Cover Story

The Cover Story

Avenged Sevenfold: “We want to make a roadmap to show artists that there’s a better way”

Ahead of the band’s third headline performance at Download this weekend, and one year on from the release of brain-bending eighth album Life Is But A Dream…, M. Shadows is, well, living the dream right now. And having successfully found the freedom he’s always wanted for Avenged Sevenfold, he’s now focussed on showing other artists how they too can own their future…

The Cover Story

LØLØ: “I’m either heartbroken or anxious! There is nothing else”

With the release of falling for robots and wishing i was one, LØLØ has delivered one of the best debut records of 2024. Here, the Toronto pop-punk talks about the journey she’s been on to make it – from heartache and mental breakdowns, to hanging out with Green Day and tackling online trolls head on…

The Cover Story

Bring Me The Horizon: “The way we’re doing stuff now, it feels like I’m making art again, for art’s sake”

We’ve waited long enough: NeX GEn has finally arrived, and with it, a whole new chapter for Bring Me The Horizon. It’s taken a lot to get here, but it’s only made Britain’s biggest band even stronger. And, as Oli Sykes takes us inside BMTH 2024, it’s leading them into a golden age…

The Cover Story

Maynard James Keenan: “If you’re not putting yourself in the space where the breakthrough can happen, you’re not going to have one”

After a 60th birthday celebration for the ages and ahead of a Fear Inoculum victory lap around the UK, Maynard James Keenan reflects on a life on the cutting edge of heavy music, how his priorities have changed with age, why he’ll never actually retire, and who would win in a fight between him and Mark Zuckerberg…

The Cover Story

Gatecreeper: “Death metal is sacred, and you’re passing it from generation to generation… a lot of genres don’t have that”

A decade ago, Gatecreeper were a bunch of misfit metal maniacs from Arizona. Now, they’re being hailed as death metal’s new leaders. On the eve of their excellent third album, Dark Superstition, the Sonoran Desert crew explain how they’re seizing the moment, the importance of preserving the scene, and the peace-giving qualities of music’s goriest movement…

The Cover Story

SOFT PLAY: “We need to do this together… the magic of our band is both of us”

Following the hiatus of Slaves, a trifecta of time, therapy and trauma sought to bond the brothers Laurie Vincent and Isaac Holman back together, repairing their fractured friendship and reigniting that creative fire once more. Under their new guise of SOFT PLAY, and superb new album Heavy Jelly, the duo are finally embracing what they wanted to be all along – whether you like it not…

The Cover Story

Zeal & Ardor: “The more music we put into this world, the more obvious it becomes who we really are”

Over the last decade, Zeal & Ardor has grown from a niche experiment inspired by a bigoted shitpost into one of the most exciting and invigorating outfits in avant-garde metal. With fearless fourth album GREIF, Manuel Gagneux is still broadening horizons, thumbing his nose to genre convention and inviting his bandmates into the studio to make their boldest statement yet…

The Cover Story

Knocked Loose: “Sacrificing heaviness was never an option… As this band grows, it only gets more uncomfortable and extreme”

Modern hardcore’s most uncompromising heavyweights, Knocked Loose have been swinging at extreme music’s glass ceiling for over a decade now. But having boiled four years of suffering, uncertainty and self-discovery into awesome third album You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To, the Kentucky crew are armed to brutally break through…

The Cover Story

Wage War: “There’s nothing better than seeing your fans connect to music you feel proud to have made”

After three years away, Floridian metalcore faves Wage War are back with new album STIGMA. In a world-exclusive first interview, we catch up with Briton Bond and Cody Quistad to get the lowdown on one of the scene’s biggest albums of the year, and why they’re all about having fun every step of the way…

The Cover Story

Bob Vylan: “Our work is never done – the job is never complete”

On release day for their sensational third album Humble As The Sun, we get in the van with Bob Vylan as they tear through two sold-out shows, and find a band focused not just on success but how to channel the power of love, community and independence...

The Cover Story

Graphic Nature: “We’re grateful for everything, because in a second it can be taken away”

Just over a year on from their gripping debut album, Kent metallers Graphic Nature are set to out-do themselves with upcoming follow-up Who Are You When No One Is Watching? Despite their undeniable rise, though, behind-the-scenes frontman Harvey Freeman has been battling PTSD, and has experienced a “wake-up call” to truly seize the day…

The Cover Story

SeeYouSpaceCowboy: “This is the uncensored, no-holds-barred version of us”

San Diego sasscore stars SeeYouSpaceCowboy are no strangers to turmoil and destruction. Where 2021 breakout LP The Romance Of Affliction looked brutally inwards, though, upcoming third album Coup De Grâce takes a more “playful” approach as the world falls apart around us. For the band’s Cover Story debut, Connie Sgarbossa lifts the lid on the record, talking creativity, cabaret and pure chaos…

The Cover Story

Sum 41: “If there’s one record that defines who we are, it’s this one”

In just under a year’s time, Sum 41 will be no more. But before the Canadian pop-punk legends call it a day, they’ve got a huge tour, not to mention this month’s outstanding final album. For one last time as Kerrang! cover stars, Deryck Whibley and Jason ‘Cone’ McCaslin reflect on their decision, what they’ll do next, and how right now the band are “the best we’ve ever been”…

The Cover Story

Kid Kapichi: “Things might get worse before they get better – but they will get better”

Emerging from one of the murkiest periods in modern politics, Kid Kapichi’s brand of in-your-face social realism has electrified listeners with its unbowed attitude and punchy clarity of purpose. On third album There Goes The Neighbourhood, the Hastings quartet underline that, as we face a lacklustre election year, real power will always lie with the people...

The Cover Story

While She Sleeps: “We’ve been grinding for a long time, and we’re in a really good place”

For almost 20 years, While She Sleeps have given everything to achieve their dream. Through multiple throat surgeries, untold miles travelled, and restructuring the very business in which they operate, a lifetime of grit and graft is paying off. And with new album SELF HELL, they’re poised to take the next step in their constant, unwavering ascendancy by any means necessary…

The Cover Story

NOAHFINNCE: “There’s always going to be people that can’t see me as anything more than an influencer, but they’re not worth worrying about”

Having spent nearly a decade baring his soul online, now NOAHFINNCE is finally ready to do it through his music. And with debut album GROWING UP ON THE INTERNET he’s pulling no punches, showing the world that he was born to do this while opening up about everything from transphobia to mental health…

Back Next

Avenged Sevenfold: “We want to make a roadmap to show artists that there’s a better way”

LØLØ: “I’m either heartbroken or anxious! There is nothing else”

Bring Me The Horizon: “The way we’re doing stuff now, it feels like I’m making art again, for art’s sake”

Maynard James Keenan: “If you’re not putting yourself in the space where the breakthrough can happen, you’re not going to have one”

Gatecreeper: “Death metal is sacred, and you’re passing it from generation to generation… a lot of genres don’t have that”

SOFT PLAY: “We need to do this together… the magic of our band is both of us”

Zeal & Ardor: “The more music we put into this world, the more obvious it becomes who we really are”

Knocked Loose: “Sacrificing heaviness was never an option… As this band grows, it only gets more uncomfortable and extreme”

Wage War: “There’s nothing better than seeing your fans connect to music you feel proud to have made”

Bob Vylan: “Our work is never done – the job is never complete”

Graphic Nature: “We’re grateful for everything, because in a second it can be taken away”

SeeYouSpaceCowboy: “This is the uncensored, no-holds-barred version of us”

Sum 41: “If there’s one record that defines who we are, it’s this one”

Kid Kapichi: “Things might get worse before they get better – but they will get better”

While She Sleeps: “We’ve been grinding for a long time, and we’re in a really good place”

NOAHFINNCE: “There’s always going to be people that can’t see me as anything more than an influencer, but they’re not worth worrying about”

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