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REVEALED: Nwobhm | Rare Historical Photos

Ten albums that prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that 1980 was the greatest year ever for hard rock and heavy metal

Ozzy reborn! AC/DC back! Iron Maiden on the prowl! 1980 rocked

Metal Hammer

“We were labelled ‘the new Led Zeppelin’. I mean, wow! But it was a blessing and a curse. There could never be another Led Zeppelin, just like there could never be another Beatles”: The strange tale of a great rock band that had it all – and then blew it

As one critic said, this band had “more good riffs in one song than there are in the first four Black Sabbath albums”

MusicRadar

In Memoriam: A tribute to the musicians we lost in 2025

Musicians who travelled up to the great gig in the sky in 2025 include Ozzy Osbourne, Brian Wilson, Ace Frehley, Sly Stone, Marianne Faithfull and many more

Louder

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"It's not hard to see why they got left behind by Iron Maiden, Def Leppard and Saxon": Praying Mantis fail to surf the NWOBHM wave on Time Tells No Lies

Life at the melodic end of the hard rock spectrum was not always kind

Louder

4 brilliant new metal bands you need to hear this month

Deathcore newcomers Face Yourself, NWOBHM revivalists Seven Sisters, bone-faced black metallers Abduction and videogame inspired alt metallers Luna Kills, these are the new metal bands you need to hear in November 2025

Metal Hammer

The story of every metal album to hit number one in the UK

From Iron Maiden to Sleep Token, here's every single time metal topped the album charts in the UK

Metal Hammer

30 rock and metal songs that defined the 1980s

From AC/DC and Iron Maiden to Guns N’ Roses and Faith No More, this is the soundtrack to a decade

Metal Hammer

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Founding Angel Witch bassist Kevin Riddles dead at 68

NWOBHM pioneer Kevin Riddles was also a member of Tytan, Paul Samson's Empire and Baphomet

Metal Hammer

“He said, ‘I’ve never seen so many women in my life. We just get men at our gigs”: The night Iron Maiden’s Steve Harris joined Def Leppard to cover Creedence Clearwater Revival

This one-off union of two British rock superstars actually happened

Louder

“What did we get for being innovative? We got slaughtered by everyone. That’s what you face for trying something new”: How Saxon made Crusader, the album that marked the end of their early 80s glory years

Biff Byford looks back on Saxon’s divisive 1984 album Crusader

Metal Hammer

"A five-year spell that did a fine job of revitalising one of rock's finest frontmen": The albums that found Ian Gillan riding NWOBHM's slipstream into the charts, together at last

Deep Purple survivor Ian Gillan’s career-reviving vehicle rides again across seven discs on 1978-1982

Louder

"Gary Moore may have been many things but he was no Paul Rodgers": Gary Moore finds grit but lacks groove on Corridors Of Power

In which former Thin Lizzy guitarist Gary Moore attempts to forge a new career in the post-NWOBHM rock landscape and also writes some ballads

Louder

Former Thin Lizzy and Whitesnake guitarist John Sykes dead at 65

The death of John Sykes, whose contributions to Whitesnake spurred them to become one of the biggest-selling bands of the eighties, has been confirmed

Metal Hammer

“We were the biggest of our generation of metal bands. We’d done it through hard graft and killer songs. None of that trendy image rubbish”: How Saxon’s Wheels Of Steel turned them into the NWOBHM’s first stars

No band did more than Saxon to put the NWOBHM on the map

Metal Hammer

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“Too big for our boots? We were a bunch of kids destined for factory life. We were not going to screw this up”: The tempestuous story of Def Leppard’s High ’N’ Dry, the album that turned them into US stars

1981’s High ’N’ Dry was the record that introduced Def Leppard to America – and changed things for ever

Metal Hammer

"Paul was read the riot act, and given the chance to put things right. But he didn't put things right": The story of Iron Maiden - the Paul Di'Anno years

As the 1980s dawned, Iron Maiden were about to record their debut album. It was the start of a journey that would launch them into the stratosphere, but there were some massive hurdles to overcome first

Metal Hammer

“Am I Evil? was me trying to beat Black Sabbath’s Symptom Of The Universe. I was determined to come up with something heavier”: The story of Diamond Head’s Lightning To The Nations, the cult album that invented Metallica

Diamond Head’s Lightning To The Nations should have turned them into NWOBHM-era superstars, but instead it inspired Lars Ulrich to start his own band

Louder

Fill your heads with heavy metal thunder: The Saxon albums you should definitely listen to

Almost 50 years on from their formation, NWOBHM spearheads Saxon and much-loved frontman Biff Byford are verging on national treasure status – and these are their best albums

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“We weren’t trying to better Iron Maiden. We were trying to better Michael Jackson!”: The metal fan’s guide to Def Leppard

From the NWOBHM to the world – how Def Leppard became one of the biggest British rock bands of all time

Metal Hammer

“A lot of us didn’t like each other back in the day. Slayer were hard-ass. They didn’t even get along with Metallica”: Why Hirax’s Katon W De Pena is one of thrash metal’s great unsung heroes

Hirax frontman Katon W De Pena was there at the birth of thrash – and he’s still passionately flying the flag today

Metal Hammer

The 100 songs that changed metal

From founding fathers like Black Sabbath, Rainbow and Judas Priest to metal's modern leaders such as Ghost, Sleep Token and Spiritbox, these are the songs that have defined a genre

Metal Hammer

"Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong": Praying Mantis once vied with Iron Maiden for attention, but setbacks and bad decisions took them on a very different journey

Praying Mantis ran alongside Iron Maiden in the early days of the NWOBHM race, but only Maiden shot to fame

Metal Hammer

“We took influences from the New York hardcore scene. Our stuff was faster than in the Bay Area”: the 100mph story of East Coast thrash

The inside story of 80s thrash’s great East Coast vs West Coast rivalry

Louder

“Often derided as a huge error by the NWOBHM heroes, it’s the start of an artistic journey that was never taken further:” Diamond Head’s dalliance with pure prog on Canterbury

Visionaries Sean Harris and Brian Tatler came up with something so demanding they had to change rhythm section - which only served to confuse diehard fans

Metal Hammer

10 brilliant but overlooked records turning 40 this year

1984 was the year that metal broke big in America, but these 10 albums don't always get the dues they deserve

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