Sleep Token review – masked metallers don’t need faces – or even a voice – to enthral
After vocalist Vessel loses his voice mid-set, the UK band call upon the vast audience they’ve built to carry them through
Ragana: Desolation’s Flower review – amazing guitar tone lights up doomy incantations
The US rock duo address life’s horrors with honesty, fury and gorgeous noise – though some of their riffs can be pedestrian
Supersonic festival – doom, earsplitting ecstasy and thousands of samosas
The Midlands experimental music institution celebrates 20 years of triumphant noise, from alt-rock stalwarts Deerfhoof to feminist punks Taqbir and folk stars Lankum
Limp Bizkit review – nu-metal elders can still rock the party like it’s 1999
Fred Durst and co – whose notoriety was recently restoked by a Netflix series about Woodstock ’99 – pound out their irresistibly aggro rebel anthems with cheerful abandon
Skindred: Smile review – Welsh ragga-metallers mix a joyous sonic cocktail
One minute it’s riffs and political rage, the next it’s summery reggae. Thanks to their craft – and frontman Benji Webbe’s joie de vivre – the band’s barrier-breaking album is a treat
Iron Maiden review – showstopping rock theatre and tantalising live rarities
Deep cuts and under-sung treasures are given their moment in the dry ice from the reliably extravagant and big-hearted band
Download festival review – 20th birthday brings double Metallica, occult glam and a new breed
After travel chaos this proves to be an epic four-dayer, with an eclectic mix from Bring Me the Horizon to AA Williams plus Metallica spanning their career
Def Leppard & Mötley Crüe review – from the pathetic to the sublime
On this co-headline tour, Mötley Crüe are crass and limp, and then shown up all the more by the triumphant power of Def Leppard’s homecoming
Metallica: 72 Seasons review – a poignant if protracted nostalgia kick
With weighty lyrics referencing James Hetfield’s ongoing recovery and harking back to the band’s formative British influences, 72 Seasons has the edge of Metallica’s 80s heyday – albeit one blunted by overlong songs
Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs: Land of Sleeper review – doom rockers refine mind-bending sound
With repeated rhythmic blows and pulsing bass licks, the Newcastle band amplify the volume on their fourth album and keep listeners entrenched in their heady cosmos
Elder: Innate Passage review – ground-shaking heaviness meets lofty ambition
The Berlin-based band’s new album delivers pulverising heft and proggy nirvana at its most polished
Incubus review – noughties California band throw themselves behind the hits
Bringing back their much-loved early albums, the crossover band’s big-choruses and expansive rock anthems still get the fans singing
Ozzy Osbourne: Patient Number 9 review – immortal king of heavy metal cheats death again
The irrepressible rocker offsets his usual forays into the occult with moving contemplations of illness on a star-studded return
Static Dress review – more moshpit, less theatricality please
The promising post-hardcore band put on an overly conceptualised show that could easily afford to rely on their fervent rapport with fans
ArcTanGent festival – metal at its spine-tingling best
The likes of Cult of Luna, Amenra and Tesseract grace the return of a prized weekend of heavy and progressive talent