Vomitory

Biography :

Vomitory is a Swedish death metal band formed in 1989 by guitarist Urban Gustafsson and bassist Ronnie Olson. Influenced by bands such as Sodom, Napalm Death, Bathory, Slayer, and Venom, the band has released a total of seven albums, and are currently signed to Metal Blade Records.


Band Members :

Current Members :

* Erik Rundqvist - Bass, Vocals
* Tobias Gustafsson - Drums
* Peter Östlund - Guitar
* Urban Gustafsson - Guitar

Former Members :

* Ulf Dalegren - Guitar (1991–2005)
* Jussi Linna - Vocals (1996–1999)
* Thomas Bergqvist - Bass (1993–1996)
* Bengt Sund - Bass (1990–1993)
* Ronnie Olson - Vocals, Bass (1989–1996)


Discography :

Albums :

* Vomitory - Raped in Their Own Blood (CD, Metal Blade, 1996)
* Vomitory - Redemption (CD, Metal Blade, 1999)
* Vomitory - Revelation Nausea (CD, Metal Blade, 2000)
* Vomitory - Blood Rapture (CD, Metal Blade, 2002)
* Vomitory - Primal Massacre (CD, Metal Blade, 2004)
* Vomitory - Terrorize Brutalize Sodomize (CD, Metal Blade, 2007)
* Vomitory - Carnage Euphoria (CD, Metal Blade, 2009)

Demos and Rarities :

* Vomitory - Vomitory Demo (1992)
* Vomitory - Promo (1993)
* Vomitory - Moribund 7" (1993)
* Vomitory - Through Sepulchral Shadows (1994)
* Vomitory - Anniversary Picture Disc (1999) Read More...!!

Visceral Bleeding

Biography :

Visceral Bleeding is a technical death metal band from Sweden.


History :

Visceral Bleeding was formed sometime in the late nineties by Peter Persson and Niklas Dewerud. Influenced by bands such as Suffocation and Monstrosity, they performed what they thought the death metal scene was lacking. Joined by Calle Löfgren on bass, Dennis Röndum on vocals, and Marcus Nilsson on lead guitar, they released a demo, Internal Decomposition. Once signed to Neurotic, they released their first album, Remnants of Deprivation, in 2002. After its release, Dewerud left Visceral Bleeding to focus all his attention on the band Spawn of Possession; he was replaced by Tobias Persson.

The band's second album, Transcend into Ferocity, came out in 2004, and after its release another member quit, this time drummer Dennis Röndum, also to join Spawn of Possession. A replacement was found in Martin Pedersen. He joined the band as they toured across Europe, supporting bands like Obituary and Deicide.

While the band was writing the third album, Absorbing the Disarray, Nilsson decided that he needed to step back from the scene, as did Martin Bermheden. Absorbing the Disarray was released in June 2006. After its release, Löfgren got married and had a daughter, and left for an undisclosed amount of time while Martin Eklöv filled in for him on the following tour with Deicide, Cryptopsy, and Skinless.


Band Members :

Current Members :

* Martin Pedersen - Vocals (2004-present)
* Benny Bats - Guitar (2009-present)
* Martin Eklöv - Bass (2006-present)
* Tobbe Persson - Drums (2002-present)

Former Members :

* Peter Persson - Guitar (2000-2009)
* Calle Löfgren - Bass (2000-2008)
* Niklas Dewerud - Drums (2000-2002)
* Dennis Röndum - Vocals (2000-2004)
* Marcus Nilsson - Guitar (2000-2006)
* Martin Bermheden- Guitar (2006-2008)


Discography :

* Visceral Bleeding - Internal Decomposition (Demo, 2000)
* Visceral Bleeding - Remnants of Deprivation (Album, Neurotic, 2002)
* Visceral Bleeding - Transcend Into Ferocity (Album, The Orchard, 2004)
* Visceral Bleeding - Remnants Revived (Remnants of Deprivation remastered, three more songs and four videos, 2005)
* Visceral Bleeding - Absorbing the Disarray (Album, 2006)


Associated Acts :

* Spawn of Possession

Read More...!!

Vile

Biography :

Vile is an American death metal band, formed in 1996 in Concord, California by guitarist Colin Davis (who is now the only original member in the line-up) and bassist Matt "Favor" Faivre, recruiting the rest of the band from the ranks of disbanded groups such as Lords of Chaos, Entropy, Sporadic Psychosis and Thanatopsis.[1][2] They toured the United States and Europe in 2004. The band will begin recording a new album on January 25, 2009, with a view to a release towards the end of the year.


Band Members :

Current Members :

* Colin Davis – Guitar
* J. J. Hrubocvak – Guitar
* Mike Hrubocvak – Vocals
* Lance Wright – Drums
* Erlend Caspersen – Bass Guitar

Former Members :

* Juan Urteaga - Vocals
* Aaron Strong - Guitar
* Jef Hughell - Bass
* Mike Hampton - Drums
* Tyson Jupin - Drums


Discography :

* Vile - Vile-ation (demo/1997)
* Vile - Unearthed (demo/1996)
* Vile - Stench of the Deceased (1999)
* Vile - Depopulate (2002) Unique Leader
* Vile - The New Age of Chaos (2005)

Read More...!!

Vader

Biography :

Vader is a Polish death metal band from Olsztyn, formed in 1983. According to Piotr Wiwczarek, the band's founding singer and guitar player, the band's name was inspired by Darth Vader from the Star Wars film series. Lyrical themes include stories by H. P. Lovecraft. According to Billboard magazine, from 2003 Vader sold over 500,000 releases around the world.


History :

Having recorded two demos already, Vader garnered international attention when they released their third demo, Morbid Reich, in 1990, selling nearly 10,000 copies. This success earned the group a contract with Earache Records. The songs from Morbid Reich would appear later on their full-length debut album in 1993, The Ultimate Incantation.

Due to communication breakdowns, the contract with Earache was terminated and the 1994 release of Sothis and The Darkest Age: Live '93 had to be released on different labels. In the meantime, they toured relentlessly and in 1995, they signed a contract with Impact Records and released De Profundis, Future of the Past, and Black to the Blind. Then, Hammerheart Records re-released two early demos, Necrolust and Morbid Reich, as the Reborn in Chaos. In August 1998, Vader released Live in Japan. Before it came out in December, they also recorded the Kingdom EP and a VHS video entitled Vision and Voice. In October of that year, Vader opened for Slayer during a show in Poland.

At the end of 1998, they signed a contract to Metal Blade Records for the release of their sixth album, Litany. 1999 was spent mostly on tour. In March 1999, Vader embarked on their first headlining U.S. tour, the International Extreme Music Festival 1999, and in May of that same year, they played at Metalmania. In June, they went on another European tour, and the rest of the summer was filled with numerous appearances at festivals in Central Europe. The season concluded in a European tour with thrash metal band Testament.

In November and December 1999, the band recorded the album Litany, which was set for release in March 2000, and recorded a music video for the song "Cold Demons," which appeared on a special-edition digipack. The release of the album was also backed up by live shows, including April's No Mercy Festival 2000 , and in June, the band embarked on a 30-date European tour with Vital Remains, Fleshcrawl, and The Crown.

In April 2001, Vader released the EP Reign Forever World, featuring re-recorded songs, cover songs, and live tracks. They promoted the album intensively—in Poland, Russia and the Ukraine, and again in the U.S. In September 2001, they did another European tour with Cryptopsy, Dying Fetus, Catastrophic, and several other bands. This was followed by 10 Polish appearances as part of the Thrash'em All Festival 2001 along with Krisiun, Behemoth and several Polish death metal and black metal bands.

In 2002, Vader released Revelations, and toured England, Scotland, and Ireland during the No Mercy Festival's dates. In May, the band released their first DVD, More Vision and the Voice. In 2004, the band started recording The Beast (which was finished in mid-July) along with an extensive promotional campaign including over 170 gigs. Recording sessions for their new album were postponed in May due to an accident which injured the drummer, Doc. He was replaced with Daray from the Polish band Vesania. The supporting Europe-wide tour saw the band's first trip to the Balkans. The most important gig of 2004 was at the Silesian Stadium in Chorzów, where the band opened for Metallica in front of 50,000 people.

In March 2005, their drummer, Doc, left the band due to apparent drug problems. In August 2005, it was announced that Doc had died.

In 2008, Novy decided to leave Vader after five years; Marcin Rygiel (ex-Decapitated) replaced him on bass for the U.S. Summer Slaughter Tour 2008. Reyash would join as a permanent bassist later in the year.

In 2009, a sneak preview of their song "Rise of the Undead" from the album Necropolis was added to their official website for listening. A quote from their official website was posted about their upcoming album Necropolis:

"Vader to begin recordings for "Necropolis"! In the middle of March Vader will enter Hertz Studio in Bialystok, Poland to begin recording session of band's next studio album entitled "Necropolis". All the tracks will be recorded at Hertz and engineered by Wieslawski Bros. Tue Madsen (who previously worked with such bands as Moonspell, Cataract, Heaven Shall Burn and many more...) will mix the album at his famous Antfarm Studios in Denmark. "Necropolis" will be the first album recorded in Vader's new line up featuring band's new musicians Paul (drums), Reyash (bass) and Vogg (guitars). Famous Polish artist Jacek Wisniewski (who made cover arts for such albums as "Black To The Blind", "Revelations", "The Beast" and some more...) will take care of the album artwork and its whole layout. One of the songs recorded during the latest pre-production session at Haertz Studio is available for download directly from our MP3 section. Band's leader Peter stated about new ideas and plans: Welcome again, Brothers and Sisters!!! One of the brand new Vader songs recorded in December at Hertz Studios is available on our Site... It's called "Rise of the Undead"!!! We are back to the Underworlds, Dark Spheres and Forgotten Eons. Kind of the Anthem to the undead ideas of Dimensions which exist Here and Beyond. This is gonna be also a teaser of our upcoming creation "Necropolis" - Vader's new album. Recordings starts in the middle of March and we'll stay in the studio for about four weeks. Then we'll move to AntFarm Studios in Denmark to transform all tracks into some kind of venomous incantations. Of course- we will keep You updated about the progress of recordings with words and video reports. Before the work is done there will be another new song available on www.vader.pl...."Impure"!!! And from May: MORE SHOWS ARE COMING!!!!!"


In Popular Culture :

American rock band's Eagles of Death Metal name was influenced by Vader. When a friend was trying to introduce Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme to death metal genre, he played Vader's music. Homme called them "The Eagles of death metal." After hearing this phrase, he wondered what a cross between the Eagles and a death metal band would sound like. Afterwards, the phrase became the name of his band.


Band Members :

Current Members :

* Piotr "Peter" Wiwczarek – Guitar, Vocals (1983–present)
* Marek "Spider" Pajak – Guitar (2010–present)
* Pawel "Paul" Jaroszewicz – Drums (2008–present)
* Tomasz "Reyash" Rejek – Bass (2008–present)


Discography :

Studio Albums :

* Vader - The Ultimate Incantation (1993)
* Vader - De Profundis (1995)
* Vader - Black to the Blind (1997)
* Vader - Litany (2000)
* Vader - Revelations (2002)
* Vader - The Beast (2004)
* Vader - Impressions in Blood (2006)
* Vader - Necropolis (2009)
* Vader - Return to the Morbid Reich (2011)

Videos :

* Vader - "Dark Age" (1993, directed: Kimmo Kuusniemi, Tanja Katinka)
* Vader - "Incarnation" (1996)
* Vader - "Kingdom" (1998, directed: Krzysztof Mierzwinski)
* Vader - "Cold Demons" (2002, directed: Adam Kuc)
* Vader - "Epitaph" (2002)
* Vader - "Dark Transmission" (2004, directed: Wojciech Glodek)
* Vader - "Choices" (2004, directed: Wojciech Glodek)
* Vader - "This Is the War" (2005, directed: Arkadiusz Jurcan)
* Vader - "Helleluyah!!! (God Is Dead)" (2006, directed: Andrzej Wyrozebski)
* Vader - "Sword of the Witcher" (2007, directed: Andrzej Wyrozebski)
* Vader - "Carnal" (2008, directed: Carlos Abysmo)
* Vader - "Never Say My Name" (2009, directed: Inbornmedia)


Associated Acts :

* Behemoth
* Dies Irae
* Spinal Cord
* Vesania
* Neolithic
* UnSun
* CrionicS
* Decapitated Read More...!!

Unleashed

Biography :

Unleashed is a Swedish death metal band that was formed in 1989 by Johnny Hedlund. Viking culture, recollection of a pre-Christian world, and Norse folklore are common themes found in the band's songs.


History :

Unleashed was founded in 1989 by vocalist and bassist Johnny Hedlund. Unleashed recorded demos "Revenge" and "Utter Dark", which got them a record deal with the German label Century Media Records. In 1991, the band released their debut studio album, Where No Life Dwells, and toured with Morbid Angel in Europe and United States.

In 1992, Unleashed released their second studio album, Shadows in the Deep, including a cover version of Venom's Countess Bathory. Their next studio albums were Across the Open Sea in 1993 and Victory in 1995, the latter being the last album which guitarist Fredrik Lindgren played on. Lindgren began to focus strongly on playing punk rock, so Unleashed replaced him with Fredrik Folkare, who played guitar on the fifth Unleashed studio album Warrior in 1997.

The band went on hiatus, after 7-8 years of recording and touring. They were concentrating on life outside the music business, their musical side projects, and studying. After a reissue of the band's classics in 2002, the band released a new album called Hell's Unleashed in 2002, and they began to tour once again. This was also the same year Hedlund had to deal with allegations of having Nazi sympathies. It seemed that Dave Grohl of Nirvana and Foo Fighters wanted to approach Johnny Hedlund to contribute lead vocals to one of the songs for his Probot metal project, but the album producer, Matt Sweeney, discouraged him from doing so because of the supposed Nazi sympathies of Hedlund. Hedlund quickly branded these accusations as false and stated, Unleashed praises nature, beast and man. Man....regardless of background, place of birth or color of the skin.

In 2004, Unleashed released their seventh studio album, Sworn Allegiance. In October 2006, the band released their eighth studio album, Midvinterblot. Unleashed toured Europe in November 2006 as part of the Masters of Death tour, with Grave, Dismember, and Entombed. On February and March 2007 they headlined a North American tour with Krisiun and Belphegor. June 2008 saw the release of their ninth studio album entitled Hammer Battalion.

On July 24, 2009 it was announced that Unleashed had signed a contract with German label Nuclear Blast Records for the release of their tenth album entitled As Yggdrasil Trembles. In the press statement the band said, "We are very much looking forward to this new cooperation! The recording of the album is scheduled for October/November this year." .

In the start of 2010 Unleashed will be part of the Summer Breeze Open Air and the With Full Force heavy metal festivals in Germany.


Band Members :

Current Members :

* Johnny Hedlund – Vocals, Bass (1989–present)
* Fredrik Folkare – Lead Guitar (1997–present)
* Tomas Olsson – Rhythm Guitar (1990–present)
* Anders Schultz – Drums (1989–present)

Former Members :

* Fredrik Lindgren – Guitar (1989–1995)
* Robert Sennebäck - Guitar, Vocals (1989-1990)


Discography :

Studio Albums :

* Unleashed - Where No Life Dwells (1991)
* Unleashed - Shadows in the Deep (1992)
* Unleashed - Across the Open Sea (1993)
* Unleashed - Victory (1995)
* Unleashed - Warrior (1997)
* Unleashed - Hell's Unleashed (2002)
* Unleashed - Sworn Allegiance (2004)
* Unleashed - Midvinterblot (2006)
* Unleashed - Hammer Battalion (2008)
* Unleashed - As Yggdrasil Trembles (2010)


Associated Acts :

* Entombed
* Nihilist Read More...!!

Unanimated

Biography :

Unanimated are a Swedish melodic death metal band. They were founded in 1989 in Stockholm and dissolved in 1996. Largely inspired by Dismember, they made two melodic death metal albums. In 1993, In the Forest of the Dreaming Dead was released on Pavement Records, a label which has since merged with Crash Music Inc.. In 1995 Ancient God of Evil was released on No Fashion Records, an independent Swedish label. The band also contributed to the 1996 Slayer tribute "Slaytanic Slaughter II" with their cover of "Dead Skin Mask." Their music exemplifies the melodic Swedish sound and though primarily death metal, a black metal influence stands out. Former members have gone on to contribute to various other projects, most notably Therion, Entombed, and Dismember. In 2007, they reformed, and in April 2008, signed to Regain Records. The band has released a new album, titled "In The Light Of Darkness", in April 2009.


Band Members :

* Peter Stjärnvind - Drums
* Jonas Mellberg - Guitar
* Richard Daemon - Bass
* Micke Jansson - Vocals
* Daniel Lofthagen - Bass
* Jojje Bohlin - Guitar
* Jocke Westman - Keyboards


Discography :

* Unanimated - Rehearsal/demo 1990 (Demo, 1990)
* Unanimated - Fire Storm (Demo, 1991)
* Unanimated - In the Forest of the Dreaming Dead (Album, Pavement, 1993)
* Unanimated - Ancient God of Evil (Album, No Fashion, 1995)
* Unanimated - In The Light Of Darkness (Album, Regain Records, 2009)


Associated Acts :

* Therion
* Entombed
* Dismember Read More...!!

Tristwood

Biography :

Tristwood are an Industrial black metal band from Innsbruck, Tyrol in Austria. The band was originally founded in 1996 by Deimon and Neru who were the first two for forming under the name December. Their early MCD demo, Torment that was recorded in January, 1997 managed to get great sales under their original genre of black metal however after recording they disbanded for several years until 2001 when Neru and Jegger decided to reform the band under the name Tristwood. Deimon came back to the band and together in 2003 they began recording the MCD entitled Fragments Of The Mechanical Unbecoming. The MCD contained far more technical advancements using additional programming and synthesizers causing the band's output to be categorised under the Industrial side of music.

In December 2003 the band went to work on their first full-length album Amygdala. Straight after the release a follow up album was made, Fragments… which saw the addition of a DVD and was classified as a limited box set. During that same year, an addition of vocals, Axumis was recruited. After the two releases the band then in 2005 re-produced previous MCD's on an EP compilation called Svarta Daudi which was recorded in only 10 hours. 2005 also saw the recording of the album The Delphic Doctrine in September. Some of their recordings were sent to the record company, Sound Riot Records who were very impressed with their work and offered a contract to the band.

The Delphic Doctrine which was released in March 2006 has received more attention than any of their other releases thanks to Sound Riot Records and their pushing for Tristwood to do more and more tours. On the 30th of May 2006 the band acquired a new bassist, Yak. In 2008 they started to record their new record Dystopia et Disturbia, which will be released in 2010.


Band Members :

* Neru - Rhythm Guitars, Synths, Programming
* Axumis - Lead Vocals, Throat Choirs
* Yak - Bass Guitars
* Deimon - Keyboards, additional Synths, Sampling
* Jegger - Lead & Rhythm Guitars, Vocals, Throat Choirs
* HMG - Drums


Discography :

* Tristwood - Torment (January 1997, MCD - recorded as "December")
* Tristwood - Fragments Of The Mechanical Unbecoming (2003, MCD)
* Tristwood - Amygdala (2004, MCD)
* Tristwood - Svarta Daudi (2005), MCD)
* Tristwood - The Delphic Doctrine (2006, Album)
* Tristwood - By the Call of Seth (2006, Single)
* Tristwood - Dystopia et Disturbia (2010, Album) Read More...!!

Trap Them

Biography :

Trap Them is an extreme metal band based in Salem, New Hampshire.


Description :

Trap Them's influences include hardcore punk bands, such as Black Flag, Born Against, and Tragedy; metal bands like Dismember and Entombed (whose "buzzsaw" guitar tone create the main guitar sound for Trap Them), and experimental bands like Swans. Ryan McKenney's lyrics tend to deal with issues both personal and political, while recent material has also contained a conceptual element to its lyricism. The group's musical style consists of complex and sometimes discordant guitar work and d-beat and grindcore drumming styles.


History :

Trap Them began as a side-project for Ryan McKenney (former vocalist of Backstabbers Incorporated) and Brian Izzi (guitarist of December Wolves) in 2001 while Izzi was beginning his stint as second guitarist for Backstabbers Inc. The two met while working together at Newbury Comics in Salem, NH and immediately became close friends. The band grew into a full-time consideration years later after both men left BSI to focus on other things. McKenney and Izzi later became roommates and began focusing on new material for the band.

In 2006, the band reached an agreement with the Trash Art! record label to release a vinyl-only EP and a full-length album to be recorded with Kurt Ballou at the God City recording studio and released later that year. The resulting album and single, including a spoken word piece by McKenney, were released in January and April 2007. In late 2007, Trap Them signed with Converge's Jacob Bannon's music label, Deathwish Inc.. They toured Europe in early 2008 with The Ocean and Rotten Sound.

Trap Them worked with crust punk band Extreme Noise Terror for a split EP and toured the U.S. with Napalm Death. A new full-length album, Seizures in Barren Praise, was released in November 2008. In May 2009, the band played on the years bill for the annual Maryland Deathfest music festival in Baltimore, Maryland. The band on went of US tours with Victims and Black Breath in May and June 2009, and Skeletonwitch and Saviours in mid-July.


Monikers :

Trap Them take their name from the 1977 film by Joe D'Amato called Trap Them And Kill Them, known also as Emanuelle E Gli Ultimi Cannibali and Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals. The movie features European exploitation queen Laura Gemser.


Band Members :

Current Members :

* Ryan McKenney - Vocals
* Brian Izzi - Guitar
* Stephen LaCour - Bass
* Chris Maggio - Drums

Former Members :

* Mike Justian (Studio and Live)
* Mike Sharp (Live)
* Scott DeFusco (Studio and Live)
* Jeff Lohrber (Live)
* Nat Coghlan (Studio and Live)


Discography :

* Trap Them - 77K7 ( 2002 )
* Trap Them - People Don't Take Pictures Of Things They Want To Forget (As Trap Them & Kill Them) ( 2003 )
* Trap Them - Cunt Heir To The Throne ( January 2007 )
* Trap Them - Sleepwell Deconstructor ( April 3, 2007 )
* Trap Them - Séance Prime ( October 30, 2007 )
* Trap Them - Extreme Noise Terror / Trap Them ( 2008 )
* Trap Them - Seizures in Barren Praise ( November 11, 2008 )
* Trap Them - Filth Rations ( May 2010 )


Associated Acts :

* Backstabbers Incorporated
* December Wolves
* Unearth
* The Red Chord Read More...!!

Torture Squad

Biography :

Torture Squad is a Brazilian death/thrash metal band, founded in 1990 which has released five studio albums and one live album. The band released their newest album, Hellbound, in 2008.


History :

Three years after being founded in 1990, the band entered a more professional phase, in a line-up with founder Cristiano Fusco on guitar, Wagner "Castor" on bass, Amilcar Christofaro on drums, and Vitor Rodrigues as frontman and singer. They started touring in and around São Paulo and soon recorded a demo, released in 1993, A Soul in Hell. Their first CD was Shivering (1995); their break-through came with Asylum of Shadows (1999).

Their 2001 album, The Unholy Spell, came right after the band's first tour in Germany. In 2002, Cristiano Fusco left the band, and the band hired Mauricio Nogueira (a seasoned studio musician who played for Krisiun as well as other local bands like In Hell and Zoltar), and went on their first Brazilian tour.

Pandemonium produced by Marcello Pompeu and Heros Trench (Korzus) was released in 2003. The CD was supported by a TV video clip for "Pandemonium" and "Horror and Torture." Again, the band played all over Brazil. Then, in 2006 Torture Squad embarked on a European tour, headlining in 16 towns in Germany and 4 in Austria. Afterward they played in more cities in Brazil until they participated in the Brazilian pre-selection for the famed Wacken Open Air festival. They eventually won the final in São Paulo, and they represented Brazil at Wacken Battle of the Bands 2007, which they won. This victory won them a contract with Armageddon Records (Germany); Mauricio Nogueira also won the "best guitar player" award, which earned him a brand new Dean guitar and a Marshall pre-amp.

Their most recent album, Hellbound, was released in May 2008 by Armageddon, not long after Mauricio Nogueira left the band for personal reasons and Augusto Lopes (Eternal Malediction) was announced as the new guitarist. In 2008, Torture Squad embarked on a 60-date European tour, which will include a show at Wacken Open Air.

The year of 2009 started pretty well for Torture Squad. After the release of Hellbound and its excellent repercussion in Brazil, Europe and the United States, the band will be in a European tour with two of the major thrash metal bands, Overkill and Exodus. The tour begins in mid February in London, where the Brazilian group performs for the first time, and includes 12 more shows in countries like Spain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the Czech Republic.


Band Members :

Current Members :

* Vitor Rodrigues (1993-present) - Vocals
* Augusto Lopes (2008-present) - Guitar
* Castor (1993-present) - Bass, Backing Vocals
* Amílcar Christófaro (1993-present) - Drums

Former Members :

* Mauricio Nogueira (2002-2008) - Guitars
* Cristiano Fusco (1990-2002) - Guitars
* Marcelo Fusco (1990-1993) - Drums
* Marcelo Dirceu (1990-1993) - Bass, Vocals
* Fúlvio Pelli (1993) - Guitars


Discography :

* Torture Squad - Shivering (1995)
* Torture Squad - Asylum of Shadows (1999)
* Torture Squad - The Unholy Spell (2001)
* Torture Squad - Pandemonium (2003)
* Torture Squad - Death, Chaos and Torture Alive (2004)
* Torture Squad - Chaos Corporation (EP) (2007)
* Torture Squad - Hellbound (2008)
* Torture Squad - Aequilibrium (2010)


Videography :

* Torture Squad - Death, Chaos and Torture Alive (2004)


Associated Acts :

* Eternal Malediction
* Infector
* In Hell
* Krisiun
* Zoltar

Read More...!!

Torture Killer

Biography :

Torture Killer is a Finnish death metal band from Turku, Finland, formed in 2002. The band consist of five members, Juri Sallinen (vocals) Tuomas Karppinen (guitar), Jari Laine (guitar), Kim Torniainen (bass), and Tuomo Latvala (drums).The band was originally a Six Feet Under cover band, but soon began composing and performing original material in the same vein. Chris Barnes, the original singer for Cannibal Corpse and current singer for Six Feet Under, officially joined Torture Killer as lead singer in November 2005. He left the band in January 2008.


Band Members :

Current Members :

* Juri Sallinen - Vocals (2008–present)
* Tuomas Karppinen - Guitar (2002–present)
* Jari Laine - Guitar (2002–present)
* Kim Torniainen - Bass (2002–present)
* Tuomo Latvala - Drums (2002–present)

Former Members :

* Chris Barnes - Vocals (2005–2008)
* Matti Liuke - Vocals
* Taneli Hatakka - Guitar


Discography :

Albums :

* Torture Killer - For Maggots to Devour (Karmageddon Media, 2003)
* Torture Killer - Swarm! (Metal Blade, 2006)
* Torture Killer - Sewers (Dynamic Art Records, 2009)

EPs :

* Torture Killer - Torture Killer / Sotajumala


Associated Acts :

* Six Feet Under
* Torsofuck

Read More...!!

Torsofuck

Biography :

Torsofuck is a brutal death metal / grindcore band, founded in 1995 in Harjavalta, Finland.

The band released their debut album Erotic Diarrhea Fantasy in 2004, and toured in Finland and abroad, for example in Austria.

In 2008 they performed at the Maryland Deathfest, the only Finnish band on the program.

The musicians of Torsofuck are veterans of other extreme metal bands such as Torture Killer, Demigod, Archgoat, Funeral Feast and Slugathor.


Band Members :

Current Members :

* Mikko Friberg - Vocals
* Antti Oinonen - Guitar
* Tuomas Karppinen - Bass Guitar
* Tuomo Latvala - Drums

Former Members :

* JT - Guitar
* Jarkko Rännäli - Guitar
* BB Snap Cap - Drums
* Tero - Bass Guitar
* Valtteri "Mömmö" Salén - Guitar
* Hans - Vocals
* Michael Simon - Drum Programming, Guitar, Bass Guitar


Discography :

* Torsofuck - High Level Cannibalistic Violence (demo, 1999)
* Torsofuck - Disgusting Gore and Pathology/Polymorphisms to Severe Sepsis in Trauma (Split LP with Lymphatic Phlegm, Bizarre Leprous, 2002)
* Torsofuck - Erotic Diarrhea Fantasy (Goregiastic, 2004)
* Torsofuck - As Semen Blends to Rot (Goregiastic, 2007) Read More...!!

Tirant Sin

Biography :

Tirant Sin (1985 - 1988) was a thrash metal/early-death metal band from Buffalo, NY. Tirant Sin made a reasonable name for themselves around Buffalo, and would later become famous for featuring future members of the hugely successful death metal band Cannibal Corpse.


History :

Tirant Sin formed in 1985 in Buffalo, New York as stated in the Centuries of Torment DVD The first line up featured Chris Barnes on vocals, Bob Rusay on guitar, Rich Ziegler on bass and Paul Mazurkiewicz on drums. The band's first demo was entitled "Desecration of the Graves," and didn't feature Chris Barnes or Dennis John as vocalist. Instead, Paul and Rich performed vocals on it, which Paul comments as being terrible when being interviewed on the Cannibal Corpse DVD "Centuries of Torment: The First 20 Years."

In 1986, Chris Barnes left Tirant Sin to join Leviathan, another thrash/death metal act in Buffalo, who had made a good name for themselves locally. Barnes was replaced by Dennis John, and in 1987, the band recorded a demo entitled "Chaotic Destruction," which is often mistaken as featuring Chris Barnes as vocalist.

In 1988, Chris Barnes re-joined Tirant Sin, and recorded their third demo with them entitled "Mutant Supremacy." In this same year, Tirant Sin would split up, and Chris Barnes, Bob Rusay and Paul Mazurkiewicz would go on to form Cannibal Corpse.


Band Members :

Current Members :

* Chris Barnes - Vocals
* Bob Rusay - Guitar
* Joe Morelli - Guitar
* Rich Ziegler - Bass
* Paul Mazurkiewicz - Drums

Former Members :

* Dennis John - Vocals
* Cam V - Guitar


Discography :

* Tirant Sin - Chaotic Destruction (Demo) (Feb 1987)
* Tirant Sin - Desecration of the Graves (Demo) (Fall.1987
* Tirant Sin - Mutant Supremacy (Demo) (1988)


Associated Acts :

* Cannibal Corpse
* Beyond Death
* Leviathan Read More...!!

Thy Disease

Biography :

Thy Disease is a Polish death metal band from Kraków incorporating electronica influences in their music. Their lyrics generally deal with nihilism, apocalypse, and war. The band was formed in 1999, by musicians formerly active in bands like Sceptic, Anal Stench, and Crionics.

Their fourth album, Rat Age (Sworn Kinds Final Verses), was released in early 2006 under Empire Records. The band's label for the previous three albums was Metal Mind Productions.


Band Members :

Current Members :

* Psycho (Michal Senajko) - Vocals
* Yanuary (Dariusz Styczen) - Guitar (and Bass in Recording)
* Cube (Jakub Kubica) - Synthesizers, Loops and Samples
* Cloud (Jakub Chmura) - Drums
* Waran (Michal Skotniczny) - Bass Guitar (live performances only)

Former Members :

* Marcotic (Marek Kowalski) - Bass
* Pinoccio - Drums
* Alizee 666 (Maciej Kowalski) - Drums
* Pepek - Guitar
* Hiv – Bass Guitar


Discography :

* Thy Disease - Art of Decadence (Demo, 2000)
* Thy Disease - Devilish Act of Creation (2001)
* Thy Disease - Cold Skin Obsession (2002)
* Thy Disease - Extreme Obsession Live (DVD/VHS, recorded 2002, released 2004)
* Thy Disease - Neurotic World of Guilt (2004)
* Thy Disease - Rat Age (Sworn Kinds Final Verses) (2006)
* Thy Disease - Anshur-Za (2009)

Read More...!!

Through The Eyes of The Dead

Biography :

Through the Eyes of the Dead is an American deathcore band from Florence, South Carolina, formed in 2003. They have released three full-length albums, one EP, and one split album with The Knife Trade.


History :

The band was formed by Justin Longshore in 2003 after the break-up of a previous group, Tellherisaidgoodbye Their first full-length album was released in 2005 through Prosthetic Records. Shortly before, every member except for Longshore and Gunnells left. The band's influences include Morbid Angel, Cannibal Corpse (as suggested by the band's name, possibly taken from the Cannibal Corpse song "Staring Through the Eyes of the Dead"), and At the Gates.

The band has released three records with Prosthetic Records: Bloodlust in 2005, Malice in 2007, and Skepsis in 2010.

Shortly before the US release of Malice, the band shot a music video with acclaimed director David Brodsky at the abandoned mental facility in Kings Park, Long Island, NY. The video went on to be one of the most played videos on MTV2's Headbanger's Ball in 2007 and was chosen as the #7 Video of the Year 2007. It was in the Top 10 Music Choice VOD for nearly 6 months as of April 2008.


Band Members :

* Justin Longshore – Guitar (2003–Present)
* Jake Ososkie – Bass (2005–Present)
* Danny Rodriguez - Vocals (2008–Present)
* Chris Henckel - Guitar (2008–Present)
* Michael Ranne - Drums (2008–Present)

Former Members :

* Anthony Gunnells - Vocals (2003–2007)
* Nate Johnson - Vocals (2007)
* Richard Turbeville - Guitar (2003–2004, 2007–2008)
* Chris Anderson - Guitar (2004–2007)
* Jeff Springs - Bass (2003–2005)
* Dayton Cantley - Drums (2003–2005)
* Josh Kulick - Drums (2005–2007)


Discography :

* Through The Eyes of The Dead - The Scars of Ages (EP, Lovelost Records, 2004)
* Through The Eyes of The Dead - Annihilation of Expectation split with The Knife Trade (Lovelost Records, 2005)
* Through The Eyes of The Dead - Bloodlust (Prosthetic Records, 2005)
* Through The Eyes of The Dead - Malice (Prosthetic Records, 2007)
* Through The Eyes of The Dead - Skepsis (Prosthetic Records, 2010)


Associated Acts :

* Arsis
* My Bitter End
* Deadwater Drowning Read More...!!

Threat Signal

Biography :

Threat Signal is a Canadian metal band based in Hamilton, Ontario (though most the different members of the band hail from different parts of Ontario). Formed in 2003, they have released two studio albums and have toured with bands such as Mnemic, Soilwork, Epica and Darkest Hour.


History :

Early years

Threat Signal was formed in the late summer of 2003 by cousins Jon and Rich Howard, who then added composer/guitarist Kyle McKnight. The trio then found drummer Adam Matthews in early 2004. Threat Signal posted their song "Rational Eyes" on an international metal chart on GarageBand.com. After a few weeks, the song reached #1, and it has received many awards including best guitars, best drums, best male vocals, best production, song of the week, and song of the day. In August 2004, Eric Papky, Kyle's former guitar teacher, joined the band on bass. Success on GarageBand.com sparked some early record label interest and helped create a following even before the band had ever played live. In August 2005 Marco Bresette replaced Eric Papky on bass guitar.

Nuclear Blast and Under Reprisal

After spending the better part of 2004 and 2005 writing and recording demos, the band traveled to Los Angeles, to record with Christian Olde Wolbers of Fear Factory in September, 2005. In November 2005, the band announced they had signed a recording deal with Nuclear Blast records. In late 2005 Adam Matthews left the band, and he was replaced by Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native George Parfitt. In July the band took part in Germany's Earthshaker Fest, alongside notable acts as Scar Symmetry, Communic, and Arch Enemy. On August 1, 2006, the band announced that guitarist Rich Howard had left the band to pursue other personal goals, and he was replaced by the band's bassist, Marco Bressette. This left the bass guitar duties vacant, and in late September Pat Kavanagh was announced as the new bassist. In October, the band began a North American trek with Soilwork, Mnemic, and Darkest Hour. The tour ended in November, but the band announced a headlining tour of North America in early 2007 as well.
New material, touring and line-up changes

In March 2007, Threat Signal began demoing new material, but was hampered by second departure, this time Marco Bressette's. The band announced a search for a new guitarist the same day, while Rich Howard would rejoin temporarily to fill in for the remaining tour dates. Threat Signal was tapped as the opener for the Tour and Loathing trek alongside Protest the Hero, All That Remains, Blessthefall, and The Holly Springs Disaster. Shortly after this tour, guitarist Kyle McKnight parted ways with Threat Signal in June 2007 due to personal differences with the remaining members of the band. The band's drummer, George Parfitt, also departed later in 2007 to focus on his family life. The remaining members of band, Jon Howard and Pat Kavanagh reformed the band’s line-up with the new additions of drummer Norm Killeen and guitarists Travis Montgomery and Adam Weber.

In 2008 Jon Howard and Pat Kavanagh joined Arkaea alongside ex-Fear Factory members Raymond Herrera on drums and Christian Olde Wolbers (who produced Threat Signal's debut Under Reprisal) on guitar.

Vigilance

Threat Signal's second album Vigilance, which was produced by Howard (who is now the only founding member left in the band) and mixed by Greg Reely, was released on September 8, 2009 in North America and September 11, 2009 in Europe. The album spawned a music video for the track "Severed". On July 15 the band released a 32 minute "making of" video for the new record, containing footage of the recordings, song writing process and interviews with band members. The album sold around 1,100 copies in its first week of sale in the United States, with the band touring alongside Epica and later Dark Tranquillity to support the album.

Second Lineup Change

In July 2010 it was confirmed that Adam Weber had quit the band. Pat Kavanagh (bass, vocals) has issued the following statement:

“Adam has decided to leave us. He has some personal things he needs to work out and we wish him all the best. We’re still good friends and there’s plenty more beers that we’ll have together so no worries. I know this sucks to hear for a lot of you and I can list off a boat load of bands that have been through the same s*** we’ve been through. Just know it sucks hard on our side too. On a positive note we have a huge head start on the next record. Even have a few demos already! You’ll be hearing new s*** soon. So we hope to see you on the road with Soilwork, Mutiny Within and Kris Norris soon! Good times will be had by all!”

Ex-Darkest Hour guitarist Kris Norris filled in for Adam's absence

On September 13, 2010, The band posted an online statement that they have parted ways with drummer Norman Killeen. Both Adam and Norman were eventually replaced by drummer Alex Rüdinger and guitarist Chris Feener.


Band Members :

Current Members :

* Jon Howard – Vocals (since 2003)
* Travis Montgomery – Lead Guitar (since 2007)
* Pat Kavanagh – Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals (since 2006)
* Chris Feener - Rhythm Guitar (since 2010)
* Alex Rüdinger - Drums (since 2010)

Former Members :

* Norman Killeen – Drums (2007–2010)
* Adam Weber – Rhythm Guitar (2007–2010)
* Kyle McKnight – Lead Guitar (2003–2007)
* George Parfitt – Drums (2006–2007)
* Rich Howard – Rhythm Guitar, Backing Vocals (2003–2006, 2007)
* Marco Bressette – Bass Guitar (2005–2006), Rhythm Guitar (2006–2007)
* Eric Papky – Bass Guitar (2004–2005)
* Adam Matthews – Drums (2004–2005)


Discography :

Albums :

* Threat Signal - Under Reprisal (Nuclear Blast, 2006)
* Threat Signal - Vigilance (Nuclear Blast, 2009)

Singles :

* Threat Signal - Rational Eyes (Nuclear Blast, 2006)
* Threat Signal - A New Beginning (Nuclear Blast, 2008)
* Threat Signal - Through My Eyes (Nuclear Blast, 2009) Read More...!!

This Ending

Biography :

This Ending is a Swedish Death Metal band.


History :

This Ending was formed in 1991 as A Canorous Quintet by Fredrik Andersson, Mårten Hansen and Linus Nirbrant. After some changes, the line-up was complete with the addition of Leo Pignon and Jesper Löfgren. The band released an EP, As Tears, in 1994, and two full length albums: Silence of the World Beyond in 1996 and The Only Pure Hate in 1998. They performed numerous shows with acts like At the Gates, Dissection, Hypocrisy and Edge of Sanity. In 1998, the members decided to separate. Hansen went on to join October Tide, while Nirbrant, Löfgren, and Andersson formed a group called Guidance of Sin; however, Andersson left in 1999 to join Amon Amarth.

In 2004, Andersson recorded a 5 song demo under the name Curriculum Mortis. That winter, the members played with the idea of regrouping for something new, and in early 2005, they decided it was time for a new era, officially creating This Ending. During the spring and summer 13 songs were created, three of which were chosen for the downloadable demo, Let the World Burn, recorded later the same year. The band landed a deal on Metal Blade Records, and recorded their first full-length album, Inside the Machine, in September 2006.

In January 2009, the band announced the completion their second studio album, Dead Harvest. The music video for the song "Parasite" was premiered on the band's Myspace on January 17. The album was released on January 30 in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy, February 2 in the rest of Europe, and February 3 in North America.


Band Members :

* Mårten Hansen - Vocals
* Leo Pignon - Guitar
* Linus Nirbrant - Guitar
* Jesper Löfgren - Bass
* Fredrik Andersson - Drums


Discography :

As A Canorous Quintet :

* A Canorous Quintet - As Tears (1995)
* A Canorous Quintet - Silence of the World Beyond (1996)
* A Canorous Quintet - The Only Pure Hate (1998)

As This Ending :

* This Ending -Inside the Machine (2006)
* This Ending - Dead Harvest (2009) Read More...!!

Thirdmoon

Biography :

Founded by Wolfgang Rothbauer in 1994 it was a few years before their debut Grotesque Autumnal Weepings in 1997. Later, in 1998, they would gain French guitarist Matias Larrede and in 1999 they would sign with Napalm Records. With Napalm Records they released Aquis Submersus (1999) and Bloodforsaken (2000). Then they went on tour with Eisregen.

In 2001 Thirdmoon split with Napalm Records and it would be three years before their next release Sworn Enemy: Heaven. In 2005 they were on tour with Grave and Disparaged. In April 2007 they signed a new deal with German based Label Maintain Records for their 5th album, which was released in autumn 2007.


Band Members :

* Wolfgang Rothbauer - Vocals, Guitar
* Matias Larrede - Guitar
* Dominik Sebastian - Guitar
* Martin Zeller - Drums
* Simon Öller - Bass


Discography :

* Thirdmoon - Grotesque Autumnal Weepings - 1997
* Thirdmoon - Aquis Submersus - 1999
* Thirdmoon - Bloodforsaken - 2000
* Thirdmoon - Sworn Enemy: Heaven - 2004
* Thirdmoon - Dimorphic Cynosure - 2007 Read More...!!

Therion

Biography :

Therion is a Swedish heavy metal band founded by Christofer Johnsson in 1987. The word "therion" comes from the Greek therion (??????), meaning "Beast," i.e., that of the Christian Book of Revelation. However, the band's name is a homage to the Celtic Frost album To Mega Therion.

Beginning as a death metal band, they later turned to combining orchestral elements with their metal music, employing heavy use of choirs and classical musicians, not only as additions to but also as integral parts of the composition. Therion is the first metal band with fully live orchestra featured. It is also the band which originated, popularised and influenced the symphonic metal genre, cited as "the most adventurous metal band at present". Due to these extents they take in conducting their music, they have been dubbed as "Opera Metal".

Therion's music takes its themes from different mythologies and is based on concepts ranging from occultism, magic and ancient traditions and writings. The majority of their lyrics are written by Thomas Karlsson, head and founder of the magical order Dragon Rouge, of which Johnsson is a member. The band has seen many changes in line-up and style throughout its history.


History :

Blitzkrieg and Megatherion (1987–1988)

Therion was originally formed under the name "Blitzkrieg" in Upplands Väsby, Sweden. The founder, Christofer Johnsson, was originally the bassist and vocalist, despite having only played bass for 3 months prior to the band's formation. Joining him in this new band were guitarist Peter Hansson and drummer Oskar Forss. Johnsson and Hansson had met in several musical groups, while Forss was an old school friend of Johnsson. Blitzkrieg's main influences were Metallica and Slayer, but their sound was similar to Venom and Motörhead. The band however never recorded any proper demos, and only did two concerts together. Blitzkrieg decided to split up in March 1988 due to problems with Forss. Only a few recordings survive to this day.

The band was reformed later in 1988 under the new name Megatherion and began to be influenced by the Swiss heavy metal band Celtic Frost. The new group name was originated by their album To Mega Therion. Johnsson switched [from bass] to guitar, P. Hansson was still guitarist, while Johan Hansson became a new bassist and Mika Tovalainen a drummer. The band name was soon shortened to Therion and the rhythm section was replaced by Erik Gustafsson of Dismember as a bassist and Oskar Forss returned as a drummer.

Debut releases and the first contract (1989–1993)

Therion recorded and released in 1989 the first two demos, Paroxysmal Holocaust (limited to 600 copies) and then Beyond the Darkest Veils of Inner Wickedness (500 copies). In 1990, the band released EP release, Time Shall Tell. It was still technically a demo, as it was only published by a local record store House of Kicks in a printing of 1,000. The record got the band their first record deal with Deaf Records. Through this company, they released their first full-length album, Of Darkness....

Of Darkness... consisted of songs Johnsson had written in the 1980s; despite having newer songs, the band opted to save them for their next full release. The album can be seen as a progressive death metal album in that it contained mainly influences that were not standard to death metal at the time. The lyrics were very political, in the vein of Napalm Death and other late-1980s hardcore punk bands. The deal with Deaf Records was only for one album, and the band had never had a good relationship with the label, so after the release, they moved to Active Records.

The band began to record a second full-length album, entitled Beyond Sanctorum, in 1991. Before the recordings started Erik Gustafsson decided to leave the band in order to return home to the U.S., but Therion continued as a trio with Hansson, Forss and Johnsson filling in on bass guitar. The record Beyond Sanctorum shows a more experimental edge to the death metal music, with keyboards and clean vocalists used sparingly.

After this recording, the band ran into a few problems. Forss decided to leave the band, Hansson quit the band after health problems. The shows in the Central Europe were played using a new line-up. Piotr Wawrzeniuk, from the band Carbonized in which Johnsson also played, took up drumming duties. The guitar was taken up by Magnus Barthelsson, another old school friend of Johnsson's, while Andreas Wahl took up the bass.

Musical metamorphosis (1993–1996)

With the new line-up, the band recorded the experimental less death metal stylish, but more doom metallic Symphony Masses: Ho Drakon Ho Megas in 1993. As Therion's first, and only, doom metal record it was very experimental, incorporating elements of jazz, industrial music, traditional 1980s heavy metal and religious chanting. This record sold more than the first two, but it was still only about 10,000 copies. Active Records then decided to scale down their operations and the band was switched to the new owners, Megarock Records.

The band, despite being popular with its hardcore fans, was still largely unknown. Sales were generally poor and the band members were having a hard time making ends meet. Despite the work they put in, there was no financial success for the band. Because of this, Barthelsson and Wahl were forced to quit the band. Fredrik Isaksson was brought into the band as the new bassist. After a few months break, in which Johnsson wrote a record as vocalist for Messiah, the band got an offer from the famous metal label Nuclear Blast. Despite the record deal, Megarock Records decided to let Therion go without any strings attached. The band signed a deal with Nuclear Blast in 1994 and remain with them to date.

The first record published with the new label was Lepaca Kliffoth, though a single entitled "The Beauty in Black" was released just before as a promotion for the new record. To Johnsson's surprise, this single sold 12,000 copies, just in Europe, but the record company suddenly stopped printing it. The album was very experimental, featuring classical sopranos and bass-baritone singers, and also Johnsson with a completely new style of singing - more hardcore, as opposed to death metal. These more melodic touches seemed to pay off, as the album sold around 15,000 copies in the weeks following its release. Current European sales figures are around 35,000 copies. Fredrik Isaksson left the band after some personal problems, and Lars Rosenberg, from the death metal band Entombed, took his place.

Metal and symphony era beginning (1996–2001)

In 1996 Jonas Mellberg was added to the line-up and Therion began recording their new experimental album, entitled Theli. The album heavily featured the vocals of two choirs, along with some vocals from Johnsson and Wawrzeniuk. Dan Swanö also contributed to the vocals on this album. The band used keyboards heavily, so many in fact that it was humorously called "Barmbek Symphony Orchestra" after the subway station next to the studio. Theli is considered to be the apex of Therion's career to date. The sales reached 75,000 copies in a month, more than doubling the sales of Lepaca Kliffoth.

After recording was over, the mixing and mastering period became stressful. Mellberg was suffering from severe alcohol problems and literally walked out of the studio, never to return to the band. Rosenberg was also having problems with alcohol, but the band survived these problems long enough to release Theli. Johnsson also had a problem with the band members; Wawrzeniuk was busy with his studies and could not go on tour so Johnsson got Tommy Eriksson of Shadowseeds to fill in on drums. Tobias Sidegard was hired to play guitar, while Kimberly Goss was hired as a keyboard player and vocalist. Rosenberg's drinking problems got worse and in result of that, he was fired from the band.

In 1997 Therion released A'arab Zaraq - Lucid Dreaming album. The record contains a few unused songs from Theli, a few cover songs the band had made, plus a full soundtrack Johnsson had made independently for the short art movie called "The Golden Embrace".

The next album, Vovin, was recorded using professional studio musicians and Johnsson's friend Tommy Eriksson helping out with some additional guitars. It featured, for the first time, a real string orchestra and a hand picked choir of considerable number. The Austrian singer Martina Hornbacher Astner and Sarah Jezebel Deva were chosen as the lead sopranos. Total sales were, in just two months, over 150,000 copies in Europe alone.

The band capitalised on this success and went on tour with the band Moonspell. The hired drummer, Sami Karppinen was offered a permanent place in the band. With this new line-up, the mini album Crowning of Atlantis was recorded. It was a short album fleshed out with several covers and live tracks that the record label and management insisted be placed on it to make it a full length album. Through Karppinen, Kristian Niemann joined the band on guitar, along with his brother Johan Niemann on bass.

Johnsson had already made material for the next release Deggial which is far more symphonic, employing far more complex orchestral scores, this time using a full orchestra as opposed to a simple string one. The record went on to sell more than Theli but never reached the high sales of Vovin. Therion then began a big tour to promote their new record. This was the band's first headline tour as before they had always been support acts to other bands.

Secret of the Runes (2001–2002)

After Deggial, Johnsson began to compose again; he had idea to make a Nordic concept album. For the recording he built a recording studio, just used by the band, called "Modern Art". The new written songs were based on the nine different worlds of the world tree Yggdrasil from the ancient Norse mythology. This album was named Secret of the Runes and released in 2001. For a bonus, the band recorded cover songs of "Crying Days" originally performed by Scorpions and "Summer Night City" of ABBA. Piotr Wawrzeniuk returned as a guest vocalist for the bonus tracks of this album. The band's tenth album received very good reviews and scores including Allmusic editors' pick. Therion followed up this release with a tour with Evergrey and My Insanity as support acts. After the tour, Karppinen decided to leave the band, but he was responsible enough to find a replacement drummer for the band, Richard Evensand.

In 2001, the official fan club compilation Bells of Doom was released exclusively to paying fan club members. The album contained rare songs, including some original recordings from 1987, when the band was originally called Blitzkrieg. It also contained a few songs from demos, and rarities not found on other Therion records. The album was later put for sale on Therion's webstore when the fanclub was shut down and replaced.

A selection of the recordings from the 2001 Secret of the Runes tour was released on the band's first live album, a two-disc Live in Midgård, released in 2002. The album was released celebrating the band's 15th anniversary. and was mostly recorded in Budapest, Hungary.

Lemuria and Sirius B (2004–2006)

Therion "Lemuria" (2004)

After the tour, the band decided to take stock and sort out what they had in terms of music. The seven songs that Johnsson had made had grown to a considerable number, and along with the Niemann brothers' contributions the band discovered they had 55 new songs. The band decided to record and release two albums simultaneously. 171 musicians were used in the recording of the new albums, a 32-member choir was recorded in Prague along with many lead vocalists. The results were the albums Sirius B and Lemuria, released together in a special twin pack, as well as individually, in 2004. Piotr Wawrzeniuk returned on this album to provide vocals, along with the singer Mats Levén.

In July 2005, an album entitled Atlantis Lucid Dreaming was released. As the name suggests, it is a mixture of tracks from 1997 A'arab Zaraq - Lucid Dreaming and 1999 Crowning of Atlantis. The tracklist is all the non-soundtrack songs from the first one (except for the Iron Maiden cover version), followed by the first seven Crowning of Atlantis songs, and additionally the live version of "Black Sun".

The Lemuria/Sirius B Tour would last for 106 live shows stretching over two years. The final concert took part at the ProgPower Festival in Cheltenham, UK on 21 March 2006 and that was the last Christofer Johnsson vocal stage performance.

Therion released their first DVD entitled Celebrators of Becoming on May 2006. The set contains four DVD discs, featuring live video from Mexico City recorded in 2004 and other live video materials, bands' documentary from the 2004–2006 World Tour, art movie "The Golden Embrace", all band music videos to date and bootlegs with commentary, and two audio CDs with a live show recorded in Mexico City.

Gothic Kabbalah, classical shows and The Anniversary Tour (2006–2007)

Lori Lewis and Christofer Johnsson with symphonic orchestra and choir during the live classical show at the Miskolc Opera Festival, Hungary, 2007.

On September 2006 Christofer Johnsson announced that recordings of the new album Gothic Kabbalah had been finished and the album was subsequently released on January 12, 2007. In early 2007, the band began promoting the album with a World Tour, headlined together with Grave Digger and with support act Sabaton. The tour included North and South America, and for the very first time in the band's history, Japan.

Meanwhile the band's first live concert with a symphonic orchestra and choir took place in Bucharest, Romania on December 9, 2006, dubbed "Therion goes classic". Six months later another classical show followed in Miskolc, Hungary on June 16, 2007 in the framework of the Miskolc Opera Festival. Both concerts were played by members of local orchestras and choirs, including some soloists, while one of the soprano solos in Miskolc was sung by Lori Lewis. Each show has contained a full orchestral version of Clavicula Nox, and covers of pieces by Antonín Dvorák, Giuseppe Verdi, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Camille Saint-Saëns and Richard Wagner. The second part of the shows has contained the band's assorted songs, among them Eternal Return, Draconian Trilogy, Sirius B and The Siren Of The Woods. In Bucharest, an orchestra-only version of The Flight Of The Lord Of Flies, and the pure classical fragments of The Khlysti Evangelist and The Wondrous World Of Punt were played - together with Clavicula Nox as the first act of this show.

The Romanian Television has recorded and broadcast the entire Bucharest concert (except some Wagner pieces, The Siren Of The Woods and Draconian Trilogy), and the Miskolc concert was also recorded. The latter was released on May 2009 under the name The Miskolc Experience as a DVD + 2CD box set. The CD's are divided upon Part 1 (Clavicula Nox and classical covers) and Part 2 (Therion songs with orchestra and choir - except The Siren Of The Woods, which is also missing from the DVD), and the DVD also contains a "Making of" footage, and the first act of the Bucharest show.

In May 2007 the 20 year anniversary tour of the band was announced. It was limited only for 16 gigs, exclusively in Europe. As an integral part of the shows the entire Theli album was played as the second act of the gigs, and ended with the main piece of the Gothic Kabbalah album: Adulruna Rediviva. The rest of the show has included The Wisdom Of The Cage, but the rest of the songs were chosen upon the fans' voting. The only exception was Kali Yuga Pts. 1-2. which was played, with the special occasion of playing Kali Yuga Pt. 3, which is a song of the new album, seen below.

The tour took part in November and December 2007, and included several guest musicians. The keyboard parts were played at every gigs by Ferdy Doernberg, and the first tour legs also included Piotr Wawrzeniuk and Messiah Marcolin. In this part of the tour some songs were accompanied by a belly dancer on stage. All these guests returned, with Mats Levén, for the final show of the tour, which took part in Paris.

Sitra Ahra + others (2008– present)

In April 2008 it was announced on Therion's official site that the core group of musicians were parting ways. Christofer also noted that he was in no way ending Therion. Four months later Johan Koleberg, as the new drummer, and Nalle Påhlsson as bassist, were announced as the new band members.

On August 5, 2008, Therion released their third live album —a double CD and one DVD set—entitled Live Gothic. The album was recorded in Warsaw, Poland on February 14, 2007 and featuring 22 songs spread over the two discs, and the DVD is the visual version of the same concert.

As promised by Christofer, after the busy year of 2007, the band didn't plan any tours until 2010, nor were there any concerts scheduled, except a single open-air festival show in Plock, Poland on 6 September 2008, which included the new rhythm section, and as a guest the band's former guitarist Magnus Barthelsson.

On May 10, 2009, Therion announced that Thomas Vikström had become a full-time member. This makes Thomas the first official vocalist Therion has ever had besides Christofer Johnsson. It happened just days after the releasing of the The Miskolc Experience DVD.

In November 2009 the making of the new album was announced, which obtained the title of Sitra Ahra in February 2010. Several festivals, Mexican gigs, and a complete European tour have been scheduled.

On June 4, 2010, guitarist Christian Vidal joined Therion, but on July 15, 2010, Snowy Shaw (Gothic Kabbalah, Sitra Ahra) left the band after problems with his throat, and having joined Dimmu Borgir. However, he rejoined Therion, and left Dimmu Borgir, on August 25, 2010.

Sitra Ahra was released on September 17, 2010. One day after, a new design for the official home page was released. The tour for the album started in Buenos Aires, Argentina, for a 17-day tour around South and Central America, on 1 October 2010. The band are currently touring around Europe in support of the album, from 29 October 2010 to 11 December 2010.

Therion have been confirmed as acts for a few festivals in 2011, including Bloodstock Open Air, Hellfest Summer Open Air, and ProgPower USA.

In the future, the release of a DVD about the 20th Anniversary Tour is expected. It will contain the recordings of the Budapest gig of this tour.


Symbols :

Therion frequently uses visual symbols on its album covers. Most of them are based on magick, occult, and Dragon Rouge themes.

Hendecagram, the star of Qliphoth, an eleven-pointed star also called Star of Seth, is the most commonly-used symbol by the band. The star symbolises the night side of the Qabalah. The hendecagram is important to Christofer's magick and his lyrics, and has been admitted as a band symbol. There is also a connection between the eleven points of the star and the Dragon Rouge's Draconian initiation, since its 1 + 9 + 1 levels together constitute 11 steps. The symbol appears on all the album covers (not only front covers, also in back and/or inlay) since Symphony Masses: Ho Drakon Ho Megas (1993).

Other symbols used include:

* Pentagram, closely Pythagorean pentagram (one point down), is shown on the Symphony Masses: Ho Drakon Ho Megas cover on the dragon's head.
* Runes shown in the Secret of the Runes front cover (and also in the booklet) are Nordic runes with Elder Fuþark alphabet.
* Celtic cross appears on the Secret of the Runes booklet on the page with the lyrics to the song "Helheim."
* Clavicula Nox, a magickal symbol, one of the key symbols in Dragon Rouge, is shown on the Crowning of Atlantis, Vovin (inlay), and "Eye of Shiva" covers.
* Mjölnir, the Hammer of Thor appears on the Secret of the Runes inlay cover.
* Three astronomical symbols are shown in the The Early Chapters of Revelation box-set covers: Venus (?), first quarter Moon (?), and Sun (?).


Band Members :

Current Members :

* Christofer Johnsson - Guitar, Keyboards
* Christian Vidal - Guitar
* Nalle "Grizzly" Påhlsson - Bass Guitar
* Johan Koleberg - Drums
* Thomas Vikström - Lead Vocals

Current Collaborators :

* Snowy Shaw (2006–present)
* Katarina Lilja (2006–2007, 2008–present)
* Lori Lewis (2007–present)
* Waldemar Sorychta (2010, Sitra Ahra tour)


Discography :

* Therion - Of Darkness... (1991)
* Therion - Beyond Sanctorum (1992)
* Therion - Symphony Masses: Ho Drakon Ho Megas (1993)
* Therion - Lepaca Kliffoth (1995)
* Therion - Theli (1996)
* Therion - A'arab Zaraq - Lucid Dreaming (1997)
* Therion - Vovin (1998)
* Therion - Crowning of Atlantis (1999)
* Therion - Deggial (2000)
* Therion - Secret of the Runes (2001)
* Therion - Sirius B (2004)
* Therion - Lemuria (2004)
* Therion - Gothic Kabbalah (2007)
* Therion - Sitra Ahra (2010)

Read More...!!

Theory in Practice

Biography :

Theory in Practice is a Swedish technical death metal band founded in 1995, which borrows heavily from progressive metal. The band writes technical and complex songs consisting of a lot of time and tempo changes. After a year of rehearsals and gigs, they recorded a demo called Submissive in the Abyss Studio, and three full-length albums after that. In December 2002, the band went on an extended hiatus and began recording again in February 2003.


Band Members :

Current Members :

* Henrik Ohlsson - Vocals, Drums
* Peter Lake - Guitar
* Mattias Engstrand - Bass, Keyboards
* Patrik Sjoberg - Drums on Colonizing the Sun

Former Members :

* Johan Ekman - Guitar, Vocals (on Third Eye Function)


Discography :

* Theory in Practice - Submissive (demo, 1996)
* Theory in Practice - Third Eye Function (CD, 1997)
* Theory in Practice - The Armageddon Theories (CD, 1999)
* Theory in Practice - Colonizing the Sun (CD, 2002) Read More...!!

ThanatoSchizO

Biography :

ThanatoSchizO is a metal group from Santa Marta de Penaguião (Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Portugal), founded in late 1997. Practicing a sound associated with progressive death metal, the band makes various incursions into other musical genres such as black metal, doom metal, world music, progressive rock, atmospheric and electronic music, thus being generically included in the avant-garde musical range.

Initially called Thanatos, the group has a discography that includes four albums (Schizo Level, InsomniousNightLift, Turbulence, and Zoom Code), an EP (Melégnia) and a demo. The band has been with many labels (Rage of Achilles, Divenia Records, Burning Elf Records, Misdeed Records); Presently the group is in the ranks of Italian label My Kingdom Music and Portuguese Major Label Industries, with which a deal was recently signed for the release of an acoustic album, the band's fifth.

The band is currently in studio mixing their fifth album - Origami -, which consists on semi-acoustic remakes of songs of their previous four full-length CDs.


History :

The early years (1997–2000)

The band started in late 1997, continuing a previous cover project, Blind & Lost, by founders Guilhermino Martins, Paulo Adelino, and Marco "China," who were joined by singer Tómané. After a regular series of rehearsals during three months, recorded its first demo, in the studios of Rádio Universidade (Vila Real), which was only used to enable the band to enter music contests. In August 1998, the group was invited to be the opening act for the Swedish Clawfinger and the British Senser in Festival Internacional Praias in Praia de Mira.

In late 1998, the band went to Rec’n’Roll Studios to record the EP Melégnia in three days (it were, in fact, three mornings and two afternoons for the recording and one more afternoon for the mixing). All the material was practically recorded on the first take and resulted on six themes (three of them came from Demo ’98 but now with better arrangements and interpretation), which had an overall more defined sound.

The EP was financed by the group and released on February 1999. It was distributed by many national and international entities and received very positive critiques, mainly because it was a breath of fresh air in a scene that was too attached to the clichés of the symphonic black metal so trendy at the time. In a Top 20 elaborated by the national radio show "Holocausto," the band reached 11th place, as the best Portuguese band.

Melégnia’s promotion on the road entailed more than 60 concerts side by side with bands such as Sinister, Asgaroth, Pandemia, Purgatory, Tarantula, Sirius, and Aborted. During the "Chaos & Disorder Tour" (Melégnia’s promotional concerts) and mainly during the rehearsals where the new material was being composed, it was obvious that a change had to occur, in order to prevent a feared stagnation, and this happened in October 2000: Guilhermino and Paulo stuck together, Tomané and Marco (for health issues) left the band.

The experimentation era (2001)

Schizo Level promotional photo

With the new material practically ready to be recorded, Filipe Miguel (keyboard) and Patrícia Rodrigues (vocals) joined the group respectively; both had worked with the band in the past. For a lead singer, the band invited Eduardo Paulo, an old friend who had previously been in the project Blind & Lost, completing the line-up which would record the first album, Schizo Level.

After some rehearsals and a brief pre-production, the group returned to Rec’n’Roll Studios and recorded its first album during almost a month. Schizo Level is a completely atypical CD: it starts with an aggressive black metal tone and then wanders through atmospheric music, doom metal, world and electronic music. The necessity to create something really unique lead to the decision to invite some musicians that could play trumpet and horn in the opening song "RAW", which resulted in a cacophony of extreme black metal with wind instruments; or, in another case, a flute in "Nightmares Within." The album was released by Misdeed Records, a recently formed independent label that had previously worked with the band for distribution of the EP. After finishing the recording process, the band started to look for a bassist. Guilhermino had recorded the album’s bass lines; now Miguel Ângelo joined the group

When the CD was released (in digipack), it was very well received but probably misinterpreted. Critics analyzed it from a monochromatic perspective thought it was a black metal album, proof that they had only listened to the first three tracks (these were indeed black metal songs) and neglected the rest of it.

Anyway, a first place was reached in a listener’s poll for the best international album of 2001, once again on the Portuguese radio show "Holocausto." On a poll counting the votes of the producers from this radio show, Schizo Level got fifth place. Moreover, the album was included in a top 20 list voted by the readers of the Portuguese magazine LOUD!.

Adulthood (2002-2003)

InsomniousNightLift promotional photo

If Schizo Level’s material was practically composed when Eduardo joined the band, the same couldn’t be said about InsomniousNightLift. He started to take his acoustic guitar to the rehearsal room very early and suggested many riffs, which made him the band’s main composer. Almost unconsciously trying to get rid of the black metal stereotype brought by the previous album (too narrow to the members’ eyes), the band started to compose very homogeneous themes in a progressive doom/death metal style. The musical ambiguity from the past was now followed by a very consistent work.

From this point on the band started to value the "song" format and to pay more attention to the voices. Eduardo began to make more use of his clean vocals and Patrícia became more important in the group’s sound. If the previous tendency was to deconstruct, the idea now was exactly the opposite.

In early 2002, the recording of InsomniousNightLift’s began at Rec ‘n’Roll Studios and Luís Barros was once again the producer. The whole process took about two and a half months, during which the band signed a contract with the British independent Rage of Achilles and thus assured the worldwide release of the album in January 2003. The Portuguese audience would have access to a pre-release in September 2002 through Misdeed Records. Kerrang! and Metal Hammer (both British publications) valued InsomniousNightLift with 4 out of 5 possible stars. This last one even wrote that the future of the doom/death metal would cross ThanatoSchizO’s freshness and originality.

When the national press made a balance at the end of 2002, ThanatoSchizO reached an important first place in the list of the best national/ international albums in the now dead site “Metal Open Minded” and, in LOUD! magazine 5 out of 7 collaborators selected InsomniousNightLift as one of the best national albums. The Portuguese edition of Rock Sound emphasized the group in a poll for the best albums (voted by its collaborators) and placed Miguel Ângelo (bass) and Filipe Miguel (keyboard) in the top 10 musicians’ pool of that year.

Intense promotion of InsomniousNightLift garnered the group a supporting act position when Katatonia and Finntroll played in Portugal in April 2003.

The return to a heavier sound (2004-2005)

Turbulence promotional photo

Having the same line-up as the previous record for the first time, the band felt the necessity to sharpen its death metal side for the third album, Turbulence. Eduardo changed from acoustic guitars to electric ones, reinforcing its importance in the band’s sound.

From late 2003 to April 2004, the band returns to Rec’n’Roll Studios. Tommy Newton, a well-known German producer, was in charge of the mastering. The record had a special pre-release in Portugal through Misdeed Records in July 2004. Limited to the national territory and in a digipack format, it included a multimedia section with a studio diary, many promotional photos and a video with several episodes shot during the recording process. The international release was taken care of by the Australian Burning Elf Records and not by Rage of Achilles, a deal which had ended abruptly.

Turbulence was very well received by the fans and the specialized critique. The high point occurred in January 2005, when LOUD! magazine published the votes for "the best of the best" from the past year: the readers chose the album as the best national release, the band as the second best Portuguese group (right behind Moonspell), and Guilhermino as the third best national musician. Moreover, the radio show "Holocausto" nominated the third album of the group as the second best international release of 2004. Also, the Portuguese magazine Underworld - Entulho Informativo listed the group in a poll for the best albums of 2004.

The band headlined some events, was the opening act for the Swedish Nightrage in Festival Outubro Negro 2005, and was invited by the well-known Portuguese journalist António Freitas to be part of the itinerant Festival Alta Tensão, side by side with Moonspell and Ramp.

Decoding (2006-2007)

ThanatoSchizO recorded Zoom Code at Rec'n'Roll Studios between February and May; it was mastered by Tommy Newton at Area 51 Studios (Germany). The group was also the opening act for the Israelite Orphaned Land (Lisboa and Braga, 6 and 7 July respectively) and the Swiss Samael (Corroios, 14 July) for their Portuguese gigs.

Moreover, Gauchos de Acero—the Argentine group aged between 10 and 14 that became famous through Youtube, due to their Sepultura and Iron Maiden covers-–recorded an interesting version of the song "Suturn" from ThanatoSchizO’s first album Schizo Level.

Zoom in (2008)

ThanatoSchizO inked a deal for the release of their fourth album, Zoom Code, with My Kingdom Music. The worldwide release date was April, 11. Zoom Code was produced by Luís Barros (Tarantula), mastered by Tommy Newton (Conception, Helloween), and features guest appearances by Timb Harris (Estradasphere, Secret Chiefs 3) and Zweizz (Fleurety, ex-Dødheimsgard).

In May, Mexican label Sun Empire Productions released a special deluxe edition of ThanatoSchizO's first album Schizo Level, in digipack format. On May 17, ThanatoSchizO celebrated their 10th anniversary at Liperske IV Festival, with Before the Rain, Pitch Black, Daemogorgon, Loss Spectra of Pure, My Eyes Inside, and Primordial Melody. The band performed songs from all their releases and played for almost two hours. That same week Zoom Code went straight to the first place of the metal magazine LOUD! Broadcast Top List. On June 28, ThanatoSchizO performed at Metal GDL Festival (Grândola, Portugal) right after Krisiun and Devildriver, as the only Portuguese band on the main stage. During September and October, the band headlined Berço Fest (Guimarães, Portugal) and presented live a semi-acoustic version of the songs in Zoom Code at the Fnacs in Lisbon and Porto.

On the end of the year balances from the international press, Zoom Code has collected numerous praises, being the nominations on the sites Metal District and Metal Imperium a good example of that. On a national level, the voting from LOUD! magazine's readers pointed out ThanatoSchizO as the fourth best band of 2008. In the same magazine, the album was mentioned on the top 5 by 3 of its collaborators.

The fifth step (2009)

On the 28th of February, ThanatoSchizO sold out the Vila Real (district) Theater while performing an entirely semi-acoustic set for 80 minutes.

The group has also headlined/co-headlined three festivals: Barreiro Metalfest (Lavradio, Portugal), Metal Horror Picture Show 2 (Fundão, Portugal) and Silent Night - Christmas Metal Fest (São Pedro do Sul, Portugal) and played at Festival Ilha do Ermal with Sepultura, Obituary and Blind Guardian as the main attractions.

Presently, the group is mixing its fifth record - Origami - which will consist on acoustic remakes of songs from the first four albuns. The recordings took place at Teatro de Vila Real and at the band's own Blind & Lost Studios. The production is being handled for the first time by Guilhermino and the album will be released in the last months of 2010 by Portuguese Major Label Industries.


Band Members :

Current Members :

* Eduardo Paulo – Vocals, Guitar, Percussion
* Filipe Miguel – Keyboard, Sampling
* Guilhermino Martins – Guitar, Sampling, Vocals
* Miguel Ângelo - Bass
* Patrícia Rodrigues - Vocals
* Paulo Adelino – Drums, Percussion

Former Members :

* Marco "China" - Bass
* TóMané - Vocals


Discography :

Thanatos (earlier name) :

* Thanatos - Demo '98 (Demo, 1998)
* Thanatos - Melégnia (EP, 2001)

ThanatoSchizO :

* ThanatoSchizO - Schizo Level (2001)
* ThanatoSchizO - InsomniousNightLift (2003)
* ThanatoSchizO - Turbulence - (2004)
* ThanatoSchizO - Zoom Code - (2008) Read More...!!