Cowboys from Hell is the fifth studio album by American heavy metal band Pantera, released on July 24, 1990 by Atco Records. It marked the band's major label debut and their first collaboration with producer Terry Date. It is considered one of the first ever groove metal albums.
Headless Cross is the fourteenth studio album by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath. Released on 24 April 1989, it was the group's second album to feature singer Tony Martin and the first of three to feature drummer Cozy Powell, along with Tyr and Forbidden.
Venom are an English extreme metal band formed in Newcastle in 1978. Coming to prominence towards the end of the new wave of British heavy metal, Venom's first two albums, Welcome to Hell (1981) and Black Metal (1982), are considered major influences on thrash metal and extreme metal in general. Venom's second album proved influential enough that its title was used as the name of the black metal genre.
Possessed is an American death metal band, originally formed in 1983. Noted for their fast style of playing and Jeff Becerra's growled vocals, they are often called the first band in the death metal genre. The band is also notable for featuring Larry LaLonde, who was the guitarist of Possessed during the mid-1980s, and went on to join Primus.
Live Evil is the first official live album by British heavy metal band Black Sabbath. The previously released Live at Last (1980) was not sanctioned by the band. Live Evil peaked at number 37 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart.
Unleashed in the East is the first live album by the British heavy metal band Judas Priest, released in September 1979 on Columbia Records. It was recorded live over two nights in Tokyo during their Hell Bent for Leather Tour in February 1979. Upon release Unleashed became the band's best-selling album up to that point, reaching the US Top 100 and the UK Top Ten, eventually the album became one of the five Judas Priest albums to gain a RIAA platinum certification. It is the first Priest album to be produced by Tom Allom who would remain at the helm for the next decade for the band, and the last release to feature drummer Les Binks.
Hell-O! is the debut album by Gwar. The album was released on September 11, 1988, on Shimmy Disc Records.
Scream Bloody Gore is the debut studio album by American death metal band Death, released on May 25, 1987, through Combat Records. It is considered by some to be "the first true death metal record". Chuck Schuldiner plays bass and guitar, wrote all the songs on the album and provided all the vocals. John Hand is noted on the cover as playing rhythm guitar, though this was incorrect and Hand was only in the band for a short period and was not on the recording. This is also the only Death album to feature drummer Chris Reifert, who had joined for the Mutilation demo, and the only one of the band's albums to not be recorded at Morrisound Recording.
The Threats are a punk band from Dalkeith and Edinburgh, Scotland. Originally formed in 1979 as the Reflectors, the band soon renamed themselves Threats.
"Killed by Death" is a song by the English heavy metal band Motörhead. Released in 1984, in 7" and 12" vinyl pressings. It peaked at number 51 in the UK Singles Chart.
Welcome to Hell is the debut studio album by English extreme metal band Venom. It was released in December 1981, through Neat Records, at the culmination of the new wave of British heavy metal movement. It is widely regarded as the first album in the black metal genre.
The Arockalypse is the third studio album by Finnish heavy metal band Lordi. It includes the hit single "Hard Rock Hallelujah", which won the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 for Finland. The album has sold triple platinum in Finland and gold in Sweden. Although the album cover shows OX, it was Kalma who played bass guitar on the album.
Deceased is an American extreme metal band from Virginia, United States. In 1990 they were the first band to sign with Relapse Records, and released four albums and a number of EPs before parting ways with the label in 2003. Their sound centers around themes of horror, with lyrics barked and sometimes narrated by vocalist and founder King Fowley.
Possessed 13 is the sixth album by Swedish death metal/thrash metal metal band, The Crown.
Scorn Defeat is the first full-length album by the Japanese black metal band Sigh, released in 1993 by Deathlike Silence Productions. It is the band's most traditional black metal album, taking on a uniquely disturbing and bold formula lyrically compared to their Scandinavian peers. The album takes its title from a line in the title track from Venom's 1981 album Welcome to Hell. On Scorn Defeat, the line itself is said on "At My Funeral".
Neat Records was a British independent record label based near Newcastle, England. The label was established in 1979 by David Wood, who was the owner of Impulse Studios in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, England. A key figure in the establishment of the label was Steve Thompson. Thompson was house producer at Impulse at the time and helped set up Neat, became the A&R manager and produced all the initial recordings, as well as managing the publishing arm, Neat Music. The label was sold in 1995 to Sanctuary Records.
Toxic Holocaust is an American thrash metal band from Portland, Oregon, United States.
Sacred Steel is a German metal band.
Soul Destruction is the second studio album released by Scottish heavy metal band The Almighty. It was released by Polydor Records in the United Kingdom in 1991. According to front-man Ricky Warwick, the album's songs centered on four subjects:
The Album is about four basic things - hate, love, religion and sex. All those subjects fascinate me, especially sex... I spent a lot of time in bed with my wife researching new lyrics for the album. ~Ricky Warwick, 1991
Necrowretch is a French Death metal band from Valence, Rhône-Alpes; formed in 2008. After recording demos through Skeleton Plague Records, Aural Offerings Records, and releasing 2 EP's through Detest Records; Necrowretch signed to Century Media Records on 6 February 2012.
