Manowar is an American heavy metal band from Auburn, New York. Formed in 1980, the group is known for lyrics based on fantasy and mythology, as well as numerous songs celebrating the genre and its core audience. The band is also known for a loud and emphatic sound. In an interview for MTV in February 2007, bassist Joey DeMaio lamented that "these days, there's a real lack of big, epic metal that is drenched with crushing guitars and choirs and orchestras... so it's nice to be one of the few bands that's actually doing that". In 1984, the band was included in the Guinness Book of World Records for delivering the loudest performance, a record which they have since broken on two occasions. They also hold the world record for the longest heavy metal concert after playing for five hours and 1 minute in Bulgaria in 2008. They also have been known for their slogan "Death to false metal".
Immortal is a Norwegian black metal band from Bergen. The group was founded in 1991 by frontman and guitarist Abbath Doom Occulta and guitarist Demonaz Doom Occulta. The pair worked with various drummers, and were later joined by former drummer Horgh in 1996.
Meshuggah is a Swedish extreme metal band formed in Umeå in 1987. Since 2004, the band's lineup consists of founding members Jens Kidman (vocals) and Fredrik Thordendal (guitar), alongside guitarist Mårten Hagström, drummer Tomas Haake and bassist Dick Lövgren. Since its formation, the band has released nine studio albums, six EPs and eight music videos. Their latest studio album, Immutable, was released in April 2022 via Atomic Fire Records.
Suffocation is an American death metal band formed in 1988 in Centereach, New York, currently consisting of lead guitarist Terrance Hobbs, bassist Derek Boyer, rhythm guitarist Charlie Errigo, drummer Eric Morotti, and vocalist Ricky Myers. The band rose to prominence with their 1991 debut album Effigy of the Forgotten, which became a blueprint for death metal in the 1990s. Since then, Suffocation has recorded eight albums. These feature growled vocals with downtuned guitars, fast and complex guitar riffs and drumming, open chord notes and occasional breakdowns.
Paradise Lost are an English gothic metal band. Formed in Halifax, West Yorkshire in 1988, they are considered to be among the pioneers of the death-doom genre and regarded as the main influence for the later gothic metal movement. Bands that have cited Paradise Lost as an influence, or have covered them, include My Dying Bride, Anathema, The Gathering, Amorphis, Cradle of Filth, Katatonia, Moonspell, Lacuna Coil, HIM, Nightwish and many others. As of 2005, Paradise Lost have sold over two million albums worldwide.
Orange Goblin is a heavy metal band from London, England. Formed in 1995, the band's lineup currently consists of singer Ben Ward, guitarist Joe Hoare, drummer Chris Turner, and bassist Harry Armstrong.
Into Darkness is the first and only full-length album of American doom metal band Winter. The album was released in 1990 by Future Shock Records.The first CD re-issue by Nuclear Blast America in 1992 had only the "Into Darkness" tracks. It was later re-issued by Nuclear Blast as a digipak with an altered front cover and the Eternal Frost EP as bonus tracks. The album was re-released again, with no bonus tracks, by Southern Lord on April 12, 2011, on black and white vinyl as a gate fold LP with booklet.
Monte Conner is a former senior vice president of A&R for Roadrunner Records. His path into the music industry began while at Baruch College in Manhattan, where he hosted a weekly underground metal radio show, called “The Witching Hour,” at the school's radio station WBMB. The show ran from September 1982 to December 1986 and during that time Conner immersed himself in the emerging thrash and death metal scenes, honing his skills for discovering new talent. After graduating college, he landed a job at Shatter Records handling College Radio Promotion. He was at Shatter for nine months, from March to November 1987, before leaving to join Roadrunner Records in December 1987, also doing College Radio Promotion. By January 1988, he added A&R to his duties at the label, and by late 1988 he became the label's Head of A&R for North America.
obZen is the sixth studio album by Swedish extreme metal band Meshuggah. It was released in Europe on 7 March 2008, and in North America on 11 March 2008 by Nuclear Blast. Tomas Haake made his return as a studio drummer for the record after the Drumkit from Hell drum software was used on Catch Thirtythree. It is also the first album on which bassist Dick Lovgren performs despite having been a member of the band since 2004; this is due to the bass having been digitally programmed on the previous album, Catch Thirtythree, and the bass having been performed by guitarist Fredrik Thordendal on the previous I EP. The release of the album was followed by their first world tour. A music video was filmed for a shorter version of the song "Bleed". A two-disc vinyl re-issue was released on 22 March 2019 through Nuclear Blast. A remastered version was released 31 March 2023 for the 15th anniversary through Atomic Fire.
Thy Art Is Murder is an Australian deathcore band from Blacktown, Sydney, that formed in 2006. The band consists of vocalist Tyler Miller, guitarists Sean Delander and Andy Marsh, bassist Kevin Butler and drummer Jesse Beahler. Thy Art Is Murder has released six studio albums since formation.
Battle Beast is a Finnish heavy/power metal band established in Helsinki in 2008 by Anton Kabanen, Juuso Soinio and Pyry Vikki. The initial line-up consisted of guitarists Soinio and Kabanen, and drummer Vikki, who were high school friends. The rest of the original lineup, bassist Eero Sipilä, keyboardist Janne Björkroth and lead singer Nitte Valo, joined the band after auditions.
Pallbearer is an American doom metal band from Little Rock, Arkansas, formed in 2008.
Nails is an American hardcore punk band from Oxnard, California. The group was formed in 2009 by frontman Todd Jones, formerly the guitarist of Terror, along with bassist John Gianelli and drummer Taylor Young of Disgrace. They released their debut EP Obscene Humanity in 2009, followed by the studio albums Unsilent Death (2010), Abandon All Life (2013) and You Will Never Be One of Us (2016), and a split EP with Full of Hell. Nails have achieved widespread notoriety and critical acclaim for their savage and intense sound.
Kadavar is a German rock band from Berlin, founded in 2010. It currently consists of guitarist/lead vocalist Christoph "Lupus" Lindemann, drummer Christoph "Tiger" Bartelt, bassist Simon "Dragon" Bouteloup, and guitarist and keyboardist Jascha Kreft. Their retro style, incorporating psychedelic rock and stoner rock, has been compared to bands of the 1970s hard rock/heavy metal era such as Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. Bartelt and Lindemann formed Kadavar as a trio with bassist Philipp "Mammut" Lippitz. When Lippitz left the band in July 2013, he was replaced by Bouteloup. After releasing six studio albums, Kadavar became a quartet in March 2023 with the addition of Kreft.
Immortal Bird is an American blackened death metal band made up of Rae Amitay, John Picillo, Nate Madden and Matt Korajczyk. They are from Chicago, Illinois. Their music is influenced by grindcore, progressive metal, and post-metal. The band was formed in 2013 with the intention of being a recording project, but has evolved into an actively touring and collaborative group.
Hunted is the second studio album by American doom metal band Khemmis. It was released on October 21, 2016 by the label 20 Buck Spin. The album received critical acclaim and was named the 11th-best metal album of 2016 by Rolling Stone.
Mareridt is the second studio album by Myrkur, the black metal project of Danish musician and singer-songwriter Amalie Bruun. The album was released on 15 September 2017 through Relapse Records. Mareridt was recorded between Seattle, United States and Copenhagen, Denmark, and was produced by Randall Dunn. The album's title is Danish for 'nightmare', in reference to the frequent occurrences of sleep paralysis and nightmares which provided the inspiration for much of the album. The album's release was promoted with the release of three singles: "Måneblôt", "Ulvinde", and "De tre piker". The album received widespread acclaim from music critics upon its release.
The Sciences is the fourth studio album by American doom metal band Sleep. The album was released with little warning on April 20, 2018, through Third Man Records. It was the band's first full-length album since Dopesmoker (2003), on which the song "Sonic Titan" appeared as a live bonus track.
Revelations of Oblivion is the third studio album by death metal band Possessed. It was released on May 10, 2019 via Nuclear Blast. The album entered the UK Rock & Metal Singles and Albums Charts at #7 and the Billboard Top Current Album Sales chart at #59 in its first week.
Spirit Adrift is an American heavy metal band formed in Mesa, Arizona. The project began in 2015 as the solo endeavor of Nate Garrett, and eventually grew into a full touring band. The band is now based in Austin, Texas.
