Slayer is an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California, formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/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 current lineup consists of King, Araya, drummer Paul Bostaph and guitarist Gary Holt, who initially joined as a touring member in 2011 before joining the band permanently after Hanneman's death in 2013. 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. The band's members stated that they did not condone Nazism and were merely interested in the subject.
Malice Mizer was a Japanese visual kei rock band active from 1992 to 2001. The band was famous for their music and their live shows, featuring lavish historical costumes and stage sets, short silent theater pieces preluding various songs.
Ulver is a Norwegian experimental electronica band founded in 1993, by vocalist Kristoffer Rygg. Their early works, such as debut album Bergtatt, were categorised as folklore-influenced black metal, but the band has since evolved a fluid and increasingly eclectic musical style, blending genres such as experimental rock, electronica, ambient, trip hop, symphonic and chamber traditions, noise, progressive and experimental music into their oeuvre. 1997 marked their international debut with the release of their third album Nattens madrigal through German label Century Media. However, following discord with the label, Rygg formed his own imprint, Jester Records, in 1998.
Tarja Soile Susanna Turunen-Cabuli, known professionally as Tarja Turunen or simply Tarja, is a Finnish heavy metal singer, best known as the former lead vocalist of Nightwish.
Troy Donockley is an English composer and multi-instrumentalist most known for his playing of Uilleann pipes. Having performed with many artists as a session player, he is most notable as a member of Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish, which he has performed with since 2007 and joined as a full-time member in 2013.
Throwdown is an American 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.
Mastodon is an American heavy metal band from Atlanta, Georgia. Formed in 2000, the band's lineup of Troy Sanders (bass/vocals), Brent Hinds, Bill Kelliher and Brann Dailor (drums/vocals) has remained unchanged since 2001. Mastodon has released eight studio albums, as well as a number of other releases. The band's 2002 debut album, Remission, garnered significant critical acclaim for its unique sound. Mastodon's second full-length release, Leviathan, is a concept album based on the novel Moby-Dick by Herman Melville. Three magazines awarded the record "Album of the Year" in 2004: Revolver, Kerrang! and Terrorizer.
3 Inches of Blood is 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. Their music was strongly influenced by the new wave of British heavy metal movement.
Nathan Jonas "Joey" Jordison was an American musician. He was the original drummer and co-founder of the heavy metal band Slipknot, in which he was designated #1, and the guitarist for the horror punk supergroup Murderdolls.
Advance and Vanquish is the second studio album by Canadian heavy metal band 3 Inches of Blood. It was released on September 28, 2004, and was their first release by Roadrunner Records. It is the only release by the band to feature bassist and drummer Brian Redman and Matt Wood respectively, and the last to feature original guitarists Sunny Dhak and Bobby Froese who later went on to reform their previous band Pride Tiger. The cover art was illustrated by Edward Repka who has also designed album covers for such acclaimed bands as Megadeth and Death.
Sect of the White Worm is the first EP by Canadian metal band 3 Inches of Blood. It was self-released in April 2001. Vocalist Cam Pipes was originally only invited to record background clean vocals for select tracks after the recording process was mostly complete, However the band liked the idea of having him on board full-time and so he recorded more vocals which were dubbed over the rest of the songs before it reached its release.
Battlecry Under A Wintersun is the debut studio album by Canadian power metal band 3 Inches of Blood. It was released in 2002 by Megarock Records. It is the last release by the band to feature original bassist Rich Trawick and drummer Geoff Trawick. The album peaked at number 18 on the Canadian national college charts and at number 2 on the national loud charts. The album was re-released in 2009 on Minion Records, marking the first time it was made available in the U.S. The reissue also includes 4 bonus tracks, taken from the "Sect of the White Worm" EP.
Fire Up the Blades is the third studio album by Canadian heavy metal band 3 Inches of Blood. It was released on 26 June 2007 by Roadrunner Records and is the band's final release through the label. It is also the first release by the band to feature lead guitarist Justin Hagberg, rhythm guitarist Shane Clark, bassist Nick Cates and drummer Alexei Rodriguez, the latter of whom was kicked out of the band six months later.
Emil Werstler is an American guitarist and musician based in Nashville, Tennessee who is perhaps best known for his work in metal and gypsy jazz. In 2004, Werstler became lead guitarist for the metal band Dååth, whose second album The Hinderers peaked at No. 49 on the Top Heatseekers chart in 2007. In 2009 Dååth released The Concealers on Roadrunner which reached No. 35 on Top Heatseekers and was placed as No. 3 on a list of the "top twenty metal albums of 2009" by Metal Sucks. In 2010 Werstler released the instrumental metal album Avalanche of Worms as a collaboration with Eyal Levi with the album receiving a largely positive response for its musicianship and experimental nature.
Children of Bodom was a Finnish melodic death metal band from Espoo. Formed in 1993 as Inearthed, the final line-up of the group upon their split in 2019 consisted of frontman Alexi Laiho, drummer Jaska Raatikainen, bassist Henkka Seppälä, keyboardist Janne Wirman and rhythm guitarist Daniel Freyberg. The band released ten studio albums, three live albums, two EPs, two compilation albums and one DVD.
Here Waits Thy Doom is the fourth studio album from the Canadian heavy metal band 3 Inches of Blood. It is the first 3 Inches of Blood album not to feature vocalist Jamie Hooper and thus the first to feature no founding members of the band. This is also the first 3 Inches of Blood album released through Century Media. On June 29, 2009 members of the Goatriders Horde fan club were granted the first to listen to the new song "Call of the Hammer." The song was available for streaming via the band's Myspace page starting July 8, 2009. On September 9 the band released a new music video for the track "Silent Killer".
Long Live Heavy Metal is the fifth studio album from the Canadian heavy metal band 3 Inches of Blood. It is the second 3 Inches of Blood album to be released through Century Media and not feature Jamie Hooper on screaming vocals, and is their only release to feature the same line-up as the previous one. This would also be the band's final studio album before disbanding in 2015 and reuniting in 2023.
Holy Grail is an American heavy metal band from Pasadena, California, formed in 2008.
