Carach Angren is a symphonic black metal band from the Netherlands, formed by two members of the now-defunct bands Inger Indolia and Vaultage. Their style is characterized by prominent usage of orchestral arrangements, death metal vocals, and guitar riffs. Their studio albums are concept albums with lyrics based on ghost stories and folklore, such as the Flying Dutchman. The band sets itself apart from other symphonic black metal artists with the usage of multiple languages such as English, French, German, and Dutch. Most songs are based on English, with transitions into other languages during chorus and bridge sections.
Blackwater Park is the fifth studio album by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth. It was released on March 12, 2001 in Europe and a day later in North America through Music for Nations and Koch Records. The album marks the first collaboration between Porcupine Tree frontman Steven Wilson and the band, as Wilson had been brought in to produce the album. This contributed to a shift in Opeth's musical style. The songs "The Drapery Falls" and "Still Day Beneath the Sun" were released as singles.
Omnium Gatherum is a five-piece melodic death metal band from Finland, founded in the autumn of 1996. Although the band mainly follows the path of the melodic death metal genre, much of their work shows strong influences from progressive metal, especially their later albums.
Battlelore are a Finnish heavy metal band from Lappeenranta, founded in 1999 by guitarist Jyri Vahvanen and bassist Miika Kokkola. The name derives from the union of the words 'battle' and 'folklore'. Many of Battlelore's lyrics concern J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth sagas and their stage costumes and live shows are largely inspired by the themes and characters of fantasy literature. The band had many changes of personnel during their twelve years of activity and had a long hiatus after the completion of the tour supporting their latest release Doombound in 2011. In January 2016 they announced that they would be performing at Metal Female Voices Fest XIII in October 2016.
Heart of Darkness is the sixth studio album by German heavy metal band Grave Digger. They showed a much darker and more aggressive sound with this release than any of their previous albums. All of the songs have dark, lyrical concepts such as hate, death, betrayal, etc. The title track is inspired by the novella Heart of Darkness. A music video was made for "Circle of Witches".
WarCry is a Spanish power metal band led by founder, singer, and songwriter Víctor García. Formed in 2001 when García and drummer Alberto Ardines were ejected from Avalanch, the band has since released seven studio albums and two live albums, with an eighth studio album currently in progress. WarCry has had a fluctuating lineup with García as the sole constant member. The band has been acclaimed as one of Spain's most famous heavy metal acts and has won numerous awards in both Spain and Latin America.
Eclipse is the seventh studio album by Finnish heavy metal band Amorphis. The lyrics are from a play based on the Kullervo legend, written by Finnish poet and playwright Paavo Haavikko in 1982.
Sword's Song is the second studio album released by the Finnish heavy metal band Battlelore, released in 2003. As with all of the band's other albums, the lyrics are based on J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth sagas. Sword's Song's music and lyrics are essentially similar to those of their debut album, but in the opinion of most reviewers and fans showed an improvement in both strength of the material and quality of the performances.
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.
...Where the Shadows Lie is the first full-length album by the Finnish heavy metal band Battlelore, released in 2002. The album received good reviews and gained the band a loyal fan base. No singles were released from the album, although a video was filmed for the song "Journey to Undying Lands", used to promote the band throughout Europe. After the release of this album in 2002, guitarist Tommi Havo had to leave the band due to personal reasons and was replaced by Jussi Rautio.
Minas Morgul is the second full-length album by the Austrian black metal band Summoning. The band and many of their fans consider this album to be their debut album as it developed the "Summoning sound" and brought the band to a larger audience due to its lyrics involving J. R. R. Tolkien's themes.
Kohti Yhdeksän Nousua is the first full-length studio album by the black metal band Horna. It was released on Solistitium Records in 1998 and was limited to 1500 copies. It was re-released on vinyl under Blut & Eisen Productions in December 2006, with modified artwork, 5 additional tracks recorded in 2000 and the title appended with (Sis. Ordo Regnum Sathanas). It was limited to 666 copies, with the first 100 of which being printed on grey and black vinyl. The cover bears resemblance to Darkthrone's A Blaze in the Northern Sky. The title is a reference to the nine Nazgûl from J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.
The Last Alliance is the fifth album by the Finnish heavy metal band Battlelore, released in 2008. It was issued as a jewel case CD and a digipack with a bonus DVD featuring footage of a live show at Metal Female Voices Fest in Wieze, Belgium in 2007.
Black Sails at Midnight is the second studio album by Scottish heavy metal band Alestorm. As with their first album, all the drums tracks were recorded by session drummer Migo Wagner but touring drummer Ian Wilson added additional percussion. The album features string and brass arrangements and folk instruments as opposed to the more heavy metal instrumentation of Captain Morgan's Revenge. The special edition of the album included a live DVD of the band's performance at the 2008 Wacken Festival.
Evangelion is the ninth full-length album by Polish extreme metal band Behemoth. The album was released on August 7, 2009 through Nuclear Blast Records, and on August 11, 2009 through Metal Blade Records in the United States.
Forgive Us Our Trespasses is the second studio album by the American post-metal band A Storm of Light. The song "Tempest" was made into a music video, directed by the guitarist/vocalist Josh Graham. The lyrics and album artwork depict environmental and post-apocalyptic themes, including references to the 'Sixth Extinction' alluded to in the Red Sparowes album At the Soundless Dawn, an album also featuring Graham.
Doombound is the sixth album by the Finnish symphonic metal band Battlelore, released on January 26, 2011. It was their final album before their five-year hiatus. A digipak version including the CD, a bonus DVD, and a poster is available at Napalm Records website, which also released a sample for the song "Kärmessurma".
Old Mornings Dawn is the seventh full-length album by the Austrian atmospheric black metal band Summoning. The album was released on June 5, 2013 through Napalm Records. The cover art is based on George Hetzel's painting, Rocky Gorge. Silenius commented on the album's title: "Old Mornings Dawn is no concept album, but this time we mostly experienced the stories and legends of Eärendil the mariner: half man half eldar, ancestor of the kings of Númenor, with the Silmaril of his forehead he became an immortal star. 4 songs are dealing with this topic. The lyrics of another two songs come from the poems "City of Present Sorrow" and "Town of Dreams", two very old poems by J. R. R. Tolkien written at a time when the first world war was raging. The rest of the lyrics came from unknown writers or are written by myself and as ever are closely woven to the Tolkien universe".
Kołysanki is the fifth studio album by Polish band Lux Occulta. The album was released on March 13, 2014. It is the first album released by the band in 13 years, as well as the first since the ending of the band's hiatus, making it the longest gap between the band's albums.
Imena na Stene is the third studio album by the Finnish doom metal band KYPCK. It was released on March 21, 2014, under the record label Ranka Kustannus. The album debuted at Finland's official list in No. 9.
[2] 