Stratovarius is a Finnish power metal band that formed in 1985. Since their formation, they have released sixteen studio albums, five DVDs and six live albums. In its history, the band has gone through many chaotic lineup changes, and after founding guitarist Timo Tolkki's departure in 2008, there are no founding members of the band that remain. Currently, the longest standing member is singer Timo Kotipelto, who joined in 1994.
Timothy S. "Ripper" Owens is an American heavy metal singer who currently performs with KK's Priest, Spirits of Fire, the Three Tremors and A New Revenge. He first gained attention as the lead singer of Judas Priest and then Iced Earth. He took the nickname "Ripper" from the Judas Priest song "The Ripper" during his time in the tribute band British Steel.
Sonata Arctica is a Finnish power metal band from the town of Kemi, Finland. Created as a hard rock band named Tricky Beans, they later changed to Tricky Means and finally to Sonata Arctica, when they shifted to power metal. The current lineup consists of drummer Tommy Portimo, lead singer Tony Kakko, keyboardist Henrik Klingenberg, guitarist Elias Viljanen and bassist Pasi Kauppinen. All the musicians of the band's history except Portimo also acted as backing vocalists.
Dark Tranquillity is a Swedish melodic death metal band from Gothenburg. They are considered one of the pioneering acts of the Gothenburg metal scene, which also includes bands such as In Flames and At the Gates. Dark Tranquillity is regarded as the Gothenburg fathers in the film entitled Out of Nothing: A DT Documentary released by Century Media, which was filmed in their home town in April 2009.
Tankard is a German thrash metal band from Frankfurt, founded in 1982. Alongside Kreator, Destruction and Sodom, Tankard is often considered one of the "Big Four" of Teutonic thrash metal. Stylistically, Tankard have consistently played thrash metal that thematically centres primarily on alcohol reverence, unlike the remaining "Big Teutonic Four", who are all known for covering such topics related to death, politics, violence and anti-fascism.
Empyrium is a German symphonic folk/doom metal and (later) neofolk/dark folk band.
Embodyment was a Christian rock band from Arlington, Texas. The group formed in 1992 and were first known by the name Supplication where they originally played death metal, later turning to deathcore with the release of their debut album Embrace the Eternal, which in turn is credited as one of the earliest deathcore releases of all time. Following their debut full-length the band would completely abandon all their extreme metal elements thereafter, pursuing instead an alternative rock style with their album The Narrow Scope of Things and subsequently became lighter with each proceeding album.
Jani Allan Kristian Liimatainen is a Finnish musician, songwriter and backing vocalist, currently a member of melodic death metal band Insomnium. He is the former guitarist and one of the founding members of the power metal band Sonata Arctica. He has also performed with Cain's Offering, Altaria and Stratovarius vocalist Timo Kotipelto.
RobertRock is an American heavy metal singer who is best known as the longtime frontman of Impellitteri, a position he has held from 1987 to 1988, 1992 to 2000, and now from 2008 to the present day. Rock has also released five albums as a solo artist, and performed with a number of other notable artists, including M.A.R.S., Joshua, Tobias Sammet, Axel Rudi Pell and Warrior.
Dark Fortress is a German melodic black metal band from Landshut formed in 1994. They have released seven studio albums, a split album and a demo album.
Abominator is an Australian black/death metal band formed in Melbourne, Australia, in 1994. Their lyrics commonly deal with war and spirituality. They have been compared to Angelcorpse and Morbid Angel.
Raintime is an Italian progressive / power metal band, founded in 1999. The band was initially significantly inspired by Dream Theater, and as such composed songs which leaned towards the progressive metal genre. They then recorded an instrumental demo entitled Jump in the Past.
Satanic Curses is the fifth studio album by the German power metal band Mystic Prophecy.
Another Life...Another End is the debut album released by power metal band Winter's Verge. It was released on 2005 as an EP and on 2006 as a full-length album. The album consists of 9 songs and 1 intro track. It delves into European style melodic prog/power metal with keyboards.
Eternal Damnation is the second full-length album released by Cypriot Power metal band Winter's Verge. It was recorded in Germany and released in April 2008 by Limb Music Productions. The album combines elements of metal. The music is characterized by fast-paced riffs, double-bass drumming and vocals, with interspersed keyboard parts and composition influenced by other music.
Angelus Apatrida is a Spanish thrash metal band formed in Albacete in 2000.
Twilight Time is the second studio album by the power metal band Stratovarius. The album was originally recorded and released in the band's native Finland as Stratovarius II in early 1992 by Bluelight Records, followed by a reissue in Europe with different cover art in October of that year by Shark Records. A third edition was issued in Japan in July 1993 by Victor Entertainment, renaming the album Twilight Time with yet another cover design; this is the most common version in circulation today. On the back cover, bassist Jari Behm appears in a band photo and is credited with playing, but all bass parts on the album were actually performed by the guitarist and then-bandleader Timo Tolkki.
Matias Kupiainen is a Finnish guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He is the current guitarist in Stratovarius.
Dakrya is a theatrical metal band from Athens, Greece, created in late 2004, when classically trained keyboard player SophiaX decided to combine a slew of disparate musical influences with a theatrical presentation.
Tales of Tragedy is the third full-length album released by Cypriot Power metal band Winter's Verge. The harmonies and rhythms on the album are more complex and sophisticated than previous releases, with a darker atmosphere. The guitar work shows a greater influence from thrash and groove metal, and Chris Ioannides' drumming reveals a strong progressive metal element. Classical influences have a high profile, with several songs employing orchestrations reminiscent of Romantic era classical composers and a bass solo on the penultimate track derived from the third movement of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata.
