Dimmu Borgir is a Norwegian symphonic black metal band from Jessheim, formed in 1993. The name is derived from Dimmuborgir, a volcanic formation in Iceland, the name of which means "dark cities" or "dark castles/fortresses" in Icelandic, Faroese and Old Norse. The band has been through numerous lineup changes over the years; vocalist Shagrath and rhythm guitarist Silenoz are the only original members who still remain, with lead guitarist Galder being a longstanding member.
Kreator is a German thrash metal band from Essen, formed in 1982. Their current lineup consists of lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Miland "Mille" Petrozza, drummer Jürgen "Ventor" Reil, lead guitarist Sami Yli-Sirniö, and bassist Frédéric Leclercq. The band's lineup has changed multiple times throughout its 42-year career, most noticeably with their bassists and lead guitarists. Petrozza and Reil are the only two original members left in Kreator, although the latter took a break from the band from 1994 to 1996. Yli-Sirniö has been the lead guitarist of Kreator since 2001, while Leclercq joined in 2019 as the replacement of Christian "Speesy" Giesler, who had been a member of the band since 1994.
Behemoth is a Polish extreme metal band from Gdańsk, formed in 1991. They are considered to have played an important role in establishing the Polish extreme metal underground.
Lamb of God is an American heavy metal band from Richmond, Virginia. Formed in 1994 as Burn the Priest, the group consists of bassist John Campbell, vocalist Randy Blythe, guitarists Mark Morton and Willie Adler, and drummer Art Cruz. The band is considered a significant member of the new wave of American heavy metal movement.
Gojira is a French heavy metal band from Ondres. Founded as Godzilla in 1996, the band's lineup—brothers Joe and Mario Duplantier (drums), Christian Andreu, and Jean-Michel Labadie (bass)—has been the same since the band changed its name to Gojira in 2001. Gojira has been known for their progressive and technical death metal styles and their spiritual, philosophical, and environmentally-themed lyrics. The band has gone "from the utmost obscurity during the first half of their career to widespread global recognition in the second".
David RandallBlythe is an American vocalist, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of heavy metal band Lamb of God and Burn The Priest. He has also performed guest vocals for Cannabis Corpse, A Life Once Lost, Overkill, Gojira, Pitch Black Forecast, Eyehategod, Eluveitie, Bad Brains, Soulfly, Clutch, Body Count, DevilDriver, Suicide Silence, Doyle, Metal Allegiance, and Voodoo Glow Skulls, and is the lead singer of side-project band Halo of Locusts.
Evile are an English thrash metal band from Huddersfield, formed in 2004. They have experienced numerous line-up changes over the years, with drummer Ben Carter being the only member of the original line-up to have stayed consistently. The current line-up consists of Carter, lead guitarist and vocalist Ol Drake, bassist Joel Graham, and rhythm guitarist Adam Smith, who replaced Drake's older brother Matt in 2020.
Unearth is an American metalcore band formed in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1998. The group consists of lead guitarist Buz McGrath, vocalist Trevor Phipps, drummer Mike Justian, bassist Chris O'Toole and rhythm guitarist Peter Layman. They are currently signed to Century Media Records and have released eight studio albums. Their most recent studio album, The Wretched; the Ruinous, was released on May 5, 2023.
Tony Laureano is a heavy metal drummer originally from Puerto Rico. He has played for a number of metal bands including Dimmu Borgir, Nile, Angelcorpse, Malevolent Creation, God Dethroned, Acheron, Aurora Borealis, Belphegor, Nachtmystium, 1349 and Brujeria.
The Sword was an American heavy metal band from Austin, Texas. Formed in 2003, the band was composed of vocalist and guitarist John D. Cronise, guitarist Kyle Shutt, bassist Bryan Richie and drummer Santiago "Jimmy" Vela III for most of its tenure. Originally signed to Kemado Records, the group released their debut album Age of Winters in 2006, the material for which had been largely written by Cronise prior to the band's formation. Gods of the Earth was released two years later, giving the group its first entry on the US Billboard 200 chart when it reached number 102.
Dagoba is a French heavy metal band formed in Marseille in 1997.
Over the years, a variety of bands have made up the yearly lineups of Ozzfest, a yearly heavy metal music festival that usually tours the United States in summer.
The Subliminal Verses World Tour was a worldwide concert tour in 2004 and 2005 headlined by Slipknot in support of their third studio album Vol. 3: .
The Sonisphere Festival was a touring rock music festival which took place across Europe between the months of June and August. The festival was owned by John Jackson and Kilimanjaro Live. It was jointly promoted by K2 and Kilimanjaro Live. It hosted heavy metal bands such as Iron Maiden, Metallica, Mötley Crüe, Slayer, Judas Priest, Megadeth, Avenged Sevenfold and Babymetal.
Abrahadabra is the eighth studio album by Norwegian symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir, released in 2010. The first single from the album, "Gateways", was released on 20 August in Europe and 24 August in North America. On 14 September a video for "Gateways" was released featuring Djerv front-woman, Agnete Kjølsrud. On 17 September the song "Born Treacherous" was released on Dimmu Borgir's official Myspace for streaming. On 24 September the band announced they would stream Abrahadabra in its entirety, until 7 p.m. EST that evening. This would mark the first official release of all the tracks on the album. The album features drummer Daray and additional keyboards by Gerlioz.
The Resolution Tour was a concert tour by American heavy metal band Lamb of God in support of the group's seventh studio album, Resolution, which was released in January 2012.
Oni is a progressive metal band formed in Canada by singer Jake Oni. Jake Oni is a resident of the Cayman Islands, and runs the Cayman-based music company Ironshore Group.
