Iron Maiden

Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from Leyton in East London, formed in 1975. The band is directed by founder, bassist and songwriter Steve Harris. Since their inception, the group has released a collective total of thirty albums: fourteen studio albums, seven live albums, four EPs and five compilations.

Pioneers of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, with such an original sound they achieved success during the early 1980s and after several lineup changes, went on to release a series of platinum and gold albums. These include the US platinum-selling landmarks The Number of the Beast in 1982, Piece of Mind in 1983, Powerslave in 1984, the acclaimed live album Live After Death in 1985, Somewhere In Time in 1986, and Seventh Son of a Seventh Son in 1988. Their second most recent studio effort, A Matter of Life and Death, was released in 2006 and peaked at number nine on the Billboard 200 and at number 4 in the UK. The album was certified gold in the UK. Their newest album, The Final Frontier, will be released later this summer.

As one of the most successful heavy metal bands to date, Iron Maiden has sold over 75 million records worldwide under EMI Rec. label.The band won the Ivor Novello Awards for international achievement in 2002,[6] and were also inducted into the Hollywood RockWalk in Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, California during their tour in the United States in 2005. As of October 2009, the band has played just over 2000 live shows during their career, and are often cited as one of the most influential bands in rock history.
Iron Maiden was formed on Christmas Day 1975, by bassist Steve Harris, shortly after he left his previous group, Smiler. Harris attributes the band name to a movie adaptation of The Man in the Iron Mask from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, which he saw around that time, and so the group was named after the iron maiden torture device.

Steve Harris and guitarist Dave Murray remain the longest-standing members of Iron Maiden. Original vocalist Paul Day was fired as he lacked "energy or charisma onstage".He was replaced by Dennis Wilcock, a Kiss fan who utilised fire, make-up and fake blood during live performances. Wilcock's friend, Dave Murray, was invited to join, to the frustration of guitarists Dave Sullivan and Terry Rance.This fueled Harris to temporarily disunite the band in 1976,though the group reformed soon after with Murray as the sole guitarist.

Iron Maiden recruited another guitarist in 1977, Bob Sawyer, who caused a rift between Murray and Wilcock, prompting Harris to fire both Murray and Sawyer.A poor gig at the Bridgehouse in November 1977, with a makeshift line-up including Tony Moore on keyboards, Terry Wapram on guitar, and drummer Barry Purkis resulted in Harris firing the entire band.Dave Murray was reinstated and Doug Sampson was hired as drummer.

By 1981, Paul Di'Anno was demonstrating increasingly self-destructive behaviour, particularly through alleged drug usage, although Di'Anno himself denies the charge.His performances began to suffer, just as the band was beginning to achieve major success in America. At the end of 1981 the band dismissed Di'Anno and sought a new vocalist.

Bruce Dickinson, previously of Samson, auditioned for Iron Maiden in September 1981 and joined the band soon afterwards. He then went out on the road with the band on a small headlining tour. In anticipation of the band's forthcoming album, the band played "Children of the Damned", "Run to the Hills", "22 Acacia Avenue" and "The Prisoner" at select venues, introducing fans to the sound that the band was progressing towards.

Fear Factory

Fear Factory is an American heavy metal band. Formed in 1989, they have released seven full-length albums and a number of singles and remixes. Over the course of their career they have evolved from a succession of styles, as well as steadily pioneered a combination of the styles death metal, groove metal, thrash metal and industrial metal.The resultant sound proved to be enormously influential on the metal scene from the mid-90s and onwards.

Fear Factory disbanded in March 2002[citation needed]following some internal disputes, but they reformed later that year minus founding member Dino Cazares adding bassist, Byron Stroud, and casting then-bassist Christian Olde Wolbers as guitarist.

In April 2009, a new lineup was announced with founding guitarist Cazares returning, and Gene Hoglan being added as drummer. Bell and Stroud are both reprising their respective roles, and the band has completed a studio album, Mechanize. Former members Christian Olde Wolbers and Raymond Herrera (both currently playing in Arkaea) dispute the legitimacy of the new lineup, and a legal battle is underway from both parties.

The band has performed at three Ozzfests as well as the inaugural Gigantour and has had singles in the US Mainstream Rock Top 40 and albums in the Billboard Top 40, 100 and 200. Prior to 2001 they have toured around 2000 shows. They have sold over 1 million albums in the U.S. alone
Fear Factory's roots lie in an outfit formed by guitarist Dino Cazares (formerly of The Douche Lords) and drummer Raymond Herrera in Los Angeles, California in 1989. Their first line-up was completed with the addition of vocalist Burton C. Bell (ex-Hate Face), allegedly recruited by an impressed Cazares upon overhearing him singing New Year's Day by U2 in the shower at a common boarding.Cazares played bass on the first 3 Fear Factory albums Concrete, Soul of a New Machine and Demanufacture.

They started out under the name Ulceration, apparently picked for no real reason other than that Burton C. Bell and/or other members thought it would "just be a cool name" for the band,but they subsequently shifted to Fear Factory in 1990 ; the new moniker being more reflective of their burgeoning new death metal sound, influenced just as much by early British industrial metal, industrial music and grindcore as much as it continued to remain firmly rooted in a conservative extreme metal approach; a facet of their music that eventually saw the band’s appeal spread out over a wider music audience.

The earliest demo recordings of the band are strongly reminiscent of the early works of Napalm Death and also Godflesh, an acknowledged influence of the band, in the grindcore driven approach of the former and the mechanical brutality, bleakness and vocal stylings of the latter. The demos are remarkable for integrating these influences into their death metal sound and for Burton C. Bell’s pioneering fusion of extreme death growls and clean vocals in the same song, which was to become a significant and influential element of the band’s sound throughout their career.The use of grunts and "throat singing" combined with clean vocals has later defined the nu metal and newer genres of metal. Many vocalists, in today's metal scene, use two or more methods of singing and vocalizing lyrics. The band contributed two songs to the L.A. Death Metal Compilation in 1990.They played their first show on Wednesday, October 31, 1990

DEATH

Death was an American death metal band founded in 1983. The band's founder, Chuck Schuldiner, is considered a "pioneering death metal vocalist/guitarist."The band ceased to exist after Schuldiner died of brain cancer in 2001,though remains an enduring heavy metal brand.

Death is considered one of the most influential groups in death metal. The band's debut, Scream Bloody Gore, has been described as "death metal's first archetypal document".One music biographer has referred to Schuldiner as the "Father of Death Metal"while another has claimed that Schuldiner is "readily acknowledged as the true founder of the U.S. death metal scene".Music biographer Garry Sharpe-Young considered Death "a genre breaking band...centred upon frontman Chuck Schuldiner" and that the band "would become one of the prime instigators of the death metal movement".

However, Schuldiner dismissed such attributions by stating, in an interview with Metal-Rules.com, "I don’t think I should take the credits for this death metal stuff. I’m just a guy from a band, and I think Death is a metal band".

As of 2008, Death have sold over 2 million albums worldwide, with over 500,000 copies sold by December 2009 in the US alone (excluding the numerous sales before the SoundScan era) making them the top-selling death metal band worldwide, and only topped in the US by Cannibal Corpse
Founded in 1983 by Chuck Schuldiner under the original name of Mantas in Orlando, Death were among the more widely known, early pioneers of the death metal sound along with California's thrashers Possessed. In the late 80s, the band was both a part of and integral in defining the death metal scene which gained international recognition with the release of albums by a number of area acts.

Together with Kam Lee (Barney Lee), and Rick Rozz (Frederick DeLillo), Schuldiner started to compose songs that were released on several rehearsal tapes in 1984.These tapes, along with the Death by Metal demo, circulated through the tape trader world, quickly establishing the band's name. In 1984, Schuldiner dissolved Mantas and quickly started a new band under the name Death. Its members included the same Rick Rozz and Kam Lee. Another demo was released, called Reign of Terror.

In 1985, after the Infernal Death tape was recorded and released, Schuldiner fired Lee and Rozz in favour of Repulsion's bassist and guitarist, Scott Carlson and Matt Olivio, respectively. However, a drummer could not be found; consequently the band dissolved again. Schuldiner moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and recruited DRI drummer Eric Brecht, but he was not happy with this incarnation of Death and moved back to Florida without a band. There, in 1986, Schuldiner got an invitation from early Canadian thrash band Slaughter to play on their album, which he accepted, moving to Canada. This only lasted two weeks, however, as he found the situation not to his liking. He returned to Florida, then moved quickly to the San Francisco Bay Area again, where he joined with Chris Reifert. They recorded the Mutilation demo, which led to a deal with Combat Records, owned by Important Distribution (later becoming Relativity), that enabled them to record the first LP.

Scream Bloody Gore was released in 1987. Schuldiner briefly had a second guitar player, John Hand, but Hand did not appear on the album (though his photo did). By this time Schuldiner moved back to Florida, leaving Chris Reifert behind. There, Schuldiner teamed up with former bandmate Rick Rozz and two members of Rozz's band Massacre, Terry Butler and Bill Andrews.

Lamb of God

Lamb of God is an American heavy metal band from Richmond, Virginia, formed in 1994. Lamb of God consists of vocalist Randy Blythe, guitarists Mark Morton and Willie Adler, bassist John Campbell, and drummer Chris Adler. The band is considered to be a member of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal.

Since its formation, Lamb of God has released six studio albums, one live album, and three DVDs. The band's cumulative sales equal almost two million in the United States. In 2007 the band received a Grammy nomination for their 2006 album Sacrament. Lamb of God has toured with the Ozzfest twice and appeared on Slayer's The Unholy Alliance Tour in 2006. They have also played at many other major festivals around the world including Download Festival and Sonisphere Festival in the UK, Soundwave Festival and Gigantour. Recently, (as in 2008-2009) they have toured with Metallica (World Magnetic Tour). Lamb of God will be on the main stage of Rockstar Mayhem Festival in 2010.

In 1990, guitarist Mark Morton, drummer Chris Adler and bassist John Campbell started a band named Burn the Priest. The band members knew each other from the college they were all attending, Virginia Commonwealth University, in Richmond, Virginia.Morton left the band soon after its inception to receive his master's degree. Adler and Campbell replaced Morton with Abe Spear. For the next five years, the band practiced in Richmond and around Virginia. In 1995, the band released its self-titled first demo. After the demo, Burn the Priest recorded two split albums with Agents of Satan and ZED respectively.After the band's first three demos, Burn the Priest added vocalist Randall Blythe to its line up.


In 1997, Morton returned to the band after taking time out to participate in the National New Zealand sheep shearing competition. Two years later, the band released its first full-length self-titled album, Burn the Priest, through Legion Records. Mikey Bronsnan of Legion Records saved up $2,500 for the recording and then broke them in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania through DIY shows.The album was produced by Today Is the Day guitarist and vocalist Steve Austin. Spear left the band, leaving an open position for a guitarist. Chris Adler's brother, Willie Adler, became the band's second guitarist a year later, and a deal with Prosthetic Records was signed.After being banned from playing in certain places (some venue owners believing the band possessed an "evil" name),Burn the Priest changed their name to Lamb of God.

Lamb of God was originally an instrumental band called Burn the Priest, and included vocals after Randy Blythe joined. Since the success of the release of 2004's Ashes of the Wake the band has been considered a leader of the "New Wave of American Heavy Metal".

Guitarist Mark Morton performing at 2004's OzzfestBurn the Priest and early Lamb of God has been defined as a thrash metal, death metal and hardcore punk or grindcore hybrid with a strong element of power groove, which often connects Lamb of God with the influential metal band Pantera. Another connection between Pantera and Lamb of God is the fact that both were and are highly influential metal bands from the Southern United States, Texas and Virginia, respectively. Lamb of God could currently be helping to strengthen a young tradition of great southern metal that was first pioneered by Pantera.Burn the Priest and early Lamb of God include growling death metal vocals.The style has been considered to vary between several different genres, including hardcore punk, thrash metal, and even possessing sludge metal influences.

New American Gospel continues in a similar style as Burn the Priest, with drum-heavy production of alternate picking and double-kick drumming.Here, the band has been considered by Allmusic to be effectively bridging the 1990s' tendency towards technicality and early metal's focus on riff construction and plays a brand of heavy metal described as not unlike Meshuggah without some of their mathematical components.

2003's As the Palaces Burn saw the band's compositions focusing more on what some have called "memorable" riffs.On 2004's Ashes of the Wake, they continued the progression of As the Palaces Burn with more frequent guitar solos.

Sacrament, released in 2006, was described by critics as more technical, especially considering the vocal performance. Again, the band experimented with more melody and guitar solos; however, the band has also been often reproached by the critics for the similarity of the songs within their albums.This album is the primary representative of a growing development in the direction of the epic. Specifically 'Sacrament' and 'As the Palaces Burn' share many elements that could be considered musically 'darker' than opposing releases (extensive use of minor classical scales, for example).

Due to the variety of influences, stylistic elements and changes throughout the band's career the press has chosen several genres and terms to describe Lamb of God's music. Lamb of God has been labeled as a Groove Metal band. Campbell, on the Walk With Me in Hell DVD, says that Lamb of God is "a punk band that plays heavy metal", while Chris Adler refers to Sacrament as a speed metal album.

Cradle of Filth

Cradle of Filth are an English extreme metal band from Suffolk formed in 1991. The band's musical style evolved from death metal to a cleaner and more "produced" amalgam of gothic metal, symphonic black metal and other extreme metal styles, while their lyrical themes and imagery are heavily influenced by gothic literature, poetry, mythology and horror films.

The band has successfully broken free from its original niche by courting mainstream publicity (often to the chagrin of its early fanbase), and this increased accessibility has brought coverage by the likes of Kerrang! and MTV, frequent main stage appearances at major festivals such as Ozzfest, Download and even the mainstream Sziget Festival, and in turn a more "commercial" image. They have sometimes been perceived as Satanic by casual observers, although their outright lyrical references to Satanism are few and far between, and use of Satanic imagery has arguably always had more to do with the shock value than any seriously-held beliefs. According to a 2006 issue of Metal Hammer magazine, they are the most successful British heavy metal band since Iron Maiden

Cradle of Filth's first three years saw three demos and a rehearsal tape recorded amidst the sort of rapid line-up fluctuations that have continued ever since, the band having more than twenty musicians in its history. The band also recorded an unreleased album entitled Goetia prior to the third demo and their style shift. Goetia was set for release on Tombstone records, but all tracks were wiped when Tombstone went out of business and could not afford to buy the recordings from the studio.The band eventually signed to Cacophonous Records and their debut album, The Principle of Evil Made Flesh, was also Cacophonous's first release in 1994. A step up in terms of production from the rehearsal quality of most of their demos, the album was still nevertheless a sparse and embryonic version of what was to come, with lead singer Dani Filth's vocals in particular bearing little similarity to the style he was later to develop. The album was well-received however, and as recently as June 2006 found its way into Metal Hammer's list of the top ten black metal albums of the last twenty years.


Sarah Jezebel Deva joined the band in 1996.Cradle's relationship with Cacophonous soon soured; the band accusing the label of contractual and financial mismanagement. Acrimonious legal proceedings took up most of 1995,and the band finally signed to Music for Nations in 1996 after only one more contractually obligated Cacophonous recording: the EP Vempire or Dark Faerytales in Phallustein which, it has since been conceded, was hastily written as a Cacophonous escape-plan.Despite the circumstances of its release however, its handful of tracks are staples of the band's live sets to this day, and "Queen of Winter, Throned" was listed among twenty-five "essential extreme metal anthems" in a 2006 issue of Kerrang! magazine.The EP also marked Sarah Jezebel Deva's debut with the band, replacing Andrea Meyer, Cradle's first female vocalist and self-styled "satanic advisor".Deva has appeared on every subsequent Cradle release and tour, but has never been considered a full band member, having also performed with The Kovenant, Therion and Mortiis, and fronted her own Angtoria project along with Cradle's current bass player, Dave Pybus.

Dimmu Borgir

Dimmu Borgir started as a Satanic melodic black metal band in 1993. Formed by Shagrath, Silenoz, and Tjodalv, the band released an EP in 1994 entitled Inn i evighetens mørke ("Into the Darkness of Eternity" in English). This short EP sold out within weeks, and the band followed up with the 1994 full length album For all tid ('For all Time' in English) This album featured vocal contributions by Vicotnik of Ved Buens Ende and Dødheimsgard and Aldrahn of Dødheimsgard and Zyklon-B. The initial lineup consisted of Shagrath playing drums with Tjodalv on guitar and Silenoz contributing backing vocals. This line-up changed before the release of Stormblåst (translates to "Storm Blown") on Cacophonous Records in 1996. Stormblåst received high praise from many melodic black metal fans, and is often regarded as a highlight of the band's career[citation needed]. It is also the last album which features all lyrics written and sung in Norwegian.

After Stormblåst, Keyboardist Stian Aarstad left the band due to his obligation to serve in the Norwegian army, thus being unable to participate in the 1996 recording of Devil's Path. That period was also marked by the departure of bassist Brynjard Tristan and the arrival of Nagash. Stian Aarstad returned for the recording of 1997's Enthrone Darkness Triumphant. While on tour to support the album, he had trouble attending rehearsals and being on tour, and was subsequently fired[citation needed]. Enthrone Darkness Triumphant was a huge success for the band, and was their first release signed to Nuclear Blast, a German record label. The album was recorded in the Abyss Studios, owned by Hypocrisy's frontman Peter Tägtgren
Dimmu Borgir is scheduled to release their ninth studio album in 2010.Silenoz explained that the growing periods of time between albums was because the band had stopped writing music while touring, which affected the quality of the music. He said the new album will have an "eerie and haunting feel to it," further describing the material as "epic," "primal," atmospheric and ambient.

A promotional image released with the statement showed Shagrath returning to the keyboards.

In April 2010, Galder gave an interview to Kerrang! When asked about possible new members of the band, he stated: "We're pretty close with like all of the musicians in the heavy metal scene. I'd personally like a real fast drummer like Emilio Márquez (Sadistic Intent) or Tim Yeung (Divine Heresy) but we'll have to see. And with regards to bass, anyone who really wants the job!"

Children of Bodom

Children of Bodom is a heavy metal band from Espoo, Finland, formed in 1993. The band consists of guitarist and vocalist Alexi Laiho (vocals, lead guitar), Roope Latvala (rhythm guitar), Janne Wirman (keyboards), Henkka Seppälä (bass), and Jaska Raatikainen (drums). In total they have released six studio albums, two live albums, two EPs, and one DVD.

The band's third studio album, Follow the Reaper, was their first album to receive a Gold certification in Finland, and since then, all six of the band's studio albums have reached the same status. In Finland, Children of Bodom has released three consecutive albums that debuted at number one on Finnish album charts,and has also seen chart positions on the United States Billboard 200.

The band has incorporated many different musical styles, leading critics and fans to label them as melodic death metal,black metal,thrash metal,and progressive metal.

Children of Bodom was formed in 1993 by guitarist Alexi "Wildchild" Laiho and drummer Jaska Raatikainen under the name of IneartheD. Both musicians had known each other since early childhood and had shared an interest in heavy metal, especially Death Metal groups, such as Entombed, and Obituary. Bassist Samuli Miettinen completed the initial line-up of the band. IneartheD recorded its first demo, Implosion of Heaven, during August of the same year.

Samuli was the main composer of the band's lyrics for the two years that he took part in IneartheD, but his family moved to the United States in 1995, making it impossible for him to remain in the band. His last contribution to IneartheD were the lyrics of the songs from their second demo, Ubiquitous Absence of Remission which was first time they worked with producer Anssi Kippo at Astia-studios (Lappeenranta, Finland). In this demo, keyboards were incorporated into the band's songs for the first time. In order to achieve this, both Laiho and Raatikainen played the keyboards separately, and subsequently mixed the recorded track with the other instruments. Laiho, who had previously only composed the melodies of the songs, assumed the role of the band's lyricist.

At the time, Raatikainen played French horn in a local big band, and during a rehearsal he met Alexander Kuoppala, a trumpet player and also a proficient guitarist. Shortly after the recording of their second demo, Kuoppala was invited to join IneartheD as a rhythm guitarist.

The bassist chosen to replace Samuli was Henkka "Blacksmith" Seppälä, whom Laiho and Raatikainen had previously known from school. Apart from playing the bass, Seppälä also often doubles as the band's backing vocalist. Also, the band recruited a musician to specialize on keyboards, whose name was Jani Pirisjoki. Both joined IneartheD in early 1996.

With this new line-up, IneartheD proceeded to record their third demo, entitled Shining. This demo did not impress record labels any more than the previous ones had, and none took interest in the band.[9] Despite their efforts, their music got little exposure and managed only to play at local events. As a last resort, the band decided to record an independent, self-funded album. Considering that none of the musicians had much money to begin with, it was an audacious move.

Laiho wanted to make use of the keyboards more effectively, though Pirisjoki was not attending rehearsals; thus, he was fired and replaced by a friend of Raatikainen's, a jazz pianist named Janne "Warman" Wirman.

Wirman was the component which was previously missing from IneartheD. His presence allowed the band to assume the style which would later characterize Children of Bodom. With Wirman, the band successfully recorded their first album in 1997. Their debut, Something Wild, was supposed to be released by a small Belgian label, Shiver records, but second vocalist Sami Tenetz (from Thy Serpent) acquired a copy of their album through the hands of Kuoppala, both worked for the same company at the time. Shortly after IneartheD signed this contract, Spinefarm Records' boss immediately became interested in signing them for a country-wide release.[citation needed] The latter deal was much more attractive to the band, since the Belgian label was offering them close to no help, to the point where they would have to distribute and sell the album themselves.

The band was required to create a new name to sign up to Spinefarm Records. The contract with Shiver records had already been signed under the name of IneartheD. The answer to that problem came as, members looked for good names in their local phone book. When they stumbled upon Lake Bodom, they realized that it was a name with impact and one which had an interesting story behind it. A long list of possible names involving the word Bodom was then made, and they settled with Children of Bodom. The band's name is derived from the Lake Bodom murders.