Features

“It feels like a homecoming”: You Me At Six, Waterparks, The Interrupters and I Prevail get pumped for Slam Dunk Festival

There’s no better way to kick off the summer than Slam Dunk Festival. This weekend, the great and the good of punk, metal, ska and beyond hit Hatfield and Leeds to ring in a bumper festival season. We catch up with four stage headliners to find out what they’ve got in store for us…

Boston Manor: “Sundiver is a journey into the blissful, glowy world we’re creating”

Boston Manor are back with the second piece of the Datura puzzle, in the form of Sundiver. Here, frontman Henry Cox dives into how the album came together, making perhaps the best song of their career, working with Heriot’s Debbie Gough, and much more…

Maynard James Keenan: “If you’re not putting yourself in the space where the breakthrough can happen, you’re not going to have one”

After a 60th birthday celebration for the ages and ahead of a Fear Inoculum victory lap around the UK, Maynard James Keenan reflects on a life on the cutting edge of heavy music, how his priorities have changed with age, why he’ll never actually retire, and who would win in a fight between him and Mark Zuckerberg…

Tool’s Justin Chancellor: “It feels like a second chance after so many years of searching”

It’s a busy time to be in Tool. Not only are they back on tour and heading to the UK very soon, they’ve also started work on ideas for the follow-up to their 2019 opus Fear Inoculum. Here, their enigmatic bassist – and all-round gent – Justin Chancellor talks new music, robots and the creative benefits of gardening…

“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…

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