Kreator is a German thrash metal band from Essen, formed in 1982. Their current lineup consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Miland "Mille" Petrozza, drummer Jürgen "Ventor" Reil, lead guitarist Sami Yli-Sirniö, and bassist Frédéric Leclercq. The band's lineup has changed multiple times throughout its 43-year career, most noticeably with their bassists and lead guitarists. Petrozza and Reil are the only two original members left in Kreator, although the latter took a break from the band from 1994 to 1996. Yli-Sirniö has been the lead guitarist of Kreator since 2001, while Leclercq joined in 2019 as the replacement of Christian "Speesy" Giesler, who had been in the band since 1994.
Behemoth is a Polish blackened death metal band from Gdańsk, formed in 1991. They are considered to have played an important role in establishing the Polish extreme metal underground.
DragonForce are a British power metal band from London. The band was formed in 1999 by guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman, and are known for their long and fast guitar solos, fantasy-themed lyrics and retro video game-influenced sound. The band themselves refer to their music as "extreme power metal".
Lamb of God is an American heavy metal band from Richmond, Virginia. Formed in 1994 as Burn the Priest, the group consists of bassist John Campbell, vocalist Randy Blythe, guitarists Mark Morton and Willie Adler, and drummer Art Cruz. The band is considered a significant member of the new wave of American heavy metal movement.
Labyrinth is an Italian power metal band formed in 1994 in Massa, Tuscany. The band underwent a change in style and themes after the departure of Olaf Thorsen in 2002.
Sodom is a German thrash metal band from Gelsenkirchen, formed in 1981. They have gone through many lineup changes, with bassist/vocalist Tom Angelripper the only constant member. The band is currently composed of Angelripper, guitarists Frank "Blackfire" Gosdzik and Yorck Segatz, and drummer Toni Merkel. Sodom has been referred to as one of the "Big Four" of Teutonic thrash metal, along with Kreator, Destruction and Tankard. Sodom heavily influenced the German black metal scene, and is regarded as a pioneer of death metal. Mike McPadden wrote that the most Venom-blackened of German "Three Kings", Sodom further merged thrash and death metal into a "wicked and decadent sound."
Skindred is a Welsh rock band that fuses heavy metal with other genres, most notably reggae. Formed in Newport in 1998, they are well known for their energetic and involving live performances and have won several awards including "Best Live Band" at the 2011 UK Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards and the "Devotion Award" at the 2011 Kerrang! Awards.
Shadows Fall is an American metalcore band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1996. Although Shadows Fall has experienced several line-up changes, for most of its recording career, Shadows Fall has been composed of guitarists Jon Donais and Matt Bachand, bassist Paul Romanko, lead vocalist Brian Fair and drummer Jason Bittner.
Grave Digger is a German heavy metal band that was first formed in 1980 by Chris Boltendahl and Peter Masson. Emerging from the early-to-mid 1980s heavy metal scene of their native country, Grave Digger has been referred to as one of the so-called "big four" of German power metal, along with Helloween, Rage and Running Wild.
Galneryus is a Japanese power metal band, formed in Osaka in 2001 by guitarist Syu and vocalist Yama-B. Originally the only official members, the two utilized several support musicians until bassist Tsui, keyboardist Yuhki, and drummer Jun-ichi officially joined for the release of their debut album in 2003. Yama-B left the group in 2008 citing musical differences, and Yu-To, who replaced Tsui in 2006, left the following year. Galneryus recruited Sho on vocals and Taka on bass, and released the album Resurrection in 2010. Jun-ichi left in 2016, and the following year the band released their highest-charting studio album, Ultimate Sacrifice, which reached number 13. In 2017, Loudwire named Galneryus one of the 10 Best Japanese Metal Bands.
The Sword is an American heavy metal band from Austin, Texas. Formed in 2003, the band is composed of vocalist and guitarist John D. Cronise, guitarist Kyle Shutt, bassist Bryan Richie and drummer Santiago "Jimmy" Vela III for most of its tenure. Originally signed to Kemado Records, the group released their debut album Age of Winters in 2006, the material for which had been largely written by Cronise prior to the band's formation. Gods of the Earth was released two years later, giving the group its first entry on the US Billboard 200 chart when it reached number 102.
Bloodsimple was an American heavy metal band from New York City that formed in 2002. They were signed to Warner Bros. Records.
Black Tide was an American heavy metal band from Kendall, Florida. Formed in 2004, the band last consisted of Gabriel Garcia, Austin Diaz and Cody Paige (drums). They released their debut album, Light from Above, in 2008 through Interscope Records when Garcia was 15 years old. Their second album, Post Mortem, was released in 2011. Black Tide's EP Bite the Bullet was released in 2013 by InnerCat Music Group, a Miami-based boutique label. In 2015, the band released their last album Chasing Shadows. In July 2016, Garcia announced that the band is over and he is concentrating on his solo project.
Six Magics is a Chilean metal group formed initially by Pablo Stagnaro, Erick Ávila, Nicolás Espinoza, Juan Pablo Pizarro and Sergio Villarroel.
Mr. Big was an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1988. The band was originally composed of Eric Martin, Paul Gilbert (guitar), Billy Sheehan (bass), and Pat Torpey (drums). Though primarily a hard rock band, they are also known for softer songs. Their songs are often marked by strong vocals and vocal harmonies. Their hits include "To Be with You" and "Just Take My Heart". The band takes its name from a song by Free which it covered on the 1993 album Bump Ahead.
Unisonic was a German hard rock/power metal supergroup, founded on 10 November 2009 by Helloween singer Michael Kiske alongside Dennis Ward and Kosta Zafiriou from Pink Cream 69 and Mandy Meyer, formerly in Asia and Gotthard. In 2011 the band was joined by Gamma Ray leader and Helloween co-founder, Kai Hansen.
Chinese heavy metal is commonly used to describe a wide variety of forms of heavy metal music, in connection with the rock bands and solo artists from the People's Republic of China. Typically, Chinese heavy metal bands adhere to one subgenre of heavy metal such as death metal, thrash metal, or power metal, but usually having Chinese lyrical content rather than English.
Dragony is a power metal band from Vienna, Austria, which incorporates elements of symphonic metal in their style.
Japanese rock, sometimes abbreviated to J-rock, is rock music from Japan. Influenced by American and British rock of the 1960s, the first rock bands in Japan performed what is called group sounds, with lyrics almost exclusively in English. Folk rock band Happy End in the early 1970s are credited as the first to sing rock music in the Japanese language. Punk rock bands Boøwy and The Blue Hearts and hard rock/heavy metal groups X Japan and B'z led Japanese rock in the late 1980s and early 1990s by achieving major mainstream success.
Ryujin is a metal band originated in Hokkaido, Japan. Coming from the very north of Japan the members of the band label themselves as "Northern Nostalgic Metal band".
