Metallica review – metal legends break out the pyrotechnics … and a Proclaimers cover

Armed with four drum kits, an arsenal of hits and a 50,000-strong snake pit, Lars Ulrich and co deliver a masterclasss on their marathon world tour

Download festival review – Guns N’ Roses flop and Letlive thrive as metal’s biggest fest enters the future

Often criticised for booking the same old legends, the festival hosts a broad span of music’s heaviest genre, plus hip-hop, Indian folk – and, finally, its first female headliner

Sunn O))): Sunn O))) review – a seismic return to drone metal’s elemental core

The doomy duo strip back their sound to tectonic guitars and feedback, conjuring an immersive, strangely euphoric listening experience recorded in the wilds of Washington

Deftones review – alt-metal veterans sound exceptionally fresh 38 years on

The US band’s brawny, pit-inciting riffs come laced with blurry waves of distortion, making for music that is oddly reflective and melancholy

Converge: Love Is Not Enough review – metalcore veterans’ rage remains fresh and furious

Even after 35 years, the intricacies and emotional pangs of these masters of technicality remain undimmed, drawing from a seemingly bottomless well of inspiration

Megadeth: Megadeth review – conspiracy theories and combustible fingers on thrash metallers’ curtain call

Tuneful yet overlong, Dave Mustaine and co’s final album is a recap of Megadeth’s strengths, flaws and familiar grudges

Bad Omens review – anthemic songs and pillars of fire dampened by arena nerves

Noah Sebastian’s vocals switch deftly from croon to scream to whisper, but the genre-hopping US metalcore band lack chemistry on the big stage

Agriculture: The Spiritual Sound review – unabashedly gorgeous noise from ‘ecstatic black metal’ band

The LA group deliver all the power and euphoria of heavy music with imaginative detailing on their second album, which will have you levitating with joy

Nova Twins: Parasites & Butterflies review – fearless rock duo balance anthems and introspection

Trailblazers Amy Love and Georgia South push the boundaries of their trademark hybrid rock sound while confronting mental health and naysayers

Bloodstock review – this is the UK’s best fest for true heavy metal madness

Trivium bring the bells and whistles, Gojira are supercharged and Machine Head get 1,011 crowdsurfers as they etch themselves on extreme metal’s Mount Rushmore

Judas Priest review – thrash, hellfire, dazzling guitar … Ozzy would have loved it

Still making stellar new music in their sixth decade, the Brummie band pay tribute to the late Black Sabbath frontman as they cement their place among the heavy metal gods

Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne: Back to the Beginning review – all-star farewell to the gods of metal is epic and emotional

The biggest names in rock, from Metallica to Slayer, came to pay tribute to the men who created their entire genre – and even in old age, Sabbath’s sound has bludgeoning force

Slayer review – spectacle, gore, mayhem and some of metal’s greatest songs

The thrash legends’ first UK gig in six years is a lean and unforgivingly mean set – no breathers, no ballads, only teeth-rattling bangers

Outbreak festival review – hardcore and pop hooks collide in impeccable genre-fluid lineup

Turnstile headlined with soaring high-tempo energy while Speed went route-one punk, Jane Remover caused pandemonium and Have a Nice Life electrified their fanbase in this most free-thinking of festivals

The Callous Daoboys: I Don’t Want to See You in Heaven review – gonzo mathcore troupe grab on to pop hooks

The Atlanta sextet are as unruly as ever – but there’s a newfound poise on their third album, plus some maddeningly catchy choruses