In honour of 40 years of Ride The Lightning, we asked Metallica to create some brand new artwork for our special new issue celebrating the incredible milestone – and they agreed, with official Metallica collaborator Puis Calzada crafting an incredible, eye-popping design that you can only get on the front of our new issue! And now we’ve celebrated this design further with an exclusive Metal Hammer x Metallica T-shirt featuring that very same artwork which you can’t get anywhere else.

Inside the magazine, we also tell the story of how the album became the catalyst for a thrash explosion in 1984. That year was a pivotal time for thrash, with East and West coast bands vying for attention, fights breaking out at shows, and even support bands such as Stryper hurling Bibles into crowds. We revisit that wild era through the eyes of those who saw it firsthand.

“There was animal behaviour, people beating each other, PA-top stage dives,” says Exodus’ Gary Holt. “Often there were fights onstage, with one guy on one side of me and another guy on the other side, punches flying in front of me and behind me.”

Also in the issue, Metallica's own Lars Ulrich and Kirk Hammett talk us through Ride The Lightning, track by track.

Elsewhere, Lamb Of God revisit the era-defining Ashes Of The Wake. Made at a time of heightened political tension in the US, it put them at the vanguard of the New Wave Of American Heavy Metal. We also follow rising Japanese stars Hanabie on the road, as their Harajuku-core explodes across Europe.

Plus, GN’R legend Duff McKagan dishes out his Life Lessons, CKY reveal how they made Jackass anthem 96 Quite Bitter Beings, and Tom Morello explains how he made the journey from Harlem to Harvard and Rage Against The Machine.

We tell the chaotic story of Rasta punk trailblazers Bad Brains, get in the studio with The Black Dahlia Murder as they make their first record without the much-missed Trevor Strnad, and meet BloodMagic – the twisted brainchild of Stranger Things/Vecna actor Jamie Campbell Bower.

All this, along with our Download festival 2024 review, Powerwolf, Leprous, Arka’n Asrafokor, Hammerfall, Charlotte Wessels, much, much more.

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Collections

Metallica

Issue #390 (Metallica): Magazine + Exclusive ‘Ride The Lightning’ T-Shirt

Ride the Lightning: Vinyl LP

Hardwired... To Self-Destruct: Vinyl 2LP

Master of Puppets: Vinyl LP