Heavy Metal is an American science fiction and fantasy comics magazine, known primarily for its blend of dark fantasy/science fiction and erotica. Download Heavy Metal Magazine – 1986 All Issue Follow. Learn about the best heavy metal magazines from the United States and elsewhere in the world with this list. Learn about the best heavy metal magazines from the United States and elsewhere in the world with this list. Best Heavy Metal Magazines. Search the site GO. Heavy Metal Reviews Top Picks Rock.
Learning about your favorite bands on the internet is fine, but there's nothing like holding an actual magazine in your hands and reading the latest interviews, news, and reviews. Unfortunately, several excellent metal magazines have folded in the past few years, but there are still some good ones still left.
Decibel
Decibel has only been around for a few years and has already established themselves as the premiere extreme music magazine. Editor Albert Mudrian has assembled an outstanding writing staff, and in addition to the usual interviews and reviews, Decibel does investigative and historic articles as well.
Their Hall Of Fame articles are great, where they select an album for induction and interview all the band members about that album. It stands far above the pack when it comes to American metal magazines.
Metal Hammer
The UK has several really good metal magazines, and this is the best one. In addition to interesting columns, reviews, and interviews, they also have a section covering up and coming and extreme bands.
The size of the magazine is also larger, which allows for bigger photos and a better layout of content. Some legendary metal writers lend their talents to Metal Hammer, who also seem to be able to uncover the next generation of great writers.
Terrorizer
This is another UK magazine, but it is readily available in most major bookstores. It covers more extreme and underground artists than Metal Hammer. They have a ton of live reviews in addition to the CD reviews and interviews.
Terrorizer is a magazine on the rise. The quality of writing and photography has really improved in the past few years, and they have become one of the definitive metal magazines.
Revolver
This is probably the most commercial of the magazines listed here in terms of layout and content. They also include posters and stickers in their issues along with columns from artists such as Lzzy Hale from Halestorm.
It's easy to read and they are able to get interviews with some pretty major artists. Their annual 'Hottest Chicks In Metal' issue has quickly become very popular, but also drawn criticism.
Zero Tolerance
Zero Tolerance is a British magazine that's been around for a few years now. It's harder to find in the United States than magazines like Metal Hammer and Terrorizer, and its physical size is smaller than the usual magazine, although the number of pages is well over 100 each issue. The small print can be difficult for old guys like me to read.
They have tons of album and live reviews, along with interviews. Those interviews tend to be with more extreme and underground bands, although a few more well known and maintream artists also get coverage.
Heavy Metal Magazine Pdf free download. software
Kerrang
This is another UK publication, and by far the most mainstream and the most British of those mentioned here. The British style seems to be a lot more hype driven, which makes for both high praise and scathing criticism.
The artists covered are pretty similar to US publications, although you will naturally get a few more European bands in Kerrang. They also mix in both rock and metal bands.
In making a time capsule of the late 20th century, one would be remiss if they did not include at least an issue or two of Heavy Metal magazine. Yes, it specialized in unapologetically turning women in metal bras into sex objects. The gleeful amount of T&A on its covers, surrounded by spaceships, swords, and sorcery, mark it as a relic of its era that appealed to a specific demographic. But Heavy Metal was much more than sexy sci-fi mascots drawn in lurid pulpy styles. Along with its share of erotica, the “adult illustrated fantasy magazine” provided a vivid showcase for some of the most interesting artists and storytellers working in the mainstream and in various subgenres of fantasy and sci-fi. (It continues to do so.)
Debuting in 1977, the year of the first Star Wars film, Heavy Metal was not named after the brand of guitar rock pioneered by Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, though there’s an obvious influence, but after a French magazine that started two years earlier called Métal hurlant, or literally “Howling Metal.” (We've featured it here on OC before.) When publisher Leonard Mogel decided to adapt the original for an American readership, he changed the name, but kept the content, republishing work by Jean Giraud—the artist better known as Moebius—and many other accomplished European illustrators.
Founded and staffed by the creators of National Lampoon, the magazine later featured original work from artists like H.R. Giger, interviews with Dennis Hopper, John Waters, Francis Ford Coppola, John Carpenter, Roger Corman, and even Federico Fellini; and with musicians like the Eurythmics and Debbie Harry. It ran popular serialized stories, showcased graphic literary adaptations (of Paradise Lost, for example), and published authors like Ray Bradbury, Stephen King, and other heavies. Rock, comics, film, and fiction all got their due in between the magazine’s extravagant pinup covers, many of which inspired the art painted on the side of many a carpeted van in the 70s.
You can see a sizable collection of scanned Heavy Metal magazines, from the first, 1977 issue to the mid-90s, at the Internet Archive. Part of Archive.org’s extensive “Magazine Rack,” a digital library of thousands of scanned periodicals, the Heavy Metal collection was launched in 2012 by archivist Jason Scott. Though it doesn’t contain the magazine’s complete run by any means, it offers a broad enough sampling of all of its major themes and tendencies.
Heavy Metal’s interests are very focused, one might say, but the few things the magazine does, and has done since 1977, it has done exceptionally well. Enter the archive here.
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Josh Jones is a writer and musician based in Durham, NC. Follow him at @jdmagness