Voivod is a Canadian heavy metal band from Jonquière, Quebec. The original line-up consisted of vocalist Denis "Snake" Bélanger, guitarist Denis "Piggy" D'Amour, drummer Michel "Away" Langevin and bassist Jean-Yves "Blacky" Thériault. The band has had numerous members changes throughout its 42-year career, with Langevin as the only consistent member. Their current line-up includes Langevin, Bélanger, Daniel "Chewy" Mongrain (guitar) and Dominic "Rocky" Laroche (bass).
Kai Michael Hansen is a German musician who is the founder, lead guitarist and vocalist of power metal band Gamma Ray. He is also one of the co-founders of another power metal band Helloween, which he was a part of from 1983 to 1989 and rejoined in 2016. He is a prominent figure in power metal and has sold millions of albums worldwide. He is regarded as "the godfather of power metal", having founded two seminal bands in the genre. In 2011, he joined the band Unisonic featuring former Helloween vocalist Michael Kiske. Hansen and Kiske reunited with Helloween in 2017 for a world tour with all current members, celebrating the 30-year anniversary of release of the albums Keeper of the Seven Keys Parts I and II.
Annihilator is a Canadian thrash metal band founded in Ottawa in 1984 by Jeff Waters. Waters is the band's sole constant member and has acted as its guitarist, bandleader, writer, producer, engineer, and occasional bassist and vocalist. Annihilator has released seventeen studio albums and has undergone many line-up changes, with Waters regularly assembling touring or session musicians to perform with him. Along with Sacrifice, Voivod and Razor, Annihilator is known as one of the "Big Four" of Canadian thrash metal. They are also considered to be part of the "second wave" of thrash metal bands from the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Exodus is an American thrash metal band formed in 1979 in Richmond, California. Their current lineup consists of guitarists Gary Holt and Lee Altus, bassist Jack Gibson, drummer Tom Hunting, and lead vocalist Steve "Zetro" Souza. There are no original members left in Exodus other than Hunting, who has departed from the band twice, in 1989 and 2004, but rejoined in 2007. Exodus is also notable for including a then-unknown Kirk Hammett, who was the band's lead guitarist from its inception to his departure in 1983, when he left to join fellow Bay Area thrash metal band Metallica as Dave Mustaine's replacement. Holt has been most consistent member throughout various lineup changes and breakups, and is the only member to appear on all of Exodus' recordings. Much of the band's career has also been affected by feuds between both band members and record companies, two extended hiatuses, deaths of former band members and drug addictions.
Destruction is a German thrash metal band formed in 1982. They have been credited as one of the "Big Four" of the German thrash metal scene, the others being Kreator, Sodom and Tankard. In addition to helping pioneer black metal, Destruction was part of the second wave of thrash metal in the mid-to-late 1980s, along with American bands Testament, Sacred Reich, Death Angel and Dark Angel. For most of the 1990s, the band was not signed to a record label and self-produced their albums until they signed a contract with Nuclear Blast in the early 2000s.
Alice in Hell is the debut studio album by Canadian thrash metal band Annihilator, released on April 17, 1989 through Roadrunner Records. This was the only Annihilator album for ten years to feature Randy Rampage on vocals, until he returned for their seventh studio album Criteria for a Black Widow (1999).
Jeff Waters is a Canadian guitarist and the founder, bandleader and producer of the metal band Annihilator. He was born in Ontario and resides in the UK. Waters has owned Watersound Studios since 1994 and from 2003 until 2018, in Ottawa, Ontario, and now in the UK.
Heathen is an American thrash metal band originating from the San Francisco Bay Area, active from 1984 to 1993 and again from 2001 onwards. Despite never achieving commercial success, the band is often credited – alongside Exodus, Testament, Forbidden, Death Angel and Vio-lence – as one of the leaders of the Bay Area thrash metal scene of the mid-to-late 1980s, and they have gone through several lineup changes, leaving guitarist Lee Altus as the only constant member. To date, Heathen has released four studio albums: Breaking the Silence (1987), Victims of Deception (1991), The Evolution of Chaos (2009) and Empire of the Blind (2020).
Matthew Kiichi Heafy is a Japanese-American musician, best known as the guitarist and lead vocalist for heavy metal band Trivium. He was also the lead vocalist for the band Capharnaum, along with Trivium's former producer Jason Suecof. In 2017, Heafy was voted sixth on the Ultimate Guitar list "Top 25 Greatest Modern Frontmen".
Exciter is a Canadian speed metal band from Ottawa, Ontario, formed in 1978. Named after a song by Judas Priest, they are considered to be one of the first speed metal bands and a seminal influence on the thrash metal genre. The band was heavily influenced by a variety of music styles, including Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Deep Purple, Scorpions, Iron Maiden, Motörhead, Rush, Jethro Tull and Grand Funk Railroad. Despite many changes in personnel, as well as two break-ups, Exciter has managed to keep a small but dedicated following over the years.
Schizo Deluxe is the eleventh studio album by Canadian heavy metal band Annihilator, released on November 8, 2005, by AFM Records.
Metal is the twelfth album by Canadian heavy metal band Annihilator, released on April 16, 2007, by SPV/Steamhammer. However, it wasn't released in the United States until January 15, 2008. The album includes several special guests who each contribute to separate tracks. This includes Danko Jones, Angela Gossow, Steve "Lips" Kudlow, Alexi Laiho, Anders Björler, Michael Amott, Jesper Strömblad, Corey Beaulieu, Jacob Lynam and William Adler.
Oliver Michael Drake, known as Ol Drake, Old Rake or OL Drake, is an English musician, most notably the vocalist and lead guitarist of the thrash metal band Evile.
Terror Syndrome was a Canadian metal band formed by drummer Ryan Van Poederooyen in Vancouver, British Columbia in 2006. Initially announced as a Van Poederooyen solo project, it grew into a band consisting of Devin Townsend Band members Van Poederooyen, Mike Young, and Dave Young, alongside Annihilator vocalist Dave Padden.
Annihilator is the thirteenth album by Canadian heavy metal band Annihilator, released on May 17, 2010 by Earache Records in Europe, Marquee Records in Japan, Riot Entertainment in Australia and by iTunes in the US and Canada.
Live at Masters of Rock is an official live video album by the Canadian heavy metal band Annihilator, recorded at the Masters of Rock Festival 2008 in Vizovice, Czech Republic, and released in 2009. The concert footage was released on a live DVD and a live CD was originally intended to be included as bonus tracks. The audio recordings, because of record label SPV's insolvency problems, were instead made into a live album. Halfway through the recording some cameras were turned off which resulted in clips from earlier songs having to be put in to fill the gaps.
Feast is the fourteenth album by the Canadian heavy metal band Annihilator, released on August 23, 2013, by UDR in Europe and August 27, 2013, in North America. The cover art of the album features Spanish model and presenter Pilar Rubio.
Triple Threat is a box set by Canadian thrash metal band Annihilator, released on January 27, 2017. It consists of a studio album solely featuring acoustic versions of many of the band's songs from over the years, a live CD featuring their set from the Bang Your Head!!! festival in 2016 and special editions feature a live DVD or Blu-ray.
Suicide Society is the fifteenth album by the Canadian heavy metal band Annihilator. It was released on September 18, 2015, by UDR Music, and is the first album to feature guitarist and bandleader Jeff Waters performing lead vocals on all tracks since 1997's Remains due to the departure of Dave Padden in December 2014. It also marks the return of bassist Cam Dixon, who toured with the band from 1994 to 1995, as well as the addition of new guitarist Aaron Homma, both of whom are credited with providing backing vocals in the liner notes.
