Prong is an American heavy metal band formed in New York City in 1986. The band is fronted by guitarist/vocalist Tommy Victor, Prong's sole constant member. To date, they have released 13 studio albums, one live album, four EPs, one DVD and one remix album.
Zao is an American metalcore band founded in Parkersburg, West Virginia, and later relocated to Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in March 1993, Zao has hosted several musicians and endured numerous roster changes to the point where no original members remain. Former drummer Jesse Smith, vocalist Dan Weyandt, and guitarists Scott Mellinger and Russ Cogdell are seen by some fans as the "core" of Zao, with the current line up being the longest running in the band's history.
Shai Hulud is an American metalcore band formed in Pompano Beach, Florida, in 1995, and later based in Poughkeepsie, New York. The band is named after the giant sandworms in Frank Herbert's novel Dune.
The Black Dahlia Murder is an American melodic death metal band from Waterford, Michigan, formed in 2001. Their name is derived from the 1947 unsolved murder of Elizabeth Short, often referred to as Black Dahlia. Currently, the band consists of lead vocalist Brian Eschbach, bassist Max Lavelle, drummer Alan Cassidy, and guitarists Brandon Ellis and Ryan Knight. The Black Dahlia Murder has undergone various lineup changes, with Trevor Strnad and Eschbach remaining the only constant members, until the former's death in 2022, which then saw Eschbach take over lead vocals and Knight replacing him on rhythm guitar.
Throwdown is an American hardcore and heavy metal band from Orange County, California. Formed in 1997, the band has endured numerous lineup changes to the point where no original members remain. Throwdown has toured as part of Ozzfest, Sounds of the Underground, Hellfest, and Warped Tour, as well as with bands such as In Flames, Lamb of God, As I Lay Dying, Killswitch Engage, Korn and Cavalera Conspiracy. The songs "Forever" and "Burn" were staples on MTV2's Headbangers Ball and Revolver Magazine called them part of "The Future of Metal" after hearing the album Vendetta. Initially branded a hardcore punk band, albums like Venom and Tears and Deathless took a sharp turn towards metal, with critics likening the band's sound to that of Pantera and Sepultura. The band are straight edge.
Eighteen Visions is an American metalcore band from Orange County, California, formed in October 1995. The band broke up in April 2007, less than a year after their major label debut was released through Epic and Trustkill Records. After over a decade of absence, the band reformed in 2017. They announced their sixth album, XVIII, would be released via their new label home at Rise Records.
Walls of Jericho is an American metalcore band from Detroit, formed in 1998.
Andrew John Hurley is an American musician. He is the drummer for the rock band Fall Out Boy. Prior to Fall Out Boy, Hurley played in several hardcore punk bands. He joined Fall Out Boy as the full-time drummer in 2003 and was in the band's lineup until its hiatus in 2009. Following that, he formed the heavy metal supergroup The Damned Things with Fall Out Boy guitarist Joe Trohman; the group went on hiatus after its debut album, Ironiclast (2010), due to band members focusing on their original bands' new album cycles. Hurley moved on to hardcore punk band Enabler which released a debut album and toured in 2012.
Unearth is an American metalcore band formed in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1998. The group consists of lead guitarist Buz McGrath, vocalist Trevor Phipps, drummer Mike Justian, bassist Chris O'Toole and rhythm guitarist Peter Layman. They are currently signed to Century Media Records and have released eight studio albums. Their most recent studio album, The Wretched; the Ruinous, was released on May 5, 2023.
The Meatmen are an American punk band headed by Tesco Vee, originally existing from 1981 to 1988, before reforming in the mid-1990s, and again in the 2000s. They were known for their outrageous stage antics and offensive lyrics. They reformed in 2008 and continue to tour and record.
Racetraitor is an American hardcore punk and metal band originally from Chicago, Illinois. The band attracted controversy in the late 1990s, before any releases, as a result of their radical take on racial politics, which focused on ideas like systemic racism and white privilege before they were widely discussed topics in popular or underground culture. Racetraitor was also a key proto-metalcore act, one of the first few bands to incorporate extreme metal influences, such as death metal, grindcore, and doom metal, into hardcore.
Blood Has Been Shed was an American metalcore band based in Granby, Connecticut. The band came together in 1997 and has featured members of Killswitch Engage, Diecast, Light the Torch, Red Tide, Terror, Walls of Jericho, Bury Your Dead and The Acacia Strain. Blood Has Been Shed has released three full-length albums—I Dwell on Thoughts of You (1998), Novella of Uriel (2001) and Spirals (2003)—and was signed to Ferret Music and Roadrunner Records. The band was a frequent performer at metal festivals Hellfest and the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival.
Vanna was an American hardcore punk band from Boston that was formed in 2004. On December 15, 2017, the band played their final show at the Worcester Palladium.
Kylesa is an American sludge metal band that was formed in Savannah, Georgia. Their music incorporates experimentalism with heavy riffs, drop-tuned guitars and elements of psychedelic rock. The group was established in 2001 by the former members of Damad, with the addition of guitar player Laura Pleasants who is from North Carolina.
Antagonist A.D. are a metalcore band from Auckland, New Zealand, formed in 2005.
Child Bite is an American punk/metal band formed in 2005 in Detroit, Michigan. The band's core members are founding vocalist Shawn Knight and longtime bassist Sean Clancy. Child Bite's sound has been described as "enormous and predatory, from the baleful rhythm section to Shawn Knight's [frightening vocals]."
Merauder is an American metalcore band from New York City, formed in 1990.
Starkweather is an American heavy metal band from Philadelphia formed in 1989. They have a complex experimental metal sound often including use of dissonance, intricate tempo changes and avant-garde sensibilities. Starkweather helped pioneer the hardcore punk/heavy metal crossover sound that would later be known as "metalcore", as well as being a major influence on the mathcore subgenre. They have influenced many of today's top selling hardcore/metal bands such as Converge, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Mastodon and Coalesce among many others.
Abigail Williams is an American black metal band, originally from Phoenix, Arizona, but now based in Olympia, Washington. Since their formation in 2004, the group has suffered near-constant changes to their line-up. The band even disbanded in 2007 for a short time before reforming and writing their debut full-length album. Shortly after an eight-week tour in support of their debut full-length album In the Shadow of a Thousand Suns (2008), vocalist Ken Sorceron would become the only original member remaining.
Bloodlined Calligraphy is an American metalcore band, infusing hardcore and thrash metal. Hailing from Ypsilanti, Michigan, the band started making music in 1996 under the name Friction. In 1999, the band changed its name to Bloodlined Calligraphy and the band's lineup consisted of Matt Carter (drums), Matt Fleming, Ryan Hampton (guitar), Eric Cargile, and Josh Colvin (guitar). The band signed to Selah Records and, in 2002, they released their first full-length album, Say Hi to the Bad Guy. In 2003, Matt Fleming decided to leave the band to focus on other things and the band conducted a nationwide search for their next vocalist, with Matt Fleming having a large say in who should replace him as the band's frontman. The band asked Michigan native Ally French, who was fronting a touring metalcore band in Ohio at the time, to audition. Ally had sung clean vocals alongside Matt Fleming for several of Bloodlined Calligraphy's live shows. The band appointed Ally as their vocalist and played their first live shows together in late 2003. During the band's second show with Ally at the front, the group caught the eyes and ears of Jason Dunn, owner of Los Angeles-based record labels Facedown Records and Strike First Records. The group became part of Strike First Records and released an EP in 2004 titled The Beginning of the End, which was recorded by Mike Hasty, guitarist of another female-fronted, Michigan-based hardcore band, Walls of Jericho. Shortly after the album's release, guitarist Josh Colvin was replaced by Shawn Williams. After months of touring to promote the EP, Jason Dunn signed the band to its primary label, Facedown Records. On April 26, 2005, the group released their second full-length album called, They Want You Silent, which helped catapult the group into the top tier of female-fronted rock bands and led to several successful tours with notable acts such as Kittie, The Acacia Strain, [[Caliban]], and more. In 2006, the group went back into the studio to record their fourth studio album, Ypsilanti, which was released by Facedown Records on September 19, 2006. Shortly after the album's release, the group's drummer/founding member Matt Carter stepped down after the loss of his father and was replaced by Joshua Badura. Tragically, the band lost another founding member when their bass player, Eric Cargile, unexpectedly passed away on April 20, 2010. The band officially disbanded in 2010 until the band played a show on April 19, 2014. In 2017, the band once again reunited to play at Facedown Fest 2017. The band has been active again since 2014 and has no plans of slowing down as the group prepares to be direct support for metalcore band, It Dies Today in 2024 and rumors of a new album circulating.
