| Editor: | David Stagg |
| Frequency: | Monthly |
| Founder: | Doug Van Pelt |
| Category: | Christian metal |
| Company: | HM Publications LLC |
| Firstdate: | Summer 1985 |
| Finaldate: | 2011 (print) |
| Country: | United States |
| Based: | Houston, Texas |
| Language: | American English |
| Issn: | 1066-6923 |
HM Magazine is a monthly, digital and print on demand publication focusing on hard music and alternative culture of interest to Christians. It is based in Houston, Texas.[1]
In 1985, a journalist Doug Van Pelt started Heaven's Metal as a fanzine. It changed its name in 1995 to HM, standing for Hard Music, but the Heaven's Metal branding was brought back in 2004 and was released alongside HM.[2] Heaven's Metal achieved more popularity and became an official publication, with five full-time journalists working for the magazine. In 2000, Heaven's Metal achieved a regular subscription base of 15,000 readers.
During the 1990s, HM sealed a distribution deal with a major magazine wholesaler that immediately increased its print-run from 13,000 to 22,000 copies, and it allowed Van Pelt and his co-workers to double ad rates, making HM a stable business enterprise. Later, it would be two specific articles that would cement HMs mainstream popularity: the first was the band King's X's vocalist Doug Pinnick using an interview with HM to talk about his sexuality, and the second being Alice Cooper's interview in 2002 about his spiritual beliefs.[3]
In February 2013, Van Pelt sold the magazine to current editor David Stagg under undisclosed terms.[4]