Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style made them one of the "big four" bands of thrash metal, alongside Metallica, Megadeth, and Anthrax. Slayer's final lineup comprised Araya, King, drummer Paul Bostaph and guitarist Gary Holt. Drummer Jon Dette was also a member of the band.
Overkill is an American thrash metal band, formed in 1980 in New Jersey. They have gone through many lineup changes, leaving bassist D.D. Verni and lead vocalist Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth as the only constant members. In addition to Verni and Ellsworth, Overkill's current lineup includes Dave Linsk on lead guitar, Derek Tailer on rhythm guitar and Jason Bittner on drums. Along with Nuclear Assault and Anthrax, whose one-time lead guitarist Dan Spitz was also an early member of Overkill, the band is one of the most successful East Coast thrash metal bands, and they are often called "the Motörhead of thrash metal", based on their unique playing style, which was influenced by punk rock and the new wave of British heavy metal. The band has a notable mascot named "Chaly" who has appeared on many of their album covers.
Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band which was formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in the latter half of the 1970s, the band had struggled with indifferent record production and a lack of major commercial success until 1980, when the album British Steel brought them notable mainstream attention.
Cradle of Filth are an English extreme metal band formed in Suffolk in 1991. The band's musical style evolved originally from black metal to a cleaner and more "produced" amalgam of gothic metal, symphonic metal and other metal genres. Their lyrical themes and imagery are heavily influenced by Gothic literature, poetry, mythology and horror films. The band consists of its founding member, vocalist Dani Filth, drummer Martin 'Marthus' Škaroupka, bassist Daniel Firth, guitarists Marek 'Ashok' Šmerda and Donny Burbage, and keyboardist Zoe Marie Federoff.
Twisted Sister was an American heavy metal band formed in 1972, originally from Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey, and later based on Long Island, New York. Their best-known songs include "We're Not Gonna Take It" and "I Wanna Rock", both of which were associated with music videos noted for their sense of slapstick humor.
DragonForce are a British power metal band from London, England. The band was formed in 1999 by guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman, and are known for their long and fast guitar solos, fantasy-themed lyrics and retro video game-influenced sound. DragonForce's current lineup comprises Li, Totman, vocalist Marc Hudson, drummer Gee Anzalone and bassist Alicia Vigil. The band have been through several lineup changes throughout their career; longtime members in vocalist ZP Theart, keyboardist Vadim Pruzhanov, drummer Dave Mackintosh and bassist Frédéric Leclercq are among the former members of the band.
Savatage is an American heavy metal band founded by brothers Jon and Criss Oliva in 1979 in Tarpon Springs, Florida. The band was first called Avatar, but, shortly before the release of their debut album Sirens (1983), they changed their name to Savatage, as Avatar was already taken by another band. Savatage is considered to be an integral part of the American heavy metal movement of the early-to-mid-1980s and has been cited as a key influence on numerous genres, such as power metal, progressive metal, speed metal, thrash metal, death metal and symphonic metal.
In Flames is a Swedish heavy metal band, formed by guitarist Jesper Strömblad in Gothenburg in 1990. Alongside At the Gates and Dark Tranquillity, In Flames pioneered the genres known as Swedish death metal and melodic death metal.
Testament is an American thrash metal band from Berkeley, California. Formed in 1983 under the name Legacy, the band's current lineup comprises rhythm guitarist Eric Peterson, lead vocalist Chuck Billy, lead guitarist Alex Skolnick, bassist Steve Di Giorgio and drummer Chris Dovas. Testament has experienced many lineup changes over the years, with Peterson being the only remaining original member, though they have since reunited with Skolnick, who had been out of the band from 1992 to 2005. Billy has been a member of Testament since 1986, when he replaced original singer Steve "Zetro" Souza, who had left to replace Paul Baloff in Exodus. He and Peterson are the only members to appear on all of Testament's studio albums, with the latter being the only constant member overall.
Amon Amarth is a Swedish melodic death metal band from Tumba, formed in 1992. The band takes its name from the Sindarin name of Mount Doom, a volcano in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. Their lyrics mostly deal with Viking mythology and history, and so they have been sometimes erroneously labeled "Viking metal", although the band insists they play melodic death metal.
Avenged Sevenfold is an American heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1999. The band's current lineup consists of vocalist M. Shadows, rhythm guitarist Zacky Vengeance, lead guitarist Synyster Gates, bassist Johnny Christ, and drummer Brooks Wackerman.
Ron Raphael Braunstein, better known by his stage name Necro, is an American rapper from Brooklyn, New York City.
Trivium is an American heavy metal band from Orlando, Florida, formed in 1999. The band comprises vocalist and guitarist Matt Heafy, guitarist Corey Beaulieu, bassist Paolo Gregoletto, and drummer Alex Bent.
A Twisted Christmas is the sixth and final studio album by American heavy metal group Twisted Sister, with the band releasing it on October 17, 2006. The album features classic Christmas songs performed in metal versions, often featuring lyrical changes.
Traced in Air is the second studio album by the progressive metal band Cynic. It is the first album since their 1993 debut Focus.
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.
First Signs of Frost is an English post-hardcore/tech rock band from South East London. Forming in July 2004, the four piece originally conformed by songwriter / guitarist and vocalist Owen Hughes-Holland along with guitarist Adam Mason, bassist Dan Oehlman and drummer William Gates. After embarking on numerous tours the band made a significant impact on the UK's underground rock scene.
Demolition Hammer is an American thrash metal band from the Bronx, New York, active from 1986 to 1995 and again since 2016. To date, the band has released three full-length studio albums: Tortured Existence (1991), Epidemic of Violence (1992) and Time Bomb (1994).
Relentless Reckless Forever is the seventh studio album by Finnish melodic death metal band Children of Bodom, released on 8 March 2011 through Spinefarm Records, Fearless Records and Nuclear Blast. It is the first Children of Bodom album to not have a song with "Bodom" in the title.
The Rise of Chaos is the 15th studio album by German heavy metal band Accept, released on 4 August 2017. This is the first Accept album with guitarist Uwe Lulis and drummer Christopher Williams, replacing Herman Frank and Stefan Schwarzmann, respectively. It is also their final studio album to feature bassist Peter Baltes, who left Accept in November 2018. Like their previous three studio albums, The Rise of Chaos was produced by Andy Sneap, making it the band's fourth collaboration with him. Guitarist Wolf Hoffmann has stated that the album's title refers to the human-caused chaos in the world.
