Emperor is a Norwegian black metal band formed in 1991, regarded as highly influential by critics and emerging black metal bands. The group split up in 2001, but reunited from 2005 to 2007 for a few festival dates and brief US tours, and again reunited in 2013 to 2014. Emperor reformed for the third time in 2016. The group was founded by Ihsahn (guitar/vocal) and Samoth.
Wacken Open Air is a heavy metal music festival, held annually since 1989 on the first weekend of August in the village of Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Almost all styles and subgenres of hard rock and metal are represented and hosted. It is now one of the largest heavy metal festivals in the world and one of the largest open-air festivals in Germany. Between 2011 and 2018, the number of attendees was around 85,000, 75,000 of whom were paying visitors. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there were no 2020 and 2021 editions of Wacken Open Air.
Vader is a Polish death metal band from Olsztyn. Formed in 1983, the group was founded by then-bassist Piotr "Peter" Wiwczarek and guitarist Zbigniew "Vika" Wróblewski. Vader went through several lineup changes over the years, with Wiwczarek as the only constant member. Since 2022, the band has comprised Wiwczarek on lead guitar and vocals, rhythm guitarist Marek "Spider" Pająk, bassist Tomasz "Hal" Halicki, and drummer Michał Andrzejczyk.
Amon Amarth is a Swedish melodic death metal band from Tumba, formed in 1992. The band takes its name from the Sindarin name of Mount Doom, a volcano in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. Their lyrics mostly deal with Viking mythology and history, and so they have been sometimes erroneously labeled "Viking metal", although the band insists they play melodic death metal.
Mob Rules are a German power metal band. They were founded in 1994 by erstwhile Van Blanc guitarist Matthias Mineur and bassist Thorsten Plorin. Pulling in vocalist Klaus Dirks and drummer Arved Mannott, the quartet began to gig. Opening slots included shows with Pink Cream 69, C.I.T.A. and Crossroads.
Torture Squad is a Brazilian death/thrash metal band, founded in 1990.
Whiplash is an American thrash metal band formed in 1984 in Passaic, New Jersey. They have been centered around guitarist and vocalist Tony Portaro, who is the only remaining original member of the band. Despite never achieving major success, Whiplash has been recognized as one of the first East Coast thrash metal bands in the 1980s, and they are also notable for featuring drummer Tony Scaglione, who had been in and out of Whiplash since its inception and was a temporary fill-in for Dave Lombardo in Slayer on the latter's Reign in Blood tour.
Hatesphere is a Danish thrash metal band from Aarhus, formed in 2000 by guitarist Peter "Pepe" Hansen. As of 2016, the band consists of vocalist Esben "Esse" Elnegaard Kjaer Hansen, guitarists Peter "Pepe" Lyse Hansen, and Kasper Kirkegaard, bass player Jimmy Nedergaard and drummer Mike Park Nielsen. The band has released ten albums and two EPs to date.
Warbringer is an American thrash metal band formed in 2004. Century Media Records signed Warbringer after seeing them at a local show in LA. Originally, a Century Media rep was at the show to see another LA thrash metal band but decided to sign Warbringer instead. Warbringer's second album Waking into Nightmares was released on May 19, 2009. The album reached No. 14 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart. Despite numerous line-up changes, Warbringer has released six full-length studio albums, and along with Bonded by Blood, Evile, Hatchet and Havok, they are notable for being part of the late 2000s and early 2010s "thrash metal revival" scene.
Kryptos is an Indian heavy metal band from Bangalore, India, formed in 1998 by Nolan Lewis (vocals/guitars) and Ganesh K. (bassist). They are one of the pioneers of the modern Indian heavy metal movement. Since their inception the band has released six albums: Spiral Ascent (2004), The Ark of Gemini (2008),The Coils of Apollyon (2013), Burn Up The Night (2016), Afterburner (2019) and Force of Danger (2021).
SIC is a metalcore/thrash metal band from Tórshavn, the capital of the Faroe Islands.
Hell are an English heavy metal band from Derbyshire, formed in 1982 from the remaining members of bands Race Against Time and Paralex. Due to a series of unfortunate and tragic events, the band originally folded in 1987. They were amongst the first bands to wear proto-corpse paint as part of their stage show, which featured hysterical ranting from a gargoyle-adorned pulpit, along with the use of a pyrotechnic exploding Bible which caused outrage amongst the clergy when it originally appeared in 1983.
Bangladeshi rock music, or Bangla rock music, is a style of music in Bangladesh that is derived from British and American rock music, mixed with the Bengali classical and Adhunik musical styles from the 1960s. The genre was introduced in the 1960s by a few bands who began developing a distinctive rock sound. Bangladeshi rock is commonly divided into two categories: East Pakistan rock, and Bangladesh rock. From the 1970s to the 2000s, it was one of the nation's most popular musical genres.
Pnuema /Nɛ'umɑː/ is a "Tico" thrash metal Band from San Jose, Costa Rica, formed in 2003.
Hammercult was an Israeli-based thrash metal band, founded in 2010. The band is regarded as the leading extreme metal band of the Israeli metal movement in the 2000s.
The Melnā Piektdiena club is an underground, heavy-metal, and extreme music concert venue in Riga, Latvia. Opened in 2006, over the years it has hosted shows by some of the most respected artists within a variety of genres.
Japanese metal is heavy metal music from Japan. The country's first metal bands formed in the mid-to-late 1970s. The number of acts increased significantly in the next decade, but only a few saw their material released internationally, including Europe and North America with their pre-established metal bases. Domestic metal saw its commercial peak in Japan in the late 1980s and early 1990s, with the top acts selling millions of records. Many metal bands from the visual kei scene toured and gained recognition in the West in the 2000s. The 2010s saw a boom of all-female metal bands form and gain mainstream attention.
Crescent is a blackened death metal band from Egypt, founded in 1998. Crescent formed in 1998 as a black metal band, making it one of the oldest extreme metal bands in Egypt and the region. It was the first to perform at Wacken Open Air and many other festivals and countries. Crescent headlined numerous gigs and concerts in their homeland – Egypt, such as in El Sawy Culture Wheel, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Swiss Club, Azhar Park and many other small venues.
Blaakyum is a Lebanese metal band from Beirut, founded in 1995 by Bassem Deaibess. Blaakyum's style is a blend of Thrash, heavy and groove metal infused with Middle Eastern and Levantine folk music". To this end, the band incorporates the goblet drum into its music.The band's first studio album, Lord of the Night, was released on Friday the 13th of January 2012. Blaakyum released its second album, Line of Fear, on the 25th of June 2016. The band's last tour started at the Tuska festival, and continued with the "Thrash Mercenaries" Tour 2016, headed by Onslaught.
Highway 69 is an Indian heavy metal band. The band was formed in 2012 in Ranchi by vocalist Tarang Kerketta and guitarist Alvin Rozario, and has been based in Ranchi ever since its formation. The band has been the winners of numerous battle of band titles across their country and is known for their fast tempos, instrumental and aggressive style of playing. The band has performed twice as the finalists at Hornbill International Rock Contest of Hornbill Festival in Nagaland for the year 2017 and 2018. Their drummer has also bagged the title of the 'Best Drummer' in the year 2017 at this festival and was felicitated by Uday Benegal from the Indus Creed which is a band considered to be the pioneers of the Indian rock music.
