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.
Black Sun is the fourth studio release and first concept album by German power metal band Primal Fear.
Battalions of Fear is the debut album by German power metal band Blind Guardian, released in 1988. The album is a raw and unpolished speed metal effort that touches on thrash metal. It lacks many of the stylistic flourishes that would mark the band's music in later years, focusing more on speed and aggression. The opening track "Majesty" remains a fan favorite and is often featured in the band's live performances. This album was remastered, remixed and re-released on 15 June 2007, with the whole first demo tape, Symphonies of Doom, of the band as part of the bonus tracks. The album was again re-released as part of the A Traveler's Guide to Space and Time boxset with minor adjustments to the mixing and with new mastering.
Nothing but Death Remains is the first studio album by the Swedish death metal band Edge of Sanity, released by Black Mark Production on July 9, 1991. The album is dedicated to the memory of John Med Gummihandsken.
The Third and the Mortal were a Norwegian metal band, founded in the city of Trondheim, Norway, in 1990, by Rune Hoemsnes, Geir Nilssen and Trond Engum. The band started out as a melodic death metal band with singer Terje Buaas, shifting to doom metal, mixing distorted guitars and heavy drumming with clean guitars and vocals from Kari Rueslåtten. The band went on to experiment with genres such as progressive rock, jazz, ambient, folk and electronica.
Life is the second studio album by nu metal band Dope. It was released on November 6, 2001 on Epic Records and Flip Records. Life has sold over 73,000 copies in the U.S. The album's sound bears a resemblance to those of Marilyn Manson and features some rap metal influences. This was Dope's last album released on Epic and Flip, as the band severed ties over Epic Records' lack of promotion.
Kari Rueslåtten is a Norwegian soprano singer, songwriter and keyboardist, who was well known for being the former lead singer and songwriter for the now disbanded Norwegian doom metal/experimental band, The 3rd and the Mortal from 1992 to 1994. The 3rd and the Mortal was one of the early bands that used a lead female singer in the metal scene, in which inspired bands such as The Gathering, Flowing Tears and Nightwish.
Shades of God is the third album by British metal band Paradise Lost, released in 1992. It retains the heavy instrumentation and growled vocals characteristic of the band's previous death-doom efforts, and also shows the beginning of the band's transition to a more melodic, gothic metal sound heard on the follow-up album Icon.
Morbid Fascination of Death is the third studio album by the Norwegian black metal band Carpathian Forest. It was released in 2001 by Avantgarde Music, and it was the last album to feature guitarist and founding member Johnny "Nordavind" Krøvel on the band's line-up. It was also their last studio album to be released by Avantgarde before they switched to Season of Mist.
Storm was a Norwegian Viking metal band that originally included Fenriz of Darkthrone and Satyr of Satyricon. Later on, Kari Rueslåtten, formerly of the band The 3rd and the Mortal, also joined them on vocals. The project only released one album, titled Nordavind, released in 1995, which makes them among the first viking and folk metal bands.
Cryptic is the seventh full-length studio album by the Swedish death metal band Edge of Sanity, released on December 1, 1997 by Black Mark Production.
Amid Its Hallowed Mirth is the first full-length studio album by the American death-doom band Novembers Doom. It was originally released in 1995 on Avantgarde Records, and later re-released in 2001 with a different cover and different track listing on Dark Symphonies and in 2008, it remastered format with different artwork and bonus tracks on The End Records.
Forest Stream is a symphonic black / doom / Gothic metal band formed in Chernogolovka, Russia in 1995. The band draws inspiration from long and harsh Russian winters. Stylistically, the band's epic sound combines the atmosphere of the British doom metal of the 1990s and of the Norwegian black metal. The band's lyrics revolve around the themes of sorrow and hopelessness. Their first album, Tears of Mortal Solitude was released in early 2003 and was warmly received by the critics. In May 2007, the band went on their first international tour in Ukraine. In September 2007, the band was signed by Candlelight Records and recording for their second album, The Crown of Winter, commenced soon after. The band are currently believed to be unsigned with no mention of a new album, but are still active.
Headstones is the second studio album by the gothic metal band Lake of Tears. Released in 1995, the album showed the band abandoning the death/doom of the previous work in favor of "a mixture of Gothic, Doom, Acoustic and Melancholy."
Black Brick Road is the sixth studio release by the gothic metal band Lake of Tears. It was released in 2004, after the band's reunion and signing to Noise Records. The album brought back the gothic sound of their earlier work, combined with some progressive elements.
The Book is the fifth studio album by Czech black/heavy metal band Root, released on 24 June 1999 through Redblack Productions. It was the band's first album with guitarists Marek "Ashok" Šmerda and Aleš "Alesh A.D." Dostál, and their second of four albums to be recorded at the Shaark Studio in South Moravia, the others being Kärgeräs, its sequel Kärgeräs – Return from Oblivion and Black Seal.
The Call of the Wretched Sea is the debut album by the German funeral doom band Ahab. It was released in October 2006.
Ann-Mari Edvardsen is a Norwegian coloratura soprano opera singer and keyboardist. She is best known as the former vocalist of Norwegian doom metal/avant-garde band The 3rd and the Mortal from 1995 to 1997 and for Tactile Gemma from 1997 to 2001.
Aphotic is the eighth studio album by the heavy metal band Novembers Doom. It was released in 2011 on The End Records. The album has a more progressive death metal feel to it than the band's standard death-doom sound.
The Last Bewitchment is the second studio album by the French gothic band Penumbra, released on June 22, 2002 under Season of Mist.
