“Cannibal Corpse have made it to a level where they’re playing to thousands.” Gatecreeper want to make death metal as big as possible

Gatecreeper in 2024
(Image credit: Trenton Woods)

Fast-rising Arizonan death metallers Gatecreeper came into 2024 with a mission: to release an album that would flex their biggest sonic evolution yet, and make a clear statement about modern extreme metal’s capacity to sound bigger, badder and catchier than before.

“That was our goal, to put out an album like that,” confirms frontman Chase Mason. “We felt like everything was aligned for us to take a big step and take some risks.”

Those risks paid off handsomely. Third album Dark Superstition, the band’s first for Nuclear Blast, wasn’t just one of the best heavy metal albums of last year, but one of the more exciting and ambitious metal records of recent years full-stop. Expanding on their fearsome, Sweden-indebted death metal template, the Phoenix crew added flourishes of rumbling doom, crusty hardcore, grandiose gothic metal, epic folk and old-school heavy metal thunder for a riveting and relentlessly catchy LP. Gatecreeper wear their influences on their sleeves (and heads: Chase sporse a Paradise Lost cap as he talks to us via Zoom), but few bands in the scene manage to pool their inspirations into something so fresh and huge-sounding.

“We’re a very referential band,” Chase admits. “All of our favourite bands, at some point, tried something new. We figured that this was our time to do that.”

Reuniting with producer Kurt Ballou and bringing in Fred Estby of Swedish death metal royalty Dismember to help hone some of Gatecreeper’s new material (“I don’t want to say I was starstruck, but I definitely had a lot of questions for him!”), Chase says his lyrical concerns were superstition and the supernatural. One track in particular, the sinister, lumbering Flesh Habit, with its darkly evocative lyrics (‘Every night I need to feed / Burning like a fire inside my veins’), draws the theme into sharp focus.

“One topic that I was really diving into was vampires,” he explains enthusiastically. “The idea of a vampire having this need to feed, for blood or flesh. I was able to put myself into those shoes based on my personal experiences with substance abuse.”

Having worked with one death metal hero and toured with some more in 2024 (he speaks with reverence about Gatecreeper supporting In Flames across the United States in May), it’s clear Chase believes Dark Superstition succeeded in its mission and then some. But he’s looking ahead. Gatecreeper wrapped up 2024 with a European headlining tour, and this year is about continuing to bring death metal to as many people as possible.

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“In the past, there have been bands like Slipknot, they have blastbeats in their songs,” he muses. “But there’s obviously a much lower ceiling for a death metal band. Cannibal Corpse have made it to a level where they’re playing to thousands of people every night. How much bigger can you go? How much higher can you take that?” Perhaps we’re about to find out.

Dark Superstition is out now. Gatecreeper play Sonic Temple and Welcome To Rockville in the US this May before supporting Arch Enemy on tour across Europe this Autumn

Merlin moved into his role as Executive Editor of Louder in early 2022, following over ten years working at Metal Hammer. While there, he served as Online Editor and Deputy Editor, before being promoted to Editor in 2016. Before joining Metal Hammer, Merlin worked as Associate Editor at Terrorizer Magazine and has previously written for the likes of Classic Rock, Rock Sound, eFestivals and others. Across his career he has interviewed legends including Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy, Metallica, Iron Maiden (including getting a trip on Ed Force One courtesy of Bruce Dickinson), Guns N’ Roses, KISS, Slipknot, System Of A Down and Meat Loaf. He has also presented and produced the Metal Hammer Podcast, presented the Metal Hammer Radio Show and is probably responsible for 90% of all nu metal-related content making it onto the site. 

Jethro Tull share first music from upcoming album Curious Ruminant

Jethro Tull have announced that they will release their 24th studio album, Curious Remnant, through InsideOut Music on March 7.

At the same time the band have shared a new video for the album’s title track, a digitally animated affair handled by Costin Chioreanu who had previously created the band’s video for RökFlöte‘s Ginnungagap.

“Here we go again,” says Ian Anderson. “Have I said that before? Life in old dogs and with a little introspective rumination.”

Although not a concept album like 2002’s The Zealot Gene and 2023’s RökFlöte the new album features nine new tracks which very much hark back to the band’s classic 1970s sound, not least the epic near-17-minute Drink From The Same Well.

Curious Remnant features contributions from former keyboardist Andrew Giddings and drummer James Duncan, along with the current band members David Goodier, John O’Hara, Scott Hammond and, making his recording debut with the band, guitarist Jack Clark.

Curious Ruminant will be available on several different formats, including a limited deluxe ultra clear 180g 2LP + 2CD + Blu-ray artbook and limited deluxe 2CD+Blu-ray artbook. Both of these feature the main album, alternative stereo mixes & a blu-ray containing Dolby Atmos & 5.1 Surround Sound (once again undertaken by Bruce Soord of The Pineapple Thief), as well as exclusive interview material. The limited deluxe vinyl artbook also includes in 2 exclusive art-prints. The album will also be available as a special edition CD digipak, gatefold 180g LP + LP-booklet and as a digital album (in both stereo & Dolby Atmos).

Pre-order Curious Remnant.

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Jethro Tull – Curious Ruminant (Official Video) – YouTube Jethro Tull - Curious Ruminant (Official Video) - YouTube

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Jethro Tull

(Image credit: InsideOut Music)

Jethro Tull: Curious Remnant
1. Puppet And The Puppet Master
2. Curious Ruminant
3. Dunsinane Hill
4. The Tipu House
5. Savannah of Paddington Green
6. Stygian Hand
7. Over Jerusalem
8. Drink From The Same Well
9. Interim Sleep

Pop megastar Halsey booked hardcore shows when she was 16

Halsey says she booked metal and hardcore shows during her teens.

In a video filmed during a fan meet-and-greet (watch below), the 30-year-old Without Me singer says she “super-fuck[s] with hardcore”, before adding that she used to promote shows by the likes of The Devil Wears Prada and August Burns Red.

“I used to promote hardcore shows,” she says (via The PRP). “In Jersey before I started making music. I did a lot of hardcore, but then also some of the more commercial hardcore. The biggest show I ever booked, I was 16, was like August Burns Red and The Devil Wears Prada.”

Halsey has long been an admirer of heavy and alternative music. In a 2020 post on X (formerly Twitter), she revealed she used to be a “scene kid”.

“I miss the confidence I had as a scene kid in 2009,” she wrote. “My hair? Terrible. Make up? Worse. Desperate need for attention? Same as it’s always been. High-functioning depression? Intact. But the CONFIDENCE….whew…”

After finding fame as a musician in the mid-2010s, the singer went on to collaborate with several alt artists. In 2019 she made a surprise appearance on Bring Me The Horizon’s studio release Music To Listen To…. Her contribution to the soundtrack for 2020 superhero film Bird Of Prey, Experiment On Me, was produced and co-written by Bring Me singer Oli Sykes and then-member Jordan Fish.

In addition, Halsey’s 2021 album – If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power – was produced by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross of Nine Inch Nails. The song Honey featured Dave Grohl of Nirvana and Foo Fighters on drums.

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The singer released her latest album, The Great Impersonator, in October. It reached number two on the US Billboard 200 chart and received positive reviews, including a four-star write-up from Louder’s Emily Swingle.

“It’s a testament to Halsey’s individuality and ferocity as an artist,” Swingle wrote, “and, beneath each mask, The Great Impersonator is broiling with a confidence that feels utterly Halsey.”

@upgradelyric09 ♬ original sound – Christian Leyva

“It’s about man’s insatiable addiction to discover and use”: Manic Street Preachers on their new single People Ruin Paintings

Manic Street Preachers have released a new single today (Friday 10 January), the latest cut from their forthcoming 15th album Critical Thinking, due out at the end of this month. A stirring, jangly number titled People Ruin Paintings, it follows the release of previous singles Decline & Fall and Hiding In Plain Sight. The latter was the first Manics single to feature a lead vocal from bassist Nicky Wire.

Writing about the new single in promo materials to accompany Critical Thinking, the band explained the lyrical themes and sonic influences behind People Ruin Paintings: “The narcissism of adventurers + explorers, the hypocrisy of the carbon footprint – the empty evangelism of the television travel show drenched in a cynical inverted nihilism. Man’s insatiable addiction to discover and use. The gentle lilt of 10,000 Maniacs. Musically the three of us playing telepathically, referencing thirty plus years of playing together instinctively.”

Critical Thinking is the Welsh trio’s first album since 2021’s The Ultra Vivid Lament, which became their first Number One album since 1998’s This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours. They will embark on a sold-out UK tour later this year with a run of festival appearances following in the summer.

Upon the announcement of Critical Thinking, Wire said the following about the record:

“This is a record of opposites colliding – of dialectics trying to find a path of resolution. While the music has an effervescence and an elegiac uplift, most of the words deal with the cold analysis of the self, the exception being the three lyrics by James (Dean Bradfield) which look for and hopefully find answers in people, their memories, language and beliefs.

The music is energised and at times euphoric. Recording could sometimes be sporadic and isolated, at other times we played live in a band setting, again the opposites making sense with each other. There are crises at the heart of these songs. They are microcosms of skepticism and suspicion, the drive to the internal seems inevitable – start with yourself, maybe the rest will follow.”

Watch the “official visualiser” for People Ruin Paintings below:

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Manic Street Preachers – People Ruin Paintings (Official Visualiser) – YouTube Manic Street Preachers - People Ruin Paintings (Official Visualiser) - YouTube

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“Snoop Dogg said he’d had over a billion streams and made less than $43,000 – that should scare the **** out of everyone.” Ice-T on Body Count, dream collabs and more

Hip hop icon, rap metal pioneer and all-round star of film and TV, Ice-T is a formidable presence. Ever since Body Count’s controversial 1992 single, Cop Killer – which protested against police brutality, in the wake of four white officers beating black motorist Rodney King that year – Ice has remained outspoken. 

On latest Body Count album Merciless, he still takes aim at the issues that infuriate him, from class division to US politics. But how will he hold up against your questions (and one from a legendary Floridian death metal band)? 

A divider for Metal Hammer

When and how did you get into metal?
James Kinder, Facebook 

“I got into rock’n’roll – not necessarily metal – growing up. When I lost my parents [both died of heart attacks] and moved out to LA, I was stuck in a room with my cousin. He’d act like Jimi Hendrix and ran around playing air guitar. He kept the radio stations tuned to the LA rock stations, so I learned all about rock’n’roll – everyone from Boston to ELO to Edgar Winters, Black Sabbath and Blue Öyster Cult. I got into metal when I found Slayer. I was always interested in different types of music, so I got the idea to form a metal band after coming off tour with Public Enemy, seeing kids moshing to fast rap in Europe.” 

Who’s your favourite SVU [Law & Order: Special Victims Unit] co-star? Emilystrange_alt13, Instagram 

“That’s interesting, because I’ve worked with so many! Probably Kelli Giddish, we got really tight. I loved working with Christopher Meloni too, though, and Mariska [Hargitay] is the star, so any time I share a scene with her it’s always fun. I really like working with Kevin Kane now – he’s my new partner.” 

How does Body Count collaborate to create music? Riffs first then words?
Mark Pruett, Facebook 

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“Absolutely, Body Count is created with riffs! We usually start out with a bunch and short pieces of songs, which are sent to me, and I’ll cut and paste them together to create a song. Sometimes that song sucks! But I might then say, ‘Well, make a song out of this breakdown.’ Once we have the track assembled, I start putting words over it. My band is in LA – I’m usually in New York or New Jersey, so the early process starts with sending me ideas.” 

Who would win an Ice-T, Ice Cube, Vanilla Ice rap battle?
Ben Wilmott, Facebook 

“We actually were in a TV show, where they had Claymation pieces fight it out. Celebrity Deathmatch! Me and Ice Cube fought, and both got killed by Vanilla Ice with a Zamboni. Refer to that! Ha ha!” 

Smooth or crunchy peanut butter?
Kevin Shanks, Facebook 

“What kinda fucking question is that?!” 

What’s your favourite rap and metal album, respectively?
JeremiahJohnDempsey, Instagram 

“My favourite metal album is the first Black Sabbath album – it’s the one I probably listened to the most growing up. I’ve actually sampled songs from Sabbath on my rap albums – and rock, too. I used Black Sabbath for [solo rap track] Midnight. So far as my favourite rap album… probably Paid In Full by Eric B & Rakim which came out around the same time I was doing [1987 debut] Rhyme Pays. Or maybe Yo! Bum Rush The Show by Public Enemy. Those records were very important to me, particularly in the creation of the Ice-T records.” 

When we touring together?
Possessed_Official, Instagram 

“That’s possible! Body Count haven’t done a US tour in many years because of my Law And Order schedule, so we just do spot [one-off] dates. Any time we’re coming in your area, you could be on the show with us. That’s not up to us, though – it’s up to promoters!” 

What’s your proudest achievement?
Madkappiktures, Instagram 

“Transitioning out of trouble. I got into music as an option for not going to prison. Rap came along and gave me a way of paying the bills without breaking the law. That’s one of the most difficult transitions for anybody. Anyone who knows about street life and hustling, that life, trying to become a legitimate citizen and get a social security number, a bank account and become part of the system is difficult. I have friends that are 40 or 50 who’ve never had a driver’s licence.” 

BODY COUNT – Merciless (OFFICIAL VIDEO) – YouTube BODY COUNT - Merciless (OFFICIAL VIDEO) - YouTube

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How does it feel to be involved in the game for as long as you have and what changes have you seen in the music industry throughout the decades? StevenEsray, Instagram 

“Fortunately I’ve got my hand into the acting business, which is a lot more secure than the record business. I love making music, but the music business has evolved. I’m from the era where you’d make an album and you’d sell a million records, but now you have streaming and it’s very difficult to understand how you get paid. Snoop [Dogg] made a comment that he’d had over a billion streams and made less than $43,000 – that should scare the shit out of everyone in the music business. How many of us can hope to get a billion streams on anything?”

Would you ever cut a record with Schoolly D?
SIoan McCarthy, Facebook 

“I did! I cut one of his most recent records [2022’s Cuz Schoolly D Is Crazy], with the track The Real Hardcore. Schoolly’s way out, so the track is about how I first heard of him, met him and how he inspired me to do 6 In The Mornin’.” 

What’s your favourite dinosaur?
Stacie Ghia van Vuren, Facebook 

“T-Rex. Some of my friends have T-rex arms when it comes time to pay the bills at the restaurant! Ha ha!” 

What would you change about heavy metal if you could?
Jeff Stoakes, Facebook 

“I’d get rid of all the categories they’ve decided to split rock into. I got so tired of all these different hybrid categories, I created my own for Body Count – grindhouse. That’s what we do. Other than that, I wouldn’t change much.” 

Would you ever collaborate with Cannibal Corpse?
Kuba Juppa, Facebook 

“There’s a song on the new record with Corpsegrinder [The Purge]! But I also did a record with [original Cannibal Corpse singer] Chris Barnes, too [One Bullet Left, by Six Feet Under]. So that’s two different variations of the group.” 

What’s your favourite cheese?
Paul Coates-Rutherford, Facebook 

“Another dumb fucking question! American cheese!” 

Do any other rap icons [Ice Cube, Snoop etc.] listen to metal and come to your shows?
Luis Loubriel, Facebook 

“All kinds of rappers come to my shows. Everybody has messed with [metal], whether it’s Chuck [D] with Anthrax, [Ice] Cube using metal licks in his records… But they’ll come see me, I don’t know if they go see anyone else. I had DJ Paul from Three 6 Mafia standing side-stage the other day. At the end of the show he was like, ‘You the only motherfucker really doing this – everyone else is bullshit.’” 

Would you ever get Chuck D on a Body Count track?
Vaughn Dehyle, Facebook 

“We’ve come close. It’s never out of the question because he’s definitely one of the people that inspired me to go down the Body Count path, with his work with Anthrax.” 

Has the anger that gave birth to Cop Killer abated or got worse?
Jim Gordon, Facebook 

“It’s just become more focused. The problem is still there, but the young Ice was just mad and didn’t really know the causes behind the problem. Now I’m very aware of the causes behind the problem, so it’s more focused.” 

What band would you like to tour with the most?
Toni Kauranen, Facebook 

“First, probably Slayer, because we love them. But they’ve retired, so maybe someone like Lamb Of God, because we’re cool with Randy. Maybe other groups similar to us – Biohazard, Hatebreed… we play with them a lot, so a tour with those bands would be cool.” 

What would you tell the 20-year-old version of yourself?
Christopher Thelen, Facebook 

“Wear a condom.” 

Would Body Count ever consider working with an orchestra?
Rob Sierra, Facebook 

“I think some of the best music comes from collab situations, so I’d like to collaborate with an orchestra. On [1997 track] Last Days we used a choir, so that’s a step towards it.” 

Is there a rock artist you would still love to work with given a chance to?
Vinnie Vincent, Facebook 

“All the people I’d loved to have worked with have passed. I was a big Prince fan. I’ve been very fortunate to work with all the people I dig. I’ve met all my heroes.” 

Who do you regret not seeing?
Billy Martin, Facebook 

“I’d love to have seen Jimi Hendrix! I’ve seen all his movies, so just to kick it in a room with him, get the way he saw things. There’s a lot of similarities with us – we were both in the military, for one. He had a very unique worldview.”

Merciless is out now via Sony/Century Media

Steve Hackett shares new live clip of Defector track Jacuzzi

Steve Hackett has shared a new live clip of him performing the track Jacuzzi, originally from his 1980 album Defector.

The new version is taken from Hackett’s upcoming Live Magic At Trading Boundaries, which he will release through InsideOut Music on January 17.

“I’m thrilled to be releasing such a special album of live virtuoso performances over the years at such a magical venue,” Hackett states.

In what has now become something of a tradition for Hackett, he annually performs at the Trading Boundaries venue in Fletching, East Sussex, and the new live release was Hackett presenting stripped-down material, and showcasing his acclaimed classical compositions.

The new live album collects various recordings from these shows from over the years, and also features appearances from regular collaborators including brother John Hackett on flute, Roger King on keys, Rob Townsend on flute sax and Amanda Lehmann on guitar and vocals.

“Somehow, you can feel the special atmosphere through the sound of the music on this new live album, which is a complete contrast to my live rock shows,” Hackett continues. “I love the delicate dreamlike quality of this show with John and Rob interplaying beautifully on flute and sax, interspersed by surprising moments of power, such as the point when Roger’s keys become the sound of a full blown pipe organ!”

The release is timed to coincide with Hackett’s next two live appearances at the venue, on January 18 and 19.

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Live Magic At Trading Boundaries will be available as a limited-edition CD digipak, gatefold 180g 2LP, digital album, mixed by long-time live sound engineer Ben Fenner.

Pre-order Live Magic At Trading Boundaries.

Steve Hackett – Jacuzzi (Live at Trading Boundaries) (VISUALIZER) – YouTube Steve Hackett - Jacuzzi (Live at Trading Boundaries) (VISUALIZER) - YouTube

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“At the time I was very interested in drugs. Drugs was chic.” Blondie’s Debbie Harry on the ‘fashionable’ drug scene she found in 1960s New York

Debbie Harry at Studio 54
Debbie Harry (centre) with friends at Studio 54, June 1979 (Image credit: Sonia Moskowitz/Getty Images)

Before she found fame with Blondie, in the 1960s Debbie Harry was a waitress at Max’s Kansas City and a Bunny Girl at the Playboy Club in Manhattan, giving her the opportunity to mix with artists, writers, models, rock stars, film directors and all manner of creative types. “It was all very middle-class,” she recalled in a 1993 interview with Q magazine. “You were considered an asset.”

As she developed friendships and connections in the city, the New Jersey-raised singer fell into Manhattan’s colourful, bohemian, avant-garde art world, where the normal rules governing ‘straight’ society did not apply.

“Drugs was chic,” Harry recalled to Q‘s Tom Hibbert. “Everybody in New York was fooling around with drugs. That’s just what the scene was like. It wasn’t like today where everybody knows what the implications are and what the results are. It was just a very small, elitist art world. Up in a loft. Look at my pictures! Aren’t they neat? Yeah? OK, let’s do some drugs to celebrate, then. It was just a fashionable situation. The stockbrokers weren’t doing cocaine, only we were doing cocaine. It was just for freaks, and the quantities that are available now weren’t available then. It was the 1960s, man.

“I was doing heroin,” she revealed. “I was taking a serious addictive substance. Actually, I should say, was taking several serious addictive substances. Plural. But, you know, at that time it was part of the scene. Everything was like, Hey, man, this is the latest drug and this is the newest drug and here comes the next drug and you really ought to try this! So I tried it. Whatever it was.”

Post-fame, Harry’s drug taking became less care-free and innocent, as she and her partner, Blondie guitarist Chris Stein, lost everything in the early 1980s and developed serious heroin addictions.

“I think at that point it was a necessary evil,” the singer recalled in a 2019 interview with The Guardian. “To some degree, it was self-medicating. It was a rough, depressing time of life and it seemed to suit the purpose, but then it outlived its benefits.”

Those days are long in the past. In a new interview with The Times, Harry says her only chemical intake as she approaches her 80th birthday is H2O, water.

“I’m pretty clean,” she tells The Times. “But I have a dirty mind.”

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A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne’s private jet, played Angus Young’s Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.

“I’ve been sober for a few years now, so it’s kind of about that”: Jinjer singer Tatiana Shmayluk names her favourite song on upcoming album Duél

Jinjer vocalist Tatiana Shmayluk has named her favourite song on upcoming album Duél.

The frontwoman gives her pick exclusively in the new issue of Metal Hammer, ahead of the record coming out on February 7 via Napalm.

When asked by Hammer writer Stephen Hill if there’s a song on Duél that the Ukrainian band are “particularly proud of”, Shmayluk points to the single Green Serpent, which came out in November.

“[It’s] very special to us,” she explains. “I’ve been sober for a few years now, so it’s kind of about that.”

Matt Heafy and Matt Tuck on the cover on Metal Hammer

(Image credit: Future (Photo: Jake Owens))

Bassist Eugene Abdukhanov also piles praise onto that track. “I actually remember when I heard Tatiana sing that song for the first time,” he adds. “I had tears streaming down my face. I have also been sober for five years now, so it just connected with me. I honestly think it is the best song Jinjer have ever written.”

Duél will be Jinjer’s first studio album in four years, following the release of Wallflowers in 2021. In a 2022 interview, Shmayluk said that the Russian invasion of Ukraine delayed the writing of new material.

“It’s easy for me to write about war when it’s not happening around me,” she told Bloodstock TV. “But when it started, I was absolutely devastated and paralysed creatively. I cannot write about that. I still cannot process that.

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“I think it’s such a great trauma that it takes years and years to process, not only for me but mostly for the citizens of Ukraine, for the victims. I really think that it’s not my time to write another war song right now.”

As late as April 2024, the singer admitted to Metal Hammer that she was still yet to write lyrics. “I confess that I haven’t started writing anything yet,” she said. “I think I will suffer this year with writing lyrics. There’s 99 problems that I have to solve right now – taxes, personal stuff. I honestly can’t find the inspiration to write.”

Nonetheless, Jinjer announced Duél in October and have thus far released four singles from it: Rogue, Someone’s Daughter, Kafka and Green Serpent.

As well as the interview with Jinjer, the new Metal Hammer contains conversations with both Trivium and Bullet For My Valentine as the bands gear up for a co-headline world tour. It also details the 50 albums you need to hear in 2025. Order your copy online now and get it delivered directly to your door.

JINJER – Green Serpent (Official Video) | Napalm Records – YouTube JINJER - Green Serpent (Official Video) | Napalm Records - YouTube

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Trivium x Bullet For My Valentine Metal Hammer issue promo image

(Image credit: Future)

Hear ex-Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo team with wife Paula and current Slayer guitarist Gary Holt to cover Scorpions’ Animal Magnetism

Former Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo has teamed with his wife Paula and current Slayer member Gary Holt to cover Scorpions classic Animal Magnetism.

The Lombardos, using the pseudonym Venamoris, have released the rendition to promote their upcoming album To Cross Or To Burn, out on February 28 via Ipecac. Watch the video below.

The song holds a special place in Dave’s heart, as Scorpions were the first band he ever saw live.

“My first concert was May 25, 1980. Scorpions opening for Ted Nugent’s Scream Dream tour,” he comments. “We (Slayer) had covered a couple Scorpions songs in the early years, but I never would have thought of re-imagining one of their songs at that time. Now it seems like the most natural thing to do.”

The drummer continues: “The idea to recreate Animal Magnetism came to me late one night. I could hear Paula’s sultry voice, the song taking on a slightly industrial feel… and I could fully hear Gary Holt play this insane lead. It’s been really incredible to see this idea come to life.

“To release this at the same time this iconic band is celebrating 60 years is a perfect way for me to thank them for an inspiring first show in 1980… and for all they have contributed since.”

Animal Magnetism is the third single taken from To Cross Or To Burn, following In The Shadows and Spiderweb. As well as Holt, the album is set to feature beloved metal musicians Alex Skolnick (Testament), Trevor Dunn (Mr Bungle) and Ra Diaz (Suicidal Tendencies, Korn).

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Paula says: “To Cross Or To Burn has taken us down a darker, very different path than our first album [2023’s Drown In Emotion]. There’s a confidence in this body of work. An overall vibe of heaviness that was unexpected. Verses of hard truths now bound in acceptance. The soul-searching continues.”

Dave drummed for Slayer from 1981 to 1992, then again from 2001 to 2013. Holt joined the band as a live member in 2011, then permanently in 2013 after the death of longtime guitarist Jeff Lombardo. The band retired in 2019 but returned as a live-only force last year.

Since his Slayer exit, Dave has drummed for the Misfits, Mr Bungle, Dead Cross, Testament and Empire State Bastard. He also released a solo album, Rites Of Percussion, in 2023.

As for Scorpions, the German rock legends will start a Las Vegas residency next month, then will tour South America and Europe. Drummer Mikkey Dee (ex-Motörhead) was recently hospitalised with sepsis but is set to perform at all of the band’s upcoming dates.

Venamoris “Animal Magnetism” – YouTube Venamoris

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Steven Wilson announces screening and shares trailer for new The Overview movie

Steven Wilson has announced a premiere Dolby Atmos screening of the film accompanying his upcoming album, The Overview, which will take place at London’s iconic BFI IMAX cinema on Tuesday February 25 at 6pm (GMT) to be followed by Q&A.

Wilson has also shared a new trailer for the film, which has been produced by collaborator Miles Skarin that features a snippet of music from The Overview.

As Prog announced last month, Wilson will release his eighth solo album The Overview through Fiction Records on March 14.

“It is a 42-minute long journey based on the reported “overview effect”, whereby astronauts seeing the Earth from space undergo a transformative cognitive shift, most often experiencing an overwhelming appreciation and perception of beauty, and an increased sense of connection to other people and the Earth as a whole,” WIlson has explained of the new album. “However, not all experiences are positive; some see the Earth truly for what it is, insignificant and lost in the vastness of space, and the human race as a troubled species. As a reflection of that, the album presents images and stories of life on Earth, both good and bad.””

The album sees Wilson return to a sound that nods to his more progressive past, including classic Porcupine Tree as well as the renowned The Raven That Refused To Sing, the forward-thinking electronics of The Future Bites and the spatial audio vision that ran through 2023’s The Harmony Codex.

“The idea I had immediately suggested something more long-form and conceptual and, dare I say, more progressive,” he says.

With Wilson handling the bulk of the music himself, The Overview also features studio help from regular collaborators Craig Blundell (drums), Adam Holzman (keyboards) and Randy McStine (guitars) alongside a set of lyrics from XTC frontman Andy Partridge.

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Tickets for the film screening are on sale Friday January 10 at 12pm to BFI members and 4m to the general public.

Spatial/Atmos audio versions of The Overview will be available physically and digitally and vinyl versions of The Overview have been specifically mastered at half speed by Miles Showell at Abbey Road.

Pre-order The Overview.

Steven Wilson – The Overview Album Teaser – Out 14th March 2025. – YouTube Steven Wilson - The Overview Album Teaser - Out 14th March 2025. - YouTube

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Steven Wilson

(Image credit: Fiction Records)