Possessed is an American death metal band, originally formed in 1983. Noted for their fast style of playing and Jeff Becerra's growled vocals, they are often called the first band in the death metal genre, and paved the way for the 1980s Bay Area thrash metal scene, along with Metallica, Exodus, Testament and Death Angel. The band is also notable for featuring future Primus member Larry LaLonde, who was the guitarist for Possessed from 1984 to 1987.
Dark Angel is an American thrash metal band from Downey, California, formed in 1981. The band's current lineup includes drummer Gene Hoglan, guitarists Eric Meyer and Laura Christine, frontman Ron Rinehart and bassist Mike Gonzalez. In its history, they have gone through many lineup changes, and as of guitarist Jim Durkin's death in March 8, 2023, there are no original members left in the current lineup of Dark Angel, although Meyer is the only member to appear on all of their studio albums.
Mortification is an Australian Christian death metal band which was formed in 1987 as a heavy metal group, Lightforce, by mainstay Steve Rowe on bass guitar and vocals. By 1990, in the Melbourne suburb of Moorabbin, they were renamed as Mortification with the line-up of Rowe, Michael Carlisle on guitar and Jayson Sherlock on drums. Mortification has released fourteen studio albums, three compilation albums, three extended plays, six live discs, one demo album, one box set, and several videos on major record labels such as Nuclear Blast. As one of the earliest internationally successful Christian death metal bands from Australia, they served as an inspiration for later similar groups.
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 was forced to self-produce their albums until they signed a contract with Nuclear Blast in the early 2000s.
Pro-Pain is an American heavy metal band based in New York City, formed in 1991 by vocalist and bassist Gary Meskil and drummer Dan Richardson, both former members of Crumbsuckers.
Immolation is an American death metal band from Yonkers, New York. They are considered one of the leaders of the New York death metal scene along with Incantation, Mortician and Suffocation.
Unleashed is a Swedish death metal band that was formed in 1989 by Johnny Hedlund in Stockholm. Common lyrical themes found in the band's music include Viking culture, recollection of a pre-Christian world, and Norse folklore. A number of their recent songs also contain references to J. R. R. Tolkien. Unleashed is considered one of the "big four" of Swedish death metal.
Exhorder is an American heavy metal band from New Orleans, Louisiana. They are considered progenitors of the groove-oriented thrash sound later made famous by bands such as Pantera and Machine Head, and their music has been regarded as a large influence on the New Orleans metal scene. Initially active from 1985 to 1994 and reformed from 2008 to 2011, Exhorder has since reformed in 2017. To date, the band has released three studio albums: Slaughter in the Vatican (1990), The Law (1992) and Mourn the Southern Skies (2019).
Witchcraft is a Swedish doom metal band founded in 2000.
Chrome Division is a Norwegian heavy metal/hard rock band formed in 2004. The current lineup consists of founding member Shagrath on rhythm guitar, along with Eddie Guz as the vocalist, Mr Damage on lead guitar and Tony White on drums. The band has released five albums through Nuclear Blast: Doomsday Rock 'n Roll in 2006, Booze, Broads and Beelzebub in 2008, 3rd Round Knockout in 2011, Infernal Rock Eternal in 2014, and One Last Ride in 2015. The band announced that their fifth album would be their last.
While Heaven Wept was an American epic doom metal band based in Dale City, Virginia. The primary writer and overall engine of the band was mainman Tom Phillips. Their melodic, classically influenced style could be compared to bands such as Solitude Aeturnus and Solstice ; however, 2003's acclaimed Of Empires Forlorn saw the band branching out into a variety of metal and progressive styles. This trend continues on their 2009 album, Vast Oceans Lachrymose, and on their 2011 album, Fear of Infinity.
Evildead is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1986. The band was originally composed of members of two former bands, Agent Steel and Abattoir, including guitarist Juan Garcia, who is their only remaining original member. During their initial nine-year run, Evildead released two studio albums: Annihilation of Civilization (1989) and The Underworld (1991). Evildead was plagued by extended inactivity due to lineup changes and problems with making a third album, which resulted in their official breakup in 1995. After a short-lived reunion from 2008 to 2012, the band reformed once again in 2016, and released their third studio album United $tate$ of Anarchy in October 2020. They are planning on releasing their fourth studio album in 2024.
Opprobrium is an American death metal band from Metairie, Louisiana, United States. The band was founded in 1986 by brothers Francis and Moyses Howard under the name Incubus. The Howards are natives of Rio de Janeiro who emigrated to New Orleans to found the band. The original incarnation featured bassist/lead vocalist Scot Latour, and the trio's 1987 demo Supernatural Death landed them a deal with the small Brutal Records imprint. Their official debut, Serpent Temptation, was released in 1988; however, LaTour departed soon afterwards, leaving Francis to take over vocal duties. Incubus signed with Nuclear Blast in 1990 and soon released their follow-up Beyond the Unknown; recording with Francis on bass as well, Incubus eventually tabbed Mark Lavenia as the full-time bassist. But shortly thereafter, in 1991, Incubus disbanded, then reappeared after a ten-year break from the music business, being forced to change their name in order to avoid confusion with newly emerging rock band Incubus from California. They released their album Discerning Forces on Nuclear Blast Records in 2000.
Intruder is an American thrash metal band from Nashville, Tennessee. Formerly known as "Transgresser", the group began as a four-piece cover band. They saw the addition of rhythm guitarist Greg Messick after signing with Metal Blade Records.
Heir Apparent is an American heavy/progressive metal band from Seattle, formed in 1983.
Battle Beast is a Finnish heavy/power metal band established in Helsinki in 2008 by Anton Kabanen, Juuso Soinio and Pyry Vikki. The initial line-up consisted of guitarists Soinio and Kabanen, and drummer Vikki, who were high school friends. The rest of the original lineup, bassist Eero Sipilä, keyboardist Janne Björkroth and lead singer Nitte Valo, joined the band after auditions.
Fifth Angel is the first studio album by the American heavy metal band Fifth Angel. It was originally released in 1986. Musically, it shows much more resemblance to modern power metal than their other albums. After recording a four song demo in late 1983 and early 1984, which they sent to over 100 record labels, Mike Varney of Shrapnel Records signed the band and financed the recording of five additional songs and released the album in 1986. Epic Records re-released it in 1988 with new artwork.
Time Will Tell is the second album by American heavy metal band Fifth Angel, released in 1989. It was produced by Terry Brown, and was Fifth Angel's last full-length studio album for 29 years, until the release of The Third Secret in 2018.
Kadavar is a German rock band from Berlin, founded in 2010. It currently consists of guitarist/lead vocalist Christoph "Lupus" Lindemann, drummer Christoph "Tiger" Bartelt, bassist Simon "Dragon" Bouteloup, and guitarist and keyboardist Jascha Kreft. Their retro style, incorporating psychedelic rock and stoner rock, has been compared to bands of the 1970s hard rock/heavy metal era such as Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. Bartelt and Lindemann formed Kadavar as a trio with bassist Philipp "Mammut" Lippitz. When Lippitz left the band in July 2013, he was replaced by Bouteloup. After releasing six studio albums, Kadavar became a quartet in March 2023 with the addition of Kreft.
Follow the Cipher is a heavy metal band from Falun, Sweden, that was formed in 2014 by Sabaton contributor Ken Kängström, who is also the group's lead guitarist. The other members include bassist Jonas Asplind, drummer Karl Löfgren, guitarist and backing vocalist Viktor Carlsson. The band released their self-titled debut album on Nuclear Blast Records in May 2018.
