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Metal Hammer
Metal Hammer
Entertainment
Merlin Alderslade

"I always came home with my head full of blood. They were punching holes in my head with umbrellas." Head wounds, hardcore gigs and homophobes: Paleface Swiss are changing what it means to be masculine in metal

Paleface Swiss press 2026.

Picture the scene. You’re out on an early hike deep in the woods in rural Switzerland. The sun is out but it’s a cool and misty October morning. The nearest town is an hour away. It’s just you and nature, and the only noises around you are a few occasional bird twitters and the sound of twigs and mud, crunching and squelching beneath your feet.

It’s peaceful. Serene, even. Then, from nowhere, a scream. Well, it’s kind of halfway between a scream and a roar, actually. Like some desperate, frenzied wild beast that sounds like it’s getting closer – and fast. You look around, sweat starting to pool under your woolly beanie. Something’s hurtling up the road to your left. It’s a werewolf! It’s a banshee! It’s a… It’s a… It’s a 13-year-old boy on an electric bike, screaming his guts up as he merrily flies past you without a care in the world.

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