Tetrarch guitarist Diamond Rowe stops by the Metal Hammer Podcast! Merl and Diamond discuss her journey to becoming a modern day guitar hero, what it was like growing up in Atlanta as a metal fan, the amazing circumstances that saw Tetrarch support Avenged Sevenfold in their early days, how they're channelling nu metal for a new generation and why nu metal is getting so much love again, what she thinks of the new Limp Bizkit album, her ultimate guide to Atlanta and much, much more! Order the latest issue of Metal Hammer at bit.ly/GETHAMMER ..read more

In honour of Bloodstock officially going ahead (though we hope you're all gonna continue to be careful out there...), Merl and Steve count down the 10 greatest festival sets they've ever seen. The only rules? They have to be Metal Hammer-friendly (sorry, Faithless at Glasto 2010), and Slipknot from Download 2009 is exempt because we've talked about it loads already and it's just not fair! Featuring nostalgic trips back through iconic sets by Limp Bizkit, Iron Maiden, Faith No More, Rage Against The Machine, Killswitch Engage and many more. The Metal Hammer Podcast is sponsored by KILLSTAR ..read more

Joining Merl on this week's show is the legendary Sharon Den Adel from everyone's favourite Dutch symphonic metal megastars, Within Temptation! Sharon and Merl discuss Within Temptation's upcoming livestream extravaganza, the band's recent new single Shed My Skin (and how they ended up teaming with Annisokay for it), the long awaited Within Temptation / Evanescence tour and the countries Sharon is still hoping to hit up before all is said and done. The Metal Hammer Podcast is sponsored by KILLSTAR - get your exclusive KILLSTAR discount from www.killstar.com/pages/metalpod Order the latest iss ..read more

Merl chats to the one and only Benji Webbe from Skindred! We find out what Benji has been up to in lockdown, what prompted his son to put him on a strict, life-changing new regime, why he returned to Earache Records with Skindred over twenty years since first joining them with Dub War and what…… Continue reading 168: Skindred's Benji Webbe Gets Hyped For Download Pilot ..read more

Days before she defends the Raw Women's Championship against Asuka and Charlotte Flair at Wrestlemania Backlash, Merl chats to WWE superstar and diehard metalhead Rhea Ripley! They discuss her amazing rise through the ranks of WWE (and what it was like doing so without any fans in the building), her discovery of metal through hearing a Papa Roach song on Monday Night Raw, her love of Suicide Silence and how the death of Mitch Lucker affected her and her friends, why Ash Costello from New Years Day ended up singing her theme song, how Motionless In White became her favourite modern metal band a ..read more

We're feeling nostalgic on this week's show, so we thought we'd take a trip back twenty whole years to 2002! Merl and Steve discuss what was a unique and rather transitional year for heavy music - nu metal had peaked, the metalcore and emo explosions hadn't properly begun yet, and few metal heavyweights released brand new studio albums. And yet, there was still some cracking music, so the lads both picked their five favourite albums that came out that year - featuring appearances by System Of A Down, Killswitch Engage, Glassjaw, Korn, In Flames and more! Order the latest issue of Metal Hammer ..read more

And the big releases keep coming! Merl and Steve sift through some absolute bangers this week as we discuss whether the new Zeal & Ardor album has brought Manuel Gagneux's vision to new heights, whether Cult Of Luna's The Long Road North is up to their usual impeccable standards, how Amorphis have proved they're folk metal's most reliable band with Halo and why Bloodywood may have just dropped the funnest album of 2022. Buy the latest issue of Metal Hammer at bit.ly/buyhammer ..read more

It's the first of what we can safely assume is going to be a large number of absolutely stacked review round-ups for 2022! Merl and Steve get stuck into new Korn album Requiem and discuss why sometimes less is more (and why, all these years later, no one does Korn like Korn); we also heap praise on what is surely the best metal album of 2022 so far in Venom Prison's masterful new opus, Erebos; we rate the new Rolo Tomassi record, Where Myth Becomes Memory (HINT: it's also really good); and Steve gives us a hot tip for a new band ticking all the right boxes. Plus, we review Turnstile's epic sh ..read more

It's finally here! Part 2 of our big 2022 preview has arrived, and on this week's show Merl and El answer all your burning questions about the year ahead. Questions such as: will touring really come back to life this year? What are the best festival lineups of the year? Why can't anyone clash with Iron Maiden at Download? And what's gonna be the Metal Hammer album of 2022?! We also discuss the When We Were Young Festival bill that has everyone talking, rate the new Ghost single, pay tribute to Meat Loaf and more! Order the latest issue of Metal Hammer at bit.ly/buyhammer ..read more

With everyone upset by the untimely and, let's be honest, pretty messy demise of Every Time I Die, we decided to push Part 2 of our 2022 Preview to next week and instead have Merl and Steve pay tribute to the career, influence and legacy of one of modern heavy music's very greatest bands. From debut album Last Night In Town setting them up as one of the more promising hardcore bands on the early 00s scene; to their embracing of southern rock riffing on Gutter Phenomenon and the immense influence that'd have on hardcore thereafter; all the way to their epic final album, last year's Radical, we ..read more