First published 34 years ago, Kerrang! celebrates the best in rock music. The recent redesign represents a natural step in the evolution of the brand, says Bauer Media, keeping it fresh and ensuring its relevance to anyone who revels in the minutiae of rock.
Led by Editor James McMahon and Art Editor Steve Beech, the redesigned magazine now includes more added value, exclusive interviews, news, reviews and posters.
New and revamped features include:
10 Songs That Saved My Life – each week a famous rocker shares the playlist to their life.
The Big Story – a four page news story exploring the week’s news stories in detail.
K!lobber – a new section dedicated entirely to the latest and best band merchandise.
The Rockstar Test – a readers’ favourite, revamped.
Reviews – spotlight on bands, Classic Album of the Week, Sleeve of the Week, Lyric of the Week, The Office Stereo Playlist, a weekly regional city guide, practival gig guides and much more.
Anatomy of a Rockstar – a closer look at rock stars’ favourite clothes and the stories behind why they love them.
Fresh Blood – a regular feature unveiling the newest breaking rock bands unearthed by Kerrang! magazine and supported through the brand’s online, TV and radio platforms.
‘The Heroes Issue’, on sale on Wednesday 3 June, includes interviews with some of the world’s most iconic rockstars including Lemmy, Slash, Marilyn Manson, Gerard Way, Lars Ulrich, Tom Morello, Corey Taylor, Pete Wentz, Kerry King, Simon Neil, Till Lindemann and Serj Tankian. It also includes ten incredible posters featuring Paramore, Bring Me The Horizon, Pierce The Veil, Sleeping With Sirens, All Time Low, Pvris, Asking Alexandria, Tonight Alive, New Years Day and Panic! At The Disco.
This week’s special relaunch issue comes covermounted with an exclusive 15 track Ultimate Rock Heroes! CD featuring Kerrang! readers’ favourite bands covering the all time greats – Rage Against The Machine’s classic Know Your Enemy is covered by festival-busting mash-up masters Enter Shikari, Weezer’s anti-hit Tired Of Sex is reimagined by My Chemical Romance legend Ray Toro! Aerosmith’s classic Living On The Edge is given a new lick of paint by Young Guns! Frank Turner tackles an Iron Maiden gem and rising pop-punk sensations Neck Deep take on blink-182, say the publishers.
Editor James McMahon commented: "I'm excited to emerge from the Kerrang! redesign dungeon. For one thing it was really starting to smell. For another, I can't wait to hear what Kerrang! readers think about the new look magazine – after all, it's a quest to give them more rock action each week that's led to the magazine‘s newest stage of evolution. Largely, the new look magazine came about because I think rock music in 2015, and Kerrang!'s motto, Life Is Loud, is more important than ever before. These are dull, conservative times. Thereby it's important for Kerrang!, and the pages within, to be louder than ever before. That's why we've upped the word count, made the pictures bigger, created a more aspirational version of Kerrang! It really is a magazine that's now best suited to showcasing extraordinary, larger than life rock talents within its pages. In our 34th year of existence, I truly believe it's Kerrang! ability to constantly crowd surf the zeitgeist that's kept and will keep us, the World‘s Biggest Selling Weekly Rock Magazine."
The Relentless Kerrang! Awards take place on Thursday 11 June and fans can visit the Kerrang! signing tent for the duration of the Download Festival taking place on 12-14 June.
