 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020THE BIG DEBATESHE SAID “The spotlight is finally starting to shine on the world of music. The pressures of working in the industry are becoming more widely acknowledged and there is more support available than ever, with charities like Help Musicians UK and MusiCares in the US spearheading change.” YOU SAY: I travelled doing heavy rigging for years. It doesn’t matter how famous you are: it’s easy to drink every night when you’re miles from home all the time. Phil Willis (Facebook) It’s a very tough battle, and I know personally that you can’t give up. I hope James comes back revived and ready to kick some ass! Seth Darrow (Facebook) I’m just glad music fans aren’t glorifying this stuff anymore. Addiction is no joke. It’s not rock’n’roll to be an addict.…1 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020UNE MISÈRERAISED FROM THE barren landscapes of east Iceland, gloomy metallers Une Misère unleashed their debut album, Sermon, earlier this month. After a chance meeting at Iceland’s Eistnaflug metal festival, the genre-bending outfit joined forces to create a niche to suit their varied tastes. “I’m very much into blackened hardcore and Hatebreed,” frontman and vocalist Jón Már Ásbjörnsson tells Hammer. “Our drummer’s into techno and electronic music, another’s into jazz now and there’s another into lo-fi hip hop. We bring that all together while we write because genres don’t matter to us if the music is cool and the riff is good. I’ve never understood the elitism of sticking to a genre; look at Slipknot, doing everything and still super-relevant.” Reflected in the bleak atmosphere of their music, the isolation of…4 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020"HE'D GO ON BOOK BENDERS!'When asked what Jimmy might be doing today if he were still with us, his mother Barbara doesn’t hesitate: “Writing a book. Shortly before he passed, Jimmy had said that he needed a new goal and he was an excellent writer.”His father Joe adds, “Brian’s [Syn’s] a teacher – he shares guitar lessons with people on the Internet. Matt [Shadows] produces bands, but that would not have been Jimmy’s thing. He wrote constantly! He’d go on book benders where he’d write and write and write.”Johnny even remembers the plot of one of Jimmy’s book ideas. “I might butcher it a little bit! Ha ha ha! But this was a time when people weren’t really talking about multiverses yet. Again, it blew me away that he was talking about this kind…1 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020CYHRAFORMER AMARANTHE VOCALIST Jake E is in sombre mood as we discuss the challenging touring climate facing his new melodic modern metal venture Cyhra. “There are so many bands now! There is so much talent and everything has changed so much. Ten years ago you could plan a tour four months ahead, but now you need to be two years ahead to make sure you get the venues that you want. The touring climate is packed; it’s like a highway that needs to have more lanes but no one can afford to build them.” The climate may be challenging, but Cyhra aren’t exactly the new kids on the block. The band itself may be only two years old, but the quartet possess a wealth of experience gathered from time with…2 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020TWIN TEMPLEThis was the year Twin Temple brought Devil-worshipping doo-wop into our world, helping Satanism futher encroach on the mainstream. Ironically hailing from the City of Angels, they released their debut album, Twin Temple (Bring You Their Signature Sound… Satanic Doo-Wop), back in March. Made up of husband and wife pair Zachary and Alexandra James, Twin Temple is a passion project that has taken them further than they ever expected.“We made this for ourselves and we weren’t even sure anybody else would dig it at all,” Alexandra explains. “We are weird and everybody else in the industry who saw us basically ghosted us and wanted nothing to do with us. It’s crazy that our album is on Metal Hammer’s Best Albums Of 2019 list; I used to pick up British rock…4 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020HOARD ALMIGHTYCOVEN HALF A CENTURY OF WITCHCRAFT VINYL BOX PROPHECY PRODUCTIONS £118 ANY SELF-RESPECTING INITIATE into the ways of occult rock is aware that the sound as we know it started off with Coven’s scandalous debut album, Witchcraft Destroys Mind And Reaps Souls, released in 1969. Starting with the somewhat prescient track, Black Sabbath, ending with the recording of black mass ceremony, and featuring, within its gatefold sleeve, naked frontwoman Jinx Dawson laid out on a sacrificial altar, it was musically every bit as transgressive and ecstatic as its diabolical message. Praise the Horned One, then, because not only is it back in print on 180g vinyl, it’s part of a wickedly sumptuous box set, complete with their following two albums, Coven and Blood On The Snow, an extra disc of…3 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020THE WILDHEARTSGinger Wildheart hasn’t given much thought to the intention behind The Wildhearts’ magnificent comeback album, Renaissance Men. This is mainly down to the fact that it’s fuelled by the same flying-by-the-seat-of-their-pants exhilaration that has dictated much of the British rock’n’roll mavericks’ chaotic 30-year career. “I can’t believe this line-up is still alive, so let’s f*cking record something before that’s not the case,” he says. “That was the intention.”He’s not exaggerating. The Wildhearts are the masters of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. For much of their career they have been drug-fuelled agents of chaos, detonating a bomb every time they came within sniffing distance of a breakthrough, battering their bodies with all manner of substances in the name of rock’n’roll. “I died for eight minutes once,” says Ginger. “Danny…3 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020ROTTING CHRISTIf there’s a positive side to the complex end times the world’s hurtling towards, it’s that the circ*mstances can result in great metal. Rotting Christ’s 13th album, which took its inspiration from some of history’s most notable intellectual renegades, not only proved to be one of the most exhilarating heavy releases of the year, but a timely one. It celebrated figures such as Thomas Paine, Friedrich Nietzsche and Voltaire, whose views stood in defiance of contemporary norms.“It’s more topical than ever!” barks frontman Sakis Tolis on the subject matter of the grandiose The Heretics. “We have the feeling that we are currently living in the free world, but things are quite different I’m afraid. History makes circles and we are currently living in a middle ages, and those big words…2 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020EPs OF THE YEARJINJER Micro A herald of the full-length album, Macro, the Ukrainians’ five-tracker was still a dazzling achievement in its own right, wielding time-stretching djent to elevating vocal refrains. WORMED Metaportal Sci-fi and death metal have long been bedfellows, and these long-running maniacs from Madrid upped the warp factor to dizzying levels of technical, ambience-invaded delirium. BLOOD COMMAND Return Of The Arsonist A hyperactive explosion like a riot under neon lights, the Norwegians’ EP was smart, and smarting, incendiary agit-pop strewn with anthemic hooks. LVCIFYRE Sacrament Proving the occult DM scene still had hellfire in its belly, London’s Lvcifyre unleashed five tracks of blackened, consciousness-clogging animosity with the baleful intent of demons hammering in a forge. A.A.WILLIAMS A.A.Williams The metal world has embraced a lot of non-traditionally ‘heavy’ artists, but A.A.…1 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020FILMS OF THE YEARFOR MORE FILM REVIEWS, SEE WWW.GAMESRADAR.COM/UK/TOTALFILM LORDS OF CHAOS Burning churches, suicide, murder… The Norwegian black metal scene of the early 90s makes for a distressing horror movie with midnight-black laughs. Included the year’s most shocking death scene. AVENGERS: ENDGAME Twenty-one Marvel movies had led up to this and it didn’t disappoint, as our mighty heroes fought to first turn back time and then defeat Thanos in an almighty dust-up. All that and Fat Thor! MIDSOMMAR Ari Aster followed his oh-so-dark debut Hereditary with this sun-soaked folk horror set during a Swedish celebration of the summer solstice. It was like The Wicker Man, but with toxic masculinity tossed on the pyre. JOKER Taking inspiration from 70s serial killer John Wayne Gacy, Rocky Horror’s Frank-N-Furter and, er, Katharine Hepburn, Joaquin Phoenix…1 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020DETH ON THE HIGH SEASThe inaugural MegaCruise was poised to be an Avengers-like moment. For five glorious days, some of metal’s biggest bands – including hosts Megadeth and East Coast legends Anthrax, half of the Big 4 – would share close quarters with 2,000 metal fans on a 42,000-kg, 300-metre ocean liner, as it traversed the tranquil waters of the Pacific around Southern California and northern Mexico.But in June, Megadeth founder Dave Mustaine announced that he had been diagnosed with throat cancer. It became apparent that the frontman would not be able to attend the cruise, much less perform. To the delight of those on board, though, his colleagues banded together to provide ample opportunities for getting caught in a mosh while cruising 1.3km above the ocean floor. It might not have been the…7 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020THE WILDHEARTSPRESS Ginger Wildheart hasn’t given much thought to the intention behind The Wildhearts’ magnificent comeback album, Renaissance Men. This is mainly down to the fact that it’s fuelled by the same flying-by-the-seat-of-their-pants exhilaration that has dictated much of the British rock’n’roll mavericks’ chaotic 30-year career. “I can’t believe this line-up is still alive, so let’s f*cking record something before that’s not the case,” he says. “That was the intention.” He’s not exaggerating. The Wildhearts are the masters of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. For much of their career they have been drug-fuelled agents of chaos, detonating a bomb every time they came within sniffing distance of a breakthrough, battering their bodies with all manner of substances in the name of rock’n’roll. “I died for eight minutes once,” says…3 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020NIGHTWISH“NIGHTWISH ARE HAVING THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES”Decades: Live In Buenos AiresNUCLEAR BLASTSymphonic Finns get a rapturous response in ArgentinaDO WE REALLY NEED another recording of Nightwish in concert? Since Floor Jansen joined the band in 2013, Tuomas Holopainen and co have produced one studio album, toured extensively, and released three live Blu-rays, including 2016’s multi-disc extravaganza Vehicle Of Spirit. Decades: Live… might bridge the chasm ahead of their next studio album, but is it really worth the cash? Sort of.Available on Blu-ray, with or without the accompanying audio CD, and on vinyl, the two-hour show is a celebration of the last 20-plus years of the symphonic giants’ career, and it’s also their first live recording to feature their incredibly passionate Argentinean fans. South American metal audiences have a reputation…5 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020BLOOD INCANTATIONHidden History Of The Human Race DARK DESCENT/CENTURY MEDIADenver death metallers go boldy where no band has gone beforeSCI-FI AND DEATH metal are natural bedfellows; both of them attempt to push the boundaries of our imagination and are considered as outcasts. Yet for the most part, when cosmonauts sporting Morbid Angel t-shirts have aimed for the stars, they’ve taken the space rock/Hawkwind route, filling their music with effects and lyrical references to evoke the vastness of space.In recent years, Mithras and newcomers such as Nucleus have done their best to reach out to extreme metal and Carl Sagan fans alike, but if Nocturnus AD’s reunion album felt like a good yet familiar Star Wars flick, Hidden History Of The Human Race is the musical equivalent of Interstellar: a profoundly more…6 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020SMALL MERCIESBURNING WITCHESWings Of Steel NUCLEAR BLASTOne belting new tune and three live oldies from the Swiss banshees, proudly repudiating all original thought in favour of time-honoured, just-so trad metal chops, thrashing momentum and a nice big singalong chorus.CHRIS CHANTLERCUTTING TEETHFracture / Decompose SELF-RELEASEDLeeds’ Cutting Teeth sound more confident than ever on this EP, their metallic-flecked hardcore occupying a space where the euphoric chaos of Converge meets Cancer Bats’ circlepit-baiting fury. The result is a gloriously petulant racket.SOPHIE MAUGHANPRONGAge Of Defiance STEAMHAMMERThe soaring, anthemic title track and The End Of Sanity’s nails-hard riff-feast confirm that Tommy Victor’s recent hot streak continues. Three live tracks, all certified gems, are vicious and undeniable. Prong rule.DOM LAWSONCREATUREHound GREY GHOSTThis Birmingham band deliver frantic, creative thrashy post-hardcore, with brilliantly vicious vocals that never pause for…1 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020United Nations“WEAPONRY! WEAPONRY! WEAPONRY!” The crowd inside Window Rock Sports Center chant and stamp the floor, as President Nez of the Navajo Nation presents their flag to Alien Weaponry. The New Zealand trio are mid-gig in the capital of the largest Native American reservation in the States, and the noise is thunderous. Earlier today, the band enjoyed a private audience with the President. “It’s crazy to think he’s a metalhead,” marvels frontman Lewis de Jong. “It’s an honour that our music has brought us to the point where we are meeting the head of America’s biggest native tribe.” Despite his wonderment, it’s not the first time the band have crossed paths with a political leader. They’ve twice shaken hands with Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s Prime Minister, and their reputation is growing…12 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020DETH ON THE HIGH SEASThe inaugural MegaCruise was poised to be an Avengers-like moment. For five glorious days, some of metal’s biggest bands – including hosts Megadeth and East Coast legends Anthrax, half of the Big 4 – would share close quarters with 2,000 metal fans on a 42,000-kg, 300-metre ocean liner, as it traversed the tranquil waters of the Pacific around Southern California and northern Mexico. But in June, Megadeth founder Dave Mustaine announced that he had been diagnosed with throat cancer. It became apparent that the frontman would not be able to attend the cruise, much less perform. To the delight of those on board, though, his colleagues banded together to provide ample opportunities for getting caught in a mosh while cruising 1.3km above the ocean floor. It might not have been…7 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020STRIGOIAbandon All Faith NUCLEAR BLASTGregor Mackintosh plots his post-Vallenfyre futureWHILE IT WAS sad to see Vallenfyre call it a day last year, it was perhaps inevitable that mainman Gregor Mackintosh would need another outlet for all the gnarly, abrasive riffs he couldn’t squeeze into Paradise Lost. Sure enough, this new project – featuring Vallenfyre alumni Chris Casket on bass and a barnstorming drum performance from Waltteri Väyrynen – picks up where Vallenfyre left off, albeit with a few significant changes. For one, Strigoi are a far more blackened proposition, something that’s immediately apparent as soon as the blistering blastbeats and evil tremolo riffs of Phantoms thunder into earshot.Vallenfyre’s crusty, punk-indebted battery hasn’t disappeared entirely (see Seven Crowns, the impossibly catchy d-beat-a-thon Iniquitous Rage and Plague Nation’s blaring, sporadic lead guitar…1 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020RITE-HAND MANHow did you become involved with Amenra? “There was a lot of talking about Colin around the city of Ghent. About the way he lived, what his interests were, but also that he helped a lot of people who had problems. So I thought, ‘I have to meet this man’. I did some research on the music and I was so astonished: this was so profound, something archaic. Something dark, but on the other side also positive: a very strange combination of these extremes. And once we started talking, we discovered that we had so much in common: psychologically, our interests in art. And out of this talking grew this project.” What do you have in common? “He is trying to find a solution for his personal life. He’s not…2 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020MEET THE BANDJONATHAN SELZERREVIEWS EDITORIf you see Selz over the festive period, please buy him a beer. Our December issue is when he has to shepherd all our contributors into handing in their Albums Of The Year list. Judging by the results, he’s amassed an army of reviewers with fine tastes indeed.ELEANOR GOODMANDEPUTY EDITORThis month El went to a desert deep in the US to hang out with Alien Weaponry. No, she wasn’t pissing about at Area 51, but checking out one of the world’s most exciting young metal bands as they blew some pebbles off of Window Rock in Arizona. Resistance is futile.MATT MILLSWRITEROur Matt got stuck into the fascinating new documentary looking inside India’s complex underground metal scene. He also talked to its director about some of the challenges facing…1 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020ACROSS THE NATIONIF YOU ASKED a metalhead to name their favourite band, it’s most likely that we’d name one from either Europe or North America. These two continents are, after all, where the vast majority of our genre’s commercially successful heroes have emanated from. But heavy metal is a worldwide phenomenon. It has spawned almost innumerable underground subcultures all over the globe, each teeming with artists driven to bless local fans with extreme, cathartic concerts. It is these seedy underbellies that inspired Indian documentarian Roy Dipankar to make his latest film, Extreme Nation.“I felt that there was a lot of underground activity within extreme music that was connecting my home country,” says the director, “but it wasn’t really being featured anywhere. I have been working for the last 15 years in record…4 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020SWEDE DREAMSWILL IRELAND “I HOPE YOU like my hat, I’ve become old and eccentric… and obsessed with cowboys,” states Opeth frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt dryly as he addresses the crowd at one of the most prestigious venues in the UK. Not many metal bands could so effortlessly look at home in such historically classy confines as the London Palladium, but the Swedes are cut from a different cloth and have morphed into one of the most sumptuous-sounding bands on the planet over the years. And, with material from new album In Cauda Venenum sounding as gloriously smooth and lush as they ever have, the Palladium feels like the perfect setting for Opeth in 2019. Don’t be fooled, though: when they succumb to the endless howls for “Death metal!” from the seated throng…1 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020JOSH RAND“KISS WERE BASICALLY the first band I got into – everything about Detroit Rock City had an impact on me. I got to see them when I was just five years old on the Dynasty tour; they were my first concert. My mom took me, which is funny because a few months back I got to take her to see them on the End Of The Road run, almost 40 years later to the week. My parents listened to a lot of BILLY JOEL when I was growing up. My Life was my song – I pulled it out of my parent’s record collection and loved the half-time feel. When you’re younger you like stuff, but now I look back on it as a musician and get a whole new…4 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020WHAT’S YOUR BEST LEMMY STORY?ROB HALFORD IS ready to go when Hammer calls to ask him your questions. “I’ve been looking forward to this,” says the Metal God, who recently released a Christmas album and will be fronting Judas Priest’s 50th anniversary celebrations next year. What follows is a conversation that produces tears, laughter and interesting revelations. Will you guys ever play songs from the Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens era? @JJ66616 (Twitter) “Why not? Those records, Jugulator [1997] and Demolition [2001] are both part of the great history of Judas Priest. And Tim is a good friend of mine. I’ve never done any of the songs that he sang on but I’d definitely have a crack at them. I’m up for that. When? It could happen at any time, it wouldn’t need to be an…7 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020JOSH RAND“KISS WERE BASICALLY the first band I got into – everything about Detroit Rock City had an impact on me. I got to see them when I was just five years old on the Dynasty tour; they were my first concert. My mom took me, which is funny because a few months back I got to take her to see them on the End Of The Road run, almost 40 years later to the week. My parents listened to a lot of BILLY JOEL when I was growing up. My Life was my song – I pulled it out of my parent’s record collection and loved the half-time feel. When you’re younger you like stuff, but now I look back on it as a musician and get a whole new…4 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020JOEL O’KEEFFEAIRBOURNE WENT BACK to basics for new album Boneshaker, flying to Nashville to record a stripped-back, rough and ready new album with famed country producer Dave Cobb. It was the latest learning curve in a career packed full of them, so naturally, we got frontman Joel O’ Keeffe to let us in on a few of his most sacred tidbits. GROWING UP IN AUSTRALIA WAS FANTASTIC “My brother Ryan [Airbourne drummer] and I were raised in a very small town called Warrnambool. Right over the back fence were cliffs and the ocean. There was no internet back then but we had all these VHS tapes of Iron Maiden and AC/DC playing at Donington and we ate them up. We used to stand at the top of those cliffs and say:…7 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020CARACH ANGRENIT’S JUST OVER two years since Carach Angren – one of The Netherlands’ biggest metal exports and undoubtedly one of the more successful black metal-related bands on the scene – released their fifth full-length, Dance And Laugh Amongst The Rotten. As it turns out, the genesis of their as-yet-untitled follow-up – scheduled for release in the first half of 2020 – dates back to almost the same point in time, as co-founder Ardek explains… When did you start writing the new record? “I’m always writing, and this album I’ve been working with on and off for over two years. I have an idea for a riff, I record it, put in some computer drums, put in some violins, then sometimes within days I’ll have a full song. I send it…3 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020IRONBUNNYWHILE THE JAPANESE idol scene has been producing curious oddities for many years, Babymetal’s arrival midway through the decade signalled a whole new wave of eccentricity from the Land Of The Rising Sun. Since Gimme Chocolate!! ushered in the kawaii-metal phenomenon on an international scale, everyone from Band-Maid to Necronomidol to Ladybaby has been adding new shades to one of our world’s most colourful scenes. The newest kids on the block? Ironbunny – complete with a giant, cyborg guitarist. Obviously.“When I came to this era from the future, I had nothing but a guitar,” says Ediee, the aforementioned axe-slinging robo-lad. Oh, did we not mention he’s apparently from the future? “Rock’n’roll sounds became extinct in the future,” he explains helpfully. “I wanted to revitalise rock’n’roll, so I have transformed into…2 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020WHERE THE f*ck ARE CODE ORANGE?FIVE FINGER SALUTE Been saying for ages that Five Finger Death Punch should be headlining Download by now! Glad to see Metal Hammer still supporting the band – they’ve done nothing but work hard, perfect their songwriting and tour their arses off. They’re an arena band around the world now! They deserve their chance at Download! Doug Glenister (email) We’re glad you (presumably) enjoyed our cover feature with the Five Finger Death Punch guys last month, young Douglas. Will they get the chance to strut their stuff on the biggest stage at Download? Did you ever think you’d read the words ‘strut their stuff’ and ‘Five Finger Death Punch’ in the same answer? These are the big questions. MIDDLE FINGER SALUTE Sorry, but Five Finger Death Punch cannot be taken…4 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020ALBUMS OF THE YEARHEALTH Slaves Of Fear “Nine Inch Nails meets Rammstein meets Ladytron in a haunting noise rock voyage. Awesome” MERLIN ALDERSLADE EDITOR RAMMSTEIN Rammstein “Puppe alone was worth the 10-year wait. Welcome back, Rammstein!” ELEANOR GOODMAN DEPUTY EDITOR MGLA Age Of Excuse “Black metal at its most monumental - an accusatory finger towering over mankind’s last throes” JONATHAN SELZER REVIEWS EDITOR CHELSEA WOLFE Birth Of Violence “Utterly compelling and beautifully hypnotic. A dark, intoxicating fever dream” VANESSA THORPE PRODUCTION EDITOR DARKTHRONE Old Star “It was a toss-up between Darkthrone and Swallow The Sun, but the crown had to go to the BM OGs” ALICE PATTILLO ONLINE EDITOR WILL IRELAND/CLASSIC ROCK MAGAZINE RAMMSTEIN Rammstein “Absolutely love it! Don’t leave it another 10 years, please guys” LOUISE BROCK ART EDITOR…1 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020The perfect gift for just £21.99PLUSWIRELESS BOOMBAR+ SPEAKERConnect wirelessly and listen to music anywhere!A massive 20 hours of play timeEasy to carry and storeYour special Christmas offer• FREE Bluetooth speaker worth £40• Enjoy six months of Metal Hammer for just £21.99 - that’s just £3.65 per issue!• Every issue delivered direct to your door• Exclusive subscriber-only covers• A thoughtful gift that keeps delivering throughout the yearUpgrade to include digital for only £2.50• Instant access any time, anywhere• Never miss an issue of Metal Hammer• Available on iOS or AndroidOrder the gift that keeps on deliveringwww.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk/mhr/xmas192 or call 0344 848 2852*Terms and conditions: Savings calculated against the full RRP (single issue price x frequency). Gift is only available for new UK subscribers and is subject to availability. Please allow up to 60 days for the delivery…1 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020CALIFORNIA SCREAMINGSo how did you first meet The Rev?“Bleeding Through and Avenged Sevenfold toured with each other all of the damn time, both the sh*tty tours and the good tours. The thing I remember about The Rev is that he was always the most positive person there.”How so?“At a show in Richmond, Virginia, everybody sat down during Avenged Sevenfold’s set. Like, it was some weird, stupid hardcore kids’ boycott of Avenged Sevenfold. After the show, I asked, ‘Dudes, how do you guys feel about that?’ and Jimmy was like, ‘We played f*cking awesome! I had a great time.’ No matter where he was, he was having the best time.”What kind of interests did he have?“For him, drumming was the pinnacle of his life – he made it. I read these stories…1 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020CVLT OV THE SVNIRON BUNNY: PRESS. CVLT OV THE SVN: TINA K/PRESS. WAITING BACKSTAGE IN London’s O2 Academy Islington, self-professed ‘occult murder pop’ crew Cvlt Ov The Svn are in the eye of the storm. Tonight is the first show for the sinister Finnish movement and their anonymous vocalist, wearing a mysterious black hooded cape and blackened eyes. “This band started for me as a therapy project four years ago,” he says. “I started writing rock’n’roll that sounded good to my ears just for fun, but when I played a few songs to friends, I started taking it seriously.” Crafting a new genre for himself, the ominous mastermind wrote and recorded brooding debut EP Luna In The Sky Forever almost single-handedly. “The last four years have been the biggest challenge because I’ve written…1 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020EPs OF THE YEARJINJERMicro A herald of the full-length album, Macro, the Ukrainians’ five-tracker was still a dazzling achievement in its own right, wielding time-stretching djent to elevating vocal refrains.WORMEDMetaportal Sci-fi and death metal have long been bedfellows, and these long-running maniacs from Madrid upped the warp factor to dizzying levels of technical, ambience-invaded delirium.BLOOD COMMANDReturn Of The Arsonist A hyperactive explosion like a riot under neon lights, the Norwegians’ EP was smart, and smarting, incendiary agit-pop strewn with anthemic hooks.LVCIFYRESacrament Proving the occult DM scene still had hellfire in its belly, London’s Lvcifyre unleashed five tracks of blackened, consciousness-clogging animosity with the baleful intent of demons hammering in a forge.A.A.WILLIAMSA.A.Williams The metal world has embraced a lot of non-traditionally ‘heavy’ artists, but A.A. Williams’ debut EP reached deep into our hearts, its…1 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020LACUNA COIL“I LEARNED TO WALK IN THE DARKNESS”Lacuna Coil’s ninth album, Black Anima, took its name from the Italian for ‘soul’ and the darkest colour they could think of. It was recorded in bassist Marco Coti-Zelati’s basem*nt studio over a period of six months, serving as well-timed therapy for vocalist Cristina Scabbia. She recently lost both parents and her longtime relationship with Slipknot’s Jim Root came to an end.This is a healing record,” she explains. “During [2016’s] Delirium, I was suffering tremendously; I was in full pain with things happening in my life. Through Black Anima, I learned to walk in the darkness and manage the darkness that appears in my life. I feel bulletproof; I’ve experienced so much pain I feel stronger now. It’s not about seeing the light at…4 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020GAMES OF THE YEARFOR MORE GAMES ACTION, SEE WWW.GAMESRADAR.COMDEVIL MAY CRY 5A slamming soundtrack, slick cinematic action, and an array of scenarios to hack and shoot your way through made this one of the most outrageously entertaining games of the year.SEKIRO: SHADOWS DIE TWICEFromSoftware took its Dark Souls formula, stripped it of its gothic overtones, and whipped it into the Sengoku period of Japan. Sekiro revelled in making you eat sh*t over and over again!MORTAL KOMBAT 11Is there anything more metal than ripping a dude’s skull from his skinsack and beating him to death with it? Hell no! Mortal Kombat 11 was gratuitous and gory, perfect for psychopaths who own two controllers.CONTROLStrange and psychedelic, Control felt like the meeting of Max Payne’s cinematic action with David Lynch’s penchant for pervasive storytelling. Bold and…1 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020"HE NEVER CEASED TO CREATE MUSIC TAHT TOUCHED MY f*ckING SOUL"James Owen Sullivan was born in Tustin, California, on February 9, 1981 and his family soon moved to the idyllic seaside city of Huntington Beach. He spent his early days at the beach, boogie boarding with his two sisters, practising WWE moves in his bedroom and, of course, banging the ever-living hell out of his mother’s pots and pans. It was almost as if he felt his calling from the start… “He was the happiest kid you ever saw in your life,” remembers his mother Barbara. “And everything was funny! When he was growing up, you would try to reprimand him, but he’d be laughing so hard that it would be really difficult to tell him to stop. You’d say, ‘Stop it, that’s not funny!’ and he’d say, ‘It’s funny…14 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020"HE'D GO ON BOOK BENDERS!'JOHN McMURTRIE When asked what Jimmy might be doing today if he were still with us, his mother Barbara doesn’t hesitate: “Writing a book. Shortly before he passed, Jimmy had said that he needed a new goal and he was an excellent writer.” His father Joe adds, “Brian’s [Syn’s] a teacher – he shares guitar lessons with people on the Internet. Matt [Shadows] produces bands, but that would not have been Jimmy’s thing. He wrote constantly! He’d go on book benders where he’d write and write and write.” Johnny even remembers the plot of one of Jimmy’s book ideas. “I might butcher it a little bit! Ha ha ha! But this was a time when people weren’t really talking about multiverses yet. Again, it blew me away that he was…1 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020THE 50 BEST ALBUMS OF 201950 CANDLEMASS NAPALM The Door To Doom We may all be doomed, but at least we have doom. Thirty-five years into their slow trudge towards oblivion, Leif Edling’s Candlemass pulled out one of their greatest records ever in 2019. Devoutly Sabbathian and yet brimming with its own dark charisma, The Door To Doom brought Leif’s riffs together with Johan Längquist’s glorious voice for the first time since seminal debut Epicus Doomicus Metallicus. Monu-f*cking-mental, then. 49 DREAM THEATER INSIDE OUT MUSIC Distance Over Time Dream Theater’s 14th outing was in stark contrast to 2016’s extravagant double-album, The Astonishing. Written and recorded in a remote residential studio in upstate New York, Distance Over Time was the sound of a band rejuvenated by their longstanding solidarity and reaffirmed their commitment to experimentation, utmost…22 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020TWIN TEMPLEThis was the year Twin Temple brought Devil-worshipping doo-wop into our world, helping Satanism futher encroach on the mainstream. Ironically hailing from the City of Angels, they released their debut album, Twin Temple (Bring You Their Signature Sound… Satanic Doo-Wop), back in March. Made up of husband and wife pair Zachary and Alexandra James, Twin Temple is a passion project that has taken them further than they ever expected. “We made this for ourselves and we weren’t even sure anybody else would dig it at all,” Alexandra explains. “We are weird and everybody else in the industry who saw us basically ghosted us and wanted nothing to do with us. It’s crazy that our album is on Metal Hammer’s Best Albums Of 2019 list; I used to pick up British…4 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020LACUNA COILPRESS “I LEARNED TO WALK IN THE DARKNESS” Lacuna Coil’s ninth album, Black Anima, took its name from the Italian for ‘soul’ and the darkest colour they could think of. It was recorded in bassist Marco Coti-Zelati’s basem*nt studio over a period of six months, serving as well-timed therapy for vocalist Cristina Scabbia. She recently lost both parents and her longtime relationship with Slipknot’s Jim Root came to an end. This is a healing record,” she explains. “During [2016’s] Delirium, I was suffering tremendously; I was in full pain with things happening in my life. Through Black Anima, I learned to walk in the darkness and manage the darkness that appears in my life. I feel bulletproof; I’ve experienced so much pain I feel stronger now. It’s not about seeing…4 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020National PrideTESTIFY“Testify are my son’s band, from Coolidge, New Mexico. My son Darius is the lead vocalist and guitarist, and I’m the drummer. We’re influenced by everyone from Trivium to Judas Priest, and incorporate melodic guitar solos and harmonies.” See: Facebook.com/testify01BORN OF WINTER“This five-piece band from Arizona are one of the heaviest bands on the Navajo Reservation, taking after Devildriver, Gojira, and Lamb of God. They’re known for being melodic with dark riffs.” See: Facebook.com/bornofwinterGRAVES OF THE MONUMENTS“Newcomers on the Navajo reservation music scene, they sound more like progressive metal bands After The Burial and Born Of Osiris. They recently released a video for Herbalist, a song about Navajo culture.” See: Facebook.com/gravesofthemonumentsofficialUNDER EXILE“This quintet have been active on the reservation for quite some time, drawing many fans to their sound. Recent…1 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020"DAVE IS THE SOUL OF MEGADETH AND I'M THE HEART"Did you ever have any doubts about moving forward with the cruise? Dave Ellefson: “We knew that people were flying in from all over the world. It’s a hard ticket. There’s no refunds. You have to get a flight, a hotel. This is a destination vacation. As soon as we got here, I felt like we made the right decision. As we were pulling up, you saw the line of cruisers getting on. They all had Megadeth, Testament and Overkill shirts.”Have you done a cruise before?“We were supposed to be on the Motörhead cruise a few years back, and we pulled off of that because Dave had a health issue. I said, ‘Hey, I’ve got an idea. A bunch of us are going to be on the boat, and we…2 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020ROTTING CHRISTPRESS/ESTER SEGARRA If there’s a positive side to the complex end times the world’s hurtling towards, it’s that the circ*mstances can result in great metal. Rotting Christ’s 13th album, which took its inspiration from some of history’s most notable intellectual renegades, not only proved to be one of the most exhilarating heavy releases of the year, but a timely one. It celebrated figures such as Thomas Paine, Friedrich Nietzsche and Voltaire, whose views stood in defiance of contemporary norms. “It’s more topical than ever!” barks frontman Sakis Tolis on the subject matter of the grandiose The Heretics. “We have the feeling that we are currently living in the free world, but things are quite different I’m afraid. History makes circles and we are currently living in a middle ages, and…2 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020SWALLOW THE SUNPRESS How can a band possibly follow up an epic, three-hour triple album? Finland’s Swallow The Sun stepped into 2019 with When A Shadow Is Forced Into The Light – an album that vocalist Mikko Kotamäki says almost didn’t happen. “When Songs From The North came out, it was way too f*cking long and we were touring pretty much all the time for two years,” he says. “It was pure hell and we’re never going to do that again. At some point, it looked like we wouldn’t even release another album.” Written in the shadow of the death of Aleah Stanbridge, guitarist and songwriter Juha Raivio’s girlfriend, their seventh album conveys Juha’s feeling of shattering loss and devastation in their inimitable gloomy style. Despite its hard-hitting subject matter, Mikko explains…2 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020TOOLPRESS/TRAVIS SHINN August 30, 2019. The date Tool finally released Fear Inoculum, following a 13-year wait for a new album. Clocking in at around 80 minutes, it was a spiritual experience for acolytes, who revelled in its familiar polyrhythms, poetic lyrics and high-level musicianship. It shot to the top of the US Billboard charts, unseating Taylor Swift’s Lover and causing consternation among her fans. The album had got off to a slow start. The quartet began writing fragments during the touring cycle for 2006’s 10,000 Days, with guitarist Adam Jones nailing Pneuma’s riff and Invincible’s intro early on. But it wasn’t until they started jamming that things came together, Adam taking his time to meticulously compose every note, Justin Chancellor’s basslines working in harmony, and jazz fan Danny playing more…5 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020THE ODD COUPLEThe glass-walled, rooftop restaurant at the Kempinski Hotel Moika is a sight to behold – super-stylish with a whiff of imperial grandeur. High above the city of St Petersburg, we’re afforded a panoramic view of Russia’s surprisingly colourful second city; to our right, a block away and peeking between buildings, we can see the gilded, mint green walls of the opulent Winter Palace. The whole scene is impossibly swanky, but then… “You can tell the fish story…” says Rammstein vocalist Till Lindemann, leaning towards his bandmate, Hypocrisy and Pain’s Peter Tägtgren, with a mischievous glint in his eye. We’ve just asked the duo to describe the handful of gigs they’ve played so far as their side-project, Lindemann, but as Peter gives Till a distinct ‘Do you really want to go…9 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020CATTLE DECAPITATIONDeath Atlas METAL BLADESan Diego marauders grind against the endtimesIN CASE YOU HADN’T noticed, the planet is f*cked. Mass man-made extinction and a climate catastrophe that will irrevocably change human civilisation are things Cattle Decapitation have been warning about for years. But while the harrowing newscasts that break up the cacophony on Death Atlas remind us of the same peril, the mood of album eight has changed from a dire warning to one of tragic resignation – an acceptance of the inevitable and the imminent consequences of a universe looking to restore the balance.The musical outlook has also continued to change, fusing their ferocious grinding death metal with a melting pot of extremity and Travis Ryan’s vocals that shift from gruff growls, piercing shrieks and the most idiosyncratic and downright…6 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020National PrideTESTIFY “Testify are my son’s band, from Coolidge, New Mexico. My son Darius is the lead vocalist and guitarist, and I’m the drummer. We’re influenced by everyone from Trivium to Judas Priest, and incorporate melodic guitar solos and harmonies.” See: Facebook.com/testify01 BORN OF WINTER “This five-piece band from Arizona are one of the heaviest bands on the Navajo Reservation, taking after Devildriver, Gojira, and Lamb of God. They’re known for being melodic with dark riffs.” See: Facebook.com/bornofwinter GRAVES OF THE MONUMENTS “Newcomers on the Navajo reservation music scene, they sound more like progressive metal bands After The Burial and Born Of Osiris. They recently released a video for Herbalist, a song about Navajo culture.” See: Facebook.com/gravesofthemonumentsofficial UNDER EXILE “This quintet have been active on the reservation for quite some time,…1 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020STONE SOURHello, You Bastards: Live In Reno COOKING VINYLCorey Taylor and co rock out in the desertCAPTURING THE SURGING energy of a live show has always been a dicey proposition for metal bands; variables like venue acoustics, crowd temperament and conjuring the right mix all come to the fore. Add to these the heroic speed and precision that metal requires of its musicians and nailing a live album becomes a herculean feat. With six full-length albums under their belt, Stone Sour now enter the fray with Hello, You Bastards: Live In Reno – a slamming 15-track set from the band’s October 2018 performance at the Grand Sierra Theatre in Reno, Nevada.It’s actually a great time for the band to do this. 2017’s Hydrograd cemented their stature as a heatseeking mainstream metal…6 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020UNHOLY NIGHT“I GENUINELY BELIEVED THAT EVERYBODY WAS GOING TO DIE”COLIN H. VAN EECKHOUT Ahuge wooden structure is burning near the banks of the Leie River at the French-Belgian border. A varied and all-ages audience of around 1,000, from Amenra fans to local residents, encircle the blaze in the dark, while a short distance away the band play from a shadowy stage shrouded in smoke. As the flames break down the logs, a six-metre high statue is revealed from the embers – a headless figure flanked against the band’s emblemof upside-down gallows. It is a symbol of finding hope in the ashes, and a testimony to the immersive world that Amenra have created. Metal Hammer is in Menen, Belgium for Amenra’s 20th anniversary. During 2019 there have been many events marking the…10 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020VESPERITHVesperith SVARTBlackened cosmic meditations from the Finnish wastesSARIINA TANI IS Vesperith, a solo experimental project exploring the depths of Finnish melancholy amidst soundscapes of cosmic nothingness and gusts of infrequent, but vehement black metal. Written initially only with synthesisers, Tani found herself struggling any time she tried to impose structure, finally finding creative inspiration in the experimental formlessness that holds sway for much of her self-titled debut. The choice of Oranssi Pazuzu mainman Jun-His as co-producer is therefore a wise one; he’s no stranger to the creation of dark, meandering music that manages to retain your attention, being part of a cabal of Finnish experimentalists that includes Dark Buddha Rising and the Waste Of Space Orchestra.Together they embark on an astral journey that is slow to get started on The…7 min
Metal Hammer UK|January 2020RESURRECTIONSReleased in 2006, PAGAN ALTAR’s Magical & Mythical (Temple Of Mystery) [9] now sounds even more spookily out of time; songs were written circa 1977-83, chief debts are to early Sabbath and Jethro Tull, and the vibe is rooted in ancient folklore. The extensive, rugged soloing of Alan Jones, and the eccentric nasal storytelling of his dad, Terry, make this arguably the London NWOBHM cult’s finest work. Danish thrashers ARTILLERY snuck out a demo as early as 1982, but as you’ll hear on their self-effacingly titled compilation of early home recordings, In The Trash (Mighty Music) [6], their early sound was more indebted to Sabbath than most Euro-thrash pioneers. Iommi vibes remain on speedier 1984-86 material, propelled along fuzzy ancient tape ribbon with slapdash charm.The Iommi vibes get even more…2 min
