Interviews

This month, in honor of Saxon's 22nd studio album, Thunderbolt, Metal Nation selected the NWOBHM pioneers as our Artist of the Month. Over the years I have had the good fortune to share a number of conversations with Saxon frontman Biff…

A linear conversation with Black Label Society founder Zakk Wylde is a mathematical improbability. The bent-string berserker is simply not wired that way. Ask him about the band's new album, Grimmest Hits, and he'll tell you about Mount…

Four years removed from the debut Mike Lepond's Silent Assassins album, the Symphony X bassist returns with his second solo effort, alongside vocalist and fellow Assassin Alan Tecchio. The new record, Pawn and Prophecy serves as a…

Jason McMaster may be most remembered for fronting mid-80’s metal collective, Dangerous Toys. The band broke in 1989 with its debut record spawning the hits “Scared” and “Teas’n Pleas’n.” Prior to and following Dangerous Toys' era of…

The 80s were heady time for heavy metal in the San Francisco Bay Area. Thrash would emerge along with Americanized speed and power metal. This is where I would first discover Dave Starr. From the first demo for speed-thrash monsters, Lääz…

Three decades is a long time for a fan to wait for their favorite band's debut album. It is perhaps even more torturous for the musicians that have to watch the band they created be torn apart on the cusp of a breakthrough and to sit…

The United States has primarily been known as the home of thrash metal, but Canada has delivered its own worthy contributions as well, with Ottawa’s Annihilator being the genre’s undisputed leader. Founded by vocalist and guitarist Jeff…

Max Cavalera and Soulfly are currently tearing up the road performing Nailbomb’s entire 1994 album, Point Blank. This follows Max and brother Igor Cavalera doing their own Return to Roots tour, which will reconvene in November for a final…

Pänzer is back with its sophomore album, Fatal Command, and this time the guys have gone back to their early roots as fans to tap into the vibe of the NWOBHM and traditional metal sound that influenced their own bands. Pänzer was born in…

hen drummer Shawn Drover and guitarist Chris Broderick made their sudden departure from Megadeth in 2014, many thought they might have lost their minds, yet the duo knew exactly what they were doing. From that fateful decision, Act of…