Written by The new issue of Metal Hammer has four separate, exclusive covers to collect: Sleep Theory, President, Castle Rat and Paleface Swiss! This is the New Heavy 2026. This is the future of metal.
After finding fame on TikTok, Sleep Theory have been growing and growing – and they won’t stop until they’re the biggest band in the world.
“People would be like, ‘Oh, I want to play Madison Square Garden,’ but I feel like that’s just capping off where I could go,” says singer Cullen Moore. “Why would I sell myself short?”
President, meanwhile. debuted at Download, are shrouded in mystery and have gained a devoted fanbase in less than a year. Can metal’s newest masked band go all the way?
“I’ve already seen people with the President mask as a tattoo,” marvels the President. “I can’t quite believe it, but I think it’s so cool. It shows that we’re building a real community.”
Castle Rat are fronted by a sword-waving, chainmail-bikini-clad barbarian who dies and is reborn onstage each night. It’s fun, and a way for frontwoman Riley Pinkerton to deal with her worries.
“I go onstage, I battle death, I die, and I come back to life – because I don’t want to die,” she says. “It’s funny, because I didn’t set out to make a show about my death anxiety…”
Next-gen boundary-pushers Paleface Swiss are rewiring metal for 2026, challenging toxic masculinity in the scene, sometimes via frontman Zelli snogging his own bandmates on stage.
“Why do we kiss onstage? Why not?” he shrugs. “‘I like you. You like me. Let’s have fun. A little smooch. Thank you for being here.’ If you have a problem with us doing that, fuck off.”
Elsewhere in the magazine, we count down the 30 greatest albums of the 2020s…so far. Did your favourite make the cut?
We also go wild in LA with Avatar, look back at 40 years of aggression with Kreator, and speak to Dream Theater’s Mike Portnoy about Rush, Avenged Sevenfold, and sausages?!
Alter Bridge explain why Open Your Eyes helped lift them from the ashes of Creed, and Kittie’s Morgan Lander delivers her life lessons on childhood bar gigs, female rage… and why beautiful bitches always know best.
Plus, we find out why Gaerea’s mysterious masked Vocalist secretly loves Linkin Park, go inside Children Of Bodom’s live reunion and meet upcoming misfit metallers – and surprise Robbie Williams fans – The Hara.
All this, along with Rob Zombie, Converge, Puscifer, Sabaton, Orange Goblin, Ice Nine Kills, Thornhill and much, much more.
Only in the new issue of Metal Hammer, on sale now. Order it online and have it delivered straight to your door
