Suffocation is an American death metal band formed in 1988 in Centereach, New York, currently consisting of lead guitarist Terrance Hobbs, bassist Derek Boyer, rhythm guitarist Charlie Errigo, drummer Eric Morotti, and vocalist Ricky Myers. The band rose to prominence with their 1991 debut album Effigy of the Forgotten, which became a blueprint for death metal in the 1990s. Since then, Suffocation has recorded eight albums. These feature growled vocals with downtuned guitars, fast and complex guitar riffs and drumming, open chord notes and occasional breakdowns.
1349 is a Norwegian black metal band from Oslo, Norway, formed in 1997. The band's name is a reference to the year the Black Death reached Norway.
In Flames is a Swedish heavy metal band, formed by guitarist Jesper Strömblad in Gothenburg in 1990 out of the Swedish death metal scene. Their lineup has changed several times, with vocalist Anders Fridén and guitarist Björn Gelotte being the only consistent members since 1995. In Flames helped pioneer melodic death metal along with fellow Swedish bands At the Gates and Dark Tranquillity. The band has sold over two million records worldwide.
Kai Michael Hansen is a German musician who is the founder, lead guitarist and vocalist of power metal band Gamma Ray. He is also one of the co-founders of another power metal band Helloween, which he was a part of from 1983 to 1989 and rejoined in 2016. He is a prominent figure in power metal and has sold millions of albums worldwide. He is regarded as "the godfather of power metal", having founded two seminal bands in the genre. In 2011, he joined the band Unisonic featuring former Helloween vocalist Michael Kiske. Hansen and Kiske reunited with Helloween in 2017 for a world tour with all current members, celebrating the 30-year anniversary of release of the albums Keeper of the Seven Keys Parts I and II.
Pestilence is a Dutch death metal band founded in Enschede in 1986. They have been through various membership changes throughout their existence, with guitarist-vocalist Patrick Mameli as the sole constant member. After disbanding in order to pursue other musical directions in 1994, Pestilence reunited in 2008, and was put on a "permanent hold" in July 2014. However, the band reunited once again in October 2016. To date, Pestilence has released ten studio albums, and they are one of "progressive death metal's Big Four", along with Death, Atheist, and Cynic.
Krokus is a Swiss hard rock and heavy metal band formed in 1975. They were popular in North America during the 1980s. The band was founded in Solothurn in 1975 by Chris von Rohr and Tommy Kiefer (guitar), both former members of Kaktus. Former TEA vocalist Marc Storace joined the band as frontman in time for their Metal Rendez-vous album in 1980.
Altaria is a Finnish heavy metal band from Jakobstad, who have released four albums on the record label Metal Heaven, a fifth on Escape Music and a sixth on Reaper Entertainment.
Mushroomhead is an American heavy metal band from Cleveland, Ohio. Formed in 1993 in the Cleveland Warehouse District, the band is known for their avant-garde sound and horror film-inspired imagery which features masks and costumes as well as their unique live shows usually performed at smaller venues. They have sold over two million media units worldwide, and have released eight full-length albums and 35 music videos.
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 US bands Testament, Sacred Reich, Death Angel and Dark Angel. For most of the 1990s, the band was not signed to a record label and self-produced their albums until they signed a contract with Nuclear Blast in the early 2000s.
Mastodon is an American heavy metal band from Atlanta, Georgia. Formed in 2000, the band's lineup of Troy Sanders (bass/vocals), Brent Hinds, Bill Kelliher and Brann Dailor (drums/vocals) has remained unchanged since 2001. Mastodon has released eight 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.
The Crown is a Swedish death metal band from Trollhättan, active from 1990 to 2004, and again since 2009.
Xandria is a German symphonic metal band founded by Marco Heubaum in 1994. Originally a project, Heubaum later restarted the project as a band in 1999, and has gone through various lineup changes. The German vocalist Lisa Middelhauve joined for the debut album, co-writing both music and lyrics for the band until her departure in 2008. Middelhauve reunited briefly with the band in 2010 following the departure of the band's second vocalist Kerstin Bischof, but left again shortly after. Manuela Kraller joined the band as the new vocalist in 2010.
Lynch Mob is an American hard rock band, formed in 1989 by former Dokken guitarist George Lynch, who is the band's only permanent member.
Crowned Unholy is the seventh studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band The Crown. It is a remake of the band's fifth studio album, Crowned in Terror, with re-recorded vocal tracks by Johan Lindstrand, re-recorded bass tracks by Magnus Olsfelt, a new version of the intro now programmed by drummer Janne Saarenpää, drum sound digitally enhanced by Janne, and synthesizer-enhanced parts, all programmed by Janne.
Vesperian Sorrow is an American symphonic black metal band from Austin, Texas, United States, founded in 1994. They were known as Unholy Descent until they changed their name to Vesperian Sorrow in early 1999. Their lyrics tend to be less extreme than most black metal bands that cover themes of Satanism and Anti-Christianity. They cover instead the cosmos, sorrow, sadness and darkness. Their name, Vesperian Sorrow, directly references this and translates to "sadness or sorrow in the evening hours."
Aborted is a Belgian death metal band formed in 1995 in Waregem. The group currently consists of vocalist, founder and only constant member Sven de Caluwé, guitarist Ian Jekelis, guitarist Dan Konráðsson and drummer Ken Bedene. Although the band originally had an entire lineup of members living in Belgium, Aborted's current lineup now features members from Belgium, The Netherlands, Iceland and the United States. The band has released eleven studio albums, six EPs and one live DVD.
Deeds of Flesh is an American brutal death metal band from Los Osos, California, U.S. They were formed in 1993 by Jacoby Kingston, Erik Lindmark (1972–2018) and Joey Heaslet. They founded their own label, Unique Leader Records, which has since become home to a number of other death metal bands from around the world. Deeds of Flesh have released nine studio albums, their most recent being Nucleus which was released in 2020.
Farmakon was a Finnish progressive death metal band formed in 2001. The band was made up of Toni Salminen (guitarist/vocalist), Marko Eskola (vocalist) and Pekka Kauppila. The band released two studio albums. The band used both clean and growling vocals and incorporated jazz and funk elements into their music.
Amaranthe is a Swedish heavy metal band originally known as Avalanche. The band is notable for their blend of various metal genres and having three lead vocalists.
Battle Beast is a Finnish heavy/power metal band established in Helsinki in 2008 by Anton Kabanen, Juuso Soinio and Pyry Vikki. The initial line-up consisted of guitarists Soinio and Kabanen, and drummer Vikki, who were high school friends. The rest of the original lineup, bassist Eero Sipilä, keyboardist Janne Björkroth and lead singer Nitte Valo, joined the band after auditions.
