Devin Garrett Townsend is a Canadian musician, songwriter and record producer. He founded extreme metal band Strapping Young Lad and was its primary songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist from 1994 to 2007, and has an extensive career as a solo artist. After performing in a number of heavy metal bands in high school, Townsend was discovered by a record label in 1993 and asked to perform lead vocals on Steve Vai's album Sex & Religion. After recording and touring with Vai, Townsend was discouraged by what he found in the music industry, and vented his anger on the solo album Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing, released under the pseudonym Strapping Young Lad. He soon assembled a band under the name, and released the critically acclaimed City in 1997. Since then, he has released three more studio albums with Strapping Young Lad, along with solo material released under his own independent record label, HevyDevy Records.
Avenged Sevenfold is an American heavy metal band from Huntington Beach, California, formed in 1999. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist M. Shadows, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Zacky Vengeance, lead guitarist and backing vocalist Synyster Gates, bassist and backing vocalist Johnny Christ, and drummer Brooks Wackerman.
Katatonia are a Swedish metal band formed in Stockholm in 1991 by Jonas Renkse and Anders Nyström. The band started as a studio-only project for the duo, as an outlet for the band's love of death metal. Increasing popularity lead them to add more band members for live performances, though outside of the band's founders, the lineup was constantly changing, revolving door of musicians throughout the 1990s, notably including Mikael Åkerfeldt of the band Opeth for a period. After two death/doom albums, Dance of December Souls (1993) and Brave Murder Day (1996), problems with Renkse's vocal cords coupled with new musical influences lead the band away from the screamed vocals of death metal to a more traditional, melodic form of heavy metal music. The band released two more albums, Discouraged Ones (1998) and Tonight's Decision (1999), before settling into a stable quintet lineup for all of 2000's. The band released four more albums with said lineup - Last Fair Deal Gone Down (2001), Viva Emptiness (2003), The Great Cold Distance (2006), and Night Is the New Day (2009), with the band slowly moving away from their metal sound while adding more progressive rock sounds to their work over time. While lineup changes started up again into the 2010s, Renkse and Nyström persisted, and the band continued on to release their ninth and tenth studio albums, Dead End Kings (2012) and The Fall of Hearts (2016). After touring in support of the album through 2017, the band entered a hiatus at the beginning of 2018. The band returned from their hiatus in February 2019.
Leaves' Eyes is a German symphonic metal band from Germany and Norway. They were formed in 2003 by Liv Kristine, the former lead singer of Theatre of Tragedy and the entire line-up of Atrocity. To date, the band has released seven studio albums, a single, six EPs, one live album and a DVD.
Vision Divine is an Italian power/progressive metal band formed in 1998.
Waking the Fallen is the second studio album by American heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold, released on August 26, 2003, by Hopeless Records.
City of Evil is the third studio album by Avenged Sevenfold released on June 6, 2005 by Warner Records. Co-produced by Andrew Murdock, City of Evil contains a more traditional heavy metal and hard rock sound than Avenged Sevenfold's previous two albums, which showcased a predominantly metalcore sound. The album is also notable for the absence of screaming vocals. M. Shadows worked for months before the album's release with vocal coach Ron Anderson, whose clients have included Axl Rose and Chris Cornell, to achieve a sound that had "grit while still having the tone". In order to increase stamina and strength on the pedals, The Rev would sit for hours practicing until he could get up to 210 beats per minute. The album was ranked No. 63 on Guitar World magazine's "100 Greatest Guitar Albums of All Time". City of Evil also appears in Kerrang's "666 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die" and "50 Albums You Need To Hear Before You Die" The album was ranked No. 35 in Kerrang's list of "50 Greatest Metal Albums Ever" in 2016. Rolling Stone listed the album at No. 100 on its list of The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time.
The discography of Avenged Sevenfold, an American heavy metal band, consists of seven studio albums, one soundtrack album, one live album, two compilation albums, 31 singles, two video albums and 26 music videos. Formed in Huntington Beach, California in 1999, the band originally featured vocalist M. Shadows, guitarist Zacky Vengeance, bassist Matt Wendt and drummer The Rev. Synyster Gates joined as lead guitarist in 2001, just after the group released its debut album Sounding the Seventh Trumpet on Good Life Recordings, which was later reissued on Hopeless Records.
Norma Jean is an American metalcore band from Douglasville, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. Since their inception in 1997, numerous line up changes have left the band with no original members. To date, Norma Jean has released eight studio albums and received a Grammy Award nomination in 2006 for Best Recording Package for their second album O God, the Aftermath. The band's name is derived from the real name of actress Marilyn Monroe.
Volbeat are a Danish rock band formed in Copenhagen in 2001. They play a fusion of rock and roll, heavy metal and rockabilly. Their current line-up consists of vocalist and guitarist Michael Poulsen, guitarist Rob Caggiano, drummer Jon Larsen and bassist Kaspar Boye Larsen. The band is signed to Dutch label Mascot Records and has released six studio albums and one DVD. All of their studio albums have been certified gold in Denmark. Their second album Rock the Rebel/Metal the Devil received platinum status, and their 2010 release Beyond Hell/Above Heaven was subject to widespread international critical acclaim, receiving double platinum in Denmark, platinum in Finland and Germany, and gold in the United States, Sweden and Austria. Volbeat's seventh album, Rewind, Replay, Rebound, was released on 2 August 2019.
Airbourne are an Australian hard rock band formed in Warrnambool in 2003. Mainstay members are Joel O'Keeffe on lead vocals and lead guitar, and his brother Ryan O'Keeffe on drums. They were later joined by Justin Street on bass guitar and backing vocals. David Roads was also a mainstay member until leaving the band in April 2017 – Harri Harrison was announced as his replacement. Their debut album, Runnin' Wild, was released in June 2007 and peaked in the top 30 on the ARIA Albums Chart. It appeared on the United Kingdom Albums Chart and United States Billboard 200. By August 2013, it was certified with Silver award by BPI. Their second album, No Guts. No Glory. was issued in March 2010 and reached the top 20 on the ARIA Chart, top 40 in the UK and also appeared on the Billboard 200. Their third studio album Black Dog Barking was released on 21 May 2013. In October 2016, Airbourne released their fourth album, titled Breakin' Outta Hell. Boneshaker is the band's fifth album, and was released on 25 October 2019.
Whitechapel is an American deathcore band from Knoxville, Tennessee. The band is named after the Whitechapel district in East London, England, referencing the series of murders committed by Jack the Ripper. The group comprises vocalist Phil Bozeman, guitarists Ben Savage, Alex Wade, and Zach Householder, and bassist Gabe Crisp. Founded in 2006 by Bozeman and Savage, the band has released seven studio albums, fourteen music videos and are currently signed to Metal Blade Records. Whitechapel's 2010 album A New Era of Corruption, sold around 10,600 copies in the United States in its first week of release and debuted at position No. 43 on the Billboard 200 chart. The band's self-titled fourth album was released on June 19, 2012 and debuted at No. 47 on the Billboard 200, selling roughly 9,200 copies in its first week. In 2014 the band released their fifth full-length album, Our Endless War to generally positive reviews. The album sold roughly 16,000 copies in its first week and debuted at no. 10 on the Billboard 200. They released their sixth full-length album Mark of the Blade in 2016 to greater critical acclaim, selling roughly 8,000 copies in the first week of its release, and in 2019, they released their seventh album, The Valley, also to critical acclaim.
Mutiny Within is a metal band from Edison, New Jersey. The band was formed in 2002 by bassist Andrew Jacobs.
Kobra and the Lotus (also initialized as KATL) is a Canadian heavy metal band formed in 2009 by lead vocalist and songwriter Kobra Paige.
Black & White is the second album by The Maine and was released on July 12, 2010. The album features singles "Inside of You" and "Growing Up". It debuted at No. 16 on the Billboard 200 with 22,634 copies sold in its first week.
After the Burial is an American progressive metal band from Minneapolis, Minnesota. They are currently signed to Sumerian Records and have released five of their six full-length albums through the label. Since their inception in 2004, the band has gone through two vocalist changes, two drummer changes, the departure and death of founding rhythm guitarist Justin Lowe, and the departure of bassist Lerichard Foral. Lead guitarist Trent Hafdahl remains the sole remaining founding member. They are considered key contributors to the development of subgenres such as djent and progressive metalcore.
Waking the Cadaver is an American death metal band from Jersey Shore, New Jersey, formed in 2006. Originally called Death to Honor, the band released one demo in 2004 before changing their name to Waking the Cadaver in 2006. The band has released a total of three albums within a six-year span; Perverse Recollections of a Necromangler (2007), Beyond Cops, Beyond God (2010) and Real-Life Death (2013). They are currently signed to the Japanese extreme metal label Amputated Vein Records.
Katalepsy is a Russian death metal band from Moscow. The group formed in 2003, and have released two split albums, one EP, two full-length albums, and one demo. The band's name is a variation of the word "catalepsy", a disorder involving catatonic schizophrenia. Some lyrical themes of the band include gore, violence, splatter, murder and perversions. They are currently signed to Unique Leader Records. Following the departure of guitarist "Helv" in 2009, no original members remain in the band.
Allegaeon is an American extreme metal band from Larimer County, Colorado, formed in 2008. They have released one EP and five studio albums.
Sawthis is an Italian modern thrash metal band, formed in 2000.
