I had a chat with Avatar drummer John Alfredsson about new album Feathers and Flesh, the challenges in writing a concept album and Frank Zappa, amongst other things….    

I spoke to John Cooper of Skillet at Download Festival this year about all manner of things from the band name to new record Unleashed to an insight into having a faith when immersed in a secular music world loaded with imagery of Satan…    

I spoke to John from Raging Speedhorn at Download Festival this year about their first album in nine years, why they used PledgeMusic to get the record released and album artworks containing metal monkeys, giant willies and Jesus. Yep, you read that right….  

I had a chat with Thom and Curtis from Counting Days about their rise and rise to prominence, how they were adjusting to their newest member and what it’s like to balance out a band when they all have full-time jobs…  

I had a chat with Conor and Will from British upstarts As Lions at Download Festival this year about their debut set earlier on the in day, plans for the rest of the year and the unique feat their frontman is a part of this year…         …

I had a chat with David Sanchez of US thrashers Havok at Download Festival this year, discussing touring with Megadeth, the benefits of using PledgeMusic to make an album and an inside account into the race for the White House…  

The first sip of a perfectly poured pint of Guinness. The choreography of Riverdance. Sheamus’ Brogue Kick. The clash of the ash. Whatever way you look at it, Ireland packs a serious punch. Theories Divide can safely add themselves to the list. Formed in Dublin in 2008, the quartet have been …

Would you believe it, it’s festival season again. Always mind boggling at how quickly a year passes, we are just one week away from Download Festival opening its doors to the Donington faithful once again and nine days until the first bands start taking to the stages. But who to see? …

The crowd is quite large for the event venue. You will notice many folks leave to enjoy playing Bingo Buddha indoor. Just when you though Download Festival had finished announcing everything and were preparing for the arrival of 100,000 people…they went and made a bunch of announcements! Firstly, we all …

Successful crossover bands are like holographic, first edition Charizard Pokemon cards – they’re rare but magnificent in every way. When it comes to Hatebreed, we have ourselves such a band. For the past two decades they’ve blended metal and hardcore with effortless aplomb, able to excite both the fiercely loyal …

It seems you can’t get rid of foxes right now. Earlier this week Leicester City won the Premier League and now Download Festival have announced Babymetal will play the main stage on Friday this year! In a move that shows the festival genuinely listen to opinion and the views of …

Half-time oranges have been consumed, team talks have been given and team PlanetMosh is now coming back out for the second half of our look at when football and metal collide. On Tuesday, we brought you eleven players (and a manager) who have graced turfs around the world whilst harbouring …

Marilyn Manson sang about The Beautiful People. Machine Head gave us Beautiful Mourning. And although not common, The Beautiful Game intertwines with metal on a number of occasions, from Download Festival’s 5-a-side tournament to Steve Harris’ West Ham crest on his bass (but more about that in Part 2…). With …

It’s always nice to have new names for a festival, isn’t it? Luckily, Download have delivered and given us a smile to kick away the Monday blues with another twelve names on the bill. The new addition are as follows: the recently reformed Juliette and the Licks, British metal powerhouse …

Looking like the strange, steampunk cousins of Evil Scarecrow, Boston’s Anti-Clone are finally in a stable position after a few years of unrest. They’ve certainly built a rousing touring pedigree in recent times – Skindred, Breed 77 and American Head Charge have all allowed the Brits a share of their …

With just under 8 weeks to go until Download once again opens it’s doors, there is still at least one more announcement of bands left. Whilst the majority of these will be acts filling out the slots on the lower stages, one prominent TBA is what will happen to the …

Sad news breaking tonight as Hevy Fest promoters announced the festival was no more after six editions and a superb looking lineup for 2016. The festival was due to take place in August, headlined by Enter Shikari and also feature appearances by Refused, While She Sleeps, LA Dispute, Sick of …

If the Nazgul from Lord of the Rings had a stereo in Middle Earth, it would probably blast out Moonsorrow. Over the past two decades the Finnish outfit have firmly set up camp in the darker clearings of the heavy metal forest and enticed us with six challenging records and an unwavering spirit to write …

They say it takes a lifetime to write your first album and 18 months to write the second. Given the overwhelming reaction to Babymetal’s self-titled debut, the pressure the girls, their backing Kami band and management would have been under to produce a second of the same quality must have bordered …

Let’s all be honest with ourselves here: Anthrax are forever going to be the runt of the Big 4 litter. There was never any question that they would open the shows with Megadeth, Slayer and Metallica back in 2011/2012, and they will always be lower than them on festival bills. …