Next month, Metal Hammer turns 30 years old – and our birthday celebrations are well underway. To mark this momentous occasion, we’ll be looking back over the last 30 years in metal – the legendary icons, the classic albums, the epic gigs, the most memorable milestones. Let’s face it, the last 30 years have been nothing if not eventful.

We’ve already looked at the greatest debut albums released during Metal Hammer’s lifetime, and we’re continuing our celebrations with the 30 greatest Metal Hammer covers since the magazine launched. Since ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons appeared on the front of the very first issue, we’ve lost count of the number of bands we’ve put on the cover.

Some of our cover stars, like Metallica, Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath were doing their thing long before we appeared on the scene. Others, such as Korn, Linkin Park, HIM, Slipknot and Avenged Sevenfold, became huge stars after appearing on the cover of the magazine. And then there are those long-forgotten bands lost to the mists of time – say hello Pitchshifter, Amen, Adema and more.

But we’ve decided to boil it down to just 30 covers. And these are the absolutely classics – the perfect marriage of superstar bands, jaw-dropping imagery and sheer visual impact. We hope you enjoy looking at them just as much as we enjoyed creating them.

Scroll through our gallery of the 30 Greatest Metal Hammer Covers – and then vote for your favourite below.