Virgin Black is an Australian heavy metal band. Signed to The End Records and Germany's Massacre Records, the band has released 4 albums and 1 EP. Formed in 1995 in Adelaide, they have achieved international acclaim during their career, receiving praise from such magazines as Orkus, Metal Hammer, Legacy and The Village Voice.
Bergtatt – Et eeventyr i 5 capitler is the debut studio album by the Norwegian band Ulver, issued on February, 1995 via Head Not Found. The album was recorded at Endless Lydstudio in Oslo in November and December 1994 with Kristian Romsøe as engineer and co-producer.
Unblack metal is a religious philosophy within black metal whose artists are either directly against the Satanism prevalent in black metal, or promote Christianity in their lyrics and imagery. Unblack metal artists are controversial within the black metal subculture, because black metal's pioneers, especially those of the Second Wave, were anti-Christian. It is also suggested that Christianity contradicts black metal's dark nature and the individualistic and misanthropic ideals of many bands.
Solefald is a Norwegian avant-garde metal/black metal band that was formed by members Lars Are "Lazare" Nedland and Cornelius Jakhelln in August 1995, with Lars singing and playing keyboard/synthesizer/piano and drums, and Cornelius singing and playing guitar and bass. The meaning of the band's name is best explained in an interview from Century Media Records website. Lazare states "Solefald is an old Norse word for sunset. We 'stole' it from a painting by the Norwegian artist Theodor Kittelsen. His two paintings 'Soleglad' and 'Solefald' portrays the cycle of being, and we found it to be a very fitting idea for our band." Cornelius also states "'Solefald' means literally 'the fall of the sun', or just 'sunset'; the way we spell it is Danish, from the 19th century."
Kekal is a heavy metal and electronic music band formed in 1995 in Jakarta, Indonesia. According to AllMusic, Kekal was one of the first heavy metal bands from Indonesia to make international inroads, and according to sociologist of heavy metal, Keith Kahn-Harris, was one of the few extreme metal bands from Southeast Asia to ever make more than a minimal impression on the global scene. Founded by two musicians known simply Yeris and Newbabe, the band underwent some shifts in lineup in its early years, but emerged with a consistent lineup of three key-members, guitarist/vocalist Jeff Arwadi, bassist Azhar Levi Sianturi, and guitarist Leo Setiawan. Frequently labeled as black metal, progressive metal, and avant-garde metal, Kekal plays a very diverse range of music styles within the frame of metal and rock, incorporating many other music genres such as ambient, electronic, jazz fusion, and progressive rock. Over the course of its career, Kekal has transitioned from a heavy metal-based style to a more experimental and electronic sound.
Hellig Usvart is the debut album by Australian unblack metal band Horde, released in 1994 on Nuclear Blast Records. Upon its release in 1994, the album created a controversy among the black metal fans; death threats were sent to Nuclear Blast demanding the label to drop the album from its catalogue because the album contains Christian, anti-satanic lyrics that counteract the usual black metal thematics at the time. Because of the strong lyrical contradiction, the album was thought to be a parody of the Norwegian black metal movement by magazines such as Morgenbladet in 1995.
Sympathy is a blackened death metal band from Canada, formed in 1991. Sympathy got some notable attention in the Benelux, Germany and Switzerland as those are the countries where their previous label Fear Dark is usually marketing its bands. The band is known for its professional musicianship. Sympathy's albums are distributed in the United States, Europe and Canada through Displeased Records, Deadsun Records, Megarock Records, Facedown Records and The Omega Distribution. Their lyrical themes tend to revolve around subjects such as theology, philosophy, and death. They have released three albums, Invocation, Arcane Path and an EP titled Abyssal Throne. On February 19, 2008, the band was signed to Bombworks Records. The third album titled Anagogic Tyranny was released on November 11, 2008. The band remained a one-man project from 1995, until 2004.
Martyrium is the first recorded and second released studio album by the Norwegian unblack metal band Antestor. It is one of the earliest Christian extreme metal albums released in Norway. Recorded in 1994, Martyrium was not immediately released, though bootleg copies of the album were printed in 1997 by Morphine Records. It then gained a cult following among a small audience until it was officially released in 2000 by Endtime Productions.
Spirit of Purity is the debut album by the Swedish Christian black metal band Sanctifica, released on Little Rose Productions and Rivel Records in March 2000. With this album the band established itself as one of the leading Christian black metal bands of the early 2000s (decade), representing technical and chaotic style. Considered by many as the band's best album, Spirit of Purity was well received by both the press and fans, although the style quickly earned Sanctifica their "Emperor clone" label, which the band later tried to escape by switching the music style. Music videos were shot for the songs "The Dark Desires" and "Spirit of Purity," released on the video compilation Power from the Sky.
Negative B is the second and last album by the Swedish band Sanctifica, released on Rivel Records in 2002. This album saw the band abandoning their previous black metal style for a more alternative, electronic, avantgarde, experimental, progressive death metal sound. The album received mixed reviews, others finding the album too bizarre, unfocused and unbalanced, while others praised it for its unique style. Many fans of Sanctifica's old style were disappointed on the drastic style change, but Negative B brought the band a new group of fans from the progressive metal crowd.
The Torment is the first studio album by the British thrash metal band Seventh Angel, released on Music for Nations label in 1990. The album established the band as "one of England's leading thrash metal bands" by The Daily Telegraph. In 2010, HM Magazine ranked it number 51 on the Top 100 Christian Metal Albums of All Time list.
Beyond the Glimpse of Dreams is the debut album by Indonesian extreme metal band Kekal released in 1998. Vocalist Harry left the band after the album's release.
Acidity is the fifth album by Indonesian avant-garde metal band Kekal. It was recorded in celebration of the band's tenth anniversary, and was an official reunion album for the band. It marked the return of guitarist Leo Setiawan to the band, and includes the vocal talents of founding member Newbabe. The album was released following the band's successful 2004 European mini-tour, and a promotional concert and release party was held for the album on 13 March 2005 in Indonesia. It was considered by many to be the band's strongest work to date, and is one of four albums available for free download from the band on its website.
Overcome or Burn Forever in Hell/Arachnid Terror Sampler is an EP by black metal band Paradox combined with a sampler album featuring fourteen different artists, released in 2002 by the band's own Tarantula Promotions label. Limited to five hundred copies, it contains two songs by Paradox, which were the final recordings of that band, along with a compilation of fourteen songs previously recorded by their respective artists. The album's musical style was described as extreme metal, with the various genres on the album falling under black metal, death metal, grindcore, deathcore, and doom metal. Apart from Paradox, the other artists represented on the album include Soul Embraced, Sanctifica, Frosthardr, Frost Like Ashes, Kekal, Pantokrator, and Tortured Conscience, among others. According to Paradox founder Michael "John Tarantula", the release was a result of his newsletter project, Fangs of Life, which he published through his Tarantula Promotions label.
Day of Vengeance is the fifth studio album by Ukrainian folk metal band Holy Blood. It was released on December 31, 2014 in Russia through Musica Production and on May 18, 2015 in the rest of the world through Bombworks Records.
A Hill To Die Upon is an American blackened death metal band from the Monmouth-Galesburg area of Illinois, formed in 2004 by the brothers Adam and R. Michael Cook. The brothers initially founded the band as hardcore project, but eventually started listening to death and black metal, which led them to transform their band's sound. Over the years, various musicians have filled out the band's lineup, which currently consists of the Cook brothers, Nolan Osmond, and Brent Dossett. Signed to Bombworks Records, A Hill to Die Upon has released four albums – Infinite Titanic Immortal in 2009, Omens in 2011, Holy Despair in 2014, and Via Artis, Via Mortis in 2017 - all to a positive critical reception. In 2013, the band also released a stand-alone single, "Manden med Leen". Musically, the band is compared primarily to Behemoth as well as Immortal, Naglfar, and Old Man's Child, all of which the brothers cite as among their major influences. The brothers are Christian, but they distance themselves from calling A Hill to Die Upon a Christian metal band. Lyrical themes include mythology, war, philosophy, and despair, with references drawn from the Bible and numerous literary works and authors.
Bombworks Records is a record label from McKinney, Texas, that formed in January 2004. The label would sign several bands, including Seventh Angel, A Hill to Die Upon, Grave Declaration and Crimson Thorn. The label started careers for bands such as Holy Blood.
Tortured Conscience is a Christian extreme metal band from San Francisco, California.
