Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres. Both the music and the lyrics are intended to evoke a sense of despair, dread, and impending doom. The genre is strongly influenced by the early work of Black Sabbath, who formed a prototype for doom metal. During the first half of the 1980s, a number of bands such as Witchfinder General and Pagan Altar from England, American bands Pentagram, Saint Vitus, the Obsessed, Trouble, and Cirith Ungol, and Swedish band Candlemass defined doom metal as a distinct genre. Pentagram, Saint Vitus, Trouble and Candlemass have been referred to as "the Big Four of Doom Metal".
Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within a symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in contrast with the heaviness and dissonance prevalent in, for example, extreme metal. Power metal bands usually have anthem-like songs with fantasy-based subject matter and strong choruses, thus creating a theatrical, dramatic and emotionally "powerful" sound.
Whitecross is an American Christian metal band from Illinois, formed in 1985 by singer Scott Wenzel and guitarist Rex Carroll, and re-formed in 2000. The band won three Dove Awards in the 1990s.
Restless Records is a record label that was started in El Segundo, California in 1986 by Enigma Records and primarily released alternative, metal, and punk records. Restless also licensed and released records from Bar/None Records, Metal Blade Records and Mute Records. Restless also had a fully owned subsidiary, Pink Dust Records.
Lucifer's Friend was a German rock band, formed in Hamburg in 1970 by guitarist Peter Hesslein, singer John Lawton, bassist Dieter Horns, keyboardist Peter Hecht, and drummer Joachim Reitenbach. The group was an early practitioner of heavy metal and progressive rock; they also incorporated elements of jazz and fusion into their music, especially in their fourth album Banquet of 1974. Beyond heavy metal, the band has been cited, too, as one of the pioneers of doom metal, helping to define both genres due to their heavy sound and dark oriented lyrics of their debut Lucifer's Friend of 1970, and returning to their roots in 1981 with Mean Machine, although more influenced by speed metal.
Stian Tomt Thoresen, known professionally as Shagrath, is a Norwegian musician. He is the vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and a founding member of the symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir.
"Secret Agent Man" is a song written by P. F. Sloan and Steve Barri. The most famous recording of the song was made by Johnny Rivers for the opening titles of the American broadcast of the British spy series Danger Man, which aired in the U.S. as Secret Agent from 1964 to 1966. Rivers's version peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #4 on the Canadian RPM chart, one of the biggest hits of his career. Numerous covers and adaptations have been recorded since then with the song becoming both a rock standard and one of Johnny Rivers's signature songs.
Cirith Ungol is an American heavy metal band formed in late 1971 in Ventura, California. This early doom and power metal group is known for lyrics based on fantasy. The band took their name from the mountain pass Cirith Ungol in J. R. R. Tolkien's epic fantasy novel, The Lord of the Rings.
Elixir is a British heavy metal band, formed by Steve Bentley, Kevin Dobbs, Nigel Dobbs and Phil Denton in November 1983. They are notable for being associated with the new wave of British heavy metal movement.
Frost and Fire is the debut album by the American heavy metal band Cirith Ungol. Its music is generally faster and more simplistic than that of King of the Dead, which saw the band begin to adopt a doom metal style influenced heavily by power metal.
King of the Dead is the second album by the American heavy metal band Cirith Ungol. It was self-produced by the band and released in July 1984 on Enigma Records. It was re-released in September 1999 on Metal Blade Records.
One Foot in Hell is the third studio album by the American heavy metal band Cirith Ungol. The original LP was produced by Brian Slagel and Cirith Ungol. It was released in August 1986 on Metal Blade Records and re-released in March 1999 by Metal Blade Records on CD. It is the last album to feature guitarist Jerry Fogle and bassist Michael "Flint" Vujea.
Metal Massacre is a series of compilation albums released through Metal Blade Records. It is famous for "shedding light" on bands such as The Obsessed, Trouble, Overkill, Metal Church, Metallica, Slayer, Virgin Steele, Hellhammer, Voivod, Armored Saint, Lizzy Borden, Possessed and more.
Atomic Rooster are a British rock band originally formed by members of The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, organist Vincent Crane and drummer Carl Palmer. Their history is defined by two periods: the early-mid-1970s and the early 1980s. The band went through radical style changes, but they are best known for the hard, progressive rock sound of their hit singles, "Tomorrow Night" and "Devil's Answer", both in 1971.
The Son of Odin is the debut album of British heavy metal band Elixir, released in 1986 on 12" vinyl. Cult Metal Classics re-released the album on CD in 2001. The album also included 3 bonus tracks. The album was also released on CD by TPL records in 2004, Majestic Rock in 2006 and CTR in 2011 as a 25th Anniversary Edition. In issue 137 of Terrorizer magazine, the album was included in the top 25 power metal albums of all time, alongside Judas Priest's Painkiller, Helloween's Keeper of the Seven Keys Part II and Cirith Ungol's King of the Dead. In 2019, Metal Hammer ranked it as the 21st best power metal album of all time.
Falcon is a California heavy metal band formed in 2002 by guitarist/vocalist Perry Grayson. Though active in the 2000s, Falcon's sound is throwback to the late 1960s and early 1970s, and they take their cue from luminaries like Blue Cheer, Black Sabbath, Trapeze, Budgie, Thin Lizzy, Pentagram, Mountain, Free, Bang, Captain Beyond and Buffalo.
The Angry Samoans is an American punk rock band from the first wave of American punk, formed in August 1978 in Los Angeles, California, by early 1970s rock writer "Metal" Mike Saunders, his sibling lead guitarist Bonze Blayk and Gregg Turner, along with original recruits Todd Homer (bass) and Bill Vockeroth (drums).
Crystal Viper is a Polish heavy metal band founded in 2003 by singer and guitarist Marta Gabriel.
Servants of Chaos is a compilation album by American heavy metal band Cirith Ungol, released under Metal Blade Records on September 5, 2001.
Forever Black is the fifth studio album by the American heavy metal band Cirith Ungol. It was released on April 24, 2020, and is the band's first studio album since its reunion in 2016, and its first studio album since Paradise Lost in 1991. Metal Hammer named it the 42nd-best metal album of 2020.
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