Swansong is the fifth studio album by English extreme metal band Carcass. It was released on 10 June 1996 in the UK by Earache Records. It is the only Carcass album to feature guitarist Carlo Regadas. This album was intended to be their major label debut, having been signed by Columbia Records following the success of Heartwork, but disputes with that record company caused them to return to Earache. The album was re-released on 21 July 2008, as a dualdisc including the fifth part of The Pathologist's Report. It was the band's last studio release for over 17 years, until the release of Surgical Steel in 2013, and the last to feature founding member Ken Owen on drums, although he contributed backing vocals to Surgical Steel.
Heartwork is the fourth studio album by English extreme metal band Carcass. The album was released in the UK by Earache Records on 18 October 1993, and in the United States on 11 January 1994 by Columbia Records, making it the band's only major label release. Heartwork has been described as the band's "breakthrough" and "mid-period masterpiece", as well as a landmark album in melodic death metal. The album was recorded at Parr Street Studios, Liverpool from 18 May – 21 June 1993.
The Destroyers of All is the third full-length album by New Zealand death metal band Ulcerate. It was released on January 25, 2011 through Willowtip Records to positive reviews by critics. A limited edition gatefold vinyl version was issued on November 7, 2012.
Melodic death metal is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal. The genre features the heaviness of death metal but with highly melodic or harmonized guitar riffs and solos, and often features high-pitched shrieked vocals alongside the low-pitched growls commonly featured in traditional death metal. Pioneered by the English heavy metal band Carcass with their 1993 album Heartwork, melodic death metal developed further in Sweden in the mid-1990s. The Swedish death metal scene did much to popularise the style, soon centering in the "Gothenburg metal" scene. At the Gates' Slaughter of the Soul, Dark Tranquillity's The Gallery, and In Flames' The Jester Race, all released in the mid-1990s, were highly influential albums in melodic death metal, with At the Gates and In Flames being the two most common influences on North American 2000s heavy metal bands. Many American heavy metal bands emulated At the Gates' sound, resulting in the usage of the phrase "At the Gates worship".
Carcass are an English extreme metal band from Liverpool, formed in 1985. The band have gone through several line-up changes, leaving guitarist Bill Steer and bassist-vocalist Jeff Walker as the only constant members. They broke up in 1996, but reformed in 2007 without original drummer Ken Owen, for health reasons. To date, the band have released seven studio albums, two compilation albums, four EPs, two demo albums, one video album, and six music videos.
Arsis is an American death metal band from Virginia Beach, Virginia, formed in 2000. The band is currently signed to Nuclear Blast.
Stigmata is the second studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy. The album was Arch Enemy's first to see worldwide release, in Europe and North America on Century Media Records, and in Japan again on Toy's Factory records. Stigmata features session drummer Peter Wildoer, who had also appeared in Christopher Amott's solo project Armageddon on the 1997 album Crossing the Rubicon, shortly before the recording of the album. The album was reissued on 25 May 2009, featuring a new layout, packaging, and bonus tracks. Stigmata not only contains a title track, but a track named after their previous album as well. The Sri Lankan metal band Stigmata named themselves after this album. The album was reissued again on 28 April 2023 in various formats, along with a visualiser for “Bridge of Destiny”.
Morbid Saint is an American death/thrash metal band from Sheboygan, Wisconsin. The band are well known as having an influence in the genres of blackened thrash and death metal.
Blast Tyrant is the sixth full-length studio album by American rock band Clutch and was released March 23, 2004. The album was reissued on May 10, 2011. It was the first release with DRT Entertainment by the band.
Storm of the Light's Bane is the second full-length studio album by Swedish black metal band Dissection, released on 17 November 1995 by Nuclear Blast Records.
Symphonies of Sickness is the second album by British extreme metal band Carcass. It was released through Earache Records on 4 December 1989.
As Regret Becomes Guilt: The Demos of Arsis is a compilation album by American heavy metal band Arsis which was officially released on December 28, 2007 in both physical and digital formats via Negative-Existence Records. This release contains the band’s pre-A Celebration of Guilt recordings from 2001 and 2002, which led to Arsis signing with Willowtip Records in 2003.
Fleshgod Apocalypse is an Italian symphonic death metal band. Formed in 2007, the group resides in Perugia and are currently signed to Nuclear Blast.
Starve for the Devil is the fourth studio album by American melodic death metal band Arsis. It was released on February 9, 2010, by Nuclear Blast Records.
Ulcerate is a New Zealand-based extreme metal band formed by guitarist Michael Hoggard and drummer Jamie Saint Merat in 2000. The band have released seven studio albums to date. The band have been featured in numerous articles as one of New Zealand's most prominent extreme metal acts, have toured widely across North America and Europe, and have been compared favourably to bands such as Neurosis and Gorguts. The band's sound has been described as "nauseating, disorienting and gleefully disharmonic", and is characterised by extremely technical death metal with extensive use of dissonance, time signature changes, and complex song structures.
Axioma Ethica Odini is the eleventh studio album by Norwegian extreme metal band Enslaved. It was released on September 27, 2010, via Indie Recordings in Europe and on September 28, 2010, via Nuclear Blast in North America. The cover artwork was created by Norwegian painter Truls Espedal who has created all of the band's artwork since 2001's Monumension. The album received very positive reviews from music critics, and sold around 1,400 copies in the United States its first week of release, landing at position no. 16 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart.
The Destroyers of All is the third full-length album by New Zealand death metal band Ulcerate. It was released on January 25, 2011 through Willowtip Records to positive reviews by critics. A limited edition gatefold vinyl version was issued on November 7, 2012.
Unwelcome is the fifth studio album by the American death metal band Arsis. It was released on April 30, 2013 through Nuclear Blast Records. This is the first full-length album to feature Shawn Priest on drums and Brandon Ellis on guitar. The second track is taken from their 2012 EP, Lepers Caress. This album was produced by Mark Lewis.
Visitant is the sixth studio album by American extreme metal band Arsis, released on November 2, 2018, via Nuclear Blast and Agonia. It was the last to feature lead guitarist Brandon Ellis before his resignation to join The Black Dahlia Murder.
Contrarian is an American extreme metal band from Rochester, New York, founded in 2012 by guitarist Jim Tasikas. The band is known for its progressive songwriting and technical playing style. They are influenced by progressive death metal of the 1990s from bands such as Death and Cynic, and combine it with modern technical death metal. The band has drummer George Kollias for their first three and most recent albums.
