METAL HAMMER #418 October 2026

NIGHTWISH ON THE COVER 

BRAND NEW. 108 PAGES

FROM THE PUBLISHERS:

Celebrating their 30th anniversary, symphonic metal heroes Nightwish are on the cover of Metal Hammer. We travel to the small Finnish town of Kitee, where it all began. Known for moonshine and now riffs, Tuomas Holopainen and Floor Jansen reflect on a journey that’s involved everything from controversial singer swaps to opulent royal banquets. Kitee is also home to the world’s only dedicated Nightwish museum, and Tuomas gives us a personal tour of the items from the band’s career that are showcased there.

 Also in this issue, we recall the demons, gremlins and, er, erections involved in making and releasing Slayer’s infamous Reign In Blood. In This Moment frontwoman Maria Brink gets The Hammer Interview Treatment, explaining what it was like to be a teen mom, how she moved to Los Angeles at 25 to pursue her musical dreams – and why she’s always felt like a witch. Atreyu are our guides at Amsterdam’s massive MagiCon, the Magic: The Gathering convention bringing together fans of wizards, spells and… metalcore? Satyricon reveal how they ended up playing a fashion show, Orbit Culture frontman Niklas Karlsson explains how he went from working in a slaughterhouse to playing on a stage, and Swedish metalcore innovators Imminence tell us how they invented a new genre: violincore. 

Elsewhere, Beartooth’s Caleb Shomo opens up about living as his authentic self after coming out to his fans via social media, and Tony Iommi takes us inside his first solo album in 20 years. Legendary director/composer John Carpenter confesses that he’d love to direct a video for Metallica, and Bimbocore inventor Scene Queen talks boobs, Botox and Britney. All this, along with Cancer Bats, Saint Agnes, Amon Amarth, Anthrax, Tom Morello, Chelsea Wolfe, Powerwolf, our big Bloodstock review and much, much more.