''Metal Forces'' is a British heavy metal and

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

music publication founded in 1983. It was well known for its coverage of unsigned bands through its ''Demolition'' feature and championed the likes of

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

Slayer Slayer is an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California, formed in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style made them ...

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist and guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal—alo ...

, HellsBelles, Overkill,

Death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...

and

Poison A poison is any chemical substance that is harmful or lethal to living organisms. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figurati ...

long before they had secured record deals. They are credited as contributing in this fashion to the success of the band

Anacrusis In poetic and musical meter, and by analogy in publishing, an anacrusis (from , , literally: 'pushing up', plural ''anacruses'') is a brief introduction. In music, it is also known as a pickup beat, or fractional pick-up, i.e. a note or seque ...

. Dave Reynolds, a former writer for ''Metal Forces'', has claimed that the magazine was the first to coin the terms

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, ...

and

death metal Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...

. A ''Metal Forces'' compiled vinyl album, ''Demolition – Scream Your Brains Out!'', based on the magazine's popular ''Demolition'' column, was released in 1988 through Chain Reaction Records featuring Anacrusis,

Atrophy Atrophy is the partial or complete wasting away of a part of the body. Causes of atrophy include mutations (which can destroy the gene to build up the organ), malnutrition, poor nourishment, poor circulatory system, circulation, loss of hormone, ...

, Hobbs' Angel of Death, Aftermath and the Chris Barnes fronted Leviathan. In addition to metal acts, the magazine also featured interviews with

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

acts such as

Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...

. In August 1991, ''Metal Forces'' created the offshoot publication ''Thrash 'n Burn'', a monthly title dedicated to

extreme metal Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tran ...

History

''Metal Forces'' was created in 1983 by Bernard Doe, with the first issue released in August 1983. Articles covered and promoted mainly bands that were relatively unknown at the time. ''Metal Forces'' aided greatly in promoting unknown bands and heavy metal and

during the 1980s and early 1990s, becoming one of UK's top music magazines during that period. During the early 1990s, ''Metal Forces'' changed from their policy of balancing their articles between established and unknown bands, to a style which covered more mainstream and famed rock and heavy metal bands. The changes implemented were not profitable and the magazine lost readers and advertisers. In this period and for a brief time, ''Metal Forces'' launched the appreciated spin-off ''Thrash 'n Burn'' (later renamed ''Xtreme Noize''). ''Metal Forces'' released seventy-two issues before rebranding under the abbreviated title of ''MF''. The latter ceased publication in February 1993. As of 2012, ''Metal Forces'' launched its official website online, which has information from its magazine issues and new information and coverage of bands. In an interview, rock columnist Dave Reynolds indicated that the magazine was created in response to difficulties working with rival publication ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British music webzine and quarterly magazine that primarily covers rock, punk and heavy metal music. Since 2017, the magazine has been published by Wasted Talent Ltd (the same company that owns electronic music publication ...

''Ritchie, Jason. (2003
Backstage heroes: interview with Dave Reynolds
getreadytorock.com. Accessed 10 April 2008. According to Reynolds, the magazine gained national distribution in the late 1980s and, with its success, inspired ''Kerrang!'' to produce a spin-off publication of its own, ''Mega Metal Kerrang!'' The magazine disseminated information about the metal music scene; in 2007, the senior VP of

Roadrunner Records Roadrunner Records is a Dutch–American record label focused on Heavy metal music, heavy metal and hard rock music. Founded in the Netherlands in 1980, it is now a division of Warner Music Group and is based in New York City. Formerly seen as ...

indicated that ''Metal Forces'', along with similar publication ''Kick Ass'', "was my Bible... the way I discovered new bands and fed my insatiable appetite for all things emerging in the underground". In March 2012, ''Metal Forces'' launched their official website.

Controversy

In 1984, ''Metal Forces'' printed a review of

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with tr ...

band Hellhammer so negative that the band's frontman, Thomas Gabriel Fischer, indicated the band would never play in England because of it. After forming a new band,

Celtic Frost Celtic Frost () was a Swiss metal music, heavy metal band from Zürich. They are remembered for their strong influence on the development of several metal subgenres, particularly extreme metal,Bukszpan, Daniel. ''The Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal' ...

, Fischer continued to refuse requests for an interview with the magazine. In 1986, former

guitarist and founder of

Dave Mustaine David Scott Mustaine (born September 13, 1961) is an American musician. He is best known as the co-founder, frontman, primary songwriter and sole consistent member of the thrash metal band Megadeth and for his time as the lead guitarist of Met ...

, complained about the magazine because it named his successor at Metallica,

Kirk Hammett Kirk Lee Hammett (born November 18, 1962) is an American musician who has been the lead guitarist of heavy metal band Metallica since 1983. Prior to joining Metallica, he co-formed the thrash metal band Exodus in 1979. In 2023, Hammett, along ...

, the number 1 in the readers' poll of ''Metal Forces''. The voting was based on a demo recording of '' No Life 'Til Leather'', which Mustaine had recorded rather than Hammett.Putterford, Mark. ''Metallica Talking: Metallica in Their Own Words''. 2004. Omnibus Press. p. 12.

''Metal Forces Presents: Demolition – Scream Your Brains Out!''

Track listing

#"Violent Slaughter" – Leviathan #"Chainsaw Massacre" – Hobbs' Angel of Death #"War for Freedom" – Aftermath #"Imprisoned" –

#"Chemical Dependency" –

#"Leviathan" – Leviathan #"Satan's Crusade" – Hobbs' Angel of Death #"When Will You Die" – Aftermath #"Disembowled/Annihilation Complete" –

#"Preacher, Preacher" –

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website
Heavy metal publications Magazines established in 1983 Music magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines disestablished in 1992 Defunct music magazines published in the United Kingdom Weekly magazines published in the United Kingdom British heavy metal music 1983 establishments in the United Kingdom 1992 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Mass media in Hertfordshire