The Metal Hammer Podcast

It's a big one as Merl, El and Steve pick one Trivium album to enter into the Metal Hammer Podcast Hall Of Fame! It's two classics as Ascendancy faces off against Shogun. Ascendancy was the album that put Trivium on the world stage with classic anthems such as Pull Harder On The Strings Of Your Martyr and A Gunshot To The Head Of Trepidation turning the band into metal's newest superstars. Shogun, meanwhile, was the album that put Trivium back on the horse after the misstep of The Crusade, and might still be their most ambitious album to this day. But which one makes it in? The Metal Hammer trio debate and decide. Plus, we have new sponsors – welcome KILLSTAR!Get an exclusive KILLSTAR 10% discount and entry to a £100 gift card draw by heading to www.killstar.com/pages/metalpod.Order the latest issue of Metal Hammer at tinyurl.com/GetHammer

To celebrate our blockbuster new issue, Merl, El and Steve take a look back at the whirlwind career of Babymetal so far, from their origins in a completely different, teen J-pop group, to their breakthrough in the UK with Gimme Chocolate!!, to stealing the show at Sonisphere Festival and the 2015 Golden Gods, to breaking Wembley records and what might come next. We also celebrate the news that Download Festival is launching an event that's taking place next month! Hooray!Order the latest issue of Metal Hammer at www.tinyurl.com/GetHammer

In an exclusive interview, Eleanor talks to Gojira's Joe and Mario Duplantier about the making of their amazing new album, Fortitude. The brothers open up on the influences that made the album, the philosophies that shape their worldview, why they're not scared of dying, what people misunderstand the most about them and more. To get the full interview, pick up the latest copy of Metal Hammer, out now.

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 and why WWE is more metal than ever!Order our new issue from tinyurl.com/GetHammer

Merl, El and Jonathan sift through some of the recent big releases in metal (plus a couple of underground bangers yet to come). What's brought so much love out for this Cannibal Corpse album? Has the new Evile record been worth the wait? And are Tetrarch lovingly reigniting nu metal or just ripping it off? All that and more...

Merl and El dissect the fantastic new Gojira album, Fortitude. Is it the album that'll take them up festival bills, and is it a big enough evolutionary leap from Magma? El also reviews Korn's epic livestream, and the duo take a look at the big Download lineup announcement and the epic new issue of Metal Hammer.Order our new issue from tinyurl.com/GetHammer

Merl, El and Steve field some questions from the Metal Hammer faithful! We work out how Mudvayne have ended up headlining major festivals on their comeback, ponder why bands like Ghost, Poppy and Babymetal continue to get grief from metalheads, declare which fantasy world we'd love to live in and invent some fantasy band beers. Bark At The Moonshine? Sure.Get your copy of Metal Hammer magazine from tinyurl.com/GetHammer

Merl, El (er, eventually) and Steve pull apart the new album from While She Sleeps, Sleeps Society, and take a look at the Sheffield metalcore mainstays' fascinating career so far. They reflect on While She Sleeps' emergence on the scene as one of the most exciting bands of their generation, what went wrong (and right!) along the way and how this new album compares to the wild experimentations of So What?

Merl, Steve and Jonathan review some of the best recent releases in metal. Have The Crown put out a contender for the best death metal album of 2021? Plus, the boys dissect new albums from two of the most exciting young UK bands in Dvne and Pupil Slicer, and Jonathan takes us on a trip to Italy to find some of Europe's most out-there new records!Buy the new issue of Metal Hammer from tinyurl.com/GetHammer

It's one of our biggest shows ever as Merl, Steve and Jonathan decide which Metallica album gets inducted into the sacred Metal Hammer Podcast Hall Of Fame - Ride The Lightning or Master Of Puppets? The lads reveal how they first each discovered Metallica, discuss why these two albums were so important to metal's evolution,…… Continue reading 157: Metallica Hall Of Fame

Metal is taking over TikTok and Instagram, and Kiki Wong is leading the way! One of metal's biggest influencers tells us about her love of heavy music, how she first learned to play guitar, her early bands, how she ended up playing with Bret Michaels, Usher and Taylor Swift, her first forays into influencing as a travel expert, why she almost gave up guitar for good, why she decided to embrace her love of metal again and how social media is helping young fans discover rock music in a whole new way.Get the latest issue of Metal Hammer from tinyurl.com/GetHammer

The new issue of Metal Hammer celebrates the 100 Greatest Songs Of The Century So Far. In honour of that, Merl, El and Steve gather to create the ultimate 21st century playlist, cutting the list of 100 down to just 10 songs! It's hard work, but someone's got to do it. Did Slipknot's Duality make the cut? What about System Of A Down's Chop Suey? And which track from the last five years does Merl hail an 'instant classic'? Find out now...

Merl, Steve and Jonathan pay tribute to Entombed legend LG Petrov, who died aged 49 this week following a cancer diagnosis last year. The guys dissect the legacy of Entombed as one of metal's most influential bands of the 90s, discuss their fascinating evolution from death metal trailblazers to alt rock-baiters in the late 90s, and what LG was like as a person away from the stage.

Merl sits down with Epica singer Simone Simons to talk about the unique recording process behind their bombastic new album Omega, whether they thought twice about releasing an album during a pandemic, why it took so long to get a new album together at all, how Disney and Nightwish helped Simone's journey into singing and what she misses most about touring. 

Merl, El and Steve dissect the immense new Architects album, For Those That Wish To Exist, looking into their history so far and what this album means for their career from here. The dynamic, er, trio decide which guest spot worked the best - Parkway Drive's Winston McCall, Royal Blood's Mike Kerr or Biffy Clyro's Simon Neil - pick our favourite tracks and discuss whether there's a glass ceiling for a band like Architects.Pick up Metal Hammer magazine every month from tinyurl.com/GetHammer.