Bathory was a Swedish heavy metal band formed in Vällingby in March 1983. Named after Hungarian countess Elizabeth Báthory, they are considered pioneers of black metal and Viking metal. The book Lords of Chaos described Bathory's first four albums as "the blueprint for Scandinavian black metal."
Mayhem is a Norwegian black metal band formed in Oslo in 1984. They were one of the pioneers of the Norwegian black metal scene, and their music has profoundly influenced the black metal genre. Mayhem's early career was marked by controversy, primarily due to their notorious live performances, the 1991 suicide of vocalist Per Yngve Ohlin ("Dead"), and the 1993 murder of guitarist Øystein Aarseth ("Euronymous") by former member Varg Vikernes of Burzum.
Living Sacrifice is an American Christian metal band formed in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1989. The band has released eight studio albums, out of which the first three were recorded under R.E.X. Records with their original vocalist Darren Johnson as a more thrash metal and death metal oriented band. The band evolved into a groove metal and metalcore style beginning with Reborn (1997) under Solid State Records with the original guitarist Bruce Fitzhugh on vocals. In 2003, the group disbanded due to other projects and later their label, Solid State, released their best-of album, In Memoriam (2005). In 2008, Living Sacrifice reformed and released a two-song digital only single called Death Machine. They then began working on The Infinite Order which was released on January 26, 2010. Lance Garvin and Bruce Fitzhugh are the two remaining original members.
Anaal Nathrakh are a British extreme metal band formed in 1999 in Birmingham by multi-instrumentalist Mick Kenney and vocalist Dave Hunt. They are currently signed to Metal Blade Records. The band's name is Irish for snake's breath and was taken from Merlin's Charm of Making in John Boorman's 1981 film Excalibur. The band recorded two demos in 1999, which were later released as an album.
Planes Mistaken for Stars was an American rock band. The group was founded in Peoria, Illinois in 1997 and later relocated to Denver, Colorado in 1999. Working with several different labels, they released three studio albums and four EPs before breaking up in 2008. While rooted in the post-hardcore and emo scenes of the turn of the century, Planes Mistaken for Stars developed a distinctive musical style strongly influenced by heavy metal and rock and roll. Reuniting for live performances in 2010, they went on to release their fourth album Prey in 2016.
Von is an American black metal band formed in 1987 in O'ahu, Hawaii, and later relocating to San Francisco. They influenced the second wave of black metal.
Watain is a Swedish black metal band, formed in 1998. The band's name is taken from an early recording by the American black metal group Von. The band have become famous for their theistic Satanist views and for their live shows which involve pyrotechnics, candles, Satanic rituals, animal carcasses, and blood. At a now-notorious live performance in Brooklyn in 2014, they doused audience members in animal blood, allegedly causing some members of the audience to vomit. This was picked up and publicised by TMZ, generating controversy around the incident. To date they have released seven full-length albums, as well as three live albums and a number of demos and EPs. Their most recent album The Agony & Ecstasy of Watain was released on 29 April 2022 through Nuclear Blast. The band's core lineup has remained stable since their formation, consisting of Erik Danielsson, Pelle Forsberg, and Håkan Jonsson, though as of 2015 Jonsson no longer performs live, Emil Svensson of fellow Uppsala death metal band Degial was recruited as live drummer.
Root is a Czech black metal band.
The Essence of Black Purity is the third release by the black metal band Watain. It was released in 1999 on EP format on Grim Rune Records and was limited to 300 copies. Grim Rune website mentions that the EP "got a generally good response in the underground circuits." Similarly, Eduardo Rivadavia of AllMusic wrote that Watain "quickly gain[ed] underground credibility" with this "uncompromising 7" release".
Rabid Death's Curse is the first studio album by the black metal band Watain. It was released in 2000 on Drakkar Productions. It is notable as being the first and only album for which the band had two guitarists; from Rabid Death's Curse onwards, the band would be a trio. The song "Rabid Death's Curse" contains an audio sample from the film Friday the 13th. The album is considered a classic and was featured on German Rock Hard magazine's list 250 Black-Metal-Alben, die man kennen sollte.
The Ritual Macabre is the sixth release by the black metal band Watain. It is their second live album. The album was released in 2001 on Sakreligious Warfare Productions and was limited to 666 copies. "Transilvanian Hunger" is a cover of Darkthrone's song from the album of the same name.
Death Comes in 26 Carefully Selected Pieces is the tenth album by the Finnish black metal band Impaled Nazarene. It was recorded live at the Tavastia Club in Helsinki on 19 December 2004 and released in 2005.
Armagedda is a Swedish black metal band that was founded in 1999.
"Reaping Death" is a single by Swedish black metal band Watain from the album Lawless Darkness. "Reaping Death" was released as a CD single on 6 April 2010 and a 7-inch picture disc on 30 April.
Malign is a Swedish black metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1994.
The Devil's Blood was a Dutch occult rock band from Eindhoven, formed in 2006. Their style is hard rock in the vein of Black Widow, Coven, Black Sabbath, and a plethora of 1970s underground progressive and psychedelic rock. Their sound has been described as "seductive, rather than aggressive" with female vocals, classical guitar leads, analog atmospherics and "vintage satanic hooks".
Black Anvil is an American black metal band from New York City. It formed in 2007 with Paul Delaney, Gary Bennett and Raeph Glicken. When asked, Delaney said “Gary actually came up with name, which is a cross between a Black Sabbath reference and a Judas Priest song.” It is one of the few bands in the New York City black metal scene.
The Wild Hunt is the fifth studio album by Swedish black metal band Watain. It was released through Century Media on 19 August 2013 in Europe and 20 August 2013 in USA. The cover art was painted "in oil and mixed materials" by Zbigniew M. Bielak, who was also responsible for the artwork of Lawless Darkness. The album sold around 2,700 copies in the United States in its first week of release, and was the best-selling album in their home country of Sweden on the week of its release, making it the band's highest sales and chart debut to date. Stylistically the album represents a development of Watain's established black metal sound, incorporating influences from heavy metal, doom metal, and progressive metal. It is also the first Watain album to feature vocalist Erik Danielsson performing clean vocals.
In Solitude was a Swedish heavy metal band from Uppsala.
Trident Wolf Eclipse is the sixth full-length studio album by Swedish black metal band Watain. The album was released on January 5, 2018, through Century Media Records. The album marks a significant shift away from the progressive style of Watain's previous album, The Wild Hunt, and a return to their earlier more traditional and aggressive black metal sound. According to frontman Erik Danielsson, the album title should be read as three separate words which were chosen to represent symbolic concepts which the band consider central to their music. Trident Wolf Eclipse received generally favourable reviews from music critics upon release.
