Drowning Pool is an American rock band formed in Dallas, Texas, in 1996. The band was named after the 1975 film The Drowning Pool. Since its formation, the band has consisted of guitarist C.J. Pierce, bassist Stevie Benton, and drummer Mike Luce, as well as a revolving cast of vocalists.
DragonForce are a British power metal band from London, England. 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. DragonForce's current lineup comprises Li, Totman, vocalist Marc Hudson, drummer Gee Anzalone and bassist Alicia Vigil. The band have been through several lineup changes throughout their career; longtime members in vocalist ZP Theart, keyboardist Vadim Pruzhanov, drummer Dave Mackintosh and bassist Frédéric Leclercq are among the former members of the band.
Timo Tapio Tolkki is a Finnish musician best known as the former guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer of the power metal band Stratovarius. With his tenure lasting for more than twenty years, he was the longest standing member of the band before his departure in 2008. After leaving Stratovarius he formed two supergroups named Revolution Renaissance and Symfonia, both of which have since disbanded. In a 2011 article by Guitar World magazine, Tolkki was included in the all-time top 50 list of the world's fastest guitarists.
Kamelot is an American power metal band from Tampa, Florida, formed by Thomas Youngblood in 1987. The Norwegian vocalist Roy Khan joined for the album Siége Perilous, and shared songwriting credit with Youngblood until his departure in April 2011. On June 22, 2012, Youngblood announced on their website that their new vocalist would be the Swedish singer Tommy Karevik, who was first featured on Kamelot's album Silverthorn as the main vocalist, co-songwriter, and lyricist.
Ian Samuel Totman is an English-born New Zealand musician best known as guitarist and main songwriter for the power metal band DragonForce.
Roy Z is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer, best known for his work with Bruce Dickinson, Halford, and Judas Priest. He also is the founder of Tribe of Gypsies, a Latin-influenced hard rock band. Roy also helped write and produce the band Life After Death in 1996.
Power Quest were an English power metal band from Southampton. Prior to the band's retirement in 2023, the line-up consisted of keyboardist Steve Williams, drummer Rich Smith, vocalist Ashley Edison, guitarists Glyn Williams and George "The Kid" Karafotis, and bassist Bradley Edison.
Sabaton is a power metal and heavy metal band from Falun, Sweden. The vast majority of their albums are written about historical events, mainly wars and significant battles. Sabaton has been referred to as one of the "big four" power metal bands, along with Helloween, Blind Guardian, and DragonForce. They are one of the most successful metal bands in Swedish history.
Frédéric Alexandre "Fred" Leclercq is a French musician and producer, best known as the former longtime bassist for British power metal band DragonForce. He is currently the guitarist and main songwriter in the death metal supergroup Sinsaenum, the guitarist and vocalist in Maladaptive, the bassist and a guitarist in Amahiru, and the bassist of German thrash metal group Kreator and French death metal band Loudblast. He is a session musician for various other bands, including George Lynch's Souls of We. He is also a former member of power metal band Heavenly and played several shows with Carnival in Coal and Sabaton.
Onslaught are a British thrash metal band from Bristol, England, active from 1982 to 1991 and again since 2005. The band initially drew influences from US and British hardcore punk bands such as Discharge and the Exploited, as well as the new wave of British heavy metal, and eventually adopted a straightforward thrash metal sound. They have been recognised as pioneers of the British thrash metal scene, and have been referred to as one of the country's so-called "big four", along with Sabbat, Xentrix and Acid Reign. To date, Onslaught have released seven studio albums, one compilation, four singles and two live recordings: a live album and a live DVD.
Delain is a Dutch symphonic metal band formed in 2002 by former Within Temptation keyboardist Martijn Westerholt, intending for the band to be solely a project. Singer Charlotte Wessels was invited to join in 2005. The name of the band comes from the Kingdom of Delain in Stephen King's novel, The Eyes of the Dragon. In February 2021, the members decided to part ways. In June 2021, Westerholt announced that there would be a new lineup involving former and new members.
Master of Illusion is the fourth studio album of the British power metal band Power Quest, which was recorded in from August–December 2007, released in Australia on 31 January 2008, in Japan on 11 March 2008, and has been released worldwide on 25 April 2008.
Alestorm are a Scottish heavy metal band formed in Perth, Scotland. Their music is characterised by a pirate theme, and as a result, they have been dubbed a "pirate metal" band by many critics and their fanbase. The group currently consists of lead vocalist/keytarist Christopher Bowes, bassist Gareth Murdock, drummer Peter Alcorn, keyboardist/harsh vocalist Elliot Vernon and guitarist Máté "Bobo" Bodor.
Steel Prophet is an American power metal band led by the founder and main writer Steve Kachinsky.
Brain Drill was an American technical death metal band formed in 2005 from Ben Lomond, California founded by guitarist and songwriter Dylan Ruskin. They released 2 albums while signed to Metal Blade Records and self-released their final third album titled Boundless Obscenity.
Blood Alliance is the fifth studio album of the British power metal band Power Quest, with recording between September/October 2010 at Foel Studios, Wales with producer Chris Fielding and released worldwide by April 2011.
Battle Beast is a Finnish heavy/power metal band established in Helsinki in 2008 by Anton Kabanen, Juuso Soinio and Pyry Vikki. The initial line-up consisted of guitarists Soinio and Kabanen, and drummer Vikki, who were high school friends. The rest of the original lineup, bassist Eero Sipilä, keyboardist Janne Björkroth and lead singer Nitte Valo, joined the band after auditions.
Nevermore was an American progressive metal band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1991. The band has been inactive since 2011, due to personal issues between the band members. In April 2015, lead singer Warrel Dane confirmed that Nevermore had not disbanded, and there was a possibility for them to continue in the next two years with another album. However, Dane died in December 2017, ending hopes of a reunion.
Twilight Force is a Swedish symphonic power metal band known for their highly fantastical lyrics and LARP-style outfits which the band performs onstage in. The band's main lyrical themes are based on the lore of a fictional world known as The Twilight Kingdoms, created by keyboardist Daniel Beckman. The band has released four studio albums to date.
Extreme Power Metal is the eighth studio album by British power metal band DragonForce, released on 27 September 2019. It is the band's last studio album to feature longtime bassist Frédéric Leclercq and the first not to feature longtime keyboardist Vadim Pruzhanov, who left the band in 2018; Epica keyboardist Coen Janssen recorded keyboards for the album as a one-off session member. The lead single "Highway to Oblivion" was released on 30 July 2019. The band embarked on a world tour in support of the album following its release. Music videos for "Troopers of the Stars" and "Strangers" were filmed, but not released until two years later, on 27 August 2021 and 25 October 2021, respectively. In 2022, the band continued touring the album after their last tour's cancelation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On 29 November 2022, the music video for "The Last Dragonborn" was released, being the first music video with new bassist Alicia Vigil.
