Load is the sixth studio album by American heavy metal band Metallica, released on June 4, 1996, by Elektra Records in the United States and by Vertigo Records internationally. The album showed more of a hard rock side of Metallica than the band's typical thrash metal style, which alienated much of the band's fanbase. It also featured influences from genres such as Southern rock, blues rock, country rock, and alternative rock. Drummer Lars Ulrich said about Load's more exploratory nature, "This album and what we're doing with it – that, to me, is what Metallica are all about: exploring different things. The minute you stop exploring, then just sit down and fucking die." At 79 minutes, Load is Metallica's longest studio album.
Korn is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, originally formed in 1993 by James "Munky" Shaffer, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu and David Silveria, who were members of the band L.A.P.D. Their current lineup features Shaffer (guitar), Arvizu (bass), Brian "Head" Welch (guitar), Jonathan Davis (vocals), and Ray Luzier (drums), the last of whom replaced Silveria in 2007. The band is notable for pioneering and popularizing the nu metal genre.
Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 in Boston, Massachusetts. The band comprises John Petrucci (guitar), John Myung (bass), Mike Portnoy (drums), James LaBrie (vocals) and Jordan Rudess (keyboards).
Deftones is an American alternative metal band formed in Sacramento, California in 1988. They were formed by frontman Chino Moreno, lead guitarist Stephen Carpenter and drummer Abe Cunningham, with bassist Chi Cheng and keyboardist and turntablist Frank Delgado joining the line-up in 1990 and 1999, respectively. The band's experimental nature has led some critics to describe them as "the Radiohead of metal".
Rage Against the Machine is the debut studio album by American rock band Rage Against the Machine. It was released on November 3, 1992, by Epic Records, one day after the release of the album's first single, "Killing in the Name". The album was based largely on the band's first commercial demo tape of the same name, completed 11 months prior to the album's release. The tape contained earlier recordings of seven of the ten songs.
Badmotorfinger is the third studio album by American rock band Soundgarden, released on October 8, 1991, through A&M Records. Soundgarden began the recording sessions for the album with new bassist Ben Shepherd in the spring of 1991. The album maintained the band's heavy metal sound, while featuring an increased focus on songwriting compared to the band's previous releases. AllMusic considered the album's music to be "surprisingly cerebral and arty"; alternative tunings and odd time signatures were present on several of the album's songs, and lyrics were intended to be ambiguous and evocative.
Corey Todd Taylor is an American musician, songwriter, author and actor. He is the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Slipknot, in which he is designated #8, as well as the lead vocalist, guitarist, lyricist, and sole continuous member of the rock band Stone Sour.
Candlebox is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington. Since its formation in 1990, the group has released eight studio albums, several charting singles, a compilation, and a CD+DVD.
Lars Mikael Åkerfeldt is a Swedish musician. He is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter for the progressive metal band Opeth. A former vocalist for the death metal supergroup Bloodbath, he was also the guitarist for the "one-off" band Steel, and a member of the collaboration Storm Corrosion with Steven Wilson.
O, Yeah! Ultimate Aerosmith Hits is a greatest hits album by American hard rock band Aerosmith, released in 2002 by Columbia Records and Geffen Records. A double-disc album, it includes 27 of the band's biggest hits in chronological order and spans the band's entire career to that point, but does not include any songs from the albums Night in the Ruts, Rock in a Hard Place, or Done With Mirrors. Aerosmith's collaboration with Run-DMC on "Walk This Way", however, is included, as are two new songs, "Girls of Summer" and "Lay It Down", which the band recorded in Hawaii.
Stone is a Finnish thrash metal band formed in Kerava in 1985. They released four albums and one live album during the late 1980s and early 1990s, before disbanding in 1992 to pursue different musical directions. Stone reunited to play a final set of concerts in 2000, but parted ways again soon afterwards. In 2008, Stone made five "reunion"/comeback appearances. They reunited again in March 2013 for select shows in order to promote their new box set. The band has remained active since then, and they have new material in the works.
A Blaze in the Northern Sky is the second studio album by the Norwegian black metal band Darkthrone. It was recorded at Creative Studios in August 1991 and released on 26 February 1992 by Peaceville Records. In addition to earlier rehearsal recordings made between March 1991 and the Norwegian summer holidays, the album features the band's first official black metal recordings and is regarded as a classic within the genre. It is the first album of what fans refer to as the "Unholy Trinity," with the other albums being Under a Funeral Moon and Transilvanian Hunger. This album was the last to feature bassist Dag Nilsen. In 2020, it was included in the National Library of Norway's permanent exhibition due to its significance to Norwegian culture and its role as a foundational work in Norwegian black metal.
Nathan Jonas "Joey" Jordison was an American musician. He was the original drummer of the nu metal band Slipknot, in which he was designated #1, and the guitarist for the horror punk supergroup Murderdolls.
Kiuas is a Finnish power metal band from Espoo. Their music mixes power metal with influences from folk metal and different styles of extreme metal. Influences from progressive metal can also be heard in some songs.
Be'lakor is an Australian melodic death metal band from Melbourne, Victoria. The band's name originates from the character Be'lakor the Dark Master, in the Warhammer Fantasy game setting.
Blood Mountain is the third full-length studio album and major label debut by American metal band Mastodon. The recording of the album finished in April 2006 and it was released on September 12 in the UK and September 12, 2006 in North America through Reprise Records. The album in full could be streamed at the band's MySpace page a few days prior to the release.
Death Magnetic is the ninth studio album by American heavy metal band Metallica, released on September 12, 2008, through Warner Bros. Records in the United States and Vertigo Records elsewhere. The album was produced by Rick Rubin, marking the band's first album since Metallica (1991) not to be produced by longtime collaborator Bob Rock, and with James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich as co-producers. It is also the first Metallica album to feature bassist Robert Trujillo, and only the second album to share writing credit with all four of the band's members.
Stone is the debut album from Finnish thrash metal band Stone, released in 1988. It was remastered and reissued in 2003, and again in 2009, bundled with No Anaesthesia! in a 2-CD set. Several singles were released from the album, which was released by Mechanic Records for US distribution, while Megamania released it in the band's native country.
Colours is the third album by Finnish thrash metal band Stone, released in 1990. This is their first album with Nirri Niiranen, replacing original guitarist Jiri Jalkanen, who had been fired from the band just before the recording sessions started. Colours is considered to be more technical and experimental than Stone's first two albums, continuing the elements of progressive that the band had used on its predecessor No Anaesthesia!, and featuring more complexity and mid-paced tempos, as well as longer songs in length. It was remastered and re-issued by Megamania in 2003. The Japanese version had a redder pigment used on the album cover. An EP was released for the album track "Empty Suit".
Stoneage is a compilation album by Finnish thrash metal band Stone that was originally released in 1998. It was rereleased under the title Stoneage 2.0 in 2008 and included the bonus track "Symptom of the Universe", a Black Sabbath cover.
