Progressive metal is a broad fusion music genre melding heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified guitar-driven sound of the former with the more experimental, cerebral or quasi-classical compositions of the latter.
Folk metal is a fusion genre of heavy metal music and traditional folk music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. It is characterised by the widespread use of folk instruments and, to a lesser extent, traditional singing styles. It also sometimes features soft instrumentation influenced by folk rock.
Iowa is the second studio album by American heavy metal band Slipknot. Produced by the band and Ross Robinson, it was released on August 28, 2001, by Roadrunner Records. The title derives from the band's home state, Iowa, which members have stated is one of their greatest sources of inspiration. With much anticipation for the album following the success of their 1999 self-titled debut, pressures on the band were high. Their relationships with each other suffered and this was later described as the darkest time of their career. It was also the first full album to feature guitarist Jim Root after only appearing on one song from their previous album. Despite troubles within the band and with Iowa's development, Slipknot promoted it for almost a year.
Slipknot is the debut studio album by American heavy metal band Slipknot. It was released on June 29, 1999, by Roadrunner Records, following a demo containing a few of the songs which had previously been released in 1998. Later, it was reissued in December 1999 with a slightly-altered track listing and mastering as the result of a lawsuit. It was the first release by the band to be produced by Ross Robinson, who sought to refine Slipknot's sound rather than alter the group's musical direction. This is the only album to feature original guitarist Josh Brainard who left at the end of recording in late 1998 while the band was taking a brief break. Jim Root, who recorded two tracks at this point, would appear full time on subsequent albums starting with their next album Iowa.
Nicholas Menza was an American musician who was the drummer of the thrash metal band Megadeth from 1989 to 1998. He recorded drums on four of Megadeth's albums: Rust in Peace (1990), Countdown to Extinction (1992), Youthanasia (1994), and Cryptic Writings (1997).
Orphaned Land is an Israeli metal band formed in 1991. They are known to combine Mizrahi and Maghrebi Jewish, Arabic, Turkish, and other Middle Eastern and North African musical elements, with metal, as well as from Sephardic music, and other sounds from the Mediterranean. They have also included "metalized" versions of various piyyutim in all of their albums since El Norra Alila. The band are considered to be the pioneers of oriental metal. Orphaned Land have gone through several lineup changes over the years, but have retained two founding members of the band, Kobi Farhi (vocals) and Uri Zelcha (bass). They are joined by Matan Shmuely (drums), Chen Balbus (guitars/saz) who replaced co-founding member Matti Svatizky in 2012, and Idan Amsalem (guitars/bouzouki) who replaced co-founding member Yossi Sassi in early 2014. Their lyrics promote a message of peace and unity, particularly between the three main Abrahamic religions. The name "Orphaned Land" comes from the lyrics of a Yehuda Poliker song and reflects "a paradox" to the term "Holy Land." Four of their six albums are concept albums relating to the concept of Light and darkness.
Hed PE is an American nu metal band from Huntington Beach, California. Formed in 1994, the band is known for its eclectic genre-crossing style, predominately in the fusion of gangsta rap and punk rock it has termed "G-punk", but also for its reggae-fused music.
Blackwater Park is the fifth studio album by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth. It was released on March 12, 2001, in Europe and a day later in North America through Music for Nations and Koch Records. The album marks the first collaboration between Porcupine Tree frontman Steven Wilson and the band, as Wilson had been brought in to produce the album. This contributed to a shift in Opeth's musical style. The songs "The Drapery Falls" and "Still Day Beneath the Sun" were released as singles.
Anaal Nathrakh are a British extreme metal band formed in 1999 in Birmingham by multi-instrumentalist Mick Kenney and vocalist Dave Hunt. They are currently signed to Metal Blade Records. The band's name is Irish for snake's breath and was taken from Merlin's Charm of Making in John Boorman's 1981 film Excalibur. The band recorded two demos in 1999, which were later released as an album.
An orphan is one who has lost both parents.
Live at Donington is a live album and video by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, documenting their second headlining appearance at the Monsters of Rock festival at Donington Park, a motorsport circuit located near Castle Donington. The concert took place on 22 August 1992 during the Fear of the Dark Tour in front of a crowd of almost 80,000.
Studio X is a music and media recording studio on 4th Avenue in downtown Seattle, Washington, United States. Originally part of the Kaye-Smith Enterprises media conglomerate founded by Lester Smith and actor Danny Kaye, the studio was used to record commercials and musicians. The studio was re-launched as Steve Lawson Productions by Steve and Debbie Lawson in 1979. The sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson of the band Heart owned the studio from 1991 until 1997, and named it Bad Animals after their 1987 album of the same name. Artists such as Heart, Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Nirvana, Queensrÿche, Mad Season, Foo Fighters, Audioslave, Aerosmith, The Beach Boys, Jerry Cantrell, Eddie Vedder, Duff McKagan, Johnny Cash, B.B. King, Radiohead, R.E.M., Deftones, Soulfly, Steve Vai, KMFDM, and Neil Young have recorded at the studio.
Act III is the third studio album by the thrash metal band Death Angel, released in 1990 on Geffen Records. This is the band's final studio album to feature guitarist Gus Pepa, and their only recording on Geffen. It was also their last studio album before their ten-year hiatus from 1991 to 2001.
"Wait and Bleed" is a 1999 song by American heavy metal band Slipknot, released as the their debut and lead single from their 1999 self-titled debut album. After being remixed to replace the screamed vocals in the verses with more melodic singing, it was released as the lead single from the album in July 1999, and peaked at number 34 on the US Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in February 2000. It remains one of the band's most popular songs.
Operation: Livecrime is a boxed set, covering the live performance of the album Operation: Mindcrime by the American heavy metal band Queensrÿche. It was released by EMI in 1991. After Queensrÿche toured in 1991 in support of Empire, record label EMI released this limited-edition set in two versions, one containing both a videocassette and a CD, the other containing both a videocassette and an audio cassette of live Operation: Mindcrime performances.
The Never Ending Way of ORwarriOR is the fourth full-length studio album by the Israeli metal band Orphaned Land. The album was released on January 25, 2010, after many delays. In Hebrew, the word "or" (אור) means "light," thus ORwarriOR can be translated as "light warrior" or "warrior of light", representing a conceptual hero of the battle of light versus darkness. The Never Ending Way of ORWarriOR is Orphaned Land's third concept album and is about the battle between the darkness, a place of questions, and the light, a place of answers. The band related the concept to lighting a match in a dark room; without the match one cannot see anything, but with it one can see more, including the answers to the questions one has about the room before having lit the match. In this regard, "the warrior of light," the answers to unknown questions, is one's inner light, and not some messianic figure, and that to awaken the ORwarriOR, one must use their inner light to enlighten their inner soul, and find the answers they seek. This is an analogy to the band's belief that "there isn't any difference between you and your enemy." The album was mixed by Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree. It is the last album to feature guitarist Matti Svatizky who left the band in 2012.
Boiler Room is an American nu metal band from New York City. The band formed in 1996, releasing two studio albums and one single before disbanding in 2001.
Darwin's Waiting Room was an American nu metal band from Miami, Florida.
Myrath is a Tunisian progressive metal band formed in 2001 by guitarist Malek Ben Arbia and currently based in France. The band has been noted for its mix of Arabic and Middle Eastern instrumentation with power metal and progressive rock and is considered an important band in oriental metal. They call their own sound "blazing desert metal". They are the first band from Tunisia to be signed to a record label outside the country.
Spirit in the Room is the 39th studio album by Welsh musician Tom Jones, released 21 May 2012 and produced by Ethan Johns. The album is composed entirely of covers.
