Blind Guardian is a German power metal band formed in 1984 in Krefeld, West Germany. They are often credited as one of the seminal and most influential bands in the power metal and speed metal subgenres. Nine musicians have been a part of the band's line-up in its history, which currently consists of singer Hansi Kürsch, guitarists André Olbrich and Marcus Siepen and, since 2005, drummer Frederik Ehmke.
Queen is the debut studio album by the British rock band Queen. Released on 13 July 1973 by EMI Records in the UK and by Elektra Records in the US, it was recorded at Trident Studios and De Lane Lea Music Centre, London, with production by Roy Thomas Baker, John Anthony and the band members themselves.
Hear 'n Aid was a charity record recorded by a large ensemble of 40 heavy metal musicians and released in 1986. The project was organized by Ronnie James Dio, Jimmy Bain, and Vivian Campbell, all from the band Dio. Proceeds from the album were used to raise over $3 million for famine relief in Africa.
Jesu are a British experimental metal band formed in 2003 by Justin Broadrick following the breakup of his band Godflesh. It shares its name with the last song on Hymns, the final album of Godflesh's initial run. Jesu's sound is heavily layered and textured, incorporating a diverse mix of influences. Broadrick himself has stated that "...it's very loosely speaking pop/rock/metal/electronica ... I'm intentionally writing what I consider to be coherent 'pop' songs".
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. Their music was strongly influenced by the new wave of British heavy metal movement.
Jørn Marumsrud Lande is a Norwegian hard rock and heavy metal singer. 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.
"Highway Star" is a song by the English rock band Deep Purple. It is the opening track on the band's sixth studio album Machine Head (1972) and is the fastest tempo song on the album. It is characterised by long, classically inspired guitar and organ solos.
"Sleeping Sun" is a power ballad and the fourth single by Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish. It was released as a maxi single with three other songs on 2 August 1999 to coincide with the total solar eclipse that would occur on 11 August.
Equilibrium is a German folk metal band from Bavaria. The band's music combines elements of folk music, pagan metal, melodic black metal and symphonic metal, though they recently added in more modern influences including metalcore and industrial metal. Their riffs reflect traditional Germanic melodies. Their lyrical themes focus on Germanic tales and Germanic mythology. The songs of the band used to be mostly in German, although most recently they prioritized English in their songs, especially starting with their sixth album Renegades (2019).
Doremi Fasol Latido is a 1972 album by English space rock band Hawkwind. Recorded at Rockfield Studios and released on United Artists Records, it was their third album since their debut, Hawkwind, in 1970. It reached No. 14 on the UK album charts.
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.
"Ride Darkhorse, Ride" is the first single by Canadian power metal band 3 Inches of Blood. It was released on May 5, 2003 by Megarock Records. "Onward to Valhalla '03" and "Tonight we Rejoice '03" are re-recordings of songs from the band's debut EP, Sect of the White Worm. The cover art was illustrated by Martin McKenna and derives from a gamebook entitled Legend of the Shadow Warriors, by Stephen Hand.
Third Age of the Sun is the third studio album released by the Finnish heavy metal band Battlelore, released in 2005. As on previous albums, the songs are all based on J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth sagas. This album introduced new bass player Timo Honkanen and new vocalist Tomi Mykkänen, who had previously toured with the band when Miika Kokkola and Patrik Mennander had been unavailable. The sound of the album differs from the first two Battlelore albums, as the instrumentation has a more live and organic feel and also due to the absence of clean male vocals.
Cynic is an American progressive metal band formed in Miami, Florida by Paul Masvidal in 1987. Masvidal originally served solely as the band's guitarist, but later took over as lead vocalist and chief songwriter. Cynic incorporates elements of progressive rock, alternative, and metal.
Johan Reinholdz is a progressive metal artist best known for his work with the Swedish progressive metal band Andromeda, Swedish death metal band NonExist and the melodic death metal band Skyfire. He composed Andromeda's debut album, Extension of the Wish. He has also released four more studio albums with Andromeda and one live-album. In 2004 he joined Skyfire on Esoteric in 2009. Since early 2017 he plays with Dark Tranquillity, going from live member to full time member in 2020, replacing original guitarist Martin Henriksson.
Chelsea Grin is an American deathcore band from Salt Lake City, Utah. Formed in 2007, the group have released two EPs and seven full-length albums. Since 2018, no founding members remain in the band. Despite not being in the original line-up, bassist David Flinn has been the only constant member on all the group's studio albums.
Cane Hill is an American heavy metal band formed in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 2011. The band consists of vocalist Elijah Witt, guitarist James Barnett, bassist Ryan Henriquez, and drummer Devin Clark.
