Manowar is an American heavy metal band from Auburn, New York. Formed in 1980, the group is known for lyrics based on fantasy and mythology, as well as numerous songs celebrating the genre and its core audience. The band is also known for a loud and emphatic sound. In an interview for MTV in February 2007, bassist Joey DeMaio lamented that "these days, there's a real lack of big, epic metal that is drenched with crushing guitars and choirs and orchestras... so it's nice to be one of the few bands that's actually doing that". In 1984, the band was included in the Guinness Book of World Records for delivering the loudest performance, a record which they have since broken on two occasions. They also hold the world record for the longest heavy metal concert after playing for five hours and 1 minute in Bulgaria in 2008. They also have been known for their slogan "Death to false metal". The band maintains a strong cult following and has sold over 30 million copies of their recordings.
Ross Friedman, also known as Ross the Boss, is an American guitarist, best known as a founding member of both the punk band the Dictators and the heavy metal band Manowar.
Warlock were a German heavy metal band founded in 1982 in Düsseldorf by members of the underground bands Snakebite and Beast. The band gained popularity and some commercial success in Europe in the mid-1980s, due to the personality and stage presence of lead vocalist Doro Pesch. Warlock supported successful heavy metal bands on tour, such as W.A.S.P., Judas Priest, Dio and Megadeth.
Primal Fear is a German power metal band formed in 1997 by Ralf Scheepers and Mat Sinner. Sinner and Scheepers formed the band after Scheepers was not hired as Rob Halford's replacement in Judas Priest.
Glory to the Brave is the debut studio album by Swedish power metal band HammerFall, released in 1997. Despite the fact that the band was formed in 1993, HammerFall performed mostly live music and covers before this album was released. "Steel Meets Steel" was composed by Oscar Dronjak just before the band was formed and is included on this album. The band signed a deal with the Dutch label Vic Records. Nuclear Blast approached Vic Records and obtained a license deal for the album. Later, Nuclear Blast bought the entire rights from Vic Records. Although the In Flames guitarist Jesper Strömblad was listed as the drummer, all the drums were actually played by session musician Patrik Räfling, who joined the band as a full-time member shortly after the album's release.
Grand Magus are a three-piece heavy metal band from Stockholm, Sweden that draws influence from classic heavy metal bands and elements of doom metal.
Cage is an American heavy metal band from San Diego, California. Over their career, the band has released seven studio albums and played shows with Great White, Manowar, Metallica, and Judas Priest.
Anvil is a Canadian heavy metal band formed in Toronto, Ontario, in 1978. The band currently consists of founding members Steve "Lips" Kudlow, Robb Reiner, and Chris Robertson (bass). As of 2022, the band has released nineteen studio albums, and have been cited as having influenced many notable heavy metal groups, including Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax, and Metallica.
Rhapsody of Fire is an Italian symphonic power metal band formed by Luca Turilli and Alex Staropoli, widely seen as a pioneer of the symphonic power metal subgenre.
James Rivera is an American singer, best known as the frontman for the heavy metal band Helstar. He was also the singer for Seven Witches between 2002 and 2005.
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.
Limb Music is an independent record label based in Hamburg, Germany and specialized in various subgenres of heavy metal music. It was also known as LMP, which stood for Limb Music Products, later changed to Limb Music GmbH. The music publishing firm Limb Music Publishing e.K. was established in 1989. Their mail order company Forever Rock (www.forever-rock.de) was founded in 2008.
Tolotta Records was a record label run by Joe Lally of Fugazi. It was based in Arlington, Virginia and distributed through Dischord Records. The label has released bands from Washington, D.C. and the surrounding area, such as Dead Meadow and Spirit Caravan. The label was founded in 1994 and came to an end in 2002 when Spirit Caravan broke up and Dead Meadow moved to Matador Records. Shortly after Lally set-up the label, the German label Hellhound Records disbanded, leaving Tolotta to pick up some of the slack. Tolotta re-released The Obsessed's first album and picked up Scott Weinrich's new band, Shine, who later changed their name to Spirit Caravan.
Neat Records was a British independent record label based near Newcastle, England. The label was established in 1979 by David Wood, who was the owner of Impulse Studios in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, England. A key figure in the establishment of the label was Steve Thompson. Thompson was house producer at Impulse at the time and helped set up Neat, became the A&R manager and produced all the initial recordings, as well as managing the publishing arm, Neat Music. The label was sold in 1995 to Sanctuary Records.
Salem UK is a hard rock/heavy metal band from Hull, England. It was formed following the split of the new wave of British heavy metal band Ethel the Frog. Salem recorded three demos and a single in the early 1980s; a compilation album of these recordings was released in 2010.
Shadowkeep are an English heavy metal band formed in Guildford in 1999 by guitarists Chris Allen and Nikki Robson.
Necronomicon is a German thrash metal band.
Tribunal Records is a heavy metal and hardcore punk label that started in 1999. The label also has a subsidiary entitled Divebomb Records. Tribunal has hosted bands such as From the Shallows, Scarlet, and Century, while Divebomb hosts bands such as Wulfhook, Zephaniah, and Helion Prime.
EMP Label Group, also known as Ellefson Music Productions, is an American record label formed in October 2015, which was founded by former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson.
Alltheniko are an Italian heavy metal band formed in Vercelli in 2002 by Dave Nightfight, Joe Boneshaker (guitar) and Luke the Idol (drums). The band's name comes from a pun involving the comune of Oldenico. The line-up never changed since the beginning.
