Mortification is an Australian Christian death metal band which was formed in 1987 as a heavy metal group, Lightforce, by mainstay Steve Rowe on bass guitar and vocals. By 1990, in the Melbourne suburb of Moorabbin, they were renamed as Mortification with the line-up of Rowe, Michael Carlisle on guitar and Jayson Sherlock on drums. Mortification has released fourteen studio albums, three compilation albums, three extended plays, six live discs, one demo album, one box set, and several videos on major record labels such as Nuclear Blast. As one of the earliest internationally successful Christian death metal bands from Australia, they served as an inspiration for later similar groups.
Testament is an American thrash metal band from Berkeley, California. Formed in 1983 under the name Legacy, the band's current lineup comprises rhythm guitarist Eric Peterson, lead vocalist Chuck Billy, lead guitarist Alex Skolnick, bassist Steve Di Giorgio and drummer Chris Dovas. Testament has experienced many lineup changes over the years, with Peterson being the only remaining original member, though they have since reunited with Skolnick, who had been out of the band from 1992 to 2005. Billy has been a member of Testament since 1986, when he replaced original singer Steve "Zetro" Souza, who had left to replace Paul Baloff in Exodus. He and Peterson are the only members to appear on all of Testament's studio albums, with the latter being the only constant member overall.
Sadus is an American thrash metal band from Antioch, California, active from 1985 to 2015, and reunited in 2017. Originally a quartet, the band's sound fuses thrash metal with death metal, featuring highly technical musicianship. They are known for the unique death growl of vocalist Darren Travis, and bassist Steve Di Giorgio. During their career, Sadus has released five studio albums, one compilation album and four demos, and had only one lineup change, when guitarist Rob Moore left the band in 1993; instead of replacing him, the band continued as a trio.
Solitude Aeturnus is an American epic doom metal band from Arlington, Texas. Founded by John Perez in early 1987, the original lineup consisted of Perez on guitar, vocalist Kristoff (Christopher) Gabehart, guitarist Tom Martinez, drummer Brad Kane, and Chris Hardin on bass. The name Solitude was chosen to pay homage to the bands Black Sabbath and Candlemass, both of whom had songs bearing the name "Solitude".
The Legacy is the debut studio album by American thrash metal band Testament. It was released on April 21, 1987.
Souls of Black is the fourth studio album by American thrash metal band Testament. It was released on October 9, 1990.
The Ritual is the fifth studio album by American thrash metal band Testament, released in 1992 by Atlantic Records. It was their last studio album to feature drummer Louie Clemente and guitarist Alex Skolnick, until the latter rejoined the band in 2005. It was also their first album to be released and distributed only by Atlantic, whereas Testament's previous four albums were co-released by Megaforce Records.
Low is the sixth studio album by American thrash metal band Testament, released on September 30, 1994. It was the band's first album to feature a new lineup, with guitarist James Murphy and drummer John Tempesta replacing Alex Skolnick and Louie Clemente respectively.
Live at the Fillmore is a live album by the American thrash metal band Testament. It was released in 1995 on Spitfire Records. The first fourteen tracks are live recordings and the last three are semi-acoustic versions of previously-released songs. As of December 1999, Live at the Fillmore sold over 32,500 copies in the U.S.
Steve Smyth is an American musician who is the guitarist for metal band One Machine.
Eric Stanley Peterson is an American musician, best known as the rhythm guitarist of the thrash metal band Testament and is the only remaining original member left in the band, which first started in 1983 under the name Legacy. He and lead vocalist Chuck Billy are the only members to appear on all of the band's studio albums.
Dragonlord is an American symphonic black metal band that was formed in 2001 as a side project by Eric Peterson and Steve Di Giorgio of Testament, and Steve Smyth of Nevermore. The band is a result of Eric Peterson's interest in darker music, and not being able to do that with Testament he formed Dragonlord. The band combines elements of black metal with some thrash guitar influences. Lyrical themes vary, either about the rage of a dragon, death, war, lost love, Satanic or otherwise anti-religious themes, or combinations.
Black Wings of Destiny is the second studio album by the Black metal band Dragonlord.
The Gathering is the eighth studio album by American thrash metal band Testament, released on June 8, 1999. It was the first release the band had done with Spitfire Records. Co-produced by band members, Chuck Billy and Eric Peterson, this was the first album featuring new musicians Steve DiGiorgio on bass guitar and Dave Lombardo on drums. Billy, Peterson and Lombardo, along with longtime Testament collaborator Del James, are also given composer credits on the album. It would also be the only Testament album for 23 years to feature Lombardo, who left the band right before the tour for The Gathering started and he would rejoin in 2022.
Malevolent Rapture is a 2006 album by thrash metal/death metal band Legion of the Damned. It was their first album since the demise their preceding band Occult with the loss of previous lead singer Rachel Heyzer. In common with later albums the lyrics heavily reference the dark side of the occult and apocalyptic themes. The album was created in Stage One Studio and produced by Andy Classen.
Restless & Dead is the first album by the Swedish thrash metal band Witchery. Released in 1998 on Necropolis Records, the album features members of the band Satanic Slaughter. The title is a play on the Accept album Restless and Wild.
Live at Montreux 2011 is a live release by English hard rock band Deep Purple's mk VIII lineup credited as Deep Purple with Orchestra, and performed alongside the Neue Philharmonie Frankfurt conducted by Stephen Bentley-Klein. This concert was recorded at the Montreux Jazz Festival on 16 July 2011. Besides a 2CD release, the concert film has also been released on DVD and Blu-ray. All formats were released on 7 November 2011 by German label Eagle Rock Entertainment. In 2015 a vinyl collector's edition of the album was released for a Record Store Day.
Brotherhood of the Snake is the twelfth studio album by American thrash metal band Testament, released on October 28, 2016. It is the band's first studio recording with bassist Steve Di Giorgio since First Strike Still Deadly (2001). Brotherhood of the Snake also marks Testament's fifth collaboration with Andy Sneap, who had mixed and engineered all of their albums since The Gathering (1999) and produced Dark Roots of Earth (2012). The album debuted at number twenty on the Billboard 200 chart, making it Testament's second-highest-charting album in the US, behind Dark Roots of Earth, which peaked at number twelve four years earlier.
Leah McHenry, mononymously known as Leah, is a Canadian heavy metal musician who records both as a solo artist and, since 2018, as a member of Dragonlord. Sometimes called the "Enya of heavy metal", she performs a mixture of symphonic and Celtic metal with folk and world music. As a solo artist, she has released four full-length albums, Of Earth & Angels in 2012, Kings & Queens in 2015, The Quest in 2018, and Ancient Winter in 2019; two EPs, Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence in 2012 and Otherworld in 2013; and twenty singles, both as part of album releases and as stand-alone recordings. She is a frequent artistic collaborator with Eric Peterson of Testament and Dragonlord, Timo Somers from Delain and Vengeance, Sander Zoer from Delain, Barend Courbois from Blind Guardian and Vengeance, and Troy Donockley of Nightwish. McHenry and Peterson released a collaborative single, "Winter Sun", in 2015. She joined Dragonlord for its 2018 studio album Dominion. She also has participated in the charity group Project Aegis.
Titans of Creation is the thirteenth studio album by American thrash metal band Testament, released on April 3, 2020. This album marked the first time since The Ritual (1992) that the band had recorded more than one album with the same lineup, though it would turn out to be their last to feature drummer Gene Hoglan, who left Testament for the second time in January 2022. Titans of Creation is also the band's first album to be co-produced by Juan Urteaga, who previously worked with Testament's two studio albums Dark Roots of Earth (2012) and Brotherhood of the Snake (2016).
