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. Judas Priest have also been referred to as one of the pioneers of the new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) movement, and are cited as a formative influence on various heavy metal subgenres, including speed metal, thrash metal, power metal, and the hard rock/glam metal scene of the 1980s. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in the latter half of the 1970s, the band had struggled with poor record production and a lack of major commercial success until 1980, when their sixth studio album British Steel brought them notable mainstream attention.
Skyclad is a British heavy metal band heavily influenced by folk. They are considered pioneers of folk metal. The term "skyclad" originates from a pagan/wiccan concept referring to ritual nudity, where rituals are performed with participants metaphorically clothed only by the sky, symbolizing equality. The name reflects both the band's religious inclinations and their social beliefs, as expressed in the song "Skyclad" on their debut album.
Accept is a German heavy metal band from Solingen, formed in 1976 by lead guitarist Wolf Hoffmann, singer Udo Dirkschneider and bassist Peter Baltes. Their beginnings can be traced back to the late 1960s when the band got its earliest start under the name Band X. Their current lineup consists of Hoffmann, vocalist Mark Tornillo, guitarists Uwe Lulis and Philip Shouse, drummer Christopher Williams and bassist Martin Motnik. Accept has undergone numerous lineup changes; Hoffmann is the last remaining original member, and the only band member to appear on all of their albums. As of 2024, the band has released seventeen studio albums, five live albums and nine compilation albums.
Martin Walkyier is an English singer recognized for his involvement in the heavy metal bands Sabbat and Skyclad. The late Metal Hammer journalist Detlef Dengler described Walkyier as a "great lyricist" noted for his extensive vocabulary and "brilliant puns". Author Paul Stenning has referred to Walkyier as a "lyrical genius".
Anthems of Rebellion is the fifth studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy. This was the first Arch Enemy album to feature clean vocals. The clean vocals were sung by Christopher Amott on "End of the Line" and "Dehumanization".
Sabbat were an English thrash metal band from Nottingham consisting of Martin Walkyier (vocals), Andy Sneap (guitars), Simon Jones (guitars), Frazer Craske (bass), and Simon Negus (drums). They are considered one of the "big four" of British thrash metal along with Acid Reign, Onslaught, and Xentrix, who were all responsible for developing and popularizing the country's thrash metal scene in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Over their initial six-year run, Sabbat released three studio albums, four demos, two split singles/compilation albums, two singles, and a live VHS. In 1988, the band released their debut album History of a Time to Come, which garnered them further recognition. Their second album, Dreamweaver (1989), was also critically acclaimed. Shortly after the release of Mourning Has Broken (1991), tensions within the band began to surface, primarily revolving around financial issues, leading to Sabbat's disbandment. After an attempted reunion in 2001 that was blocked by Sneap, the original Sabbat lineup reunited in 2006. In December of that year, they performed together for the first time in sixteen years at five different venues in England. One performance was a warm-up gig in Nottingham, while the other four were in support of Cradle of Filth. The band has continued to perform live around the world but has not released any new material since then. In a January 2014 interview with Decibel magazine, Andy Sneap confirmed that Sabbat had once again split up.
Fernandes Guitars is a guitar brand of Japanese marketing company Fernandes Co. Ltd. It is one of two guitar brands belonging to the company, the other being Burny Guitars which are Gibson guitar replicas. Its parent company originated in 1969 as Saito Musical Instruments before changing its name to Fernandes in 1972. The company started as a distributor of flamenco guitars sub-contracting to Japanese factories to build them. As the company grew, it expanded production to include electric guitars, bass guitars, amplifiers, and accessories to become one of the biggest guitar producers in Japan. Early manufacturing was done by Kawai Gakki who had guitar building experience from their acquisition of Teisco in 1967. Other major Japanese manufacturers have built guitars for Fernandes under original equipment manufacturer (OEM) arrangements, including Matsumoku, Dyna Gakki, and Tōkai Gakki. From the late 1980s, lower-spec guitars were also been built in Korea and more recently China.
Roadrunner United was a project organized by American heavy metal record label Roadrunner Records to celebrate its 25th anniversary. It culminated in an album released worldwide on October 11, 2005, entitled The All-Star Sessions. Four "team captains" were chosen to lead 57 artists from 45 past and present Roadrunner bands, and produce and oversee the album's 18 tracks: then-Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison, Trivium frontman and guitarist Matt Heafy, Fear Factory guitarist Dino Cazares, and Machine Head frontman and guitarist Robb Flynn. The project was the brainchild of Roadrunner UK general manager Mark Palmer and Roadrunner USA VP of A&R Monte Conner. The album project was coordinated by Lora Richardson and was mixed by Colin Richardson and Andy Sneap. The All-Star Sessions spawned one single and music video. The DVD included with the CD purchase is a documentary of the "Making Of" the songs. It features the sessions of the four team captains making their songs.
History of a Time to Come is the debut full-length album by the British thrash metal band Sabbat.
The Undying Darkness is the fifth studio album by German metalcore band Caliban. It was released on 4 April 2006 by German record label Abacus records.
"Gears of War" is a song by the American thrash metal band Megadeth. It was released as a promotional single from their tenth studio album United Abominations (2007). It was the first song from the album released. An instrumental of the song is featured in the 2006 video game of the same name.
Dreamweaver (Reflections of Our Yesterdays) is the second full-length album by the British thrash metal band Sabbat, released in 1989
Godspeed on the Devil's Thunder is the eighth studio album by English extreme metal band Cradle of Filth. It was released on 28 October 2008, through record label Roadrunner. It is the band's fourth concept album, after Cruelty and the Beast (1998), Midian (2000), and Damnation and a Day (2003), dealing with the life of the 15th-century French baron Gilles de Rais.
The Gathering is the eighth studio album by American thrash metal band Testament, released on June 8, 1999. It was the first release the band had done with Spitfire Records. Co-produced by band members, Chuck Billy and Eric Peterson, this was the first album featuring new musicians Steve DiGiorgio on bass guitar and Dave Lombardo on drums. Billy, Peterson and Lombardo, along with longtime Testament collaborator Del James, are also given composer credits on the album. It would also be the only Testament album for Lombardo, who had left the band not long after the release of The Gathering.
The Root of All Evil is a studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy, featuring re-recorded songs from the first three albums by the band—Black Earth, Stigmata, and Burning Bridges. It was released on 28 September 2009 by Century Media Records and was made available as a jewel case CD, limited edition mediabook, digital media download and LP. The album was produced by the band themselves and mixed and mastered by Andy Sneap. All songs from this album are re-recordings, with the title track being another version of the instrumental Demoniality.
"Sudden Death" is a song by American heavy metal band Megadeth. It was written by Dave Mustaine for inclusion in the 2010 music video game Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, which was released on September 28, 2010, in North America. The song itself was released as a single with cover art on iTunes on September 24, 2010, and on September 28, Roadrunner Records made the song available for streaming on its website.
Hell are an English heavy metal band from Derbyshire, formed in 1982 from the remaining members of bands Race Against Time and Paralex. Due to a series of unfortunate and tragic events, the band originally folded in 1987. They were amongst the first bands to wear proto-corpse paint as part of their stage show, which featured hysterical ranting from a gargoyle-adorned pulpit, along with the use of a pyrotechnic exploding Bible which caused outrage amongst the clergy when it originally appeared in 1983.
Andy Sneap is an English guitarist, record producer, and composer with over 100 albums to his name, most of which have been produced at his Backstage Recording studios in rural Derbyshire. Some of the most critically acclaimed production-work on albums include Deliverance by Opeth and Disarm the Descent by Killswitch Engage; for which he earned a Swedish Grammis and a US Grammy nomination, respectively. As a performer, he first built his reputation as one of the guitarists in the British thrash metal band Sabbat, and played with them up until their disbanding. He is currently one of the co-guitarists of the British heavy metal band Hell. In 2018, Sneap joined Judas Priest as a touring guitarist, following long-time lead guitarist Glenn Tipton's diagnosis of Parkinson's disease which conflicts with his touring abilities, and while not an official member of the band, he contributed guitar work to their nineteenth studio album Invincible Shield (2024).
Firepower is the eighteenth studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest. Released in 2018, it was the band's first studio album since 1988's Ram It Down to be produced by Tom Allom and the first one with Andy Sneap as co-producer. The album sold around 49,000 copies in the United States within its first week of release, debuting at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 chart, making it the band's highest-charting album in the US. The album also reached No. 5 in the UK, making it their first top-ten album in the UK since British Steel. Music videos were made for "Lightning Strike", "Spectre" and "No Surrender". A lyric video was made for "Never the Heroes". The record also produced three singles.
Live from Brixton: Chapter Two is a live performance of heavy metal band Bullet for My Valentine recorded at Brixton Academy on 9 and 10 December 2016, the two last concerts of the band's UK tour celebrating the 10th anniversary of their first album, The Poison. It was released in July 2017 as a double CD for each night, a double DVD or a single Blu-Ray for both nights and a triple red vinyl only for Night Two. It was released through PledgeMusic only.
