Opeth is a Swedish progressive metal/rock band from Stockholm, formed in 1989. The group has been through several personnel changes, including the replacement of every single original member. Lead vocalist, guitarist and songwriter Mikael Åkerfeldt has remained Opeth's primary driving force since the departure of original vocalist David Isberg in 1992. Opeth has consistently incorporated progressive, folk, blues, classical, and jazz influences into its usually lengthy compositions, as well as strong influences from death metal, especially in their early works. Many songs include acoustic guitar passages and strong dynamic shifts, as well as death growls. Opeth is also well known for their incorporation of Mellotrons in their work. The band rarely made live appearances supporting their first four albums, but since conducting their first world tour after the 2001 release of Blackwater Park, they have led several major world tours.
City is the second studio album by Canadian extreme metal band Strapping Young Lad, released on February 11, 1997. Frontman Devin Townsend assembled a permanent lineup of Strapping Young Lad to record the album, including prolific drummer Gene Hoglan, and Townsend's former bandmates Jed Simon on guitar and Byron Stroud on bass. The album was critically acclaimed, with Revolver naming it one of "the greatest metal albums of all time", and it is widely considered Strapping Young Lad's best work. The album was re-released in 2007 with several bonus tracks and altered cover art.
Sabaton is a Swedish heavy metal band from Falun, Sweden. Most of their songs are written about heroism in war. Their latest album, The Great War, hit number 1 among music charts in Sweden and Germany.
Sonic Syndicate is a Swedish metalcore band from Falkenberg. They were formerly influenced by Swedish melodic death metal bands such as In Flames and Soilwork and American metalcore bands like Killswitch Engage and All That Remains.
Threshold is the sixth studio album by Swedish heavy metal band HammerFall, released on 18 October 2006. The album entered the Swedish charts at number one, staying on the chart for eight weeks. It was the band's first number 1 album since Renegade in 2000. It is currently the last HammerFall studio album with guitarist Stefan Elmgren and bassist Magnus Rosén, as Rosén left the band in 2007 and Elmgren left in 2008.
The cover artwork was created by Samwise Didier.
Seventh Wonder is a Swedish progressive metal band from Stockholm, Sweden, formed in 2000.
Avenged Sevenfold is the self-titled fourth studio album by American heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold, released on October 30, 2007. It is their last full studio album to feature drummer The Rev, who died in December 2009 during the production of the follow-up album, Nightmare.
Loch Vostok is a progressive metal band from Uppsala, Sweden. Named after a subterranean lake in Antarctica, it rose out of the collapse of progressive metal band Mayadome in 2001.
Hang Cool Teddy Bear is the tenth studio album by Meat Loaf. It was released on 19 April 2010 by Mercury Records in the UK and by Loud & Proud Records in the US on 11 May 2010, with global distribution handled by Universal Music Group.
Avatar is a Swedish heavy metal band, formed in Gothenburg in 2001. The band has released eight studio albums, the most recent being Hunter Gatherer in 2020. The band has had some success on US rock radio, notably with their song "New Land", which peaked at number 20 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs chart in May 2017.
Leprous is a progressive metal band from Notodden, Norway, formed in 2001. The group was founded by singer and keyboardist Einar Solberg and guitarist Tor Oddmund Suhrke.
Wretched is an American extreme metal band from Charlotte, North Carolina, founded by Marshall Wieczorek and Steven Fundenburk in 2005. Wretched's musical style incorporates elements of melodic death metal, deathcore, and technical death metal.
Katalepsy is a Russian death metal band from Moscow. The group formed in 2003, and have released two split albums, one EP, three full-length albums, and one demo. The band's name is a variation of the word "catalepsy", a disorder involving catatonic schizophrenia. Some lyrical themes of the band include gore, violence, splatter, murder and perversions. They are currently signed to Unique Leader Records. Following the departure of guitarist "Helv" in 2009, no original members remain in the band.
Fortress is the fourth studio album by the American rock band Alter Bridge, released by Roadrunner Records on September 25, 2013. Michael Baskette, who produced Alter Bridge's previous two albums, Blackbird (2007) and AB III (2010), returned as the producer. It was released by Roadrunner Records worldwide except in the United States, where it was self-released on October 8, 2013, through EMI. The lead single, "Addicted to Pain", was released on August 12, 2013. The album was widely acclaimed, with several critics calling it the band's best album to date and giving praise to each of the band members' musical skills displayed on the record.
Putrid Death Sorcery is the first studio album by French Death metal band Necrowretch. It was released in January 2013 on Century Media Records. The album was made available as a digital download and on CD and vinyl format, including a light blue vinyl version limited to 100 copies. A music video for "Putrid Death Sorcery" was released on 17 July 2013.
Beyond the Black is a German symphonic metal/power metal band formed in 2014 in Mannheim, Germany. Their debut album Songs of Love and Death became popular immediately after the release, and entered the German and Austrian national music charts.
Silence in the Snow is the seventh studio album by American heavy metal band Trivium. It was released on October 2, 2015 through Roadrunner Records. It is the first and only album to feature third drummer Mat Madiro, who joined the band in May 2014 and before he had departed from the band in December 2015. It is the band's only album to date to not feature any harsh vocals. Michael "Elvis" Baskette was hired as the producer whom the band had met while recording In Waves album back in 2011.
Dystopium is the fourth studio album released by the Swedish progressive metal band, Loch Vostok. The album was released worldwide on 23 September 2011. This album was produced by Teddy Möller, co-produced by Fredrik Klingwall and Lawrence Mackrory, recorded at Blueflame Productions, and mixed and mastered by Lawrence Mackrory at Great Scot! Audio.
V: The Doctrine Decoded is the fifth studio album released by the Swedish progressive metal band, Loch Vostok. The album was released worldwide on 4 October 2012, which coincided with the "European Progressive Assault" tour where the band opened for Leprous, together with Persefone, and Ørkenkjøtt.
Aathma is the fifth studio album by Persefone. The album was released on 24 February 2017 by label ViciSolum Productions.
