What a Fucking ride

The fact that in one night we saw the likes of Tom Morello,

Chuck D, Chris Jericho, Devin

Townsend, Mastodon, Gojira,

The Dillinger Escape Plan and Tony Fucking Iommi walk out on the same stage was amazing enough. That it came barely six months after we didn’t know if we’d ever see Hammer again made it quite remarkable.

Thank you to everyone who made this year’s Golden Gods possible – it was a victory not just for Hammer, but for all of us. When we come together, amazing things happen, and you can bank on plenty more of those to be coming your way very soon.

And speaking of amazing, what an absolute supernova of a human being is Corey Taylor. Who could have predicted that the angst-ridden, venom-spitting beast of a man that came crashing into our world almost two decades ago would end up being one of rock music’s most recognisable, celebrated and, um, memed personalities ever? But is it finally all going to his head? As a controversial new Stone Sour album lands on our laps, go and read Luke Morton’s fascinating interview with Corey and Stone Sour VP Josh Rand to find out what the hell’s going on.

Oh, and we also managed to skip to New York to hang out with Avenged Sevenfold, find out what drove Employed To Serve to create one of the most visceral albums of 2017, catch up with In This Moment, big up the mighty Decapitated, go to Danzig’s own festival and much, much more. That’s just what we do.

Finally, though, horns up for Chris Cornell. A mercurial talent who helped shape our world and whose loss was sudden, shocking and a sobering reminder that we should all look out for each other and appreciate the time we have. We asked Hammer legend and close friend of Chris, Mörat, to pen a special, personal tribute to the Soundgarden legend. He did us – and him – proud

Stay safe, and....