Kreuzweg Ost is an Austrian darkwave/martial industrial project founded by Michael Gregor and Martin Schirenc. The music is a blend of world war-related samples and loops with booming sounds and instrumental pieces. There are no vocals; instead, the predominant samples are arranged so that they take the role of vocals, sometimes telling short stories similar to radio play snippets. Martin Schirenc, of Austrian death metal band Pungent Stench, left the group shortly after the release of the Iron Avantgarde album and was replaced by programmer Ronald Albrecht and producer/sound engineer Oliver Stummer. Michael Gregor is a member of the Austrian black metal band Summoning and is also known as Silenius. Oliver Stummer has also released as Tomoroh Hidari and his Namelessness Is Legion.
Kreuzweg Ost’s concept is about making musical translations of various movies dealing with military or religious topics. The selection of films includes literature adaptations, along with other films.
Summoning is an Austrian black metal band based in Vienna, Austria. Since their formation in 1993 they have released eight albums and two EPs on Napalm Records. Their lyrics make extensive use of J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth writings and mythology. Since 1995, their lineup has had a consistent lineup of musicians Silenius and Protector. The band has never performed live and has consistently maintained that they have no interest in ever doing so. Their latest album "With Doom We Come" was released on January 5, 2018.
Machine is the second studio album by American industrial metal band Static-X, released on May 22, 2001, and recorded at Studio 508. When compared to the band's other albums, Machine features more electronics and industrial effects, and more screamed vocals from Wayne Static. It was also the final Static-X album for eighteen years to feature drummer Ken Jay, and the last for four years to feature lead guitarist Koichi Fukuda, who, despite having already left Static-X, is credited as a keyboardist on the album.
The X Factor is the tenth studio album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released on October 2, 1995 through EMI Records. CMC International released the album in North America. It is the first of two albums by the band to include Blaze Bayley, formerly of Wolfsbane, as vocalist, replacing Bruce Dickinson who left the band following their previous tour to pursue a solo career. It also saw the departure of the band’s longtime producer Martin Birch, who retired shortly after the release of their previous album. The album takes a darker tone than the band's first nine releases, due to the lyrics being based on personal issues surrounding Steve Harris at the time, who was in the midst of a divorce. This is reflected in the cover artwork, which graphically depicts the band's mascot, Eddie, being vivisected by machine.
Ensiferum is a Finnish folk metal band from Helsinki. The members of the band label themselves as "melodic folk metal."
Pungent Stench is a death metal band from Vienna, Austria, formed in 1988. Their last known lineup consists of Martin Schirenc (vocals/guitar), Danny Vacuum (vocals/bass), and Mike G. Mayhem (drums). Pungent Stench achieved early on prominence in the death metal scene due to their unique style of extreme metal and their controversial lyrical content, a seamless blend of gore, paraphilia and black comedy. They dissolved in 1995, re-formed in 1999, then split up again 2007 after recording a final studio album, eventually released in 2018, and re-formed again in 2013.
Power Metal is the fourth studio album by American heavy metal band Pantera, released in May 1988 through Metal Magic Records. It is the first Pantera album to feature Phil Anselmo on lead vocals, as part of a line-up which would last until the band's official split in 2003.
Leviathan is the second album by American heavy metal band Mastodon, released in 2004 on Relapse Records. It is Mastodon's first concept album, loosely based on the 1851 novel Moby-Dick by Herman Melville. The songs "Iron Tusk", "Blood and Thunder", "I Am Ahab" and "Seabeast" were released as singles. Three magazines awarded the album Album of the Year in 2004: Revolver, Kerrang! and Terrorizer. In 2009 and 2015 MetalSucks named Leviathan the best metal album of the 21st century.
Hollenthon is a heavy metal band from Austria founded in 1994.
Keeper of the Seven Keys: The Legacy is the eleventh studio album by German power metal band Helloween, released in 2005. It is the first album with new and current drummer Dani Löble and a continuation to their 1987 and 1988 albums Keeper of the Seven Keys, Parts I and II. The album is a double CD with nearly 80 minutes playing time and comes in a digipack with 6 flaps. It was produced by Charlie Bauerfeind and features Blackmore's Night singer Candice Night on the track "Light The Universe". The album’s opening track, “King for 1000 Years” is, to date, the longest song released by the band.
Cold Lake is the third studio album by Swiss extreme metal band Celtic Frost, released on 1 September 1988 by Noise Records. It features a new lineup, reformed by bandleader Tom Warrior with newly joined musicians Oliver Amberg, Curt Victor Bryant and Stephen Priestly. Despite it being marketed to exploit the mass appeal of glam metal, the album has more of a traditional heavy metal sound.
Vanity/Nemesis is the fourth studio album by Swiss heavy metal band Celtic Frost, released on 11 April 1990 through Noise Records.
Unholy was a Finnish avant-garde doom metal band. Formed in 1988, they were one of the first doom metal groups in their home country.
Golden Dawn is an Austrian band formed by Stefan Traunmüller, originally as a one-man black metal project, in 1992. It eventually attracted the attention of two influential Austrian metallists, Ray Wells of Pazuzu and Martin Schirenc of Pungent Stench and Hollenthon, which led to a compilation appearance and eventually a recording contract with Dark Matter Records.
Azaghal is a Finnish black metal band, currently signed to Moribund Records. They were established in 1995.
Opus Magnum is the third studio album by Austrian melodic death metal band Hollenthon, released by Napalm Records in 2008. Limited edition digipack contains bonus track, "The Bazaar" and video clip for "Son of Perdition".
Martin Schirenc is an Austrian guitarist and vocalist, best known as a founder of death metal/grindcore band Pungent Stench and symphonic death metal band Hollenthon.
Michael Gregor is an Austrian musician who is currently in the bands Amestigon as vocalist, Kreuzweg Ost as programmer, and Summoning as vocalist, keyboardist, and bassist; the two latter bands are bands that he is a founding member of. He supplied vocals for Abigor from 1994 to 1999 and appeared on seven of Abigor's releases. Silenius was vocalist and keyboardist for Pazuzu and played on the band's split album and debut album. Along with fellow Summoning bandmate Richard Lederer, Silenius also used to be a member of Die Verbannten Kinder Evas, serving as a vocalist and a keyboardist. Silenius has recorded music for a project called "Mirkwood", of which no material has yet been released.
Iron Mask is a power metal band formed in 2002 by Belgian guitarist Dushan Petrossi, also known from Magic Kingdom.
Oomph! is a German rock band from Wolfsburg, formed in 1989. The band pioneered the Neue Deutsche Härte movement. Since the band's formation, there have been no line-up changes, except for temporary personnel for live performances. They use lyrics in both English and German with a shift from mainly English songs to more German ones on recent albums.
Alex Poole is an American multi-instrumentalist musician from Nashville, Tennessee. Poole has prolifically contributed to the Black Metal genre having led or contributed to a number of black metal bands including Chaos Moon, Manetheren, Krieg, Skaphe, Martrod, and Gardsghastr. He has also played live with a number of bands to fill in for missing guitarists or bassists over the years.
