Pantera was an American heavy metal band from Arlington, Texas. The group was formed in 1981 by the Abbott brothers – drummer Vinnie Paul and guitarist Dimebag Darrell – along with lead vocalist Terry Glaze. Bassist Rex Brown joined the band the following year, replacing Tommy D. Bradford, who was the unofficial original. Having started as a glam metal band, Pantera released four albums during the 1980s. Looking for a new and heavier sound, Pantera replaced Glaze with Phil Anselmo in late 1986 and released Power Metal in 1988. With its fifth album, 1990's Cowboys from Hell, Pantera introduced a groove metal sound. Pantera's sixth album, 1992's Vulgar Display of Power, exhibited an even heavier sound. Far Beyond Driven (1994) debuted at number one on the Billboard 200.
Swedish death metal is a death metal music scene developed in Sweden. Many Swedish death metal bands are associated with the melodic death metal movement, thus giving Swedish death metal a different sound from other variations of death metal. Unlike American death metal groups, the first Swedish bands were rooted in punk rock. Although Norway is known for its quantity of black metal, Gothenburg in Sweden has a large melodic death metal scene, while Stockholm is known for its more raw death metal scene.
Possessed is an American death metal band, originally formed in 1983. Noted for their fast style of playing and Jeff Becerra's growled vocals, they are often called the first band in the death metal genre. The band is also notable for featuring Larry LaLonde, who was the guitarist of Possessed during the mid-1980s, and went on to join Primus.
Soul Embraced is a Christian melodic death metal band from Little Rock, Arkansas, United States. It was originally a side project for Rocky Gray and David Sroczynski.
John Charles LeCompt is an American musician who has been part of the Little Rock heavy metal music scene since the mid-1990s. He has been associated with a number of bands, ranging from the unknown and unsigned to multi-platinum sellers, most notably the alternative metal band Evanescence. One of his main collaborators is long-time friend Rocky Gray, who is often John's bandmate in various group projects. They both are now members of the rock bands We Are the Fallen and Machina.
William Rocky Gray is a drummer and guitarist who has been part of the Arkansas metal scene since the early 1990s. He has an extensive career as a musician and is best known as the lead guitarist for Living Sacrifice and Solus Deus, and the drummer for We Are the Fallen. He also plays drums for Soul Embraced, Mourningside, and Machina, and is the former drummer for Evanescence. Gray is also currently creating a solo album titled Accursed.
Beyond Sanctorum is the second studio album released on January 1992 by Swedish band Therion. The album was re-released on 27 November 2000 under Nuclear Blast label as a part of The Early Chapters of Revelation box-set. It contains remastered songs, as well as four bonus tracks.
Sander Gommans is a Dutch musician. He founded the symphonic metal band Apocalypse with Mark Jansen in 1995, which later changed its name to After Forever. He played guitar and did the grunting parts in the band. He managed the band and was the main writer of After Forever's music.
Prison of Desire is the debut album by Dutch symphonic metal band After Forever. It was released in 2000 in Europe. The album contains the first three installments of "The Embrace That Smothers" collection of songs by Mark Jansen. This collection of songs deals with the influence and distortion of religion in human society, a theme which continues in the Epica albums The Phantom Agony and The Divine Conspiracy.
Post-metal is a style of music that is rooted in heavy metal but explores approaches beyond the genre's conventions. It emerged in the 1990s through the work of bands such as Neurosis and Godflesh who transformed metal texture through experimental composition. Associated with and inspired by post-rock and post-hardcore, the genre employs the darkness and intensity of extreme metal but emphasizes atmosphere, emotion, and even "revelation", drawing on a wide range of sources including ambient, noise, psychedelic, progressive, and classical music to develop an expansive but introspective sound. Post-metal songs are typically long, with loose and layered structures that discard the verse–chorus form in favor of crescendos and repeating themes. The sound centres on guitars and drums; any vocals are usually screamed or growled and resemble an additional instrument.
Volbeat are a Danish rock band formed in Copenhagen in 2001. They play a fusion of rock and roll, heavy metal and rockabilly. Their current line-up consists of vocalist and guitarist Michael Poulsen, guitarist Rob Caggiano, drummer Jon Larsen and bassist Kaspar Boye Larsen. The band is signed to Dutch label Mascot Records and has released six studio albums and one DVD. All of their studio albums have been certified gold in Denmark. Their second album Rock the Rebel/Metal the Devil received platinum status, and their 2010 release Beyond Hell/Above Heaven was subject to widespread international critical acclaim, receiving double platinum in Denmark, platinum in Finland and Germany, and gold in the United States, Sweden and Austria. Volbeat's sixth album entitled Seal the Deal & Let's Boogie was released worldwide on 3 June 2016.
Embraze was a group from Kiiminki, Finland. Their music could be described as a combination of traditional metal and dark/gothic elements. The band's last album The Last Embrace was released on 16 August 2006.
The Divine Conspiracy is the third full-length studio album by Dutch symphonic metal band Epica as well as their first concept album. It was released on 7 September 2007 through Nuclear Blast in Europe. The concept that guides the songs is that God created many different religions for humanity to figure out and overcome them so as to discover that, in nature and essence, they were all in fact the same one. Aside from the concept of such a conspiracy, The Divine Conspiracy finalizes The Embrace That Smothers, which began in After Forever's Prison of Desire and continued in Epica's The Phantom Agony. In short, The Embrace That Smothers is a collection of 10 songs, which talks about the dangers of organized religion.
Sadist is the eponymous fifth full-length studio album by the Italian progressive death metal band Sadist, released on April 17, 2007 by Beyond Productions. This release marks Sadist's return not repeating styles from their last release but taking their musical styles back to the "Tribe era".
Morning Crimson is the second full-length album by the melodic black metal band Catamenia.
Against the Elements is the debut album by American melodic death metal band Beyond the Embrace.
Dead Alive is the fourth album by the Christian metal band, Soul Embraced. It is the first and last album to feature rhythm guitarist Devin Castle, and the last to feature drummer Lance Garvin.
Embrace the Dead is the second album by Indonesian extreme metal band Kekal. It reached sold-out status in 2004. On 15 August 2010, a new, remastered limited edition entitled Embrace the Dead 1999 was released as a free download, for up to a 1000 downloads. On 18 May 2012, Kekal made the re-mastered edition available for purchase on Bandcamp, citing exorbitant prices for second-hand copies of the original album on sites like Amazon.
Mythos is the fifth album by the Christian metal band, Soul Embraced. It is the first album to feature Cody Smith and Jon Dunn.
