W.A.S.P. is an American heavy metal band formed in 1982. They emerged from the early 1980s Los Angeles heavy metal scene. The band's popularity peaked that decade, yet they continue to record and tour. W.A.S.P. gained notoriety for their shock rock-themed image, lyrics and live performances. They have sold over twelve million records worldwide, with their first two albums, W.A.S.P. (1984) and The Last Command (1985), being certified as gold by the RIAA.
Jake E. Lee is an American musician best known as lead guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne between 1982 and 1987 and later as a member of the heavy metal band Badlands with Ray Gillen. He formed the band Red Dragon Cartel in 2013, and their debut album released in January 2014 entered the Billboard Album Chart at number 69. He has also recorded solo works under his own name—examples being the instrumental album A Fine Pink Mist (1996) and cover album Retraced (2005).
Wesley Louden Borland is an American rock musician. He is the guitarist and backing vocalist of the nu metal band Limp Bizkit, the lead vocalist and guitarist of the alternative and industrial rock band Black Light Burns, and the co-founder of the experimental metal band Big Dumb Face.
Omnium Gatherum is a six-piece melodic death metal band from Finland, founded in the autumn of 1996. Although the band mainly follows the path of the melodic death metal genre, much of their work shows strong influences from progressive metal, especially their later albums. Their music is influenced by Gothenburg-style bands such as At the Gates, In Flames, Dissection, Dark Tranquillity, but also Iron Maiden, Death, Anathema and Megadeth among others.
Darkest Hour is an American metal band from Washington, D.C., formed in 1995. Though failing to break through early in their tenure, the band has received acclaim for their albums Undoing Ruin, Deliver Us, and The Eternal Return. Deliver Us debuted at number 110 on the Billboard album charts, with sales of 6,600, and their more recent effort The Eternal Return garnered them an even higher position in the Billboard album charts at number 104. Their album Godless Prophets & the Migrant Flora charted at 42 on the Billboard 200, a peak for the band, and it marked a stylistic shift in the band's discography.
Jeff Loomis is an American musician, best known for his role as lead guitarist in the progressive metal band Nevermore during its existence from 1991 to 2011, as well as brief tenures in its precursor, Sanctuary. In 2014, he joined Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy, and in 2021 he joined Graham Bonnet's Alcatrazz as well. He left Arch Enemy in 2023. As a solo artist he has released two albums and one EP.
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.
Steeler was an early 1980s American heavy metal band formed in 1981 in Nashville, Tennessee by vocalist Ron Keel. The band released its self-titled sole album on Shrapnel Records in 1983. Soon after, Ron dissolved the band to form his band Keel. Steeler is also notable for featuring then-emerging guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen, who left to form Alcatrazz shortly after the self-titled album and launch a solo career.
Glass Casket is a deathcore band from Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Originally known as Gadrel, the band released two albums before becoming mostly inactive in 2006 as the members focused on other projects. In 2013, the band announced that they were working on new music but would not officially reform until a decade later in 2023, announcing that an EP would be released later that year.
Threat Signal is a Canadian heavy metal band from Hamilton, Ontario. The band has had numerous lineup changes, with only Jon Howard remaining from the original incarnation. Their music is often classified as metalcore, melodic death metal, or groove metal.
The Faceless are an American technical death metal band from the Encino neighborhood of Los Angeles. They released their debut album, Akeldama, in November 2006, and a follow-up, Planetary Duality, in November 2008. The band's third album, Autotheism, was released on August 14, 2012. On December 1, 2017, the band released their fourth album, In Becoming a Ghost.
Black Crown Initiate is an American extreme metal band from Reading, Pennsylvania, United States, currently signed to Century Media. The band formed in 2012 and self-released their first EP Song of the Crippled Bull, which was met with positive reviews. The band began touring in early 2014 with fellow extreme metal bands such as Goatwhore, Behemoth, and 1349; this led to them being signed by eOne Music in June 2014. With eOne, they released both The Wreckage of Stars, on September 30, 2014, and Selves We Cannot Forgive, released on July 22, 2016.
The Wreckage of Stars is the debut full length record from American extreme metal band Black Crown Initiate. The album was released on September 30, 2014 through eOne Music and was produced by Carson Slovak. Music videos were filmed for the tracks "Withering Waves" and "The Fractured One." The album debuted at #18 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart, selling 1,250 copies in its first week.
Conquering Dystopia is the debut album by the instrumental technical death metal band Conquering Dystopia, digitally released on March 10, 2014. On July 8, 2014 Conquering Dystopia was made available on vinyl and released via Century Media Records.
The Zenith Passage is an American technical death metal band from Los Angeles, California founded in 2012. They are currently signed to Metal Blade Records. To date they have released one EP, Cosmic Dissonance, and two LPs, Solipsist and Datalysium.
Where Owls Know My Name is the third studio album by American technical death metal band Rivers of Nihil. It was released on March 16, 2018 through Metal Blade Records, debuting at number 61 and selling 2,750 copies in its first week. It is the third album in the band's tetralogy based around the four seasons, representing autumn.
Orbit Culture is a Swedish melodic death metal band from Eksjö, formed in 2013. The band includes vocalist/guitarist Niklas Karlsson, guitarist Richard Hansson, bassist Fredrik Lennartsson, and drummer Christopher Wallerstedt. Former band members are lead guitarist Maximilian Zinsmeister, bassist Christoffer Olsson and drummer Markus Bladh. The band has released four studio albums and four EPs.
Violent Portraits of Doomed Escape is the third full-length album from American extreme metal band Black Crown Initiate. The album was released on August 7, 2020. It was produced by Carson Slovak and Grant McFarland, with cover art by Schon Wanner. The album sold 1,075 copies in its first week, debuting at No. 85 on the Billboard Top Album Sales chart. The album's subject matter was conceived during a "dark period" in lyricist and guitarist Andy Thomas' life. Thomas called the album's theme "a bookmark on thirty three years of my life," and realizing "you can go through whatever you want but you're still accountable to yourself."
Death:An Anthology is the fifth studio album by American deathcore band Enterprise Earth, the album was released on February 2, 2024 through MNRK Music. It is the band's first album to feature vocalist Travis Worland and bassist Dakota Johnson and it is the band's final album to feature drummer Brandon Zackey as he would depature from the band in August 2024 to join Whitechapel. It is also the band's first album to not feature any original members following the depature of original vocalist Dan Watson in April 2022. An instrumental version of the album was released in May 3, 2024.
