Kreator is a German thrash metal band from Essen, formed in 1982. Their current lineup consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Miland "Mille" Petrozza, drummer Jürgen "Ventor" Reil, lead guitarist Sami Yli-Sirniö, and bassist Frédéric Leclercq. The band's lineup has changed multiple times throughout its 43-year career, most noticeably with their bassists and lead guitarists. Petrozza and Reil are the only two original members left in Kreator, although the latter took a break from the band from 1994 to 1996. Yli-Sirniö has been the lead guitarist of Kreator since 2001, while Leclercq joined in 2019 as the replacement of Christian "Speesy" Giesler, who had been in the band since 1994.
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 eleven 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, subsequently becoming the group's manager, and was replaced by Canadian vocalist Alissa White-Gluz.
Amorphis is a Finnish heavy metal band founded by Jan Rechberger, Tomi Koivusaari, and Esa Holopainen in 1990. Initially, the band was a death metal act, but on later albums they evolved into playing other genres, including progressive metal and folk metal. They frequently use the Kalevala, the epic poem of Finland, as a source for their lyrics.
Pagan metal is a genre of heavy metal music which fuses extreme metal with "the pre-Christian traditions of a specific culture or region" through thematic concept, rustic melodies, unusual instruments or archaic languages, usually referring to folk metal or black metal. The Norwegian band In the Woods... was one of the first bands commonly viewed as pagan metal. Metal Hammer author Marc Halupczok wrote that Primordial's song "To Enter Pagan" from the band's demo "Dark Romanticism" contributed to defining the genre.
Ensiferum is a Finnish folk metal band from Helsinki. The members of the band label themselves as "melodic folk metal".
Tuska Open Air Metal Festival, commonly shortened to Tuska, is a Finnish heavy metal festival taking place annually in Helsinki. The first Tuska took place in 1998 and the festival has since grown larger every year. The location of the festival has been in Kaisaniemi park in the middle of the city from 2001. However, since 2011, Tuska has taken place at the Suvilahti event field in the Kalasatama neighbourhood of the Sörnäinen district. The festival dates have always been in either June or July.
Christopher Amott is a Swedish guitarist, younger brother of Michael Amott and founding member of the metal bands Arch Enemy and Armageddon. He is most recently the former guitarist for Dark Tranquillity.
Trivium is an American heavy metal band from Orlando, Florida, formed in 1999. The band comprises vocalist and guitarist Matt Heafy, guitarist Corey Beaulieu, bassist Paolo Gregoletto, and drummer Alex Bent.
Decibel is a monthly heavy metal magazine published by the Philadelphia-based Red Flag Media since September 2004. It is currently the only monthly metal music magazine published in North America. Its sections include Upfront, Features, Reviews, Guest Columns and the Decibel Hall of Fame. The magazine's tag-line is currently "Extremely Extreme" ; the editor-in-chief is Albert Mudrian.
Armageddon is a Swedish melodic death metal band, led by Christopher Amott of Arch Enemy.
Eluveitie is a Swiss folk metal band from Winterthur, Zürich, founded in 2002 by Chrigel Glanzmann. The project's first demo, Vên, was released in 2003. Vên was a studio project of Glanzmann's, but its success led to the recruitment of a full band. The band then released a full-length album, Spirit, in June 2006. In November 2007, Eluveitie was signed by Nuclear Blast. The group rose to fame following the release of their first major-label album, Slania, in February 2008. The album peaked at number 35 in the Swiss charts and number 72 in the German charts.
Obscura is a German technical death metal band from Landshut, founded by guitarist and vocalist Steffen Kummerer in 2002. The band has released seven studio albums, a compilation album and thirteen music videos since its formation. Their latest album A Sonication will be released on 7 February 2025 via Nuclear Blast.
Alissa White-Gluz is a Canadian singer, best known as the lead vocalist of the Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy, and former lead vocalist and founding member of the Canadian metalcore band The Agonist. Her vocal style includes both growling and clean vocals (singing). Although primarily associated with melodic death metal and metalcore, she has appeared as a guest vocalist for power metal, symphonic metal and deathcore bands, notably Kamelot, Delain, Carnifex and Powerwolf, and has performed live with Nightwish and Tarja Turunen.
Gatecreeper is an American death metal band from Phoenix, Arizona.
Joey Concepcion is an American guitarist, best known as a member of the melodic death metal band Arch Enemy, which he joined in 2023. Previously he has played with Armageddon, Dark Tranquillity, Dead by Wednesday and Sanctuary.
Rising from the North was a concert tour co-headlined by Swedish melodic death metal bands Arch Enemy and In Flames, with special guest Soilwork. The tour was announced on November 20, 2023 and general ticket sales for the shows began four days later. The first show of the tour was October 3, 2024 at O2 Academy Glasgow in Scotland, United Kingdom, and the closing night of the tour was November 5, 2024 at Helsinki Ice Hall in Finland.
Blood Dynasty is the upcoming twelfth studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy. The album is scheduled for a 28 March 2025 release, and was announced on 4 October 2024. It is Arch Enemy's first studio album to feature guitarist Joey Concepcion, following the departure of Jeff Loomis from the band in 2023.
Largo Camino Al Inframundo... was a concert tour headlined by Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy. The tour was announced on July 11, 2024 and general ticket sales for the shows began four days later. The first show of the tour was November 12, 2024 at Teatro Morelos in Toluca, and the closing night of the tour was 11 December, 2024 at Circo Volador in Mexico City, with a final standalone show in Chihuahua taking place on May 18, 2025.
Deceivers Asia Tour was a concert tour headlined by Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy. The tour was announced on January 20, 2024 and general ticket sales for the shows began on various dates within the following weeks. The first show of the tour was April 24, 2024 in Seoul, South Korea and the closing night of the tour was May 23, 2024 in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The North American Blood Dynasty 2025 Tour is an upcoming concert tour headlined by Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy. The tour was announced on December 18, 2024, and general ticket sales for the shows began two days later. The first show of the tour will be April 14, 2025 at The Observatory North Park in San Diego, California, and the closing night of the tour will be May 18, 2025 at Milwaukee Metal Fest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
