Medieval metal is a subgenre of folk metal that blends heavy metal music with medieval folk music. Medieval metal is mostly restricted to Germany where it is known as Mittelalter-Metal or Mittelalter-Rock. The genre emerged from the middle of the 1990s with contributions from Subway to Sally, In Extremo and Schandmaul. The style is characterised by the prominent use of a wide variety of traditional folk and medieval instruments.
Folk metal is a fusion genre of heavy metal music and traditional folk music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. It is characterised by the widespread use of folk instruments and, to a lesser extent, traditional singing styles. It also sometimes features soft instrumentation influenced by folk rock.
Nuclear Blast is a record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label moved on to releasing albums by thrash metal, melodic death metal, grindcore, industrial metal, power metal and black metal bands, as well as tribute albums. It also distributes and promotes two post-hardcore/metalcore labels: SharpTone Records, focused on the American scene, and Arising Empire, focused more on European bands.
Oceanborn is the second studio album by Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish. It was released in Finland by Spinefarm Records on 7 December 1998 and in the spring of 1999 worldwide. It was released by Drakkar Entertainment in the rest of Europe, and by Toy's Factory in Japan. It is their first album with bassist Sami Vänskä.
Moonsorrow is a Finnish pagan metal band formed in Helsinki in 1995. Musically, the band incorporates elements of black metal and folk metal in their sound. The band call their sound "epic heathen metal" and try to distance themselves from the term "Viking metal". They have distanced themselves from other folk metal bands, emphasising that their music is pagan and spiritual and is challenging for its listeners, rather than happy or danceable. The band members have varying levels of pagan belief but they draw on pagan spirituality for lyrics and inspiration.
Edguy is a heavy metal band formed in Fulda, Germany in 1992.
Virus is the tenth studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band Hypocrisy. It was released on 19 September 2005 by Nuclear Blast. It is the first Hypocrisy album recorded with their new drummer Horgh from the black metal band Immortal and second guitarist Andreas Holma. The album features a music video for the song "Scrutinized".
Letzte Instanz is a German violin-rock band, founded in Dresden, Germany, in 1996, particularly noted for their use of the violin and cello. The founding members included Hörbi, Tin Whistle, Muttis Stolz, Kaspar Wichman, Holly D. and Markus G-Punkt. Benni Cellini and Robin Sohn entered the group a year later. To date, they have released eleven studio albums, two live albums, two live DVDs, three singles and have appeared on a number of mix CDs.
Kill the Sun is the German band Xandria's debut album, released on May 5, 2003 through Drakkar Entertainment label. The record includes one single, "Kill the Sun".
Primo Victoria is the debut studio album by Swedish heavy metal band Sabaton.
Eric Fish, is the singer of German medieval metal band Subway to Sally. He performs also as a solo musical artist.
H-Blockx is a German rock band founded in Münster in 1991. After the success of their debut album in 1994, Time to Move, the band received a nomination for Best Breakthrough Artist at the 1995 MTV Europe Music Awards. In 1999, the World Wrestling Federation contacted them to record a song, "Oh Hell Yeah", for wrestler Stone Cold Steve Austin, and their song "Countdown to Insanity" appears in the European version of the 2007 music video game Rock Band. Between 1994 and 2012, H-Blockx released seven studio albums.
Resurrection is the fourth studio album by Chimaira, released on March 6, 2007. Debuting at number 42 on the Billboard 200 charts, Resurrection shipped about 16,000 copies sold in its first week. The album was released in two forms: a regular version, and a limited edition version with different cover artwork and a DVD documentary of the making of the album. Chimaira's first album with Ferret Music since leaving Roadrunner Records, Resurrection features original drummer Andols Herrick who rejoined the group shortly before the writing process. Resurrection is also the first Chimaira album to feature some additional backing vocals by keyboardist Chris Spicuzza.
Nine Destinies and a Downfall is the third studio album by the Norwegian gothic metal band Sirenia. It was released on 23 February 2007 through Nuclear Blast. The enhanced CD of the digipak edition contains a bonus track, the video for the song "My Mind's Eye" and multimedia software. The music video was produced and directed by Serbian film company iCODE Team, being the first of the band. In March 2007 a second video was released, "The Other Side".
Only Inhuman is the second studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band Sonic Syndicate. Released May 18, 2007 in Europe and on May 22, 2007, in North America. It's also the first album the band released through their new label, Nuclear Blast, as well as the first to feature vocalist Roland Johansson and drummer John Bengtsson as full-time members.
Revolver Music was a British record label. It was created by Paul Birch in 1979 as a guitar music label. Its sister labels are FM Records and Heavy Metal Records.
Omega Lithium was a Croatian industrial metal band. The band was formed in 2007 and is signed to Drakkar Entertainment, a part of Sony BMG. The band's debut album, Dreams in Formaline, was released on 18 September 2009.
Now & Forever – Best of Xandria is a compilation album by the German symphonic metal band Xandria, released on 6 June 2008 via Drakkar Entertainment label. The record was published as a package including a DVD containing live performances, music videos, and interviews.
Dead End is a Japanese heavy metal/hard rock band formed in Tokyo in 1984. They were one of few Japanese metal bands who had international exposure in the United States during the eighties. Originally dissolved in 1990, Dead End reunited in 2009 after almost two decades. They have been inactive since 2015, and guitarist and main composer You died in June 2020.
Stalingrad is the 13th studio album by German heavy metal band Accept, which was released on 6 April 2012, by the independent German record label Nuclear Blast Records. It is their second album since their 2009 reunion, and like its predecessor, Blood of the Nations (2010), was produced by Andy Sneap.
