Darkthrone is a Norwegian black metal band hailing from Kolbotn, Akershus. Formed in 1986 as a death metal band named Black Death, in 1991, Darkthrone transitioned to a black metal style influenced by Bathory and Celtic Frost and emerged as one of the leading bands in the Norwegian black metal scene.
Manowar is an American heavy metal band from Auburn, New York. Formed in 1980, the group is known for lyrics based on fantasy and mythology, as well as numerous songs celebrating the genre and its core audience. The band is also known for a loud and emphatic sound. In an interview for MTV in February 2007, bassist Joey DeMaio lamented that "these days, there's a real lack of big, epic metal that is drenched with crushing guitars and choirs and orchestras... so it's nice to be one of the few bands that's actually doing that". In 1984, the band was included in the Guinness Book of World Records for delivering the loudest performance, a record which they have since broken on two occasions. They also hold the world record for the longest heavy metal concert after playing for five hours and 1 minute in Bulgaria in 2008. They also have been known for their slogan "Death to false metal".
The Jesus and Mary Chain are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in East Kilbride in 1983. The band revolves around the songwriting partnership of brothers Jim and William Reid, who are the two founders and only consistent members of the band since its formation. They are recognized as key figures in the development of the shoegaze and noise pop subgenres. The band have had twelve top 40 entries and two top 10 hits in the UK Singles Chart in the course of their career.
Sepultura is a Brazilian heavy metal band formed in Belo Horizonte in 1984 by brothers Max and Igor Cavalera. They were a major force in the groove metal, thrash metal, and death metal genres during the late 1980s and early 1990s, with their later experiments drawing influence from alternative metal, world music, nu metal, hardcore punk and industrial metal. Sepultura is also considered part of the second wave of thrash metal acts from the late 1980s to early-to-mid-1990s.
The Obsessed is an American doom metal band from Potomac, Maryland, led by Scott "Wino" Weinrich. Formed in 1979, they recorded a few demos and played a handful of live shows until they first split up in 1986 when Weinrich joined as lead vocalist for Saint Vitus. About two years before his departure from Saint Vitus, Weinrich reformed The Obsessed in 1989, and three studio albums − The Obsessed (1990), Lunar Womb (1991) and The Church Within (1994) − were released before disbanding for the second time in 1995. After reuniting for occasional live shows between 2011 and 2013, the band announced a permanent reunion in March 2016, and has since released two more studio albums: Sacred (2017) and Gilded Sorrow (2024).
Carcass are an English extreme metal band from Liverpool, formed in 1985. The band have gone through several line-up changes, leaving guitarist Bill Steer and bassist-vocalist Jeff Walker as the only constant members. They broke up in 1996, but reformed in 2007 without original drummer Ken Owen, for health reasons. To date, the band have released seven studio albums, two compilation albums, four EPs, two demo albums, one video album, and six music videos.
Michael Kiske is a German singer who is the co-lead vocalist for the power metal band Helloween. Kiske has also released four solo albums, two albums with the hard rock band Unisonic, has participated on various metal and rock related projects such as Avantasia, Place Vendome and Kiske/Somerville, and has performed with numerous bands as a guest vocalist.
Napalm Records is an Austrian independent record label focused on heavy metal, hard rock and folk/folk rock/folk metal. Originally, Napalm focused on black metal bands, such as Abigor and Summoning, and folk metal bands, such as Falkenbach and Vintersorg. The label later expanded its roster by adding gothic metal, symphonic metal, power metal, doom metal, metalcore and nu metal bands, as well as stoner rock acts Monster Magnet, Karma to Burn, and Brant Bjork, and even folk bands like Ye Banished Privateers. Napalm has its own publishing house named Iron Avantgarde Publishing.
Cavalera Conspiracy is a Brazilian-American heavy metal supergroup from Phoenix, Arizona, founded by Brazilian brothers Max and Igor Cavalera, who are widely known as former members of Sepultura, and the only two constant members of the band. The band originally formed in 2007 as Inflikted but changed its name for legal reasons. The group's creation marked the end of a 10-year feud between the Cavalera brothers who founded Sepultura in the early 1980s. In 2022, they adopted the name Cavalera in order to release re-recorded editions of classic Sepultura albums, which were released in 2023.
Nightmare is a French power metal band, from Grenoble. The band was influenced by the new wave of British heavy metal phenomenon developing in the UK in the 1980s and started their career playing classic heavy metal, that later changed to power metal with death metal and thrash metal influences.
Kobra and the Lotus (also initialized as KATL) is a Canadian heavy metal band formed in 2009 by lead vocalist and songwriter Kobra Paige.
Kauan is an atmospheric doom metal/post-rock band from Chelyabinsk, Russia, formed in 2005.
Unleash the Archers is a Canadian power metal band from British Columbia. The band plays a fusion of power metal, melodic death metal, and traditional heavy metal.
Ukrainian metal is the heavy metal music scene of Ukraine. The most common Ukrainian heavy metal subgenres are black, pagan, folk and death metal. The most popular and well-known bands are black metal bands Drudkh, Nokturnal Mortum, Khors, Kroda, folk metal bands Holy Blood, Tin Sontsia, Veremiy, and Kraamola.
Conan are a British doom/sludge metal band from Liverpool whose style is characterised by a heavily distorted and downtuned sound. It has been described as "caveman battle doom".
John Garcia is the debut studio album of American vocalist John Garcia, released on July 25, 2014 via Napalm Records. Music videos were filmed for the songs "My Mind" and "Her Bullets' Energy".
The New Roses is a rock band from Wiesbaden, Germany.
Jinjer ( "ginger") is a Ukrainian metal band from Donetsk, formed in 2008. None of the founding members remain with the band. The current lineup considers 2009 as its official year of formation, with the arrival of singer Tatiana Shmayluk and guitarist Roman Ibramkhalilov. The band has since added bassist Eugene Abdukhanov and drummer Vladislav Ulasevich. Their upcoming fifth studio album, Duél, is due to be released in February 2025.
Infected Rain is a Moldovan heavy metal band formed in 2008 in Chișinău. They are signed to Napalm Records.
Oomph! is a German rock band from Wolfsburg, formed in 1989. The band pioneered the Neue Deutsche Härte movement. Their work contains lyrics in both English and German, with a shift towards German exclusively on recent albums.
