Darkthrone is a black metal band from Kolbotn, Norway, formed in 1986 as a death metal band under the name Black Death. In 1991, the band embraced a black metal style influenced by Bathory and Celtic Frost and became one of the leading bands in the Norwegian black metal scene.
Cave In is an American rock band that formed in 1995, in Methuen, Massachusetts. After several members changes in the late 1990s, their lineup solidified with the 1998 release of Until Your Heart Stops through Hydra Head Records. Their early albums were prominent in the metalcore scene. After this release, the band started experimenting with other genres. Cave In later received mainstream recognition for their 2003 RCA Records album Antenna and its lead single "Anchor," which had an overall alternative rock style. The group went on hiatus in 2006 and later reformed in 2009 with the release of a new EP, Planets of Old, as well as a new LP in 2011, titled White Silence. Both of these post-hiatus releases saw a return to Cave In's earlier and heavier sound.
Samoth is a musician and multi-instrumentalist in the Norwegian black metal scene. He is well known for his distinct guitar work and drumming in the band Emperor, as well as his formation of the death metal band Zyklon. In very early Emperor releases, he was called Samot, and with the formation of Zyklon he became known as Zamoth. Samoth was the owner of the record label Nocturnal Art Productions and had a close relationship with Candlelight Records.
Graveland are a Polish pagan metal band which was formed in 1991 by Rob Darken. They began as a black metal band before adopting a pagan and Viking metal style. The lyrics and imagery of Graveland are strongly inspired by European mythology, nature, winter and war. Their early work focused on Celtic and Slavic mythology, while their later work focuses on Norse mythology and Wotanism.
Vegard Sverre Tveitan, better known as Ihsahn, is a Norwegian multi-instrumentalist, singer, and composer, best known for his work with black metal band Emperor. Tveitan is also a founding member of Thou Shalt Suffer, where he played guitar and keyboard in addition to vocal duties, and Peccatum, a project in collaboration with his wife and fellow musician Heidi Solberg Tveitan, also known as Starofash. Since 2006, Tveitan has primarily devoted himself to solo albums and occasional guest appearances.
Nargaroth is a German black metal band led by René "Big Glenn" Wagner, formerly known as “Kanwulf”.
Stephen O'Malley is an American guitarist, producer, composer, and visual artist from Seattle, Washington, who has conceptualized and participated in numerous drone doom, death/doom, and experimental music bands, most notably Sunn O))).
Solefald is a Norwegian avant-garde metal/black metal band that was formed by members Lars Are "Lazare" Nedland and Cornelius Jakhelln in August 1995, with Nedland singing and playing keyboard/synthesizer/piano and drums, and Jakhelln singing and playing guitar and bass. The duo experiment with a wide array of musical styles, frequently work on other projects, and rarely perform live under the Solefald name, leading them to describe themselves as "two stubborn goats pretending to be a band." According to the duo, their name is an Old Norse word for "sunset," taken from one of Theodor Kittelsen's paintings illustrating a poem of the same name by Theodor Caspari, published in the 1901 book Vintereventyr.
Fleurety is a Norwegian avant-garde metal band. The band was formed in 1991 by Svein Egil Hatlevik and Alexander Nordgaren.
Acheron was an American death/black metal band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that was formed by Vincent Crowley in 1988. The band is named after the mythological river Acheron located in the underground kingdom of Hades in ancient Greek mythology. They are not to be confused with 1990s Australian death metal band Acheron, nor the 1980s/1990s American power metal band Acheron, nor any of several lesser known European thrash and death metal bands also known as Acheron between the 1980s and the present.
Horna is a Finnish black metal band that formed in 1993. The band has appeared on over thirty releases including splits, demos, EPs and albums since 1995, which have been released through numerous record labels.
Greg Anderson is an American musician, a co-founder of Southern Lord Records.
Leviathan is an American black metal solo project that started in 1998 by Jef Whitehead under the pseudonym Wrest. On all Leviathan albums, Wrest records all instruments and performs vocals on his own. Despite having early problems with the release of the fourth album Massive Conspiracy Against All Life, it was released March 24, 2008 in Europe and on March 25, 2008 in North America. Additionally, Wrest has collaborated with the band Sunn O))), and he was an active member of the U.S. black metal supergroup Twilight from its formation until it disbanded in 2014. He has stated in interviews that he has been playing drums longer than any other instrument and that the drums are his instrument of choice. Wrest also played and recorded all instruments as well as vocals in his other project, Lurker of Chalice, which had two demos and one full-length album in 2005 released before it was dissolved. Whitehead also writes all the lyrics for Leviathan but has noted, "I don't consider myself a poet, by any means."
Xasthur is the project of American musician Scott "Malefic" Conner. Conner formed Xasthur in 1995 and released eight studio albums of black metal by 2010, when he announced the end of the project. However, he revived it in 2015 to focus on acoustic neofolk music, releasing a ninth album, Subject to Change, in 2016.
Death SS is an Italian heavy metal band.
Valério Costa, known by his stage names, Kaiaphas and Lord Kaiaphas, is a black metal vocalist, drummer, lyricist and songwriter. He is mostly known for his works while in the Norwegian black metal band Ancient. His current projects are Thokkian Vortex and Minimal Criminal. His name is taken after Caiaphas, the high priest during the Sanhedrin trial of Jesus.
Phobia is a grindcore band from Orange County, California, United States. The band was formed in 1990 and is heavily influenced by crust punk and grindcore. Their lyrical content focuses mainly on socio-political issues and anarchism.
Alessandro Nunziati, better known by his stage name Lord Vampyr, is an Italian musician, record producer and writer, famous for being the former vocalist of the gothic metal band Theatres des Vampires, as well as one of its founding members.
Azaghal is a Finnish black metal band, currently signed to Moribund Records. They were established in 1995.
Zweizz is the primary performing alias of Norwegian musician and composer Svein Egil Hatlevik.
