Black Sabbath were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by vocalist Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy metal music. The band helped define the genre with their first three albums Black Sabbath (1970), Paranoid (1970) and Master of Reality (1971). Following Osbourne's departure in 1979, the band underwent multiple line-up changes, with Iommi being the only constant member throughout their history.
Dimmu Borgir is a Norwegian symphonic black metal band from Jessheim, formed in 1993. The name is derived from Dimmuborgir, a volcanic formation in Iceland, the name of which means "dark cities" or "dark castles/fortresses" in Icelandic, Faroese and Old Norse. The band has been through numerous lineup changes over the years; vocalist Shagrath and rhythm guitarist Silenoz are the only original members who still remain, with lead guitarist Galder being a longstanding member.
Manowar is an American heavy metal band from Auburn, New York. Formed in 1980, the group is known for lyrics based on fantasy and mythology, as well as numerous songs celebrating the genre and its core audience. The band is also known for a loud and emphatic sound. In an interview for MTV in February 2007, bassist Joey DeMaio lamented that "these days, there's a real lack of big, epic metal that is drenched with crushing guitars and choirs and orchestras... so it's nice to be one of the few bands that's actually doing that". In 1984, the band was included in the Guinness Book of World Records for delivering the loudest performance, a record which they have since broken on two occasions. They also hold the world record for the longest heavy metal concert after playing for five hours and 1 minute in Bulgaria in 2008. They also have been known for their slogan "Death to false metal".
Metal Church is an American heavy metal band formed in 1980. Originally based in San Francisco, California, they relocated to Aberdeen, Washington the following year and briefly called themselves Shrapnel. Led by guitarist and songwriter Kurdt Vanderhoof, the band has released twelve studio albums and is considered to be an integral part of the Seattle heavy metal music scene of the 1980s. They achieved considerable popularity that decade, with two of their first three albums entering the Top 100 on the US Billboard 200 chart. The band's early lyrical topics such as conflict and paranoia later expanded into philosophical and social commentary.
Mayhem is a Norwegian black metal band formed in Langhus in 1984. They were one of the founders of the Norwegian black metal scene and their music has strongly influenced the black metal genre. Mayhem's early career was highly controversial, primarily due to their notorious live performances, the 1991 suicide of vocalist Per Yngve Ohlin ("Dead") and the 1993 murder of guitarist Øystein Aarseth ("Euronymous") by former member Varg Vikernes of Burzum.
Gamma Ray is a German power metal band from Hamburg, founded and fronted by Kai Hansen after his departure from power metal band Helloween, in 1989. He is the band's lead vocalist, guitarist and chief songwriter. Between 1990 and 2014, Gamma Ray recorded eleven studio albums.
Atreyu is an American metalcore band from Yorba Linda, California, formed in 1998. The band currently consists of clean vocalist Brandon Saller, guitarists Dan Jacobs and Travis Miguel, bassist and unclean vocalist Marc "Porter" McKnight, and drummer Kyle Rosa.
Saint Vitus is an American doom metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1978. They are considered to be one of the first doom metal bands, and have been labeled as one of the "big four" of that genre, along with Candlemass, Pentagram and Trouble. Having released nine studio albums to date, Saint Vitus never achieved a popular breakthrough, but have exerted great influence on the development of doom metal, sludge metal, and stoner rock.
Enslaved is a Norwegian extreme metal band formed by Ivar Bjørnson and Grutle Kjellson in Haugesund in 1991. They are currently based in Bergen. The band's lineup has changed many times over the years, and Bjørnson and Kjellson have been the sole constant members. The current lineup also includes lead guitarist Arve Isdal, keyboardist/singer Håkon Vinje, and drummer Iver Sandøy.
Trouble is an American doom metal band from Aurora, Illinois, formed in 1981. They are often considered one of the pioneers of doom metal, and have been referred to as one of the genre's "big four" alongside Candlemass, Pentagram and Saint Vitus. The band created a distinct style, taking influences of the British heavy metal bands Black Sabbath and Judas Priest, and psychedelic rock of the 1960s.
Quo Vadis was a Canadian melodic death metal band from Montreal, Quebec, formed in 1992 by Bart Frydrychowicz, Yanic Bercier, and Arie Itman, named after the novel by Polish writer Henryk Sienkiewicz. Since its inception, the band released three studio albums, one compilation album, one demo, one live DVD, one live album and two videos. Not to be confused with another technical death metal band from Poland, bearing the same name.
Kristian Eivind Espedal, better known by his stage name Gaahl, is a Norwegian vocalist and painter. He is best known as the former frontman of Norwegian black metal band Gorgoroth. He is also the founder and lead vocalist of Trelldom and Gaahlskagg. Since leaving Gorgoroth, he has been involved with God Seed, Wardruna, and Gaahls Wyrd. He was the focus of the documentary True Norwegian Black Metal and also appeared in the film Flukt.
Watain is a Swedish black metal band, formed in 1998. The band's name is taken from an early recording by the American black metal group Von. The band have become famous for their Theistic Satanist views and for their live shows which involve pyrotechnics, candles, Satanic rituals, animal carcasses, and blood. At a now-notorious live performance in Brooklyn in 2014, they doused audience members in animal blood, allegedly causing some members of the audience to vomit. This was picked up and publicised by TMZ, generating controversy around the incident. To date they have released seven full-length albums, as well as three live albums and a number of demos and EPs. Their most recent album The Agony & Ecstasy of Watain was released on 29 April 2022 through Nuclear Blast. The band's core lineup has remained stable since their formation, consisting of Erik Danielsson, Pelle Forsberg, and Håkan Jonsson, though as of 2015 Jonsson no longer performs live, Emil Svensson of fellow Uppsala death metal band Degial was recruited as live drummer.
Serenity is an Austrian symphonic power metal band, originally formed back in 2001. They became a more stable group with a consistent line-up in 2004, when it also began using more progressive and power influences than earlier. They have defined their genre with more melodic and symphonic metal elements.
Naer Mataron is a Greek black metal band which draws on imagery from Greek mythology. The band was formed in 1994 after splitting from Nar Mataron, and was soon signed to Black Lotus Records, with whom they released four studio albums. Moving through numerous line-ups, the band has seen influences from other genres of music, including a traditional black metal release and songs featuring elements of melodic black metal and industrial music.
Illud Divinum Insanus is the eighth studio album by American death metal band Morbid Angel. It was released on June 7, 2011, by independent French record label Season of Mist. It is Morbid Angel's first album since Heretic (2003), the band's longest gap to date between studio albums. This is the only Morbid Angel album to feature guitarist Destructhor and drummer Tim Yeung, making it their first not to feature Pete Sandoval, who was recovering from surgery. It is also the band's only album to feature bassist/vocalist David Vincent since he rejoined in 2004.
Ultraviolet is the sixth full-length studio album by American sludge metal band Kylesa. It is the group's third album to be released through Season of Mist.
Saturnian Mist is a black metal band that formed in 2006 at Kuopio, Finland by vocalist fra. Zetekh and guitarist fra. Chaoswind. Lyrically the band draws their inspiration from Occult, Mysticism, Philosophy and Satanism.
Chaos Magick is the second studio album by Finnish black metal band Saturnian Mist. It was recorded at the Blackvox Studio at Tampere, Finland in April–September 2014 and mastered at the Turan Audio in Oxford, UK by Tim Turan in October 2014.
Delirium is the eighth studio album by Italian gothic metal band Lacuna Coil. It was released by Century Media Records on 27 May 2016. This is the first album to not feature long time drummer Cristiano "Criz" Mozzati, rhythm guitarist Cristiano "Pizza" Migliore, who retired from the band on Valentine's Day, 14 February 2014, and lead guitarist Marco "Maus" Biazzi, who left the band just before recording sessions, making it the first album since their debut to feature other band members, and the first one completely recorded and mixed in Italy.
