Possessed is an American death metal band, originally formed in 1983. Noted for their fast style of playing and Jeff Becerra's growled vocals, they are often called the first band in the death metal genre, and paved the way for the 1980s Bay Area thrash metal scene, along with Metallica, Exodus, Testament and Death Angel. The band is also notable for featuring future Primus member Larry LaLonde, who was the guitarist for Possessed from 1984 to 1987.
Pestilence is a Dutch death metal band founded in Enschede in 1986. They have been through various membership changes throughout their existence, with guitarist-vocalist Patrick Mameli as the sole constant member. After disbanding in order to pursue other musical directions in 1994, Pestilence reunited in 2008, and was put on a "permanent hold" in July 2014. However, the band reunited once again in October 2016. To date, Pestilence has released nine studio albums, and they are apart of "progressive death metal's Big Four", alongside with Death, Atheist, and Cynic.
Sodom is a German thrash metal band from Gelsenkirchen, formed in 1981. They have gone through many lineup changes, leaving bassist/vocalist Tom Angelripper as the only constant member. The band is currently composed of Angelripper, guitarists Frank "Blackfire" Gosdzik and Yorck Segatz, and drummer Toni Merkel. Along with Kreator, Destruction and Tankard, Sodom has been referred to as one of the "Big Four" of Teutonic thrash metal. Sodom heavily influenced the German black metal scene. In addition, the band is regarded as a pioneer of early death metal. Mike McPadden wrote that the most Venom-blackened of German "Three Kings", Sodom further merged thrash and death metal into a wicked and decadent sound.
Dead Head is a Dutch thrash metal band from the city Kampen. The band was formed in 1989 by the four original members Tom van Dijk, Robbie Woning (guitar), Ronnie van der Wey (guitar), and Hans Spijker (drums). Their mission was to become the most intensive and brutal thrash metal band Europe ever had seen. They were influenced by classic thrash metal bands like Dark Angel, Kreator and Sadus.
Martin van Drunen is a Dutch death metal vocalist who started out in the band Pestilence. In this band, he also performed the bass duties live. He recorded two albums with them, Malleus Maleficarum and Consuming Impulse. After his departure from Pestilence, van Drunen joined Asphyx as the singer and bass player in 1990 and recorded five albums in total. He performed the vocals on Comecon's second album Converging Conspiracies in 1993 and then formed his own band called Submission. In 1995, he was asked to replace Karl Willetts in the UK death metal band Bolt Thrower. He did two tours with them, but never recorded an album. He is also the brother of the American theologian David Van Drunen.
Rigor Mortis was an American thrash/speed metal band that formed in 1983 in the Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas metroplex.
Malleus Maleficarum is the debut studio album by the Dutch death metal band Pestilence, released in 1988. Although the sound of this album is technically death metal, its direction is notably different from the band's subsequent work, leaning more towards the thrash metal genre with punk influences, known as crossover thrash. This is the only Pestilence album to include guitarist Randy Meinhard, who was replaced by Patrick Uterwijk prior to the making of their next album Consuming Impulse (1989).
Invocator are a Danish technical thrash metal band featuring Esbjerg-based guitarist/singer Jacob Hansen, founder of the band. They are considered influential on the European thrash metal/heavy metal scene, and known for incorporating elements from death metal, thrash metal, groove metal and progressive metal into their style.
Jason Göbel is an American guitarist, best known for being a member of the technical metal band Cynic.
Impious is a Swedish thrash/death metal band.
Cynic is an American progressive metal band formed in Miami, Florida in 1987 and later re-formed in Los Angeles, California in 2007, where the sole surviving member, Paul Masvidal remains to this day. Cynic incorporates elements of progressive rock, alternative, and metal.
Neurotic Records is an independent extreme metal record label specialising predominantly in death metal, operating out of Tilburg in the Netherlands.
Brain Dead is a Malaysian heavy metal band, which originated from Taiping, Perak, Malaysia, and formed in 1988. Brain Dead consists of Ein, Malek, Hashim dan Lan "Bye".
FTG is a thrash metal band from Malaysia. They are among the earliest to appear at the end of the era of the first generation of underground music Malaysia such as Nemesis, Punisher and others.
Bonded by Blood is an American thrash metal band, named after Exodus' debut album Bonded by Blood. Like its labelmates Evile, Gama Bomb, and Municipal Waste, Bonded by Blood is part of the thrash metal revival movement. The band was founded in mid-2005 by vocalist Jose Barrales, who with the help of friends completed the band's original lineup with guitarist Alex Lee, guitarist Juan Juarez, bassist Ruben Dominguez, and drummer Carlos Regalado.
Doctrine is the sixth studio album by Dutch death metal band Pestilence, which was released on April 24, 2011. The album was recorded and mixed at Woodshed Studio in southern Germany with engineer Victor "V.Santura" Bullok. The artwork was designed by Marko Saarelainen. The album represents a second release by the reformed Pestilence, with two new members: Yuma van Eekelen and Jeroen Paul Thesseling, who was a member of the band during the Spheres era. Technically, the album is an experimentation with very low tunings, with Mameli and Uterwijk playing on 8-string guitars with standard tuning, and Thesseling playing a 7-string fretless bass tuned in F#.
Carceri is a Dutch death metal band from Delft, Netherlands, formed in 2000. The band comprises vocalist Kees de Vlieger, guitarist Ivar Useinov and Yoram Danneleit, bassist Rogier van Kleef and drummer Josha Nuis. Carceri released a debut album, The Good Must Suffer The Wicked, in 2011 via Armada Productions. In 2012 the band played at Neurotic Deathfest and toured as opening act on the Reborn of Death 2012 tour with Suffocation, Blood Red Throne, Cattle Decapitation Sadist and Cerebral Bore in the UK, Ireland and France.
Phenotype is the fifth and final studio album by Dutch metal band Textures. It was released on February 5, 2016, by Nuclear Blast.
Cryptic Shift is an English extreme metal band formed in Leeds, West Yorkshire in 2013. They have two EPs and two demos, with their debut album Visitations from Enceladus being released on 4 May 2020 through Blood Harvest records. In an article for The Quietus, the album was referred to as "damn near essential, and proof that [Britain] has a valid contribution to make to this new wave of progressive death metal".
Exitivm is the ninth studio album by Dutch death metal band Pestilence. It was released on 25 June 2021, after having been signed to Agonia Records. Because Septimiu Hărşan had to leave the band due to restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, he was replaced by Michiel van der Plicht who has since become a full-time member. It is also the band's first album with bassist Joost van der Graaf and guitarist Rutger van Noordenburg.
