“I saw right away that he wrote a lot about urban culture, youth culture and violence. That inspired me to create moodier songs”: The story of Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith’s forgotten 2010s side project

Primal Rock Rebellion’s Mikee Goodman and Adrian Smith posing for a photograph in 2012.

Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith may be a member of one of the biggest metal bands in history, but he’s also got a quietly experimental streak – something proved by Primal Rock Rebellion, his 2012 collaboration with Mikee Goodman, frontman of British tech-metal pioneers SiKth. We sat down with the two of them ahead of their first – and to date – last album to find out how this odd couple came together.