Darkthrone is a Norwegian black metal band from Kolbotn, Akershus. Formed in 1986 as a death metal band named Black Death, in 1991 Darkthrone embraced a black metal style influenced by Bathory and Celtic Frost and became one of the leading bands in the Norwegian black metal scene.
The Music of Poland covers diverse aspects of music and musical traditions which have originated, and are practiced in Poland. Artists from Poland include world-famous classical composers like Frédéric Chopin, Karol Szymanowski, Witold Lutosławski, Henryk Górecki and Krzysztof Penderecki; renowned pianists like Karl Tausig, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Arthur Rubinstein and Krystian Zimerman; as well as popular music artists, and traditional, regionalised folk music ensembles that create a rich and lively music scene at the grassroots level. The musicians of Poland, over the course of history, have developed and popularized a variety of music genres and folk dances such as mazurka, polonaise, krakowiak, kujawiak, polska partner dance, oberek; as well as the sung poetry genre and others. Mazurek (Mazur), Krakowiak, Kujawiak, Oberek and Polonaise (Polonez) are registered as Polish National Dances, originating in early Middle Ages. The oldest of them is Polonaise that comes from the Medieval pageant dances and it was originally called "chodzony", a "walking dance".
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 42-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 a member of the band since 1994.
Cannibal Corpse is an American death metal band formed in Buffalo, New York, in 1988, now based out of Tampa, Florida. The band has released sixteen studio albums, two box sets, four video albums, and two live albums. The band has had little radio or television exposure throughout its existence, although a cult following began to build with the releases of their early albums, including Butchered at Birth (1991) and Tomb of the Mutilated (1992). As of 2015, they achieved worldwide sales of two million units for combined sales of all their albums. In April 2021, Cannibal Corpse received their best "first week" sales of all-time and first Top 10 on the Billboard Top Album Sales Chart as Violence Unimagined entered at No. 6 with 14,000 copies sold.
Tomas Lindberg, also known as "Tompa" and "Goatspell", is a Swedish vocalist who has fronted many death metal bands, most notably At the Gates. He has been active as a musician and composer since the late 1980s. He also teaches social studies.
Dismember is a Swedish death metal band formed in 1988. They split up in 2011 but reunited in 2019. Pioneers of Swedish death metal, Dismember is now considered one of the country's "big four", alongside Entombed, Grave, and Unleashed.
God Hates Us All is the ninth studio album by American thrash metal band Slayer, released on September 11, 2001, by American Recordings. It was recorded over three months at The Warehouse Studio in Vancouver, and includes the Grammy Award-nominated song "Disciple". Guitarist Kerry King wrote the majority of its lyrics, taking a different approach from earlier recordings by exploring topics such as religion, murder, revenge, and self-control. Stylistically, the album shows a return to Slayer's classic thrash metal sound. It was Slayer's last album to feature drummer Paul Bostaph until his return on their 2015 album Repentless.
Life Is Peachy is the second studio album by American nu metal band Korn. It was released on October 15, 1996, through both Immortal Records and Epic Records. After the release of Korn's 1994 self-titled debut album, the band reunited with Ross Robinson to produce and went back to Indigo Ranch Studios to record. Life Is Peachy features such themes as drugs, social encounters, sex, betrayal, and revenge. The album has fourteen tracks, excluding the hidden track after "Kill You". Martin Riedl photographed its cover art, and its title is credited to Korn's bassist Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu. Life Is Peachy was Korn's first significant breakthrough, which came from constant touring after the debut album's release and building a fan base, thus fueling great expectations.
Grave is a Swedish death metal band that was formed in 1986 by vocalist and guitarist Ola Lindgren who is their only constant member. The band had particular success in the early 1990s, and their first four albums, Into the Grave, You'll Never See..., Soulless and Hating Life, cemented their reputation as one of Sweden's foremost death metal bands. Grave went on hiatus in 1997, but got back together two years later. Since then, they have released seven more albums, making a total of eleven studio albums. Along with Dismember, Entombed and Unleashed, Grave is considered one of the "big four" of Swedish death metal.
Season of Mist is an independent record label and record distributor with subsidiaries in France and the United States. The record label was founded in 1996 by Michael S. Berberian in Marseille, France. From the start releasing black metal, pagan metal, and death metal records, the label moved on to releasing albums of avant-garde metal, gothic metal and punk bands as well. The label has two offices, one in Marseille, France and one in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Grave Digger is a German heavy metal band that was first formed in 1980 by Chris Boltendahl and Peter Masson. Emerging from the early-to-mid 1980s heavy metal scene of their native country, Grave Digger has been referred to as one of the so-called "big four" of German power metal, along with Helloween, Rage and Running Wild.
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.
Erik Rutan is an American heavy metal musician and producer from New Jersey. He is the guitarist and lead vocalist of death metal band Hate Eternal and lead guitarist for Cannibal Corpse, who he fully joined in 2021 after acting as a fill-in guitarist during their 2019 tour. Rutan has also spent time with Morbid Angel and Ripping Corpse. When not performing, Rutan operates his own recording studio in Florida called Mana Recording Studios.
Hatesphere is a Danish thrash metal band from Aarhus, formed in 2000 by guitarist Peter "Pepe" Hansen. As of 2016, the band consists of vocalist Esben "Esse" Elnegaard Kjaer Hansen, guitarists Peter "Pepe" Lyse Hansen, and Kasper Kirkegaard, bass player Jimmy Nedergaard and drummer Mike Park Nielsen. The band has released ten albums and two EPs to date.
Songs of Love and Hate is the fourth studio album by English industrial metal band Godflesh. Released on 20 August 1996 through Earache Records, it is the band's first album to feature live drums, played by drummer Bryan Mantia, combining a heavy metal sound with a more pronounced hip-hop influence, toning down the industrial and mechanical elements of previous releases. The cover is a photograph of Cancer Alley, Louisiana.
Down is the fourth album by the Finnish metal band Sentenced, released in November 1996 via Century Media. It is also the first album including the vocalist Ville Laihiala. This album is the band's first pure gothic metal album.
Hate is a blackened death metal band from Poland. The band was formed in 1990 by guitarist and vocalist Adam "ATF Sinner" Buszko, guitarist Quack and drummer Mittloff. The band lineup has changed many times over the years. They have released twelve full-length studio albums to date, as well as a number of early demos and EPs. Their most recent album, Rugia, was released on October 15, 2021 through Metal Blade Records.
Inquisition is an American black metal band that formed in Cali, Colombia in 1988 and later relocated to Seattle, Washington. The band possessed a thrash metal sound on its earliest recordings, but began incorporating more black metal influences in 1996 with its first extended play Incense of Rest.
Hate is the second studio album by Australian deathcore band Thy Art Is Murder. The album was released on 19 October 2012, through Halfcut Records, but was reissued on 5 April 2013, through Nuclear Blast after the band signed to the label. The album debuted at no. 35 on the ARIA Charts, making Thy Art Is Murder the first extreme metal band ever to break the top 40. The album also reached no. 1 on AIR and peaked at 31 on the Top Heatseekers chart. On 31 March 2013, Metal Hammer began streaming the album in full, in anticipation of the Nuclear Blast re-release. It is the band's only album with guitarist Tom Brown, as well as the first album on which current guitarist Sean Delander plays bass.
Maurice de Jong, known by his moniker Mories, is a Dutch composer and musician. He is best recognized for his multiple music projects, namely Gnaw Their Tongues, Seirom, Aderlating, Cloak of Altering and De Magia Veterum. His compositions are informed by ambient music, black metal, drone music, electronic music and the avant-garde. His interests lie in invoking a disquieting and nightmarish atmosphere with his music, which often utilizes distortion and dissonance. Lauded as a most prolific composer, de Jong has recorded an upwards of three albums per year since 2007.
