Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in the latter half of the 1970s, the band struggled with indifferent record production and a lack of major commercial success until 1980, when their sixth studio album British Steel brought them notable mainstream attention.
Page Nye Hamilton is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter and record producer, mostly noted for his work with alternative metal band Helmet, which he founded. Most of his work has been in the hard rock and alternative metal styles, though he trained in jazz guitar and has substantial connections with avant-garde music and film soundtrack composition.
Helmet is an American alternative metal band from New York City formed in 1989 by vocalist and lead guitarist Page Hamilton. Helmet has had numerous lineup changes with Hamilton as the only constant member. Since 2010, the band has consisted of Hamilton, drummer Kyle Stevenson, guitarist Dan Beeman and bassist Dave Case.
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.
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, and paved the way for the 1980s Bay Area thrash metal scene, along with Metallica, Exodus, Testament and Death Angel. The band is also notable for featuring future Primus member Larry LaLonde, who was the guitarist for Possessed from 1984 to 1987.
Heavens Gate was a German power metal band from Wolfsburg. They were, together with German bands Helloween, Gamma Ray, Grave Digger, Running Wild, and Rage, the pioneers in German power metal, taking their influences mainly from Helloween as well as from Judas Priest.
Donald Smith Airey is an English musician who has been the keyboardist in the rock band Deep Purple since 2002, after the retirement of Jon Lord. He has had a long and productive career, playing with such acts as Gary Moore, Ozzy Osbourne, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Jethro Tull, Whitesnake, Saxon, Wishbone Ash, Colosseum II, Ten, Sinner, Michael Schenker, Rainbow, Empire, Brian May, Divlje jagode and Living Loud. He has also worked with Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Stained Class is the fourth studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, released on 10 February 1978 by Columbia Records. It is the first of three Judas Priest albums recorded with drummer Les Binks, as well as the first to feature the band's now well-known logo in the artwork. Musically, Stained Class is considered the album on which the band honed many of the elements of their hard-edged signature sound, dispensing with most of the progressive and blues rock overtones and softer ballads of previous efforts. The album features such notable tracks as "Exciter", considered an early precursor to speed metal and thrash metal, a cover version of "Better by You, Better than Me" by Spooky Tooth, which became the subject of an infamous civil suit in 1990 which alleged the song subliminally influenced two teenaged boys to make a suicide pact and “Beyond the Realms of Death” which is considered one of the band’s greatest songs by many fans and frequently included in the band’s live setlist.
Sad Wings of Destiny is the second studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, released on 26 March 1976 by Gull Records. It is considered the album on which Judas Priest consolidated their sound and image, and songs from it such as "Victim of Changes" and "The Ripper" have since become live standards. It was the band's only album to feature drummer Alan Moore.
"Freewheel Burning" is a song by the English heavy metal band Judas Priest, appearing on their 1984 album Defenders of the Faith, and released as the first single off that album. The 12" version of the single contained an extended guitar intro that was omitted on the full-length release.
Iron Savior is a German power metal band that was formed in Hamburg in 1996. Following a period of several years working behind the scenes in music production, multi-instrumentalist and producer/engineer Piet Sielck joined with former Helloween bandmate Kai Hansen and then-drummer for Blind Guardian, Thomen Stauch in a new project that would blend power metal with a high-concept science fiction story. The band's debut album Iron Savior introduced the story that would be told over the course of multiple albums, featuring a self-aware space vessel called the Iron Savior and its relationship to the mythical lost civilization of Atlantis.
Robert Scott Weinrich, better known as Wino, is an American singer and guitarist. He has been highly influential in helping develop and codify doom metal's trademark sound, and is also considered an influential figure in the stoner rock genre.
Jeffery Louis Martin is an American musician, singer and drummer who has sung for the bands Racer X, Bad Dog, Surgical Steel and St. Michael and played drums for the bands Badlands, the Michael Schenker Group, Blindside Blues Band, Red Sea, St. Michael and The Electric Fence, a side project with Paul Gilbert and Russ Parrish. Jeff Martin played drums for Paul Gilbert, George Lynch, Dokken, and P.K. Mitchell.
The Killing Kind is the eighth studio album released by thrash metal band Overkill in 1996. It was the first album to feature new guitarists Joe Comeau and Sebastian Marino, and was released on CMC International, whereas their previous studio albums were released by either Megaforce or Atlantic Records.
Coverkill is a cover album released by thrash metal band Overkill in 1999. The album consists of cover songs by artists that influenced the band, including Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Motörhead, Kiss, Judas Priest, Jethro Tull, Ramones, Sex Pistols, the Dead Boys, and Manowar. This was Overkill's first release with guitarist Dave Linsk.
"Painkiller" is a song by English heavy metal band Judas Priest, released in 1990; it was later released as a single on Columbia Records. It is off the band's twelfth album of the same name as the opening track. The lyrics tell the story of the Painkiller, the character featured on the cover of the album, who is a cyborg superhero who saves mankind from destruction.
Stormwitch is a German heavy metal band from Heidenheim, formed in 1981. They have been called "The Masters of Black Romantic" by their fans. The band's song lyrics often focused on fantasy, occult or historical themes, along with their contemporaries and countrymen Helloween. Over time, they have changed their sound from a Judas Priest-esque style of heavy metal to a more keyboard-based form of power metal.
Obsession is an American heavy metal band formed in 1982, and noted for spawning the career of singer Michael Vescera. The band first came on to the scene on the Metal Massacre 2 compilation from Metal Blade Records. After that, the band released the EP Marshall Law and the albums Scarred for Life and Methods of Madness under the Enigma label. They broke up in 1989, and reformed in 2004 and then released the album Carnival of Lies in 2006 with Mausoleum Records.
United is a Japanese thrash metal band formed in 1981. They took their name from Judas Priest's song of the same name. United have had many personnel changes in their four decade career, with no member of the original lineup remaining. Bassist Akihiro Yokoyama joined in 1983, held de facto leadership of the group from 1988, and appeared on every recording the band had until his death in 2014. Guitarist Yoshifumi "Hally" Yoshida joined United in 1988 and is currently the longest-serving member. He and fellow guitarist Singo Otani, who joined in 1990, are the only two members who have performed on all 10 studio albums.
Straight Ahead was an American straight edge hardcore punk band formed in Queens, New York City, in 1984, by drummer and vocalist Tommy Carroll, guitarist Gordon Ancis and bassist Tony Marc Shimkin.
