Thrash metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo. The songs usually use fast percussive beats and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead guitar work. The lyrical subject matter often includes criticism of The Establishment, opposition to armed conflicts, and at times shares a disdain for the Christian religion with that of black metal. The language is typically direct and denunciatory, an approach borrowed from hardcore punk.
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.
Bolt Thrower were an English death metal band from Coventry. They formed in 1986 and released their first album with Vinyl Solution in 1988. The band then shifted to a new record label, Earache Records, soon becoming one of the best selling bands on that label. Their last label was Metal Blade Records. The band had a succession of members, and had toured Europe, the United States, and Australia. Over the course of their 30-year career, Bolt Thrower released eight studio albums, three EPs, one live album, three compilation albums and two demos. Their albums have sold over 100,000 copies in the United States as of 2005. On 14 September 2016 the band announced that they were breaking up, following the death of drummer Martin Kearns exactly a year earlier.
Pestilence is a Dutch death metal band from Enschede, founded in 1986. There have been numerous lineup changes with the band over their 37-year career, with guitarist and vocalist Patrick Mameli as the only constant member. After disbanding in order to pursue other musical directions in 1994, Pestilence reunited in 2008, and was put on a "permanent hold" in July 2014. However, the band reunited once again in October 2016. To date, Pestilence has released nine studio albums, and they are often known as part of "progressive death metal's Big Four", along with Death, Atheist, and Cynic.
Annihilator is a Canadian thrash metal band founded in Ottawa in 1984. It is the highest-selling Canadian thrash metal group in history, having sold more than three million albums worldwide, although most sales have been generated outside of Canada. Along with Sacrifice, Voivod and Razor, Annihilator is known as one of the "big four" of Canadian thrash metal. They are also considered to be part of the "second wave" of thrash metal bands from the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Martin van Drunen is a Dutch death metal vocalist who started out in the band Pestilence. In this band, he also performed the bass duties live. He recorded two albums with them, Malleus Maleficarum and Consuming Impulse. After his departure from Pestilence, van Drunen joined Asphyx as the singer and bass player in 1990 and recorded five albums in total. He performed the vocals on Comecon's second album Converging Conspiracies in 1993 and then formed his own band called Submission. In 1995, he was asked to replace Karl Willetts in the UK death metal band Bolt Thrower. He did two tours with them, but never recorded an album.
Technical death metal is a musical subgenre of death metal that began and developed in the early- to mid-1990s, with particular focus on challenging, demanding instrumental skill and complex songwriting.
Asphyx is a Dutch death metal band formed in Oldenzaal, Overijssel in 1987.
Testimony of the Ancients is the third album by the Dutch death metal band Pestilence, released in 1991 on Roadrunner Records. This was their first release with a new lineup, with Tony Choy replacing Martin van Drunen on bass, while guitarist Patrick Mameli filled in for the latter on vocals.
Consuming Impulse is the second album by Dutch death metal band Pestilence, released in 1989. While retaining some of the thrash metal elements from its predecessor Malleus Maleficarum (1988), Consuming Impulse saw the band progress further towards the traditional death metal genre with progressive influences; this can be seen as one of the earliest examples of technical death metal, a subgenre that would be used and expanded on Pestilence's subsequent albums. Consuming Impulse was also their first release with then-new guitarist Patrick Uterwijk, and their last one to feature bassist and vocalist Martin van Drunen.
Centinex is a Swedish death metal band formed in 1990. They disbanded on 12 April 2006. They were scheduled to perform their final concert at an already booked show in Eskilstuna, Sweden, on 13 May 2006, but later cancelled. Some of the members went on to form the death metal band Demonical. In January 2014, Centinex was reformed.
Resurrection Macabre is the fifth studio album by Dutch death metal band Pestilence, which was released on 16 March 2009. It is the band's first album of original material in 16 years, since 1993's Spheres and this fact is referenced in the album's title; hence resurrection. Re-recordings of earlier Pestilence songs make appearances as bonus tracks on the record.
Feel the Blade is a 2008 album by thrash metal/death metal band Legion of the Damned. It is actually a re-release of Elegy for the Weak, originally released under the name of Occult, the prior incarnation of Legion of the Damned under singer Rachel Heyzer, and contains an altered track list. Lyrical topics on the album include horror motifs, the devastation of nuclear war and violent occult themes. Serial murder plays a more prominent role in this album than in later writings, with "Nocturnal Predator" about Richard Ramirez actually quoting the killer in the lyrics. The final bonus track is a cover of a Pestilence song.
Once Dead is the second studio album by Christian death and thrash metal band Vengeance Rising, released in 1990 on Intense Records and re-released in November 2010 on Intense Millennium Records.
Hail of Bullets was a Dutch old school death metal supergroup from Rotterdam. The band's lyrical content deals with the Second World War, and is based upon the research of vocalist Martin van Drunen, who has been described as the band's "resident historian". The band has released three albums via Metal Blade Records.
Doctrine is the sixth studio album by Dutch death metal band Pestilence, which was released on April 24, 2011. The album was recorded and mixed at Woodshed Studio in southern Germany with engineer Victor "V.Santura" Bullok. The artwork was designed by Marko Saarelainen. The album represents a second release by the reformed Pestilence, with two new members: Yuma van Eekelen and Jeroen Paul Thesseling, who was a member of the band during the Spheres era. Technically, the album is an experimentation with very low tunings, with Mameli and Uterwijk playing on 8-string guitars with standard tuning, and Thesseling playing a 7-string fretless bass tuned in F#.
III: The Rommel Chronicles is the third and final full-length studio album by Hail of Bullets, an old school death metal band formed by current and former members of Asphyx and Gorefest. It continues the band's conceptual focus upon the Second World War, with the album theme revolving around the life of German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel.
Hadeon is the eighth studio album by Dutch death metal band Pestilence. It was released digitally on 26 January 2018, nearly two months ahead of its scheduled release date; a physical component of the album was released on 9 March 2018. Hadeon is the band's first album since their two-year hiatus from 2014 to 2016, and the first one since Malleus Maleficarum (1988) not to feature longtime lead and rhythm guitarist Patrick Uterwijk.
Karl-Heinz "Kalle" Trapp is a German former music engineer and producer, and owner of the Karo Studio in Münster.
Exitivm is the ninth studio album by Dutch death metal band Pestilence. It was released on 25 June 2021, after having been signed to Agonia Records. Because Septimiu Hărşan had to leave the band due to restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, he was replaced by Michiel van der Plicht who has since become a full-time member. It is also the band's first album with bassist Joost van der Graaf and guitarist Rutger van Noordenburg.
