Dimmu Borgir is a Norwegian symphonic black metal band from Jessheim, formed in 1993. The name is derived from Dimmuborgir, a volcanic formation in Iceland, the name of which means "dark cities" or "dark castles/fortresses" in Icelandic, Faroese and Old Norse. The band has been through numerous lineup changes over the years; vocalist Shagrath and rhythm guitarist Silenoz are the only original members who still remain, with lead guitarist Galder being a longstanding member.
Opeth are a Swedish progressive metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1990. In addition to progressive metal, the band incorporates folk, blues, classical, and jazz elements into its usually lengthy compositions, as well as strong influences from death metal, especially in their early works. Songs may include acoustic guitar passages, Mellotrons, death growls, and strong dynamic shifts. The band rarely made live appearances supporting their first four albums, but since their first world tour in support of the 2001 album Blackwater Park, they have had several other major world tours. The group have been through several personnel changes since early in their history, including the replacement of every original member. Lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter Mikael Åkerfeldt has been Opeth's driving force since the departure of founder and lead vocalist David Isberg in 1992.
The World Needs a Hero is the ninth studio album by American thrash metal band Megadeth, released on May 15, 2001 by Sanctuary Records. After the critical and commercial failure of the previous album Risk (1999), The World Needs a Hero represented a change back to a heavier musical direction. Subsequently, the album charted at number 16 on the Billboard 200 upon release.
Disturbed is an American heavy metal band from Chicago, formed in 1994. The band includes guitarist Dan Donegan, drummer Mike Wengren, lead vocalist David Draiman and bassist John Moyer. Donegan and Wengren have been involved in the band since its inception, with Draiman replacing original lead vocalist Erich Awalt in 1996 and Moyer replacing original bassist Steve "Fuzz" Kmak in 2004.
Killswitch Engage is an American metalcore band from Westfield, Massachusetts, formed in 1999 after the disbanding of Overcast and Aftershock. Killswitch Engage's current lineup consists of vocalist Jesse Leach, guitarists Joel Stroetzel and Adam Dutkiewicz, bassist Mike D'Antonio, and drummer Justin Foley. The band has released eight studio albums and three live performance albums. Their eighth studio album, Atonement, was released on August 16, 2019.
Within Temptation is a Dutch symphonic metal band founded in April 1996 by vocalist Sharon den Adel and guitarist Robert Westerholt. They have been classified by critics as gothic metal and symphonic metal, although each album contains other influences outside these genres. Their most prominent and well-known sound is described as symphonic metal, although their earlier material, such as debut album Enter, was mostly gothic metal, with Enter also having a hint of doom metal. In an interview, den Adel said they fell into a symphonic rock genre with various influences. In another interview, den Adel stated that "We consider ourselves more an atmospheric melodic symphonic metal/rock band... In my opinion, we are not a gothic band but we have gothic elements".
Bleeding Through is an American metalcore band from Orange County, California, formed in 1999. In 2004, Revolver magazine hailed Bleeding Through as one of eight bands ushering in the "Future of Metal" cover story, and Spin called Bleeding Through an "artist to watch" in the magazine's February 2004 issue.
Lars Mikael Åkerfeldt is a Swedish musician. He is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter of progressive metal band Opeth, and the former vocalist of death metal supergroup Bloodbath. He was also guitarist for the "one-off" band Steel, and is part of the collaboration Storm Corrosion with Steven Wilson.
Lordi is a Finnish hard rock and heavy metal band. Formed in 1992 by the band's lead singer, songwriter and costume maker Mr Lordi, Lordi are known for wearing monster masks and using horror elements with pyrotechnics during concerts and music videos. The band rose to fame in 2002 with their hit single "Would You Love a Monsterman?", and won the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with their song "Hard Rock Hallelujah".
Destruction is a German thrash metal band formed in 1982. They have been credited as one of the "Big Four" of the German thrash metal scene, the others being Kreator, Sodom and Tankard. In addition to helping pioneer black metal, Destruction was part of the second wave of thrash metal in the mid-to-late 1980s, along with American bands like Testament, Sacred Reich, Death Angel and Dark Angel. For most of the 1990s, the band was not signed to a record label and was forced to self-produce their albums until they signed a contract with Nuclear Blast in the early 2000s.
Alter Bridge is an American rock band from Orlando, Florida. The band was formed in 2004 by vocalist and rhythm guitarist Myles Kennedy, lead guitarist Mark Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall and drummer Scott Phillips. After their former band Creed became inactive in 2003, Tremonti and Phillips formed a new band with former bandmate Marshall and new member Kennedy; Alter Bridge was formally unveiled in January 2004, months before Creed's official breakup in June.
Life of Agony is an American alternative metal band from Brooklyn, New York City, formed in 1989 by singer Mina Caputo, bassist Alan Robert and guitarist Joey Z. The band has released six studio albums to date, most notably their 1993 debut River Runs Red, named by Rolling Stone as one of the Greatest Metal Albums of All Time.
Bruce Dickinson, a British heavy metal singer, has released six studio albums, two live albums, one compilation, ten singles, three video albums, fourteen music videos, and one box set. In 1979, after playing in local groups, Dickinson joined hard rock band Samson. He departed after two years to become Iron Maiden's lead vocalist. His debut with this band is considered a "masterpiece", which was followed with a series of top-ten releases. In 1989, while Iron Maiden were taking a year off, Dickinson and former Gillan guitarist, Janick Gers, composed a song for a film soundtrack. His solo debut, Tattooed Millionaire (1990), was an effort that favoured a hard rock/pop metal approach, different from what fans assumed would be an aggressive, Iron Maiden-like album. Four songs—the title track, "Dive! Dive! Dive!", "Born in '58", and a cover version of David Bowie's "All the Young Dudes"—were released as singles. Dickinson returned to Iron Maiden, accompanied by Gers as the new guitarist, and the project went on hiatus. Dive! Dive! Live! was a live video recorded from a concert in Los Angeles, California, in August 1990, and released in July 1991.
Black Country Communion is an English-American hard rock band based in Los Angeles, California. Formed in 2009, the band is a supergroup composed of bassist and lead vocalist Glenn Hughes, guitarist and second vocalist Joe Bonamassa, drummer Jason Bonham, and keyboardist Derek Sherinian.
Black Country Communion is the self-titled debut studio album by English-American hard rock band Black Country Communion. Recorded in early 2010 primarily at Shangri-La Studios in Malibu, California, it was produced by Kevin Shirley and released by Mascot Records in Europe on 20 September 2010, and by J&R Adventures in North America the following day. The album reached number 13 on the UK Albums Chart and number 54 on the US Billboard 200.
Call To Arms is the nineteenth studio album by British heavy metal band Saxon. Call to Arms was released 3 June in Europe; 6 June in Denmark, Finland, and the UK; 8 June in Greece and Poland; 10 June in France. Previously, it was due to be released on 23 May 2011. The album was released on 27 September in North America by EMI. Current Deep Purple keyboardist Don Airey made a guest appearance on the album.
Black Country Communion 2 is the second studio album by English-American hard rock band Black Country Communion. Recorded in early 2011 primarily at EastWest Studios in Hollywood, California, it was produced by Kevin Shirley and released by Mascot Records in Europe on 13 June 2011, and by J&R Adventures in North America the following day. The album reached number 23 on the UK Albums Chart and number 71 on the US Billboard 200.
Dark Roots of Earth is the eleventh studio album by American thrash metal band Testament. It was released on July 27, 2012, in Europe, and four days later in North America by independent German record label Nuclear Blast Records. The album is available in three configurations, CD, CD/DVD and vinyl, with the latter two versions including four bonus tracks. The album was produced by Andy Sneap, who mixed and engineered the band's previous three studio releases, The Gathering (1999), First Strike Still Deadly (2001), and The Formation of Damnation (2008). The album artwork was created by Eliran Kantor. A music video was made for the track "Native Blood". Dark Roots of Earth entered the Billboard 200 at number 12, Testament's highest position ever.
The discography of Black Country Communion, an English-American hard rock band, consists of four studio albums, one live album, one single, one video album and nine music videos. Formed in Los Angeles, California in 2009, Black Country Communion is a supergroup composed of bassist and vocalist Glenn Hughes, guitarist and vocalist Joe Bonamassa, drummer Jason Bonham and keyboardist Derek Sherinian. Working with producer Kevin Shirley, the band released its self-titled debut album through J&R Adventures and Mascot Records in September 2010. The album reached number 54 on the Billboard 200, number 13 on the UK Albums Chart, the top 20 of the US Billboard Hard Rock Albums and Top Rock Albums charts, and topped the UK Rock & Metal Albums Chart.
Afterglow is the third studio album by English-American hard rock band Black Country Communion. Recorded in June 2012 with regular producer Kevin Shirley, the album was released by J&R Adventures and Mascot Music in October 2012.
