Progressive metal is a broad fusion music genre melding heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified guitar-driven sound of the former with the more experimental, cerebral or "pseudo-classical" compositions of the latter.
Napalm Death are an English grindcore band formed in Meriden, West Midlands in 1981. None of the band's original members have been in the group since 1986, but since Utopia Banished (1992), the lineup of bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch Harris, drummer Danny Herrera and lead vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway has remained consistent through most of the band's career. From 1989 to 2004, Napalm Death were a five-piece band after they added Jesse Pintado as the replacement of one-time guitarist Bill Steer. Following Pintado's departure, the band reverted to a four-piece.
Summoning is an Austrian atmospheric black metal band based in Vienna. Since their formation in 1993, they have released eight full-length albums and two EPs via Napalm Records. Their lyrics make extensive use of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth writings and mythology. Since 1995, their lineup has had a consistent lineup of Richard Lederer as "Protector" and Michael Gregor as "Silenius". The band never played live performances and has consistently maintained that they have no interest in ever doing so. Their latest album With Doom We Come was released on 5 January 2018.
Moonspell is a Portuguese gothic metal band formed in 1992. The group released their first EP, Under the Moonspell, in 1994 and followed up with their debut album, Wolfheart, a year later. They quickly became the most recognizable metal band from Portugal and a key figure in gothic metal. Fernando Ribeiro is co-founder, singer and songwriter of the band.
Sentenced was a Finnish gothic metal band that played melodic death metal in their early years. The band formed in 1989 in the town of Muhos and broke up in 2005.
Otep is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in November 2000 in Los Angeles by frontwoman Otep Shamaya. The band is noted for their style of "art-house nu metal", and their strong political stances. Throughout the course of several lineup changes over the years, Shamaya has remained the only constant member in the band.
Lee Robert Dorrian is an English singer, best known as a former member of grindcore band Napalm Death and later frontman of doom metal band Cathedral.
Napalm Records is an Austrian independent record label focused on heavy metal, hard rock and folk/folk rock/folk metal. Originally, Napalm focused on black metal bands, such as Abigor and Summoning, and folk metal bands, such as Falkenbach and Vintersorg. The label later expanded its roster by adding gothic metal, symphonic metal, power metal, doom metal, metalcore and nu metal bands, as well as stoner rock acts Monster Magnet, Karma to Burn, and Brant Bjork, and even folk bands like Ye Banished Privateers. Napalm has its own publishing house named Iron Avantgarde Publishing.
Disarmonia Mundi is a melodic death metal band from Avigliana, Italy, that started out as a progressive death metal band. The project is the brainchild of the producer and multi-instrumentalist Ettore Rigotti and is mainly known for featuring Soilwork's vocalist Björn "Speed" Strid as guest vocalist on several albums. After releasing two albums under Scarlet Records, they have signed to Italy-based Coroner Records.
Immortal Souls is a melodic death metal band from Kokkola, Finland, formed in 1991. They released a split album and their debut on Little Rose Productions in the late 1990s and early 2000s. In 2002, Immortal Souls signed with Dutch label Fear Dark which released their second and third album as well as a compilation. They have performed at Tuska Open Air Metal Festival. Their musical style is characterized by their use of melodic guitar riffs and singing which shifts between growls and shouting. Their music has been called winter metal since Immortal Souls utilizes frosty metaphors in their lyrics and usually creates a cold, wintry atmosphere. The album Wintereich was released in 2007 in Europe on Dark Balance and in the USA through Facedown Records.
Mortemia is a Norwegian gothic metal one-man band created in 2009 by Morten Veland, the founder of Tristania and Sirenia.
Unleash the Archers is a Canadian power metal band from Victoria, British Columbia, currently signed with Napalm Records. The band plays a fusion of traditional heavy metal with power metal and melodic death metal.
Tengger Cavalry was a heavy metal band originated from Inner Mongolia and Beijing and formerly based in New York state and Texas. They combine elements of the traditional music of Central Asia and music of Mongolia with heavy metal into a kind of folk metal that Billboard and CNN refer to as nomadic folk metal.
Nature Ganganbaigal was a Chinese music performer, songwriter, producer and film music composer based in New York City. Originally from Beijing, he was of mixed Han Chinese and Mongol ancestry, and performed Mongolian Morin Khuur and throat singing. His western name "Nature" comes from both of his given names, Mongolian Ganganbaigal 'beautiful nature' and Chinese Tianran 'nature'. He graduated from New York University in 2015, he held a master of music degree in film music composition.
Hinayana is an American melodic death metal/doom metal band from Austin, Texas.
Paint the Sky with Blood is the only EP by Finnish melodic death metal band Bodom After Midnight, the short-lived follow-up project to Children of Bodom, released on 23 April 2021 through Napalm Records.
IGNEA is a Ukrainian melodic metal band formed in Kyiv in 2013. The band mixes different heavy metal subgenres, the main of which are melodic death metal, symphonic metal, progressive metal, and oriental metal.
Endless is the first official release by American melodic death-doom band Hinayana, released on August 28, 2014. A demo album entirely written, recorded, and produced by founder Casey Hurd, Endless led to him beginning to flesh out a full lineup, hiring guitarist Erik Shtaygrud and drummer Daniel Vieira for subsequent releases. Once Hurd recruited the full band, a music video for Bringers of the Dawn was released on October 10, 2016. The music video was shot and produced by drummer Daniel Vieira.
Order Divine is the first non-demo studio album by American melodic death-doom band Hinayana, released on March 19, 2018. Although a full line-up had already been assembled, founder Casey Hurd recorded all guitars, bass, and vocals, and Daniel Vieira recorded drums. The album was mixed and mastered by Kevin Butler at Orb Recording Studios. A music video for Order Divine was released on March 12, 2018, to promote the release of the album a week before its release. The video was shot and produced by drummer Daniel Vieira. A music video for The Window was released on December 3, 2018, and was shot by Vieira and produced by Vieira and Hurd. Order Divine was self-released, but later distributed worldwide by Black Lion Records (Sweden).
Shatter and Fall is the second full-length studio album by American melodic death-doom band Hinayana, released on November 10, 2023, under Napalm Records. The album was produced and recorded by founder Casey Hurd and Kevin Butler, with mastering by Dan Swanö. The album art was done by Travis Smith. The album features guest appearances by Vincent Jackson Jones on "Mind Is a Shadow" and Tuomas Saukkonen on "A Tide Unturning". Saukkonen had previously directed a music video for the re-recording of "Pitch Black Noise" from their 2020 EP Death of the Cosmic. The video was released on July 26, 2023, less than four months before the release of Shatter and Fall. Hinayana embarked on a European tour with Saukkonen's bands in the month of the album's release.
