Kerrang is a weekly rock magazine that has been around for over 30 years and currently comes out on a Wednesday. I subscribed to it when I was a young teenager, but stopped renewing my subscription when I was about 16 and thought I had outgrown the music. More recently I have started subscribing again as my taste in music has reverted back to the heavier variety.
The current price is £2.20 per issue which is about 60 pages (including a fair few full pages of ads). The adverts don't annoy me quite as much as adverts in other magazines as they are usually for music tours and are quite informative.
The music covered in the magazine is mostly rock. Occasionally the odd hip-hop or acoustic act will creep in if the editor sees fit. The range is huge which means a lot of the content will be irrelevant if you have a very niche musical taste. Genres range from pop-rock to heavy metal to thrash to punk so there really is something for every rock fan.
Some of the regular features (at the time of writing) include live reviews, live listings, album reviews, introducing (showcasing new music), gossip, the K! quiz (rock stars answering trivia questions), posters as well as in-depth features of different bands. There is also a feedback feature where readers send in letters and pictures; unfortunately now that I'm older I see that these are usually from young teenagers and I find it makes me feel a bit old! However the magazine often features a lot of swear words, drug and sex references which makes it unsuitable for a lot of its younger readers.
The reviews of gigs and albums are all honest and informative. The magazine clearly isn't trying to suck up to bands by giving unwarranted good reviews, but at the same time the reviewers don't unnecessarily slate the hard work of the musicians. However, after subscribing for a while it can be seen that there a few clear "favourite" artists that regularly feature in a positive light. The writing style is often comedic and sometimes tongue-in-cheek, making it a very entertaining read, but a lot less technical than some other music magazines.
If you are looking for a magazine solely containing features on the heaviest of the heavy Kerrang! is not for you. There is relatively little on black and death metal (although almost all albums of this genre will be reviewed even if it is a bit short). The majority of features will focus on more 'mainstream' artists in the rock community.
Overall, I really enjoy this magazine and will keep subscribing for the near future. The subscription offers great discounts and usually a free gift!