Sentenced was a Finnish gothic metal band that played melodic death metal in their early years. The band formed in 1989 in the town of Muhos and broke up in 2005.
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.
Control Denied was a progressive metal band formed by death metal musician and Death founder Chuck Schuldiner.
The Black League was a Finnish heavy metal band. They were formed in 1998 by Taneli Jarva, three years after his departure from the gothic metal band Sentenced. The Black League's first two full-lengths carry on the spirit from Taneli's work with his former band, seasoning their metal with elements of traditional rock 'n' roll. On their third release, Man's Ruin Revisited, these influences take an even more prominent role in their sound. In October 2014, Taneli Jarva pronounced of his decision to call the band the quits due to "lack of personal inspiration".
Grave is a Swedish death metal band that was formed in 1986 by vocalist and guitarist Ola Lindgren who is their only constant member. The band had particular success in the early 1990s, and their first four albums, Into the Grave, You'll Never See..., Soulless and Hating Life, cemented their reputation as one of Sweden's foremost death metal bands. Grave went on hiatus in 1997, but got back together two years later. Since then, they have released seven more albums, making a total of eleven studio albums. Along with Dismember, Entombed and Unleashed, Grave is considered one of the "big four" of Swedish death metal.
Immolation is an American death metal band from Yonkers, New York. They are considered one of the leaders of the New York death metal scene along with Incantation, Mortician and Suffocation.
Krisiun is a Brazilian death metal band, founded by brothers Alex Camargo, Moyses Kolesne (guitars) and Max Kolesne (drums). Since its formation in 1990, the group recorded two demos, Evil Age in 1991 and Curse of the Evil One in 1992, and self-released an extended play (EP) titled Unmerciful Order in 1993. After signing with Dynamo Records, Krisiun released the debut full-length Black Force Domain in 1995, followed by Apocalyptic Revelation, in 1998. They signed with major label Century Media in 1999, releasing a further nine studio albums.
Asphyx is a Dutch death metal band formed in Oldenzaal, Overijssel in 1987.
Unleashed is a Swedish death metal band that was formed in 1989 by Johnny Hedlund in Stockholm. Common lyrical themes found in the band's music include Viking culture, recollection of a pre-Christian world, and Norse folklore. A number of their recent songs also contain references to J. R. R. Tolkien. Unleashed is considered one of the "big four" of Swedish death metal.
Impaled is a death metal band from Oakland, California. The band's name is a backronym, standing for "Immoral Medical Practitioners And Licentious Evil-Doers".
Cancer are a British extreme metal band formed in Ironbridge, Shropshire, in 1988. Over the course of their career, they have released six full-length albums, including one for the major label East West, and broke up twice. The band reformed once again in 2013.
Pentagram is an American heavy metal band from Alexandria, Virginia, most famous as one of the pioneers of heavy metal, and the sub-genre of doom metal in particular. As such, they are considered one of the "big four of doom metal," alongside Candlemass, Saint Vitus and Trouble. The band was prolific in the underground scene of the 1970s, producing many demos and rehearsal tapes, but did not release a full-length album until re-forming in the early 1980s with an almost completely new line-up. Throughout the band's history, the only constant member has been vocalist Bobby Liebling. The revolving line-up of Pentagram has featured many well-respected musicians in the local doom metal scene, with members spending time in other acts such as the Obsessed, Place of Skulls, Internal Void, Spirit Caravan, among many others. The band's current line-up consists of Liebling (vocals), Matt Goldsborough (guitar), Greg Turley (bass), and "Minnesota" Pete Campbell (drums).
Amok is the third album by the Finnish metal band Sentenced, released through Century Media in 1995. Though still mostly rooted in the death metal genre, the album takes the melodic death metal direction of 1993's North from Here a step further with elements of traditional heavy metal and doom metal, along with elements of the goth rock-inspired style that the band would take on with subsequent releases, following bassist/vocalist Taneli Jarva's departure.
North from Here is the second album by the Finnish metal band Sentenced. Lyrics of the album deal with Sentenced's typical melancholy, but some also deal with the mythology and history of Finnish warfare and the national romantic epic of Kalevala. Prior the release of North From Here the band had developed their playing skills further and established a more personal sound, drawing influence from a number of extreme metal bands including Atheist, Nocturnus, Bathory, and the early works of Darkthrone, but on the opposite spectrum, also more rock-oriented acts such as Faith No More and Primus.
Sacramentum is a melodic black metal band from Falköping, Sweden, formed by Nisse Karlén (vocals/guitar) in the summer of 1990 under the name of Tumulus. The band released three full-length studio albums and two demos. They are best known for their debut album Far Away from the Sun, which is often considered one of the best early melodic black metal releases.
Revelation is an American doom metal band from Maryland.
Taneli Jarva is a Finnish musician born in Oulu, Northern Finland. He was the vocalist and bass player of the heavy metal band Sentenced from 1991 until leaving the group in 1995, citing creative differences.
Drastique is an avant-garde gothic metal band from Italy with progressive metal and symphonic black metal influences.
Zoetrope was an American heavy metal band from Chicago. Although their sound was akin to thrash metal, the group described themselves as "Street Metal".
Aftermath is an American thrash band from Chicago, Illinois, United States, which formed in 1985. They have released three studio albums under two monikers and been involved in several compilation projects. They subsequently changed their name to Mother God Moviestar in 1998 after a trademark dispute with Dr. Dre in which the court found that both could use the name. The band reformed as Aftermath in 2015.
