World Metal Congress is a celebration of heavy metal and its global appeal. Our first event was held in March of 2019 and brought fans, artists, and key industry figures from every time zone together for panels, film premieres, live music, and important conversations about how to take our music and our culture forward.
Created with the support of Arts Council England and conceived by ex-Metal Hammer editor and Twin V Ltd. founder Alexander Milas in partnership with Dr. Lina Khatib of world-renowned policy institute Chatham House, University of Central Lancashire’s Dr. Niall Scott and independent promoter Josh Retallick of Old Empire, the aim of w\m/c is to connect the global metal community.
OUR TEAM
Alexander Milas (Twin V ) : Twin V is a production company with high-profile collaborations including Iron Maiden, Amon Amarth and the European Space Agency. Before setting up Twin V, Alexander Milas was Metal Hammer’s editor-in-chief and executive director of Team Rock (now Louder).
Joshua Retallick (Old Empire ) : Josh is the Director and founder of Old Empire, a London based music and event promotion company. Past concert ‘clients’ have included Carcass, Suicidal Tendencies, Chelsea Wolfe, Wardruna, Russian Circles, Current 93, Deafheaven, Ho99o9 & Converge, among many others.
Dr. Lina Khatib (Chatham House) : Dr. Lina “Metalina” Khatib presented Lebanon’s only metal show on public radio in 1990s. She has managed bands from the Arab world and contributed to Wacken Metal Battle Sweden, Home of Metal and Bloodstock Radio. Lina is also an international authority on Middle East politics, with frequent appearances on CNN, BBC, etc. and heads the Middle East programme at Chatham House.
Dr. Niall William Richard Scott (University of Central Lancashire) : Niall is a reader in philosophy and popular culture specialising in metal music studies, has published and spoken internationally on metal music and has been behind several academic conferences on metal culture.