Features

Meet Maruja, the most essential new band in Britain

Celebrating the release of remarkable debut album Pain To Power, breakout jazz punks Maruja discuss improvisation, the rejection of hatred, and why their live show needs to be seen to be believed…

How BABYMETAL broke boundaries and pioneered the kawaii metal genre

BABYMETAL are the biggest exponents of kawaii metal. It’s cute, it’s heavy, it’s massive – and it’s got more history than you think. With our heroines having kicked the door open, here we delve into its culture and hyperreal visuals…

Die Spitz: “Women are raised to be prim, proper, quiet and small, but if you want to be successful, you’ve got to be loud and take up space”

Fast-rising Texan crew Die Spitz just might be your new favourite band. We meet the future superstars to talk channelling Nirvana and Black Sabbath, writing empowerment anthems and wielding sharp objects…

Welcome back to Trench: Unpacking twenty one pilots’ new album Breach

The more we listen, the more we’ll inevitably learn about twenty one pilots’ lore and the end of this epic story. But on Breach release day, here’s what the album reveals so far…

“I’m not joking, it single-handedly started Bleed From Within”: Scott Kennedy on the album that changed his life

Bleed From Within wouldn’t be here without The Black Dahlia Murder. Scott Kennedy recalls how the Michigan maulers’ 2003 debut set him on a path that would alter his life entirely…

“This definitely feels like the start of something”: The story of Bring Me The Horizon’s That’s The Spirit

Ten years ago, riding high off the back of their 2014 Wembley Arena headliner, Bring Me The Horizon got to work on a new album in secret. In this reprint of the band’s Kerrang! cover feature from the time, they talked self-analysis, success and jetting off to Santorini…

“They’ve taken a f*cking big risk”: Our original 2015 review of Bring Me The Horizon’s That’s The Spirit

How do you follow an album like Sempiternal? On September 11, 2015, Bring Me The Horizon showed the world that they weren’t interested in recreating that record: they were going somewhere new entirely…

As It Is: “There was something really exciting about finding out what we have to say on the other side of the pain”

Returning with their first proper single in seven years, As It Is are back with Lose Your Way & Find Yourself. Patty Walters and Ben Langford-Biss invite K! to their Brighton hometown to talk healing, happiness and just how damn good it feels to be together again.

twenty one pilots: Here’s everything you need to know ahead of new album Breach

As twenty one pilots wrap up their incredible, decade-long lore with eighth album Breach, we look back at what’s gone down in the world of Trench so far…

A picture of rap-metal duo ho99o9 in atmospheric lighting

From parenthood to politics: Why Ho99o9 are finally confronting themselves

As new album Tomorrow We Escape arrives, Ho99o9’s gruesome twosome Yeti Bones and theOGM take us inside their most personal record yet, the reasons to break free, and the intricacies of potty training…

“We’ve had the best moments of our lives, but also some of the darkest and most challenging”: Inside Speed’s poignant new EP

Slingshotting from the Sydney underground onto the world stage with seismic debut ONLY ONE MODE, there’s been a lot to celebrate for Speed over the last couple of years. But it’s made the experience of losing friends and processing grief feel complicated and confused. Jem Siow tells us how new EP ALL MY ANGELS captures the clarity and catharsis they’ve been craving…

La Dispute: “The unintended consequence of things getting this bad is that we remember the importance of community and protecting each other”

As La Dispute’s new album No One Was Driving The Car makes its way into the world, the post-hardcore mainstays contemplate the universality of human emotion, the devastating impact of capitalism, and that – ultimately – most people are working toward a better future…

“They’ve worked so hard for this”: Inside the biggest summer of Sleep Token’s lives

With the giant first three shows of their Even In Arcadia era still etched into thousands of fans’ minds, and before Sleep Token cross the pond to begin their headline tour this autumn, we unpack Vessel’s mind-blowing new reality…

“My mate found me naked, unconscious, covered in blood and sick”: 20 Questions with Rob Damiani

Don Broco frontman Rob Damiani faces K!’s 20 Questions, tackling fear, heroes, food, and why you should put a hat on if you’re going out in the sun…

“I promise, somewhere in there is this glimmer of hope”: Why Softcult’s debut album is a story of self-reclamation

After unveiling its narrative arc with Pill To Swallow, Naive and latest single 16/25, Softcult have finally announced their debut album, When A Flower Doesn’t Grow. In an exclusive interview, the Canadian twin siblings explain why it represents a transformation from “radicalisation and realisation” towards empowerment – with a vital reminder that there’s always light at the end of the tunnel…

Lorna Shore: “The band’s growing so fast that it’s hard to keep your hands on the wheel. Sometimes you’ve got to let it drag you around”

Since the recruitment of the demonic-voiced dynamo Will Ramos, Lorna Shore’s ascension to the top of the metal mountain has been rapid, with blistering festival sets and sell-out shows. As they prepare to unleash another dose of hellfire in I Feel The Everblack Festering Within Me, the fearless frontman takes us inside the personal trauma that feeds the record, and why they’re breaking free of expectation…

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