Metal Hammer

Institution research

• Metal Hammer is a monthly heavy metal music magazine.

• Published in the United Kingdom by TeamRock.

• Metal Hammer articles feature both mainstream bands and more unusual acts from the whole spectrum of heavy metal music.

• Wilfried F. Rimensberger came up with the concept of Metal Hammer.

• Rimensberger was the promoter of the first MetalHammer festival.

• Leading metal acts such as Metallica, Motorhead and AC/DC

Introduction and History

Content includes;

• Recent artist news

• Features of band members and stories about bands

• Reviews of gigs and new album releases

• Videos of bands and other relevant music videos

• Radio station and podcasts with all metal music

• Competitions e.g. Meet the band, signed guitars, signed back catalogue of artists

• A web store, selling merchandise of different bands.

• Subscription to the magazine

Overview of the content

• Metal Hammer is published by TeamRock in the UK

• Metal Hammer is published in 11 different languages

• Israel, Japan, Serbia, Spain, The Netherlands, Italy, Poland, Hungary and France are just some of the countries Metal Hammer is published.

• Metal Hammer was the first Western youth publication in the Soviet Union

• Metal Hammer also has a television show.

• Metal Hammer works closely with EMI records, for up and coming artists or bands.

Publishing Institution

• Age Range: roughly 16 – 50

• Gender group: Mixed

• Clothing brands: Blue Banana, Attitude clothing and Grindstore

• Portrayed as a darker audience

• Keep themselves away from the mainstream crowds

Reader Profile

• Metal Hammer is known for its very aggressive photography, with artists and band member either pointing or shouting at the reader.

• A lot of added effects such as fire or broken glass is added to enhance the violence which is being portrayed.

• The masthead remains the same, however it is made transparent or a background is carried over it and it also changes colours to stick with the theme of the headline.

• Most of the time when they are portraying an iconic metal band or new album, they will fill the entire cover with them and only have one headline.

Layout trademarks

• Metal Hammer’s use of colour palette is mainly dark greys and blacks, connoting that the readers have darker personalities than most.

• The colours are almost always saturated giving the effect of a darker house style.

• The central images are very intimidating, as the bands are made to look aggressive, such as pointing at the reader or looking down at the camera to bring a sense of scale.

• I feel that this does not always apply to the target audience as a lot of people who read Metal Hammer are everyday individuals.

• Many people who read this magazine are also very personal people, who keep themselves away from bigger crowds, rather than being mainstream.

• The target audience can also be very colourful, with electric blues and hot pinks, but the magazine mainly connotes a darker image.

Does the magazine reflect the values of its audience?