Obituary is an American death metal band formed in Tampa, Florida, in 1984. Initially called Executioner, the band changed its name to Xecutioner in 1986 to avoid confusion with the thrash metal band Executioner from Boston, and then changed its name once again to Obituary in 1988. The band's current lineup consists of vocalist John Tardy, drummer Donald Tardy, rhythm guitarist Trevor Peres, bassist Terry Butler, and lead guitarist Kenny Andrews. Obituary has gone through several lineup changes, with the Tardy brothers and Peres being the only constant members. The band was a fundamental act in the development of death metal music, and is one of the most successful death metal bands of all time. To date, Obituary has released ten studio albums, and with the exception of their 1997–2003 split, they continue to perform live around the world. Their music is based around heavily groove based riffs and drumming along with John Tardy's barking vocals, which create their signature brand of death metal.
Static-X is an American industrial metal band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1994. The line-up has fluctuated over the years, but was long-held constant with band founder, frontman, vocalist, and guitarist Wayne Static until 2014.
The Project for the New American Century (PNAC) was a neoconservative think tank based in Washington, D.C. that focused on United States foreign policy. It was established as a non-profit educational organization in 1997, and founded by William Kristol and Robert Kagan. PNAC's stated goal was "to promote American global leadership." The organization stated that "American leadership is good both for America and for the world," and sought to build support for "a Reaganite policy of military strength and moral clarity."
Kill 'Em All is the debut studio album by the American heavy metal band Metallica, released on July 25, 1983, by the independent record label Megaforce Records. Kill 'Em All is regarded as a groundbreaking album for thrash metal because of its precise musicianship, which fuses new wave of British heavy metal riffs with hardcore punk tempos. The album's musical approach and lyrics were markedly different from rock's mainstream of the early 1980s and inspired a number of bands who followed in similar manner. The album did not enter the Billboard 200 until 1986, when it peaked at number 155, following Metallica's commercial success with its third studio album Master of Puppets; the 1988 Elektra reissue peaked at number 120. Kill 'Em All was critically praised at the time of its release and in retrospect, and was placed on a few publications' best album lists. It was certified 3× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 1999 for shipping three million copies in the United States. The album generated two singles, "Whiplash" and "Jump in the Fire".
Rap metal is a subgenre of rap rock and alternative metal music which combines hip hop with heavy metal. It usually consists of heavy metal guitar riffs, funk metal elements, rapped vocals and sometimes turntables.
Devin Garrett Townsend is a Canadian musician, songwriter and record producer. He founded extreme metal band Strapping Young Lad and was its primary songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist from 1994 to 2007, and has an extensive career as a solo artist. After performing in a number of heavy metal bands in high school, Townsend was discovered by a record label in 1993 and asked to perform lead vocals on Steve Vai's album Sex & Religion. After recording and touring with Vai, Townsend was discouraged by what he found in the music industry, and vented his anger on the solo album Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing, released under the pseudonym Strapping Young Lad. He soon assembled a band under the name, and released the critically acclaimed City in 1997. Since then, he has released three more studio albums with Strapping Young Lad, along with solo material released under his own independent record label, HevyDevy Records.
Anna Maria van Giersbergen, known artistically as Anneke van Giersbergen, is a Dutch singer, songwriter, guitarist and pianist who became known worldwide as the lead singer and songwriter for the Dutch band The Gathering, between 1994 and 2007. She also has a solo career. The project was originally called Agua de Annique, but now goes by her own name.
Wintersun is a Finnish heavy metal band from Helsinki originally formed as the side project of Jari Mäenpää, then vocalist and guitarist of folk metal band Ensiferum.
Mastodon is an American heavy metal band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 2000. The group is composed of Troy Sanders (bass/vocals), Brent Hinds (guitar/vocals), Bill Kelliher (guitar), and Brann Dailor (drums/vocals). Mastodon has released seven studio albums, as well as a number of other releases. The band's 2002 debut album, Remission, garnered significant critical acclaim for its unique sound. Mastodon's second full-length release, Leviathan, is a concept album based on the novel Moby-Dick by Herman Melville. Three magazines awarded the record Album of the Year in 2004: Revolver, Kerrang! and Terrorizer.
Michael Kiske is a German singer best known as the lead vocalist for the German power metal band Helloween. After his departure from the band in 1993, Kiske recorded four solo albums, participated on various metal and rock related projects, such as Avantasia, Place Vendome and Kiske/Somerville, while he also performed with numerous bands as a guest vocalist. In late 2009, he formed the hard rock / heavy metal band Unisonic and began touring again after 17 years of absence. In October 2017, Kiske joined Helloween and Kai Hansen for the Pumpkins United World Tour that continued through 2018. A live recording of the Helloween tour, entitled United Alive, will be released in 2019 and a new Helloween album with Kiske and Hansen is planned for 2020.
Sabaton is a Swedish power metal band from Falun. The band's main lyrical themes are based on war, historical battles, and acts of heroism—the name is a reference to a sabaton, knight's foot armor. The armor and battle theme is heard in the albums Primo Victoria, Attero Dominatus, The Art of War, Coat of Arms, Carolus Rex, Heroes, and The Last Stand in which all of the songs contain these motifs, except final tracks which are tribute songs to influential heavy metal bands. Their latest album, The Great War, was released on 19 July 2019, with the songs all being based on World War I. Lyrical content drawn from World War I, World War II and other historical conflicts is prevalent and lyrics often recite stories of heroic deeds by men, women and armies.
Journey of Souls is the second album by Norwegian symphonic power metal band Keldian, and was released worldwide in May 2008 by American label Perris Records. It was produced, engineered and mixed by Arild Aardalen and mastered by Mika Jussila at Finnvox Studios.
Einstürzende Neubauten is a German experimental music group, originally formed in West Berlin in 1980. The group currently is composed of Blixa Bargeld, Alexander Hacke, N.U. Unruh, Jochen Arbeit, and Rudolf Moser.
Ghost is a Swedish rock band that was formed in Linköping, Sweden in 2006. In 2010, they released a 3-track demo followed by a 7" vinyl titled "Elizabeth", and later their debut full-length album Opus Eponymous. The song Ritual was chosen by Kerrang! as one of "The 50 Most Evil Songs Ever." Grammis-nominated album was widely praised and significantly increased their popularity. The song Their second album and major label debut Infestissumam was released in 2013, debuted at number one in Sweden, and won the Grammis Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Album. The band released their third studio album, Meliora, in 2015, to much critical acclaim and high record sales, reaching number one in their home country of Sweden, and number eight in the United States. Its lead single, "Cirice", earned them the 2016 Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance. The band released their fourth studio album, Prequelle, in 2018.
Sempiternal is the fourth studio album by British rock band Bring Me the Horizon. It was released on 1 April 2013 worldwide through RCA Records, a subsidiary label of Sony Music, and 2 April 2013 in the United States and Canada through Epitaph Records. It is the first album to feature former Worship keyboardist Jordan Fish and was believed to be the last album to feature guitarist Jona Weinhofen. However, Weinhofen's role within the album's development has been faced with controversy.
Bleed from Within are a Scottish heavy metal band from Glasgow. The band formed in 2005 and currently consists of vocalist Scott Kennedy, drummer Ali Richardson, bassist Davie Provan and guitarists Craig Gowans and Steven Jones. The band has released four studio albums; Humanity, Empire, Uprising and Era.
Alissa White-Gluz (;) is a Canadian vocalist, best known as lead vocalist of the Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy, and former lead vocalist and founding member of the Canadian metalcore band the Agonist. Her vocal style includes both growling and clean vocals (singing). Although primarily associated with melodic death metal, she has appeared as a guest vocalist for power metal and symphonic metal bands, notably Kamelot and Delain, and has performed live with Nightwish and Tarja Turunen.
Z² is a double album by Canadian musician Devin Townsend and his musical project Devin Townsend Project, released on October 27, 2014. It consists of two albums released together: the sixth album in the Devin Townsend Project series, Sky Blue, and Dark Matters, a solo concept album acting as a sequel to Townsend's 2007 album Ziltoid the Omniscient. The main theme of Dark Matters is, according to Townsend, "Ziltoid against the world".
Darkness and Light is the fourth album by the Norwegian symphonic power metal band Keldian. It was released on 27 October 2017 via Perris Records.
