Obituary is an American death metal band formed in Tampa, Florida, in 1984. Initially called Executioner, the band changed its name to Xecutioner in 1986 to avoid confusion with the thrash metal band Executioner from Boston, and then changed its name once again to Obituary in 1988. The band's current lineup consists of vocalist John Tardy, drummer Donald Tardy, rhythm guitarist Trevor Peres, bassist Terry Butler, and lead guitarist Kenny Andrews. Obituary has gone through several lineup changes, with the Tardy brothers and Peres being the only constant members. The band was a fundamental act in the development of death metal music, and is one of the most successful death metal bands of all time. To date, Obituary has released ten studio albums, and with the exception of their 1997–2003 split, they continue to perform live around the world. Their music is based around heavily groove based riffs and drumming along with John Tardy's growling vocals, which create their signature brand of death metal.
Manowar is an American heavy metal band from Auburn, New York. Formed in 1980, the group is known for lyrics based on fantasy and mythology, as well as numerous songs celebrating the genre and its core audience. The band is also known for a loud and emphatic sound. In an interview for MTV in February 2007, bassist Joey DeMaio lamented that "these days, there's a real lack of big, epic metal that is drenched with crushing guitars and choirs and orchestras... so it's nice to be one of the few bands that's actually doing that". In 1984 the band was included in the Guinness Book of World Records for delivering the loudest performance, a record which they have since broken on two occasions. They also hold the world record for the longest heavy metal concert after playing for five hours and 1 minute in Bulgaria in 2008. They also have been known for their slogan "Death to false metal". Although the band has never been a mainstream commercial success in the United States, they maintain a strong cult following. As of 2019 Manowar has sold more than 20 million records worldwide.
Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California. The band was formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo, and bassist and vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style made them one of the "big four" bands of thrash metal, alongside Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax. Slayer's final lineup comprised King, Araya, drummer Paul Bostaph and guitarist Gary Holt. Drummer Jon Dette was also a member of the band.
Reign in Blood is the third studio album by American thrash metal band Slayer, released on October 7, 1986 by Def Jam Recordings. The album was the band's first collaboration with producer Rick Rubin, whose input helped the band's sound evolve. The release date of the album was delayed because of concerns regarding the lyrical subject matter of the opening track "Angel of Death", which refers to Josef Mengele and describes acts such as human experimentation that he committed at the Auschwitz concentration camp. However, the band's members stated numerous times that they did not condone Nazism and were merely interested in the subject.
"Angel of Death" is the opening track on the American thrash metal band Slayer's 1986 album Reign in Blood. The lyrics and music were written by guitarist Jeff Hanneman. They detail the Nazi physician Josef Mengele's human experiments at the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II.
Arch Enemy is a Swedish melodic death metal band, originally a supergroup, from Halmstad, formed in 1995. Its members were in bands such as Carcass, Armageddon, Carnage, Mercyful Fate, Spiritual Beggars, The Agonist, Nevermore, and Eucharist. It was founded by Carcass guitarist Michael Amott along with Johan Liiva, who were both originally from the death metal band Carnage. The band has released ten studio albums, three live albums, three video albums and four EPs. The band was originally fronted by Johan Liiva, who was replaced by German vocalist Angela Gossow in 2000. Gossow left the band in March 2014 to become the group's manager and was replaced by Canadian vocalist Alissa White-Gluz.
Exodus is an American thrash metal band formed in 1979 in Richmond, California. They have gone through numerous lineup changes, two extended hiatuses, and the deaths of two former band members. Their current lineup consists of guitarists Gary Holt and Lee Altus, bassist Jack Gibson, drummer Tom Hunting, and lead vocalist Steve "Zetro" Souza. Hunting is one of the original members, and departed from Exodus twice, in 1989 and 2004, but rejoined in 2007. Holt joined the band about two years after its formation, and is the only member of Exodus to appear on all their releases.
Blood Red Throne are a Norwegian death metal band. They were formed in Kristiansand, Norway, during the peak of black metal in 1998 by former Satyricon guitarist Daniel «Død» Olaisen and Emperor guitarist Terje «Tchort» Schei. Inspired by bands like Death, Cannibal Corpse and Deicide, Blood Red Throne play death metal in a Scandinavian style, mixing old school, traditional and Swedish death with groovy riffs and elements of black metal. The band has released 9 albums.
3 Inches of Blood was a Canadian heavy metal band formed in 1999 in Victoria, British Columbia, last consisting of Cam Pipes, Justin Hagberg, Shane Clark, and Ash Pearson, none of whom were original members of the band. They are marked by strong influences from the new wave of British heavy metal movement.
Jørn Lande, is a Norwegian hard rock and heavy metal singer and songwriter. He is known for his work with the bands Ark, Beyond Twilight, Millenium, Vagabond, The Snakes, and most notably with power metal band Masterplan. He is also the most recurrent guest singer of the international supergroup Avantasia, and has worked as lead and guest singer in several projects. Currently, he is focusing his activities on his solo project Jorn. In 2014, Lande was hired by Riot Games to be the voice of the character Karthus, of the fictional heavy metal band Pentakill, on their debut album Smite and Ignite, recording vocals for the songs "Lightbringer" and "Thornmail". He was also hired to sing most of the songs for their 2017 album Grasp of the Undying.
Deron John Miller is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the former lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of rock band CKY, which he co-founded in 1998. Other bands Miller fronts include the progressive metal band Foreign Objects, the melodic death metal group World Under Blood and the band 96 Bitter Beings.
Ego Likeness is an American darkwave/industrial rock band from Baltimore, Maryland. They were formed in 1999 by artist Steven Archer and writer Donna Lynch.
Angelspit is an electronic music band originally from Sydney, Australia, and currently based in Chicago, United States. The band was formed in 2004 by vocalists/synthesists Destroyx and ZooG. The band's music combines stylistic elements of horror, punk, pop and electronic music. Their work contains imagery revolving around medical experiments and grotesque societies. Angelspit has toured with Angel Theory, Ayria, Ikon, KMFDM, Tankt and The Crüxshadows, and have also shared the stage with bands such as The Sisters of Mercy, Nitzer Ebb, Skinny Puppy and Front Line Assembly. They performed with Lords of Acid during a 22-date U.S. tour in March 2011 and toured the United States with Blood on the Dance Floor in October 2011.
Hellyeah, stylized as HELLYEAH, is an American heavy metal supergroup formed in Dallas, Texas in 2006. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist Chad Gray, guitarists Christian Brady and Tom Maxwell, bassist Kyle Sanders, and drummer Roy Mayorga. The idea to form a supergroup originated in 2000 on the Tattoo the Earth tour, although plans were constantly put on hold due to scheduling conflicts. The summer of 2006 allowed the band to take the project seriously and record its first album. Recorded at Chasin' Jason studio in Dimebag Darrell's backyard, their self-titled album entered the Billboard 200 at number 9, selling 45,000 copies. AllMusic reviewer William Ruhlmann stated the album is "a competent example of its genre" awarding the album three-and-a-half stars.
World Under Blood is an American melodic death metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 2006, the band originally featured vocalist and guitarist Deron Miller and drummer Tim Yeung, with bassist Risha Eryavac and guitarist Luke Jaeger completing the four-piece lineup in 2007. The group released its debut album Tactical in July 2011, which featured contributions from guitarist James Murphy.
Lorelei Shannon is an American writer of horror and computer games.
Decapitated is a Polish death metal band formed in Krosno in 1996. The group comprises guitarist, founder and composer Wacław "Vogg" Kiełtyka, vocalist Rafał Piotrowski, bassist Hubert Więcek and currently also session drummer Ken Bedene. Decapitated have gained recognition as one of the genre's most widely respected bands and one of the finest exponents of technical death metal. The band earned an international fan base in the underground music community, and became an innovating act in the modern death metal genre.
Hideous and Perfect is third studio album by Australian electro-industrial band Angelspit. Released on 9 September 2009, it marks the shortest time between two consecutive Angelspit albums, with Blood Death Ivory being released in 2008. A music video for "Fuck the Revolution" was released. On 10 October 2010 a remix album entitled Larva Pupa Tank Coffin was released featuring four new songs and remixes by both Angelspit themselves as well as other artists. Also released along with the album was a music video for the song "Sleep Now". A second remix album, Carbon Beauty, was released 8 March 2011, featuring three new songs and nine remixes.
Evolution is the fifth studio album by American electronica duo Blood on the Dance Floor, released internationally on June 19, 2012. It is their first release to appear on the US Billboard 200, and is their best-selling effort to date, peaking at No. 42 on the Billboard Albums Chart.
The Gothsicles is an American industrial and electronic body music (EBM) band formerly based out of Chicago, Illinois after moving to Boston, Massachusetts in 2018. The group was formed in Wisconsin in 2002 by Brian "darkNES" Graupner, who handles vocals and synthesizers, and is the sole consistent member. The band has a rotating lineup of live musicians, including Matt Fanale of Caustic, Matt Slegel of Angelspit, and David Dodson of Abstinence. The band released its first LP, NESferatu, in 2006. Following albums included Sega Lugosi's Dead (2009), Industrialites & Magic (2011), Squid Icarus (2014), and I Feel Sicle, which was released on November 4, 2016. According to COMA Music Magazine, "The Gothsicles are one of the forerunners in Industrial Music for the Nerdy Masses."
