Metal Magic is the debut studio album by American heavy metal band Pantera, released on June 10, 1983 by Metal Magic Records. Like the band's next three releases, this album is musically oriented toward a glam/heavy metal sound influenced by Kiss and Van Halen, rather than the groove metal style they became famous for playing in the 1990s, starting with the release of Cowboys from Hell. It was released on the band's own label and produced by Jerry Abbott, a noted country music songwriter and producer, and father of Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul, who were sixteen and nineteen years old, respectively, at the time of release.
Nightfall is the second studio album by the Swedish doom metal band Candlemass, released on 9 November 1987 through Axis Records. After being dropped from the label Black Dragon Records, Candlemass were the first band signed to Axis. The group had a new line-up from their previous album including vocalist Messiah Marcolin, whose decisions became instrumental during the production and release stages of the album.
Thy Mighty Contract is the first full-length album by Greek extreme metal band Rotting Christ, released in late 1993 on Osmose Productions.
The Sane Asylum is the debut album by the American thrash metal band Blind Illusion. It was originally released in 1988 through Combat Records. The album features guitarist Larry LaLonde and bassist Les Claypool before they went on to work on Primus and was produced by Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett.
The Amenta are an Australian metal band formed in 1997 as Crucible of Agony. By 2002 the line-up was Cesium 137 on lead vocals, Diazanon on drums, Ethion on guitar, Endrin on bass guitar and Chlordane on keyboards. In 2009 the line-up had Miehs and Pope joined by Cain Cressall on vocals, Dan Quinlan on bass guitar and Robin Stone on drums. The group has issued three studio albums, Occasus (2004), n0n (2008), and Flesh Is Heir (2013). The group went on an indefinite hiatus in 2013, but reunited in 2020.
Rocket Ride is the seventh full-length album by German power metal band Edguy, released on 20 January 2006. It features a style that differs from their usual power metal style and is more oriented towards hard rock.
Gothic metal is a fusion genre combining the heaviness of heavy metal with the dark atmospheres of gothic rock. The music of gothic metal is diverse with bands known to adopt the gothic approach to different styles of heavy metal music. The genre originated during the early 1990s in the United Kingdom originally as an outgrowth of death-doom, a fusion of death metal and doom metal. Lyrics are generally dark and introspective with inspiration from gothic fiction as well as personal experiences.
Anacrusis was a progressive/thrash metal band from St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Anacrusis was one of the first bands to attempt to blend thrash and progressive metal. Their albums Manic Impressions and Screams and Whispers are considered as classics of the progressive thrash metal / prog metal genre.
Metal Forces is a British publication founded in 1983 which promotes the music genres heavy metal and hard rock. Metal Forces was well known for its coverage of unsigned bands through its Demolition feature and championed the likes of Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, HellsBelles, Overkill, Death and Poison long before they had secured record deals. They are credited as contributing in this fashion to the success of the band Anacrusis. Dave Reynolds, a former writer for Metal Forces, has claimed that the magazine was the first to coin the terms thrash metal and death metal. A Metal Forces compiled vinyl album, Demolition - Scream Your Brains Out!, based on the magazine's popular Demolition column, was released in 1988 through Chain Reaction Records featuring Anacrusis, Atrophy, Hobbs' Angel of Death, Aftermath and the Chris Barnes fronted Leviathan. In addition to metal acts, the magazine also featured interviews with alternative rock acts such as Nirvana.
Run to the Light was the third studio album by the American doom metal band Trouble, released on July 15, 1987. It was the band's last release on Metal Blade before signing to Def American for their follow-up, the 1990 self-titled release.
Manic Impressions is the third studio album by the American thrash/progressive metal band Anacrusis. Manic Impressions was remastered and reissued in 1999.
Screams and Whispers is the fourth and final album by the American thrash/progressive metal band Anacrusis released in 1993.
Contagious is the eighth studio album by American hard rock/heavy metal band Y&T, released in 1987 through Geffen Records, which, like their previous label A&M Records, is now a subsidiary of Interscope Records. It is the first Y&T studio album to feature a different line up since their debut album, with Jimmy DeGrasso replacing Leonard Haze on drums after he left the band in 1986.
Light This City is an American melodic death metal band from the Bay Area of San Francisco, that has been active from 2002. The band is notable for the aggressive vocal approach of frontwoman Laura Nichol.
Extended Power is an EP by the German heavy metal band Rage, released in 1991. It contains a new song, leftovers of the writing sessions for previous albums and the remake of the song "Battlefield" from the first Avenger album Prayers of Steel.
Mistrust was a heavy metal band formed in Seattle, Washington in 1984. This band primarily consisted of vocalist Jeff L'Heureux, guitarists Owen Wright and Michael Winston, bassist Tim Wolfe, and drummer Chris Gohde. They recorded one album in their brief existence called Spin the World, which was originally released through C.O.M.A. Records in 1986 and again through Heart of Steel Records in 2009.
