Tad Morose is a Swedish power metal band. Formed in Bollnäs in 1991, they are led by guitarist Christer "Krunt" Andersson. Their style has been described as "a power/classic heavy metal hybrid with slight progressive tendencies".
Blind Guardian is a German power metal band formed in 1984 in Krefeld, West Germany. They are often credited as one of the seminal and most influential bands in the power metal and speed metal subgenres. Nine musicians have been a part of the band's line-up in its history, which currently consists of singer Hansi Kürsch, guitarists André Olbrich and Marcus Siepen and, since 2005, drummer Frederik Ehmke.
Nightfall in Middle-Earth is the sixth studio album by the German power metal band Blind Guardian. It was released on 28 April 1998 through Virgin Records. It is a concept album based on J. R. R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion, a book of tales from the First Age of Middle-earth, recounting the troubled history of Beleriand as the Elves battle with the Dark Lord Morgoth. The album contains not only songs but also spoken parts narrating parts of the story. The cover depicts a scene from The Silmarillion, the elf Lúthien dancing in front of the Dark Lord Morgoth.
Absoluuttinen Nollapiste is a progressive rock band from Rovaniemi, Finland. It is known for combining catchy melodies and solid, slightly progressive songwriting with Tommi Liimatta's eccentric lyrics.
Battlelore are a Finnish heavy metal band from Lappeenranta, founded in 1999 by guitarist Jyri Vahvanen and bassist Miika Kokkola. The name derives from the union of the words 'battle' and 'folklore'. Many of Battlelore's lyrics concern J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth sagas and their stage costumes and live shows are largely inspired by the themes and characters of fantasy literature. The band had many changes of personnel during their twelve years of activity and had a long hiatus after the completion of the tour supporting their latest release Doombound in 2011. In January 2016 they announced that they would be performing at Metal Female Voices Fest XIII in October 2016.
Goblin is an Italian progressive rock band known for their film scores. They frequently collaborate with Dario Argento, most notably creating the scores for Profondo Rosso in 1975 and Suspiria in 1977. Because their collaborator Dario Argento specializes in creating horror, suspense and slasher/giallo genre movies, scores made by Goblin in these movies often had eerie and ominous tones. CD re-releases of their scores have performed well, especially in Germany and Japan. Goblin returned with a series of live concerts in Europe in 2009 and in North America in 2013.
The Advantage is an American rock band from Sacramento, California that formed in 1998 and specialises in doing covers of music from old NES games, also known as Nintendocore. The band is named after the NES joystick controller of the same name.
Sword's Song is the second studio album released by the Finnish heavy metal band Battlelore, released in 2003. As with all of the band's other albums, the lyrics are based on J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth sagas. Sword's Song's music and lyrics are essentially similar to those of their debut album, but in the opinion of most reviewers and fans showed an improvement in both strength of the material and quality of the performances.
Third Age of the Sun is the third studio album released by the Finnish heavy metal band Battlelore, released in 2005. As on previous albums, the songs are all based on J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth sagas. This album introduced new bass player Timo Honkanen and new vocalist Tomi Mykkänen, who had previously toured with the band when Miika Kokkola and Patrik Mennander had been unavailable. The sound of the album differs from the first two Battlelore albums, as the instrumentation has a more live and organic feel and also due to the absence of clean male vocals.
Stronghold is the fourth full-length album by the Austrian black metal band Summoning. This album marked a change in the sound of Summoning as it was much more "guitar orientated with more compact keyboard-melodies". "Where Hope and Daylight Die" features Tania Borsky, Protector's ex-girlfriend and a former member of Die Verbannten Kinder Evas, on lead vocals. The album's cover was adapted from 'The Bard', an 1817 painting by John Martin.
Evernight is the fourth studio album by the Finnish heavy metal band Battlelore, released in 2007. As previously, the songs are all based on J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. Overall the sound of the album was darker and denser than the band's earlier releases with a much thicker and heavier guitar sound. The album also was more consistent in sound with less variation between songs to present a more cohesive piece of work. In this album the band choose not to use names and direct references to Tolkien's legendarium to make the lyrics accessible to a broader audience.
The Duskfall is a Swedish melodic death metal band from Luleå, formed in 1999. The band released four full-length studio albums and, shortly afterwards, split in 2008; however, they reformed in 2014.
Melodic metalcore is a fusion genre, incorporating elements of melodic death metal and metalcore; it has a heavy emphasis on melodic instrumentation, distorted guitar tones, palm muting, double bass drumming, blast beats, metalcore-stylized breakdowns, and vocals that range from aggressive screaming and death growls to clean singing. The genre has seen commercial success for employing a more accessible sound at times compared to other forms of extreme music. Many notable melodic metalcore bands have been influenced by At the Gates and In Flames.
Prayer for Cleansing is an American metalcore band from Raleigh, North Carolina. The band is noted for their extreme metal influence that was a little more prominent in their music than other metalcore bands at the time. They are also notable for being an early musical starting point for three members of Between the Buried and Me who played in the band.
The Last Alliance is the fifth album by the Finnish heavy metal band Battlelore, released in 2008. It was issued as a jewel case CD and a digipack with a bonus DVD featuring footage of a live show at Metal Female Voices Fest in Wieze, Belgium in 2007.
Nekrogoblikon is an American melodic death metal band based in Los Angeles, California. The group was formed in 2006, by Tim Lyakhovetskiy and Nicky Calonne. The band has released five full-length albums, Goblin Island, Stench, Heavy Meta, Welcome to Bonkers, and The Fundamental Slimes and Humours, and one EP, Power. The band's music centers on goblins. As of 2023, no original members remain in the band.
Doombound is the sixth album by the Finnish symphonic metal band Battlelore, released on January 26, 2011. It was their final album before their hiatus. A digipak version including the CD, a bonus DVD, and a poster is available at Napalm Records website, which also released a sample for the song "Kärmessurma".
Spread Eagle is an American hard rock band from New York City, formed in 1989. After only a few months of formation, they were signed by MCA/Universal Records. They have released three albums: Spread Eagle (1990), Open to the Public (1993) and Subway to the Stars (2019).
Maximum Overload is the sixth studio album by British power metal band DragonForce, which was released in Europe on 18 August 2014, and in North America the next day. Trivium vocalist Matt Heafy contributed backing vocals on three songs, including the album's first single, "The Game". The album was produced by Jens Bogren, marking the first time the band decided not to record in their own studio and with an outside producer. The album was released in three versions: standard physical or digital CD, special edition physical or digital CD, and vinyl.
The Desaturating Seven is the ninth studio album by American rock group Primus, released on September 29, 2017. It is the band's first album of original material since 2011's Green Naugahyde, and is the first LP featuring original material written with drummer Tim Alexander since 1995's Tales from the Punchbowl.
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