Stratovarius is a Finnish power metal band that formed in 1985. Since their formation, they have released sixteen studio albums, four DVDs and five live albums. In its history, the band has gone through many chaotic lineup changes, and after founding guitarist Timo Tolkki's departure in 2008, there are no founding members of the band that remain. Currently, the longest standing member is singer Timo Kotipelto, who joined in 1994.
Symphony X is an American progressive metal band from Middletown, New Jersey. Founded in 1994, the band consists of guitarist Michael Romeo, keyboardist Michael Pinnella, drummer Jason Rullo, lead vocalist Russell Allen and bassist Michael Lepond.
Accept are a German heavy metal band from the town of Solingen, formed in 1976 by guitarist Wolf Hoffmann and former members Udo Dirkschneider (vocals) and Peter Baltes (bass). Their beginnings can be traced back to the late 1960s, when the band got its start under the name Band X. Accept's lineup has changed over the years, which has included different singers, guitarists, bassists and drummers.
Marko Tapani "Marco" Hietala is a Finnish heavy metal vocalist, bassist and songwriter. Internationally, he is best known as the former bassist, male vocalist and secondary composer to Tuomas Holopainen, of the symphonic metal band Nightwish. He was also the vocalist and bassist as well as composer and lyricist for the heavy metal band Tarot.
Destruction is a German thrash metal band formed in 1982. They are often 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 by containing several elements of what was to become the genre, Destruction was part of the second wave of thrash metal in the mid-to-late 1980s, along with American bands like 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.
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.
Vicious Rumors are an American power metal band, originally formed in 1979 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was conceived by founder and guitarist/vocalist Geoff Thorpe, and has been actively recording and touring worldwide since their full-length recording debut in 1985. The band is signed to the Germany-based label SPV/Steamhammer.
Wolf Hoffmann is a German musician, primarily known as the guitarist and last remaining original member of heavy metal band Accept since 1976. His work in Accept influenced the development of speed metal genre. He is also one of the first players of neoclassical metal.
Threat Signal is a Canadian heavy metal band from Hamilton, Ontario. The band has had numerous lineup changes, with only Jon Howard remaining from the original incarnation. Their music is often classified as metalcore, melodic death metal, groove metal and industrial metal.
Blood of the Nations is the twelfth studio album by German heavy metal band Accept. It is the band's first studio recording since 1996's Predator and the first album to feature vocalist Mark Tornillo and drummer Stefan Schwarzmann. It is the first Accept album without Udo Dirkschneider on vocals since Eat the Heat (1989), and the band's first album to feature guitarist Herman Frank since Balls to the Wall (1983).
Stalingrad is the 13th studio album by German heavy metal band Accept, which was released on 6 April 2012, by the independent German record label Nuclear Blast Records. It is their second album since their 2009 reunion, and like its predecessor, Blood of the Nations (2010), was produced by Andy Sneap.
Alissa White-Gluz is a Canadian singer, best known as the lead vocalist of the Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy, and former lead vocalist and founding member of the Canadian metalcore band the Agonist. Her vocal style includes both growling and clean vocals (singing). Although primarily associated with melodic death metal and metalcore, she has appeared as a guest vocalist for power metal, symphonic metal and deathcore bands, notably Kamelot, Delain, Carnifex and Powerwolf, and has performed live with Nightwish and Tarja Turunen.
Blind Rage is the 14th studio album by German heavy metal band Accept. It was released on 15 August 2014 on Nuclear Blast Records. The album debuted at number one on the German albums chart. This is Accept's last album with guitarist Herman Frank and drummer Stefan Schwarzmann, who both left the band in December 2014.
Gaby Hoffmann is primarily known as songwriter under the pseudonym Deaffy and former manager for the heavy metal band Accept. She has also contributed cover art concepts, marketing ideas for the band and even stage moves and wardrobe. She is married to the band's guitarist Wolf Hoffmann. She retired from the manager position in 2019.
Devil Seed is the seventh studio album by Swedish heavy metal band Wolf, which was released on 25 August 2014 via Century Media Records.
Under the Red Cloud is the twelfth studio album by Finnish heavy metal band Amorphis, released worldwide on 4 September 2015 through Nuclear Blast. The album was produced by Jens Bogren, who was described as "just the right person" by keyboardist Santeri Kallio. This would be the band's last album with longtime bassist Niklas Etelävuori who left in 2017.
The Rise of Chaos is the 15th studio album by German heavy metal band Accept, released on 4 August 2017. This is the first Accept album with guitarist Uwe Lulis and drummer Christopher Williams, replacing Herman Frank and Stefan Schwarzmann, respectively. It is also their final studio album to feature bassist Peter Baltes, who left Accept in November 2018. Like their previous three studio albums, The Rise of Chaos was produced by Andy Sneap, making it the band's fourth collaboration with him. Guitarist Wolf Hoffmann has stated that the album's title refers to the human-caused chaos in the world.
Feeding the Machine is the eighth studio album by Swedish heavy metal band Wolf, released on 13 March 2020 via Century Media Records. It is the first album featuring band's new members, Johan Koleberg on drums and Pontus Egberg on bass guitar. The album is being produced by Wolf's Simon Johansson at SolnaSound Production and mixed and mastered by Fredrik Nordström of Studio Fredman.
Too Mean to Die is the sixteenth studio album by German heavy metal band Accept, released on 29 January 2021. It is the first Accept album to feature Martin Motnik, who replaced original bassist Peter Baltes in 2019, and rhythm guitarist Philip Shouse, who joined the band that same year. As the band had signed to Napalm Records in February 2022, this is their last album to be released on Nuclear Blast.
Martin Motnik is a German bassist and studio musician, best known as the bassist for the heavy metal band Accept. He has also played in Darkseed, Eisbrecher.
