Revolver is a heavy metal music and hard rock magazine, published in North America. It has been in print since 2000, and is about both established acts and up-and-comers in heavy music.

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Revolver

Cover for the August/September 2014 issue featuring Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park
Editor in Chief	Brandon Geist
Categories	Music magazine
Frequency	Bi-monthly
Circulation	100,000
First issue	Spring 2000
Company	Project M Group LLC
Country	United States
Language	English
Website	revolvermag.com
ISSN	1527-408X

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Revolver was originally owned by Harris Publications. In March 2006, the magazine was sold to Future US, Inc. for US$4 million.^[1] In 2012, Future plc sold Revolver to NewBay Media.^[2] In May 2017, Revolver was bought by Project M Group LLC.^[3] In the fall of that year, the magazine underwent a brand relaunch, including a redesigned print edition and website, intended to embody the art and culture of heavy music.^[3]

The Epiphone Revolver Golden Gods Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony established in 2009 by Revolver magazine.^[4] Originally called the Revolver Golden God Awards they went on hiatus in 2015 and came back in 2016.^[5]

From 2006 until 2017, Revolver annually published a feature/issue/calendar of the "Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock" (known as "Hottest Chicks in Metal" until 2011).^[6][7] Conceived by then-Revolver editor-in-chief Tom Beaujour, the first edition of the feature (titled "The 13 Sexiest Chicks in Metal"), published in March 2006, became the second best-selling issue in the magazine's history behind their March 2005 Dimebag Darrell tribute issue.^[6] It would serve as the inspiration for the "Hottest Chick in Metal" award at the Golden God Awards (until it was removed in 2011),^[8][9][10] as well the "Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock Tour", from 2011 until 2015.^[10][11] The feature was last published in Revolver's April/May 2017 issue,^[12] after which it was discontinued following the magazine's acquisition by Project M Group.^[13][14]

Because Revolver did not feature many female acts in their magazine outside of the feature (at the time), several publications and commentators perceived the feature as, and frequently criticized it for being, sexist in its portrayal of women in rock and metal.^{[6][7][15][16][17][18][19][20]} Metal Edge (2006) and Decibel (2012) produced their own one-off issues covering women in metal in response to the feature.^[6][21] In February 2010, Angela Gossow, then-vocalist of Arch Enemy and a former participant in the feature, slammed Revolver for featuring an image she did not want used in the 2010 "Hottest Chicks" feature, and called it "an embarrassment for female musicians, who actually are musicians."^[22] Revolver argued that the "Hottest Chicks" feature was empowering to women;^[21] in 2011, editor Brandon Geist responded to criticism of the feature by claiming that because the women who appeared in the feature did so voluntarily, critics were being "extremely condescending to the women involved to act as if YOU know better than they do what is right for THEM".^[7] Kim Kelly, writing for The Atlantic, criticized Geist's response as avoiding and trivialising the problem addressed by his critics.^[7]