Blue Öyster Cult is an American rock band formed on Long Island, New York, in the hamlet of Stony Brook, in 1967. The band has sold 25 million records worldwide, including 7 million in the United States. The band's fusion of hard rock with psychedelia, and penchant for occult, fantastical and tongue-in-cheek lyrics, had a major influence on heavy metal music. They developed a cult following and, while achieving mainstream hits like "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" (1976) and "Burnin' for You" (1981), their commercial success was limited. Both songs, and others such as "Godzilla" (1977), remain classic rock radio staples. The band were early adopters of the music video format, and their videos received heavy rotation on MTV in its early period.
Dark Angel is an American thrash metal band from Downey, California, formed in 1981. The band's current lineup includes drummer Gene Hoglan, guitarists Eric Meyer and Laura Christine, frontman Ron Rinehart and bassist Mike Gonzalez. In its history, they have gone through many lineup changes, and as of guitarist Jim Durkin's death on March 8, 2023, there are no original members left in the current lineup of Dark Angel, although Meyer is the only member to appear on all of their studio albums.
The Black Dahlia Murder is an American melodic death metal band from Waterford, Michigan, formed in 2001. Their name is derived from the 1947 unsolved murder of Elizabeth Short, often referred to as Black Dahlia. Currently, the band consists of lead vocalist Brian Eschbach, bassist Max Lavelle, drummer Alan Cassidy, and guitarists Brandon Ellis and Ryan Knight. The Black Dahlia Murder has undergone various lineup changes, with Trevor Strnad and Eschbach remaining the only constant members, until the former's death in 2022, which then saw Eschbach take over lead vocals and Knight replacing him on rhythm guitar.
Gwar, often stylized as GWAR, is an American heavy metal band formed in Richmond, Virginia, in 1984, composed of and operated by a frequently rotating line-up of musicians, artists, and filmmakers collectively known as Slave Pit Inc. Since the death of frontman Dave Brockie in 2014, the collective has continued recording and performing without any of its founding artists or musicians.
Graveland are a Polish neo-Nazi pagan black metal band which was formed in 1991 by Rob Darken. They began as a black metal band before adopting a pagan and Viking metal style. The lyrics and imagery of Graveland are strongly inspired by European mythology, nature, winter and war. Their early work focused on Celtic and Slavic mythology, while their later work focuses on Norse mythology and Wotanism.
Amon Amarth are a Swedish melodic death metal band from Tumba, formed in 1992. The band take its name from the Sindarin name of Mount Doom, a volcano in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. Their lyrics mostly deal with Viking mythology and history, and so they have been sometimes erroneously labeled "Viking metal", although the band prefers the term melodic death metal.
Ensiferum is a Finnish folk metal band from Helsinki. The members of the band label themselves as "melodic folk metal".
Trouble is an American doom metal band from Aurora, Illinois, formed in 1981. They are often considered one of the pioneers of doom metal, and have been referred to as one of the genre's "big four" alongside Candlemass, Pentagram and Saint Vitus. The band created a distinct style, taking influences of the British heavy metal bands Black Sabbath and Judas Priest, and psychedelic rock of the 1960s.
Týr is a Faroese folk metal band. They have been characterised as one of "the islands' two most successful metal bands". Their subject matter revolves almost entirely around Viking lore, mythology, and history, taking their name from Týr, the god of war in Norse religion.
Ron Rinehart is an American thrash metal vocalist. He is the lead singer for the American thrash metal band Dark Angel from 1987 until the band's dissolution in 1992, and again from 2002 to 2005, when they were reunited. In October 2013, Dark Angel announced another reunion, again featuring Rinehart.
Iron Fire is a Danish power metal band that was formed in 1995 under the name Misery. The name was soon changed to Decades of Darkness and finally to Iron Fire. They have released nine albums with their debut Thunderstorm coming out in 2000.
Valkyrja is a black metal band from Stockholm, Sweden formed in 2004.
Anvil is a Canadian heavy metal band formed in Toronto in 1978. The band currently consists of founding members guitarist/vocalist Steve "Lips" Kudlow and drummer Robb Reiner, along with bassist Chris Robertson who joined in 2014. As of 2024, the band has released twenty studio albums; they have been cited as having influenced many notable heavy metal groups including Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax, and Metallica.
Time Does Not Heal is the fourth studio album by Dark Angel, released in 1991. This was Dark Angel's final album before their break up in 1992. Work on a follow-up album, under the name Atrocity Exhibition, was prepared, but never advanced past a few demos. Time Does Not Heal was also Dark Angel's only album with former Viking guitarist Brett Eriksen, who replaced Jim Durkin two years earlier.
Ava Inferi was a Portuguese gothic metal band formed in Almada by Norwegian guitarist and songwriter Rune Eriksen. Their debut album, Burdens, was released in January 2006.
Viking is an American thrash metal band in Los Angeles, California, which had existed for four years, between 1986 and 1990. However, they reformed in 2011. To date, Viking has released three studio albums, Do or Die (1988), Man of Straw (1989) and No Child Left Behind (2015).
Elexorien was a power/viking metal band from Groningen, Netherlands.
S.A. Slayer, originally known as Slayer, was an American heavy metal band formed in San Antonio, Texas, in 1981 by the former Blitzkrieg guitar duo Robert "Bob Dog" Catlin and Art Villarreal, bassist Don Van Stavern, drummer Dave McClain, and vocalist Chris Cronk. The latter was soon replaced by Steve Cooper and the band signed a record deal with local upstart label Rainforest Records and proceeded to record six songs for a proposed EP at B.O.S.S. Studios with producer/engineer duo Bob O'Neill and Rick Shrieves. The Prepare to Die EP was released in 1983 and "Slayer" became one of the top metal draws of the Texas scene. The band changed their name to S.A. Slayer following a cease and desist lawsuit from founder of Metal Blade Records, Brian Slagel, on behalf of thrash metal band Slayer. However band member Don Van Stavern denies that the band received a cease and desist letter, while Brian Slagel, denies having sent a cease and desist letter.
Do or Die is the first studio album by the American thrash metal band Viking. It was released on February 1, 1988 through Metal Blade Records and executive produced by the label's founder Brian Slagel. There has never been an official CD release of this album, although bootleg copies have been available.
No Child Left Behind is the third studio album by American thrash metal band Viking. It was released on March 4, 2015, and is the band's first studio album in 26 years, and their first release with Justin Zych from Zephaniah on guitar and Mike Gonzalez from Dark Angel on bass. Viking did not have an official drummer when they began work on the album in 2011, but the drum studio tracks on this album were played by Gene Hoglan.
