
Dave Everley
Dave Everley has been writing about and occasionally humming along to music since the early 90s. During that time, he has been Deputy Editor on Kerrang! and Classic Rock, Associate Editor on Q magazine and staff writer/tea boy on Raw, not necessarily in that order. He has written for Metal Hammer, Louder, Prog, the Observer, Select, Mojo, the Evening Standard and the totally legendary Ultrakill. He is still waiting for Billy Gibbons to send him a bottle of hot sauce he was promised several years ago.
Latest articles by Dave Everley

Devin Townsend conjures up unexpected greatness on PowerNerd
By Dave Everley published
Canadian maverick Devin Townsend releases his most straightforward album in years

Queen plunder the archive for Queen I, a lavish 50th anniversary celebration of their debut album
By Dave Everley published
Regal reissue of overlooked debut album, now with previously unreleased material

"He’s got his gas mask on, he’s all taped up and he’s flying like a bird." Inside the chaos and carnage of Slipknot's legendary first UK show at the London Astoria
By Dave Everley published
Slipknot's chaotic, infamous headline show at London's Astoria on December 13 1999 cemented their status as metal's next superstars

Michael Schenker on UFO, success and escape, and why he didn't join the Rolling Stones
By Dave Everley published
With guests including Axl and Slash, for his new album maverick guitarist Michael Schenker went back to the songs he recorded first with UFO

Two life stories intertwine in Jakko M Jakszyk’s memoir Who’s The Boy With The Lovely Hair?
By Dave Everley published
His colourful life and remarkable times feature Sir Richard Attenborough, The Nolan Sisters, Ruud Gullit, Michael Jackson (and Morris Minor And The Majors’ Stutter Rap)

“More than just music – it’s part of your DNA”: What The Beatles’ Sgt Pepper did for prog
By Dave Everley published
Rick Wakeman, Roger Waters and Robert Fripp were among those listening when the BBC played the record in full in 1967 – and weren’t the only ones who experienced artistic epiphanies that night

The 20 songs that defined Slayer's career (and the stories behind them)
By Dave Everley published
The ultimate guide to thrash metal titans Slayer - as told through their greatest songs

How In Absentia marked the beginning of the end for Porcupine Tree
By Dave Everley published
They delivered a defining moment in progressive metal with their 2002 album, but it wasn’t easy to do it – and once they had, Steven Wilson didn’t want to do it again

How death, cancer and a whole pandemic helped make Yesterwynde the most optimistic Nightwish album yet
By Dave Everley published
Despite an unbelievable amount of personal setbacks, Nightwish rallied to make one of 2024's best metal albums. Here's how

Much-imitated symphonic metal giants Nightwish go even bigger than ever on Yesterwynde
By Dave Everley published
Nightwish's Yesterwynde offers the kind of grandiose maximalism that puts most Hollywood blockbuster soundtracks to shame

"We’ve been trying to get Chuck D to do something with us again." Anthrax talk collabs, politics and using Dave Grohl's studio to record their new album
By Dave Everley published
It's been almost a decade since the last Anthrax album, but the thrash titans have been hard at work

How Zeal & Ardor went from squat-punks to prestige black metal masters
By Dave Everley published
Zeal & Ardor's new album Greif continues Basel's fine tradition of flashing their backsides at power and authority

How 1984 became the year that thrash metal broke big
By Dave Everley published
From Anthrax's Fistfull Of Metal to Exodus's Bonded By Blood and Metallica's Ride The Lightning, 1984 was the year thrash broke big

How Deep Purple entered their Mk IX era, inspired by the tedious complications of modern life
By Dave Everley published
Deep Purple might never have been fashionable, but with a new guitarist on board and a brand new album, they look likely to be around for some time yet

How Jethro Tull embraced synths, drum machines and the 1980s – and split their fans
By Dave Everley published
The tangled story of Jethro Tull’s controversial 80s albums A, The Broadsword And The Beast and Under Wraps

Meet Big Special, the Black Country duo blending the blues, hip-hop and rock with beautiful fury
By Dave Everley published
With Free "a huge influence" and pithy lyrics, Big Special might soon live up to their name

Nathaniel Rateliff on hanging around with Robert Plant and getting high with Willie Nelson
By Dave Everley published
Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats might not be party animals any more, but there's no shortage of energy when it comes to their music

“Craziness is something holy”: The prog credentials of pioneering producer Conny Plank
By Dave Everley published
He helped create krautrock before his influence stretched round the progressive world via his belief that “craziness is something holy”

The 50 most metal movie moments ever
By Metal Hammer published
From the sinister appearance of Count Orlok to Iron Man rocking out to AC/DC, these are the 50 most metal movie moments ever

“A lot of us didn’t like each other back in the day”: Hirax’s Katon W De Pena is one of thrash metal’s great unsung heroes
By Dave Everley published
Hirax frontman Katon W De Pena was there at the birth of thrash – and he’s still passionately flying the flag today

“Give me a break. Of course we’ve got frickin’ soul”: Dream Theater vs the haters
By Dave Everley published
In 2013, Dream Theater released their eponymous 12th album – but not everyone was onboard with their “soulless” prog metal

“I felt so embarrassed for him”: Ian Anderson, the man who refused to meet Elvis Presley
By Dave Everley published
The King had just staged his comeback and Jethro Tull were touring breakthrough album Stand Up – but when the ‘invitation’ came to greet Presley, Anderson resisted

Bill Fisher puts politics in prog as he takes pot-shots at billionaires via “yacht doom”
By Dave Everley published
He took inspiration from Steely Dan, Kate Bush and Peter Gabriel to take a shot at space-race moguls via what he calls “yacht doom” music
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