''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by

Future The future is the time after the past and present. Its arrival is considered inevitable due to the existence of time and the laws of physics. Due to the apparent nature of reality and the unavoidability of the future, everything that current ...

, with other language editions available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' features news, reviews and long-form articles covering both major and underground bands in heavy metal, as well as covering rock,

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of ...

and other alternative music genres.

Publication History

Wilfried F. Rimensberger conceived ''Metal Hammer'' in 1983, taking the idea of a rock magazine publishing in different languages to Jürgen Wigginghaus, publisher of the German magazine ''MusikSzene'', where Rimensberger was chief editor. Wigginghaus helped launch the German edition of ''Metal Hammer'' soon after, while Rimensberger launched the flagship, English language version from London in November 1986, installing Harry Doherty, formerly of ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'', as editor. The magazine would grow to be published in 11 different languages around the world, including local language editions in Israel, Japan, Serbia, Spain, The Netherlands, Italy, Poland, Hungary and France, also becoming the first Western youth publication in the Soviet Union. ''Metal Hammer'' UK changed owners several times between the early 90s and late 2010s. It was bought by

Dennis Publishing Dennis Publishing Ltd. was a British publisher. It was founded in 1973 by Felix Dennis. Its first publication was a kung-fu magazine. Most of its titles now belong to Future plc. In the 1980s, it became a leading publisher of computer enthusi ...

in 1994, where it remained for six years before being sold to

in 2000. In 2013, start-up publisher TeamRock bought the magazine alongside sister titles ''Classic Rock'' and ''Prog'', before Future bought all three brands back following the collapse of TeamRock in December 2016. In 2018, Future launched ''Louder'', a new 'parent brand' for ''Metal Hammer'', ''Classic Rock'' and ''Prog'' that would house all three magazines' respective websites. ''Metal Hammer'' Germany was sold to

Axel Springer SE Axel Springer SE () is a German digital and popular periodical publishing house which is the largest in Europe, with numerous multimedia news brands, such as '' Bild'', ''Die Welt'', and '' Fakt'' and more than 15,000 employees. It generated t ...

in 1999.

Brand Extensions

Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards

The Golden Gods Awards were established in 2003 by then-editor Chris Ingham, designed to commemorate the biggest and most exciting names in heavy metal. The annual ceremony, featuring band performances in front of a live crowd, took place from 2003-2018. Over the course of 15 years, the likes of

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harr ...

Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock band formed in London in 1975 by Lemmy (lead vocals, bass), Larry Wallis (guitar) and Lucas Fox (drums). Lemmy was also the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band are often considered a prec ...

, Slipknot, Tony Iommi,

Brian May Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and astrophysicist, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen. May was a co-founder of Queen with lead singer Freddie Mercury and ...

Dave Mustaine David Scott Mustaine (born September 13, 1961) is an American musician. He is the co-founder, lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and primary songwriter of the thrash metal band Megadeth, as well as their sole consistent member. Mustaine has rele ...

Rob Zombie Rob Zombie (born Robert Bartleh Cummings; January 12, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, filmmaker, and voice actor. His music and lyrics are notable for their horror and sci-fi themes, and his live shows have be ...

Bill Bailey Mark Robert Bailey (born 13 January 1965), known professionally as Bill Bailey, is an English musician, comedian and actor. He is known for his role as Manny in the sitcom '' Black Books'' and his appearances on the panel shows '' Never Mind th ...

Chris Jericho Christopher Keith Irvine (born November 9, 1970), better known by the ring name Chris Jericho, is an American-Canadian professional wrestler and singer. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is the leader of the Jerich ...

and more either performed or appeared at the awards.

Podcasts and radio shows

''The Metal Hammer Podcast'' was launched in 2009, originally presented by ''Metal Hammer'' staff members James Gill and Terry Bezer and covering weekly news and events from the world of metal, as well as reviews of new albums from prominent artists. It'd go on to be presented by Merlin Alderslade, Stephen Hill and Amit Sharma, before being put on hold in 2013 as ''Metal Hammer'' launched ''The Metal Hammer Radio Show'' on TeamRock's newly founded digital radio station. The radio show continued until 2018, when it was taken off air. In 2016, ''Metal Hammer'' launched a limited ''...In Residence'' series in partnership with

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active use ...

, presented by Alderslade, Luke Morton and then-''Metal Hammer'' editor-in-chief, Alexander Milas. The show produced six episodes featuring exclusive interviews with major metal artists, including Iron Maiden and

Bring Me The Horizon Bring Me the Horizon (often abbreviated as BMTH) are a British rock band formed in Sheffield in 2004. The group consists of lead vocalist Oliver Sykes, guitarist Lee Malia, bassist Matt Kean, drummer Matt Nicholls and keyboardist Jordan Fis ...

. After a five-year hiatus, ''The Metal Hammer Podcast'' returned in 2018, hosted by Alderslade, Morton and Eleanor Goodman, staying on air for four more years before going back on hiatus in 2022.

Magazines in other territories

There remain Greek and Italian ''Metal Hammer'' publications, while Portuguese and Japanese editions of the publication were launched in 2019 and 2020 respectively. In Germany, ''Metal Hammer'' is still published by Axel Springer SE.

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1983 establishments in the United Kingdom Axel Springer SE British heavy metal music Monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom Music magazines published in the United Kingdom Heavy metal publications Magazines established in 1983 Magazines published in London