Features WWE’s Stephanie Vaquer: The 10 songs that changed my life From AC/DC to Megadeth, WWE Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer looks back on a life of heavy metal and hard rock action…
Features “Grief is such a weird thing… There’s no right way to do it”: As Everything Unfolds on loss, uncertainty and leaning into fictional worlds As Everything Unfolds have been through a lot in the last couple of years. Following the loss of drummer Jamie Gowers, they banded together and channelled themselves into a new record that asks what it means to be free, and how not having all the answers is the most precious part of our existence…
Features In pictures: The Scratch running riot in The K! Pit Take a look at all the colourful chaos of The Scratch flipping The K! Pit on its head for a right ol’ knees-up…
The Cover Story Holy Wars: “Do I want to talk about death forever? Not at all. I just don’t know what else to say” For a decade now, Kat Leon has felt that death has never been more than a couple of steps behind. Losing both parents in the space of six months became the impetus to start Holy Wars, and saying goodbye to her big sister was what fuelled imminent second album Shadow Work / Light Work. It’s all about not succumbing to the darkness, she explains, and embracing every moment in the sun…
Features “This will be a homecoming”: Inside YUNGBLUD’s spectacular return to the stage – and his biggest UK tour ever At the start of the year, it was wet and miserable in Doncaster. Lucky old YUNGBLUD, though, hot-footed it to Australia and India for the winter to play his first gigs in months after a health blip, enjoy “feeling sexy”, and get papped on a yacht with ‘Little Dom’ out…
Features “I stole my first guitar from my dead friend’s house. He’d have wanted me to have it”: How Pepper Keenan became a metal lifer From growing up as a punk in New Orleans to counting James Hetfield and Tony Iommi as fans of his riffs, it’s been a hell of a ride for Pepper Keenan. And it hasn’t stopped. Corrosion Of Conformity just recorded their new album in a Bee Gee’s house. Here, he talks guitars, beers with Dio, and “the kind of bands you can grow old in…”
The Cover Story Static Dress: “I want us to be the ultimate escapism band” As Static Dress unveil their long-awaited new album Injury Episode, in the world-exclusive first interview, mainman Olli Appleyard meets Kerrang! for a passionate and brutally honest deep dive into the importance of staying true to yourself, never compromising on your vision, and keeping the magic of music alive…
Features YAKKIE: “A lot of people have internalised a sense of defeat. Hope is a muscle – you have to push yourself to train it” In these times, things can feel hopeless. But DIY punk outfit YAKKIE believe there’s a way out. On debut album Kill The Cop Inside Your Head, anger comes as an energy with moments of collective action and generous heaps of positive motivation…
Features Keo: “Some of my writing is becoming uncomfortable to listen to. But good art makes you feel something” London quartet Keo are blowing up before they’ve even released a debut album. The secret? “The only thing that’s worked for us is doing things differently,” reveals singer Finn Keogh…
Features Moodring: “I was told, ‘Look out the window and be glad you can see the sun.’ I’ll never be able to get my head there” To call Moodring a cathartic project for Hunter Young would be a severe understatement. On the eve of outstanding new album death fetish, he explains why turning very real pain into art is all he has…
Features “Scottish vampire priests? That fits us perfectly!”: Inside the metal thrashing mad world of Hellripper James McBain started Hellripper as a studio thing. With their killer new album Coronach, the Scottish thrashers are about to go from the Highlands to the rest of the world. He tells us about macabre folklore, goats, being a loner, and smashing beer cans on his head in the name of “balls-out rock’n’roll”.
The Cover Story LØLØ: “You wanna be an asshole? You’re going to get a song” Having made a name in unflinching honesty and writing without fear, LØLØ’s new album sees the Canadian singer embracing her vulnerabilities more than ever before. On a weekday morning in LA, we meet the pop-rock superstar in the midst of a break-up, and more than ready to open up her diary and dive into what it means to feel so deeply…
Features Who are Waterparks’ fans? As Waterparks’ Prowler Tour hits Leeds, we meet the band’s diehard fans to find out why the words of Awsten Knight strike such a chord, which lyrics stay in their heads, and how the fandom is stronger than ever…
Features Fighting the brainrot: The importance of listening to albums in full and why they’re good for our health It’s no wonder so many of us feel anxious and fatigued by life; we live like everything is an emergency, and we are running out of time. So dust off that CD player and dig out your cassettes from the attic as we explore how the power of records can heal our overworked brains.
Features “You get lemons, so you f*cking make lemonade”: Zakk Wylde on Ozzy, camaraderie and forging ever on As Black Label Society prepare to unleash their tenacious 12th album Engines Of Demolition, Zakk Wylde reflects on losing his father figure Ozzy, why being a metal lifer is all he knows, and how “there’s always a new song to write…”
Features “We want to wave the flag for the Thai alternative scene”: How Defying Decay are raising their voices and going global Defying Decay are one of Thailand’s fastest-rising metal bands. Frontman Jay Poom Euarchukiati opens up about fighting to get heard, roping in a live orchestra and speaking their mind…
