METAL 35 SPRING/SUMMER 2016 | COVER 2

Metal Magazine 10 Anniversary

Yes, it has been already ten years. If I had been told back in the days of the launch of our first METAL issue – around June 2006 – that I would be writing this ten years later, an skeptical air would have enlightened my face. But here we are, ten years and thirty-five issues later. And we are willing to celebrate not only the long way behind us, but also the long way ahead.

First and foremost, I want to thank everyone who has been involved in making our tenth anniversary possible, in one way or another. Thank you to each and every member in our team – our current team, of course, but also all those people who have been joining us along the way, always giving their best. Thank you to all the designers that have left a watermark in our history and its evolu- tion. Thank you, contributors, friends, advertisers, all of you who believed in us and trusted us – this wouldn’t have been possible without you. And thank you, dear readers: thank you for your interest, for following us on social media and our website – which, by the way, just got a total makeover! –, and thank you for your purchase of our magazine.

The issue in your hands is a big celebration per se. We wanted to turn our 35th issue into a huge party in the best possible setting, so there is nothing to be missed: good music, the best food, beautiful flowers, birthday cakes, drinks, decoration, and dance, of course – what kind of a party would that be without dance? So thank you Nick Jones, Michel Gaubert, Mina Stone, Jeff Leatham, Yann Menguy, Alex Kratena, Jason Hackenwerth and Celia Rowlson-Hall for joining us on such an occasion.

But this issue also enjoys the company of other distinguished guests. Jeremy Hunter takes us on a trip around some secluded corners in the globe to show a variety of rituals and celebrations. In his own words, “To understand the great ceremonies and festivals of the world we need a window into the soul. Festivals and celebrations have always been just that: an opportunity for en- tering into a world of myth and legend, drama and music, colour and sound”.

Most certainly, if we wanted to nd all those elements together there would be no better place than Studio 54 and its grandiloquent pa ies. We can’t help but recalling those iconic images of the club, those images that have passed the test of time. Some of those images are by Hasse Persson, who had the chance of living those days of luxury and excess at rst hand. He published them in a book not that long ago, and we talked to him while looking back at some of those pictures.

We close the issue with James Rhodes. His interview is one of the most emotional discourses we have ever published, a story full of energy and honesty – the honesty of those who know they are survivors. Because there is no greater celebration than the celebration of life, the celebration of being alive and feeling alive, and one must always be happy about it.
Cheers to that. Cheers to these ten years, and cheers to all the years to come. Dear friends, welcome to our party.

On this issue:

PHOTOGRAPHERS
Alessandro Raimondo, Dorn & Carbone, Brendan Freeman, Francesco Nazardo, Heather Sten, Je Hahn, Laetitia Bica, Lucie Hugary, Masha Mel, Tom Johnson, Maurizio Bavutti, Markus Pritzi, Nicolas Coulomb, Raffaele Cariou, Romain Sellier, Soraya Daubron, Teddy Iborra, Wai Lin Tse.

STYLISTS
Berenger Pelc, Emelie Johansson, Gary David Moore, Isabelle Thiry, Lilia Toncheva O’Rourke, Monica Zafra, Morgane Nicolas, Nina Walbecq, Patricia Villirillo, Tess Yopp, Vincent Pons.

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Cover: VARYA SHUTOVA (Muse) wearing Rodarte by Maurizio Bavutti

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