Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California, formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style made them one of the "big four" bands of thrash metal, alongside Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax. Slayer's final lineup consisted of King, Araya, drummer Paul Bostaph and guitarist Gary Holt, who initially joined as a touring member in 2011 before joining the band permanently after Hanneman's death in 2013. Drummer Jon Dette was also a member of the band.
Kreator is a German thrash metal band from Essen, formed in 1982. Their current lineup consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Miland "Mille" Petrozza, drummer Jürgen "Ventor" Reil, lead guitarist Sami Yli-Sirniö, and bassist Frédéric Leclercq. The band's lineup has changed multiple times over its 41-year career, most noticeably with their bassists and lead guitarists. Petrozza and Reil are the only two original members left in Kreator, although the latter took a break from the band from 1994 to 1996. Yli-Sirniö has been the lead guitarist of Kreator since 2001, while Leclercq joined in 2019 as the replacement of Christian "Speesy" Giesler, who had been a member of the band since 1994.
Napalm Death are an English grindcore band formed in Meriden, West Midlands in 1981. None of the band's original members have been in the group since 1986, but since Utopia Banished (1992), the lineup of bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch Harris, drummer Danny Herrera and lead vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway has remained consistent through most of the band's career. From 1989 to 2004, Napalm Death were a five-piece band after they added Jesse Pintado as the replacement of one-time guitarist Bill Steer. Following Pintado's departure, the band reverted to a four-piece.
Sepultura is a Brazilian heavy metal band from Belo Horizonte. Formed in 1984 by brothers Max and Igor Cavalera, the band was a major force in the groove metal, thrash metal and death metal genres during the late 1980s and early 1990s, with their later experiments drawing influence from alternative metal, world music, nu metal, hardcore punk, and industrial metal. Sepultura has also been credited as one of the second wave of thrash metal acts from the late 1980s to early-to-mid-1990s.
Meshuggah is a Swedish extreme metal band formed in Umeå in 1987. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist Jens Kidman, guitarists Fredrik Thordendal and Mårten Hagström, drummer Tomas Haake and bassist Dick Lövgren. Since its formation, the band has released nine studio albums, six EPs and eight music videos. Their latest studio album, Immutable, was released in April 2022 via Atomic Fire Records.
Soilwork is a Swedish melodic death metal band from Helsingborg. They are signed to Nuclear Blast. Formed in late 1995 by Björn Strid and Peter Wichers, originally under the name Inferior Breed, the band changed their name in late 1996 to Soilwork.
Hatebreed is an American metalcore band from Bridgeport, Connecticut, formed in 1994. The band released its debut album Satisfaction is the Death of Desire in 1997, which gave the band a cult following. The band signed to Universal Records and released Perseverance in 2002, which hit the Billboard 200. Combining elements of hardcore and heavy metal, the band is often described as a metalcore, hardcore punk, and beatdown hardcore band. They have played a major role in the Connecticut hardcore scene.
Sodom is a German thrash metal band from Gelsenkirchen, formed in 1981. They have gone through many lineup changes, leaving bassist/vocalist Tom Angelripper as the only constant member. The band is currently composed of Angelripper, guitarists Frank "Blackfire" Gosdzik and Yorck Segatz, and drummer Toni Merkel. Along with Kreator, Destruction and Tankard, Sodom has been referred to as one of the "Big Four" of Teutonic thrash metal. Sodom heavily influenced the German black metal scene. In addition, the band is regarded as a pioneer of early death metal. Mike McPadden wrote that the most Venom-blackened of German "Three Kings", Sodom further merged thrash and death metal into a "wicked and decadent sound".
Exodus is an American thrash metal band formed in 1979 in Richmond, California. Their current lineup consists of guitarists Gary Holt and Lee Altus, bassist Jack Gibson, drummer Tom Hunting, and lead vocalist Steve "Zetro" Souza. There are no original members left in Exodus other than Hunting, who has departed from the band twice, in 1989 and 2004, but rejoined in 2007. Exodus is also notable for including a then-unknown Kirk Hammett, who was the band's lead guitarist from its inception to his departure in 1983, when he left to join Metallica as Dave Mustaine's replacement. Holt has been most consistent member throughout various lineup changes and breakups, and is the only member to appear on all of Exodus' recordings. Much of the band's career has also been affected by feuds between both band members and record companies, two extended hiatuses, deaths of former band members and drug addictions.
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.
Downset is an American rap metal band from Los Angeles, California. Originally called Social Justice, the band's music blends influences from rap, funk, hardcore punk, and metal with "socially aware lyrics."
Threat Signal is a Canadian heavy metal band from Hamilton, Ontario. The band has had numerous lineup changes, with only Jon Howard remaining from the original incarnation. Their music is often classified as metalcore, melodic death metal, or groove metal.
Monte Conner is a former senior vice president of A&R for Roadrunner Records. His path into the music industry began while at Baruch College in Manhattan, where he hosted a weekly underground metal radio show, called “The Witching Hour,” at the school's radio station WBMB. The show ran from September 1982 to December 1986 and during that time Conner immersed himself in the emerging thrash and death metal scenes, honing his skills for discovering new talent. After graduating college, he landed a job at Shatter Records handling College Radio Promotion. He was at Shatter for nine months, from March to November 1987, before leaving to join Roadrunner Records in December 1987, also doing College Radio Promotion. By January 1988, he added A&R to his duties at the label, and by late 1988 he became the label's Head of A&R for North America.
Meshuggah is a Swedish extreme metal band formed in 1987 in Umeå. Meshuggah is known for its use of extended polymetric passages, complex time signatures, dissonant guitar riffs, and harsh vocals. As of 2008, the band consists of vocalist Jens Kidman, guitarists Fredrik Thordendal and Mårten Hagström, bassist Dick Lövgren and drummer Tomas Haake.
Oceano is an American deathcore band from Cook County, Illinois. Formed in 2006, the band signed to Earache Records and released their debut album, Depths, on April 7, 2009. Their second album, Contagion, was released on November 9, 2010. Their fourth album Ascendants was released March 23, 2015. Their most recent album Revelation was released on May 19, 2017. It was their first release with their new label, Sumerian Records.
Koloss is the seventh studio album by Swedish extreme metal band Meshuggah, released on 23 March 2012 in Germany, on 26 March in the rest of Europe, and on March 27 in North America, by Nuclear Blast.
Suicidal Angels are a Greek thrash metal band formed in 2001 in Athens, Greece, by guitarist/vocalist and main songwriter Nick Melissourgos. Since its inception, the band has released seven studio albums, and has gone through several line-up changes leaving Melissourgos as the only constant member.
Repentless is the twelfth and final studio album by American thrash metal band Slayer, released on September 11, 2015. This is the band's only album recorded without guitarist Jeff Hanneman, who died from liver cirrhosis in 2013 and was replaced by Gary Holt, and the first to feature drummer Paul Bostaph since God Hates Us All (2001). Repentless is also the only album the band released on Nuclear Blast and was produced by Terry Date, replacing Rick Rubin after twenty-nine years and nine studio albums as their producer or executive producer. The six-year gap between World Painted Blood (2009) and Repentless was the longest between two Slayer albums in their career, and it would be the band's last studio album before disbanding in 2019, following the conclusion of their final world tour.
SharpTone Records is an American independent record label started on September 11, 2013. The label was founded by Nuclear Blast CEO Markus Staiger and former vice president of Sumerian Records Shawn Keith. The label's roster includes an amalgamation of metalcore and rock bands: Don Broco, Loathe, Miss May I, We Came as Romans, Of Mice & Men, Holding Absence, Story of the Year, August Burns Red, Polaris, Currents, Crystal Lake, Emmure, and Alt.
Atomic Fire is a record label and mail order record distributor based in Germany. It was founded by Markus Staiger in 2021.
