We might have lost metal’s founding fathers, but the next generation proved that the music lives on

Forget the Cheeto-in-Chief – masked marvels President won the public vote as the buzz band of 2025

Featuring tributes to curry and fantasy battles involving… rats?! here are all the records our critics loved this year

Inspired by Rammstein and Cirque du Soleil, their 20th anniversary tour pulled out all the stops

A RETRO REVIVAL, ‘TICKET TRAVEL’, INDIGENOUS FIRSTS — THESE ARE AMONG THE KEY TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS SET TO INFLUENCE THE YEAR AHEAD. WORDS: QIN XIE

Conquering London’s 02 Arena and the US charts, the kawaii metallers went from strength to strength. Kon! Kon!