Nightfall in Middle-Earth is the sixth studio album by German power metal band Blind Guardian. It was released on 28 April 1998 through Virgin Records. It is a concept album based upon J. R. R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion, a book of tales from the First Age of Middle-earth, recounting The War of the Jewels. The album contains not only songs but also spoken parts narrating parts of the story. The cover depicts Lúthien dancing in front of Morgoth.
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.
Damage Done is the sixth full-length studio album by the Swedish melodic death metal band Dark Tranquillity. Here, the band returns to a more classic style while holding the changes made in their albums Haven and Projector, especially in the keyboards, but this is the first record since The Mind's I that does not feature clean vocals. Martin Henriksson started doing some "lead guitar riffs" on the record, so the band showed influences from The Gallery in the duality of lead guitars. Mikael Stanne said that the lyrics on this album are about the frailty of life.
Warmen is a Finnish heavy metal band assembled by keyboardist Janne "Warman" Wirman. Wirman has played with Children of Bodom from 1997 until their disbandment in 2019, and in 2000 created a musical project focused on instrumental work, which would only have guest singers on a few selected songs.
Battlelore are a Finnish heavy metal band from Lappeenranta, founded in 1999 by guitarist Jyri Vahvanen and bassist Miika Kokkola. The name derives from the union of the words 'battle' and 'folklore'. Many of Battlelore's lyrics concern J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth sagas and their stage costumes and live shows are largely inspired by the themes and characters of fantasy literature. The band had many changes of personnel during their twelve years of activity and had a long hiatus after the completion of the tour supporting their latest release Doombound in 2011. In January 2016 they announced that they would be performing at Metal Female Voices Fest XIII in October 2016.
Astronomy is the fourth studio album by Swedish power metal band Dragonland, released in Europe on 13 November 2006 and in North America on 28 November 2006. While their third album Starfall focused heavily on keyboards and had a more upbeat lyrical tone, according to guitarist Olof Mörck, Astronomy is "gloomier, more stygian and packed with crunching guitars; both furiously fast and bone-grindingly heavy."
Third Age of the Sun is the third studio album released by the Finnish heavy metal band Battlelore, released in 2005. As on previous albums, the songs are all based on J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth sagas. This album introduced new bass player Timo Honkanen and new vocalist Tomi Mykkänen, who had previously toured with the band when Miika Kokkola and Patrik Mennander had been unavailable. The sound of the album differs from the first two Battlelore albums, as the instrumentation has a more live and organic feel and also due to the absence of clean male vocals.
...Where the Shadows Lie is the first full-length album by the Finnish heavy metal band Battlelore, released in 2002. The album received good reviews and gained the band a loyal fan base. No singles were released from the album, although a video was filmed for the song "Journey to Undying Lands", used to promote the band throughout Europe. After the release of this album in 2002, guitarist Tommi Havo had to leave the band due to personal reasons and was replaced by Jussi Rautio.
Immortal Souls is a melodic death metal band from Kokkola, Finland, formed in 1991. They released a split album and their debut on Little Rose Productions in the late 1990s and early 2000s. In 2002, Immortal Souls signed with Dutch label Fear Dark which released their second and third album as well as a compilation. They have performed at Tuska Open Air Metal Festival. Their musical style is characterized by their use of melodic guitar riffs and singing which shifts between growls and shouting. Their music has been called winter metal since Immortal Souls utilizes frosty metaphors in their lyrics and usually creates a cold, wintry atmosphere. The album Wintereich was released in 2007 in Europe on Dark Balance and in the USA through Facedown Records.
Evernight is the fourth studio album by the Finnish heavy metal band Battlelore, released in 2007. As previously, the songs are all based on J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. Overall the sound of the album was darker and denser than the band's earlier releases with a much thicker and heavier guitar sound. The album also was more consistent in sound with less variation between songs to present a more cohesive piece of work. In this album the band choose not to use names and direct references to Tolkien's legendarium to make the lyrics accessible to a broader audience.
Deuteronomium is a Christian death metal band formed in 1993, Jyväskylä, Finland, one of Finland's earliest and most influential groups in that genre.
Tribal Eagle is the first studio EP by Finnish Christian death metal band Deuteronomium, recorded in 1996 Studio Watercastle, published as self-financed release in 1997 and in 1998 by Little Rose Productions. Tribal Eagle is widely regarded as the first Finnish Christian metal CD. Tribal Eagle had a huge impact on the Finnish Christian metal scene and musically some consider it as Deuteronomium's finest effort.
Street Corner Queen is the first studio album by the Finnish Christian death metal band Deuteronomium, recorded in Studio Watercastle, Jyväskylä and published by Little Rose Productions on May 20, 1998. A ground breaking release in its time, Street Corner Queen is notable for being probably the best known Christian metal album to come from Finland, and one of the most diverse albums in the whole Christian metal history.
The Return of the Black Death is the second recorded and first released studio album by the Norwegian unblack metal band Antestor. It was released on September 14, 1998. It is the band's only release on the British Cacophonous Records label. This album's working title was Kongsblod. Antestor recorded another album, Martyrium, prior to The Return of the Black Death, in 1994, and while bootleg versions of the recording circulated, this album did not see official release until 2000.
Kuori is Finnish industrial metal band Ruoska's first album, and was released in 2002.
Kohti Yhdeksän Nousua is the first full-length studio album by the black metal band Horna. It was released on Solistitium Records in 1998 and was limited to 1500 copies. It was re-released on vinyl under Blut & Eisen Productions in December 2006, with modified artwork, 5 additional tracks recorded in 2000 and the title appended with (Sis. Ordo Regnum Sathanas). It was limited to 666 copies, with the first 100 of which being printed on grey and black vinyl. The cover bears resemblance to Darkthrone's A Blaze in the Northern Sky. The title is a reference to the nine Nazgûl from J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.
The Last Alliance is the fifth album by the Finnish heavy metal band Battlelore, released in 2008. It was issued as a jewel case CD and a digipack with a bonus DVD featuring footage of a live show at Metal Female Voices Fest in Wieze, Belgium in 2007.
Versus is the sixth studio album by Swedish metal band The Haunted. It was released on 17 September 2008. This marks a return to their aggressive sounds in the previous albums after their experimental fifth album The Dead Eye. All instruments were recorded live like their debut album, The Haunted, and solos and vocals were added once they had the songs down. The album is more or less about the decadence of mankind as last two songs "Faultline" and "Imperial Death March" point it out.
The Murder of My Sweet is a Swedish metal band, based in Stockholm and founded in 2007.
Doombound is the sixth album by the Finnish symphonic metal band Battlelore, released on January 26, 2011. It was their final album before their five-year hiatus. A digipak version including the CD, a bonus DVD, and a poster is available at Napalm Records website, which also released a sample for the song "Kärmessurma".
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