Sanna Charles leads us inside the sweaty, hairy realms of Slayer concerts

There were certain bands whose gigs I wasn’t (and I’m sure you weren’t) allowed to go to during my teenage years, which I still argue about to this day. Your mum sees that a band’s called Slayer and have albums such as God Hates us All and Reign in Blood and she immediately thinks you’re going to come back from their show tattooed, angry and pregnant.

It’s only when you see candid portraits like Sanna’s that the truth behind metal fans is exposed, and their surprisingly calm, quiet nature is revealed. There’s a reason why a lot of metal fans are a bit funny looking — they’re often the guys at school who got picked on and so might have some rage stored up inside them, but behind their rather frightening image, they’re actually very kind, polite and sweet-natured. That is until the music starts, then it’s a different story (see photo above).