Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With roots in blues rock, psychedelic rock and acid rock, heavy metal bands developed a thick, monumental sound characterized by distorted guitars, extended guitar solos, emphatic beats and loudness.
Progressive metal is a broad fusion music genre melding heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified guitar-driven sound of the former with the more experimental, cerebral or "pseudo-classical" compositions of the latter.
Thrash metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo. The songs usually use fast percussive beats and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead guitar work. The lyrical subject matter often includes criticism of The Establishment and concern over environmental destruction, and at times shares a disdain for Christian dogma with that of black metal. The language is typically direct and denunciatory, an approach borrowed from hardcore punk.
Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in contrast with the heaviness and dissonance prevalent, for example, in extreme metal. Power metal bands usually have anthem-like songs with fantasy-based subject matter and strong choruses, thus creating a theatrical, dramatic and emotionally "powerful" sound.
Sanctuary is an American thrash/power metal band, formed in 1985 in Seattle, Washington. They were broken up from 1992 to 2010. The band consists of Lenny Rutledge (guitar), Joseph Michael (vocals), George Hernandez (bass), and Dave Budbill (drums). The lead vocalist position was held by Warrel Dane until his death in 2017. They have released four studio albums and one live EP.
A number of heavy metal genres have developed since the emergence of heavy metal during the late 1960s and early 1970s. At times, heavy metal genres may overlap or are difficult to distinguish, but they can be identified by a number of traits. They may differ in terms of instrumentation, tempo, song structure, vocal style, lyrics, guitar playing style, drumming style, and so on.
Unquestionable Presence is the second album by the death metal band Atheist. It was released in 1991 and added a new sound by using jazz-like harmonies, subtle Latin rhythms and unusual time signatures.
Coroner is a Swiss thrash metal band from Zürich. They garnered relatively little attention outside of Europe. Formed in 1983, the band broke up in 1996, but reformed 14 years later. The band has performed at multiple live venues and festivals around worldwide since 2011, and plans to release their first studio album in nearly three decades in 2022 or 2023.
Alice in Hell is the debut studio album by Canadian thrash metal band Annihilator, released on April 17, 1989 through Roadrunner Records. This was the only Annihilator album for ten years to feature Randy Rampage on vocals, until he returned for their seventh studio album Criteria for a Black Widow (1999).
Red Harvest is a Norwegian industrial metal band from Oslo. Their 2002 album Sick Transit Gloria Mundi was nominated for a Norwegian Grammy and an alternative Grammy in the "Best Metal Album" category. Formed in 1989, they have released eight albums, two EPs, one live DVD, a split album with Zyklon, and a compilation album.
Believer is an American technical thrash metal band from the late 1980s and early 1990s, that plays a hybrid of thrash and progressive metal. Believer is known for its innovative use of symphonic elements in thrash metal, featuring some of the earliest examples of symphonic metal. Their lyrics deal with topics of philosophy, theology and social issues.
Act III is the third studio album by the thrash metal band Death Angel, released in 1990 on Geffen Records. This is the band's final studio album to feature guitarist Gus Pepa, and their only recording on Geffen. It was also their last studio album before their ten-year hiatus from 1991 to 2001.
Time Does Not Heal is the fourth and final studio album by Dark Angel, released in 1991. This was Dark Angel's final album before their break up in 1992. Work on a follow-up album, under the name Atrocity Exhibition, was prepared, but never advanced past a few demos. Time Does Not Heal was also Dark Angel's only album with former Viking guitarist Brett Eriksen, who replaced Jim Durkin two years earlier.
Control and Resistance is the second and final album by progressive metal band Watchtower, released in 1989. This was the band's last album before disbanding in 1993 while working on its never-released third album Mathematics, and their first release with vocalist Alan Tecchio and guitarist Ron Jarzombek. Control and Resistance combines elements of thrash metal, progressive metal and jazz fusion, and has been cited as one of the most influential albums in the technical thrash metal genre, as well as a major influence on the then-emerging technical death metal scene.
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. Their first album, Focus, released on September 14, 1993, is widely regarded as a landmark release of the progressive metal genre. Cynic disbanded in 1994, but they reunited in 2006 and released their second album on November 17, 2008. Traced in Air was released through French label Season of Mist, followed up by an EP titled Re-Traced on May 18, 2010 and an EP titled Carbon-Based Anatomy on November 11, 2011. Their third studio album, Kindly Bent to Free Us, was released on February 14, 2014. In December 2017, after two years of an uncertain future, founding member Sean Reinert confirmed his split from Cynic. Reinert died at the age of 48 on January 24, 2020. Longtime Cynic bass player, Sean Malone, died at the age of 50 eleven months later, leaving Masvidal as the only remaining original core member.
Hogan's Heroes was an American hardcore punk band formed in New Jersey in 1984. During their time they recorded three full lengths for California label New Red Archives. The band broke up in 1993.
Forced Entry is an American thrash metal band, formed in 1983 in Seattle, Washington under the name Critical Condition. The band released two studio albums, one EP and three demos before breaking up in 1995, and briefly reunited in 2002. They announced in 2020 that they were planning to reunite again for a series of shows and possibly new material. Forced Entry never achieved mainstream success, but they are often regarded as pioneers of the Seattle thrash metal scene, along with Metal Church, Panic, Bitter End, Coven, R.I.P. and Sanctuary.
As Above, So Below is the second and final full-length studio album by American thrash metal band Forced Entry. It was released on June 14, 1991, on Relativity Records, and re-issued in 2009 on Lost and Found Records. Music videos for "Macrocosm, Microcosm" and "Never A Know, But the No" were produced, the latter of which featured a cameo by members of Alice in Chains.
Dissimulation is the debut studio album by Hope for the Dying. Facedown Records released the album on April 26, 2011.
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".
