Features

“I had to start again and build a foundation out of nothing”: The trauma and triumph behind Defects’ debut album

On the eve of their debut album and upcoming inaugural appearance at Download Festival, metalcore upstarts Defects lift the lid on the childhood experiences that fed into Modern Error and why they want to be a beacon of hope for fans in similar situations…

You Me At Six’s Josh Franceschi: “I’ve always hated it when my favourite bands have ended badly. This isn’t like that”

So, who saw that coming? After almost 20 years, You Me At Six are calling it a day, bringing things to a close over the next 18 months, including a final headliner at Slam Dunk. Here, Josh Franceschi tells us the reasons, emotions, and feelings of rightness involved in the decision. “It was almost meant to happen this way...”

Pallbearer: “The pain is quieter now. It’s no longer a literal throbbing in my chest”

For 16 years, Brett Campbell has purged his depressions and neuroses into the melancholic music of Pallbearer. Growing older and gaining stability has changed the shape of the emotions swirling within, but even as the Arkansas doomsters unveil quieter fifth LP Mind Burns Alive, there’s still an ocean of bittersweetness at play…

Body Count’s Ice-T: “I’m always going to be hardcore, I’m always going to push the line. It’s what I enjoy doing”

Four years since COVID cut their Carnivore cycle cruelly short, Body Count are making up for lost time with Psychopath: the furious first single from their long-awaited eighth LP Merciless. We grabbed legendary frontman Ice-T for an exclusive interview to talk playing the villain, winning GRAMMYs, and how he wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t hitting harder than ever…

Who are PVRIS’ fans?

We hit the queue of PVRIS’ headline show at the O2 Academy Birmingham to find out who their fans are and what it is they love about Lyndsey Gunnulfsen’s genre-straddling music…

“This is everything I have ever wanted…” Inside One Step Closer’s new album, All You Embrace

From the struggles of tour life to topics of grief, hatred and more, Ryan Savitski unpacks One Step Closer’s ace new album All You Embrace…

Protein, squatting and “useless tat”: Life on the road with Bruce Dickinson

Bruce Dickinson has been a heavy metal legend for more than 40 years. Unsurprisingly, then, he’s pretty much seen it all. Here’s what it’s like touring with the Iron Maiden icon…

Gatecreeper: “Death metal is sacred, and you’re passing it from generation to generation… a lot of genres don’t have that”

A decade ago, Gatecreeper were a bunch of misfit metal maniacs from Arizona. Now, they’re being hailed as death metal’s new leaders. On the eve of their excellent third album, Dark Superstition, the Sonoran Desert crew explain how they’re seizing the moment, the importance of preserving the scene, and the peace-giving qualities of music’s goriest movement…

Chuck Ragan: “If something moves you, in a positive or negative way, it’s worth getting it off your chest and telling a story about”

As they release 10th album Vows, Hot Water Music frontman Chuck Ragan looks back on the punk rock legends’ 30-year legacy, grief, changing priorities, fatherhood, and life as a fly-fishing instructor…

Kerry King: “I’m going to keep going until it physically doesn’t make sense anymore… I hope that’s still a long way away”

Riding off into the sunset was never an option for Kerry King. He’s too driven, too angry, too damn metal for anything like that. On top of it all, debut ‘solo’ album From Hell I Rise is cranium-rattling proof he’s still got far too much to give. Digging into its creation, it feels reassuringly unlikely that he’ll ever give up that legendary Flying-V anytime soon…

“This is a statement to everyone who turned their nose up at us”: Inside BLACKGOLD’s new EP, Back With Another One

From bashing away their haters to encouraging people to take the power back, BLACKGOLD break down their new EP for us, one track at a time…

“Kerrang!, your record collection and the entire alternative music scene owe him boundless respect”: Remembering Steve Albini

Musician, studio engineer, champion of the artist: the remarkable life and legacy of Steve Albini, arguably the most influential man in U.S. alternative music…

“It makes you say, ‘What the f*ck?!’”: Friday Pilots Club take us inside their debut album, Nowhere

From “big, creepy” songs that include actual bugs, to stuff that’ll make you do a “cool guy walk” while you listen, here’s a load of brilliantly fun details about Friday Pilots Club’s debut album Nowhere, courtesy of bassist Drew Polovick…

SOFT PLAY: “We need to do this together… the magic of our band is both of us”

Following the hiatus of Slaves, a trifecta of time, therapy and trauma sought to bond the brothers Laurie Vincent and Isaac Holman back together, repairing their fractured friendship and reigniting that creative fire once more. Under their new guise of SOFT PLAY, and superb new album Heavy Jelly, the duo are finally embracing what they wanted to be all along – whether you like it not…

“A kind of romantic apocalypse vibe”: Dea Matrona take us inside their debut album, For Your Sins

Mollie McGinn and Orlaith Forsythe break down Dea Matrona’s debut album For Your Sins, one song at a time…

The story of Foo Fighters’ Concrete And Gold: “All of the music we’ve made has left us a pretty open playing field”

One broken leg, much exhaustion and many whispers of a break up later, Dave Grohl sent his charges to the beach (well, briefly). The Foo Fighters duly returned, recharged and ready to rock again…

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