South of Heaven is the fourth studio album by American thrash metal band Slayer, released on July 5, 1988, by Def Jam Recordings. The album was the band's second collaboration with producer Rick Rubin, whose production skills on their previous album Reign in Blood (1986) had helped their sound evolve. Given the frenetic pace of Reign in Blood, Slayer made no attempt to top it on South of Heaven; rather, the band offset and complemented Reign in Blood by deliberately slowing the tempo down on South of Heaven, as well as by utilizing undistorted guitars and toned-down vocals.
Timothy S. "Ripper" Owens is an American heavy metal singer who currently performs with KK's Priest, Spirits of Fire, the Three Tremors and A New Revenge. He first gained attention as the lead singer of Judas Priest and then Iced Earth. He took the nickname "Ripper" from the Judas Priest song "The Ripper" during his time in the tribute band British Steel.
Use Your Illusion II is the fourth studio album by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses. The album was released on September 17, 1991, the same day as its counterpart Use Your Illusion I. Both albums were released in conjunction with the Use Your Illusion Tour. Bolstered by the lead single "You Could Be Mine", Use Your Illusion II was the slightly more popular of the two albums, selling a record 770,000 copies its first week and debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, ahead of Use Your Illusion I's first-week sales of 685,000. As of 2010, Use Your Illusion II has sold 5,587,000 units in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Both albums have since been certified 7× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It was also No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart for a single week.
The Use Your Illusion Tour was a concert tour by American rock band Guns N' Roses which ran from January 20, 1991, to July 17, 1993. It was not only the band's longest tour, but one of the longest concert tours in rock history, consisting of 194 shows in 27 countries. It was also a source of much infamy for the band, due to riots, late starts, cancellations and outspoken rantings by Axl Rose.
The Gallery is the second studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band Dark Tranquillity, released on 27 November 1995 by Osmose. It was the first full-length release to feature Mikael Stanne on vocals, as he was previously the rhythm guitarist.
Epica is the sixth studio album by American power metal band Kamelot, released on March 3, 2003 through Noise Records. It was the first concept album by Kamelot. This album, along with its sequel The Black Halo (2005), is a rock opera inspired by the story of Goethe's Faust. Epica tells Part 1 while The Black Halo tells Part 2. Most of the lyrics were written before the actual music was composed. The album inspired the naming of the band Epica after its release.
Mabool: The Story of the Three Sons of Seven is the third full-length studio album by the Israeli metal band Orphaned Land. It was released on February 23, 2004 through Century Media Records. One limited edition version of the album has a bonus CD entitled The Calm Before the Flood containing live acoustic tracks, while another limited edition version was released by Profound Lore Records as a 2-LP album with alternate cover art in a clear wax case limited to only 500 copies. Two videos were made for the album, one for the song "Ocean Land" and the other for the song "Norra el Norra", and were the band's first music videos. Mabool is Orphaned Land's second concept album. "Mabool" (מבול) is the Hebrew word for "flood," and refers to the Genesis flood narrative from which the album's concept, the band's reinterpretation of Noah's Ark, is derived.
Origin is an American technical death metal band from Topeka, Kansas, founded in 1990 under the monikers Necrotomy and Thee Abomination. They have been recognized by music critics and metal fans alike for combining a harsh sound with a high level of technical skill.
Turn Loose the Swans is the second album by the British heavy metal band My Dying Bride, released in 1993.
The Winter Wake is the third studio album by Italian folk/power metal band Elvenking. It features the return of original vocalist, Damnagoras, and the departure of guitarist, Jarpen. The lyrical content of the album centers around fantasy, folklore, fairy tales, and feeling alone and being an outsider or an outcast as well as hints at the music industry with songs such as the Skyclad cover, "Penny Dreadful".
Instant DeLIVEry is the third live album by the progressive rock band The Flower Kings. Recorded in Tilburg, Netherlands, on April 19, 2006, this album has live music from their tour promoting Paradox Hotel.
David Readman is an English singer best known as the vocalist of hard rock band Pink Cream 69 and former vocalist of progressive metal band Adagio. He released a solo album in 2007 and was part of German guitarist Alex Beyrodt's band Voodoo Circle, from 2008 to 2016, returning in 2020.
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.
Warrant Live 86–97 is the first live compilation album by American glam metal band Warrant released in 1997. It was recorded live at Harpos Concert Theatre in Detroit on November 22, 1996, in support of their most recent album Belly to Belly.
Hymn to Life is the second solo album by Finnish musician Timo Tolkki. Unlike his first solo album, Hymn to Life does not present Tolkki as a classical heavy metal guitarist, but as a diverse songwriter. The album presents Tolkki's personal beliefs and thoughts about life, and encourages the listener to believe in themselves throughout. The album's lyrics also bring about strong criticism of religions.
Daedalus is an Italian progressive metal band. Their music contains influences from different musical genres, among them rock, progressive rock, heavy metal, classical music, jazz, electronic music, ambient.
20 Years – A Warrior Soul is a double DVD video album by hard rock singer Doro Pesch, released in 2006 by AFM Records. The first DVD contains a movie shot by director Ronald Matthes during the tour supporting the release of the album Warrior Soul in 2006; it features also a selection of commented songs from the special concert held at Phillips Halle in Düsseldorf, Germany on 13 December 2003, celebrating 20 years of career of the German singer with many guests, and footage of the party after the show. The second DVD features the full 20th anniversary concert.
Trick or Treat is an Italian power metal band formed in 2002 in Modena. The group's line-up has been mostly the same since its inception, except for the drummer position, which underwent changes in 2006 and 2011, and in 2014 guitarist and founding member Luca Cabri left the band and was replaced by Luca Venturelli.
Prometheus, Symphonia Ignis Divinus is the second and final studio album by Italian symphonic power metal band Luca Turilli's Rhapsody, created by Luca Turilli after his departure from Rhapsody of Fire. It was released on June 19, 2015, via Nuclear Blast. Turilli considers it as one of the most important albums of his career: Prometheus, Symphonia Ignis Divinus was the first ever to be mixed in Dolby Atmos and the music of the same was used by Dolby and Yamaha to promote Dolby Atmos technology worldwide.
Serpentine Dominion is an American death metal supergroup consisting of Killswitch Engage lead guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz, Cannibal Corpse vocalist George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher and former The Black Dahlia Murder drummer Shannon Lucas. They released their debut album on October 28, 2016.
