 | | As the lead guitarist for Guns N' Roses, Slash established himself as one of hard rock's finest and most soulful soloists during the late '80s, technically adept yet always firmly grounded in the gritty Aerosmith and Stones licks he loved. |
 | | Heralded in their early days by Fox News as one of the best unsigned bands in the country after their debut single, "Soldiers," sold over 10,000 copies on iTunes, Otherwise are out to live their rock & roll dreams with a blend of plaintive post-grunge and driving hard rock. |
 | | Taking a cue from bluesy classic rock icons like Aerosmith and AC/DC, Baltimore, Maryland's Charm City Devils craft traditional hard rock anthems in the vein of Buckcherry and Aussie rockers Airbourne. |
 | | Born of a chance meeting and the innate musical rapport established between vocalist Maria Brink and lead guitarist Chris Howorth, In This Moment quickly grew from local cult favorites performing in Los Angeles clubs to a MySpace phenomenon before landing a deal with Century Media Records. |
 | | Volbeat, a Danish metal band begun by former Dominus leader Michael Poulsen in October of 2001, became a dominant force not only in Danish metal, but in Danish rock as a whole, charting albums and singles on a regular basis. |
 | | Siblings Elizabeth and Arejay Hale, the core members of the hard rock band Halestorm, began the group in late 1997 near York, PA, with Arejay on drums and Elizabeth on vocals and keyboard. |
 | | Although Slipknot made their mainstream debut in the late '90s, singer Corey Taylor and guitarist Jim Root got their start a few years prior in Stone Sour. |
 | | Los Angeles-based thrash outfit Five Finger Death Punch formed in 2005 around the talents of former U. |
 | | Southern rockers Black Stone Cherry originally hailed from a small rural town in south central Kentucky. |
 | | Redlight King is the songwriting project of Mark Kasprzyk, an Ontario native whose music combines rock with hip-hop samples. |
 | | Formed in Miami in 1997, Nonpoint is an alternative metal/rap-metal foursome that consists of vocalist Elias Soriano, drummer Robb Rivera, guitarist Andrew Goldman, and bassist KB. |
 | | Knoxville, TN's 10 Years formed in 2002 around vocalist Jesse Hasek, drummer Brian Vodinh, guitarists Matt Wantland and Tater, and bassist Lewis Cosby. |
 | | Alter Bridge resurrected the music-making portion of Creed. After that band's 2004 dissolution, guitarist Mark Tremonti and drummer Scott Phillips tapped ousted bassist Brian Marshall for the new project. |
 | | Inspired by the lurching riffs of Helmet and the soft/loud vocal dynamics of Tool, the Chicago-based trio Chevelle formed in 1995 with an aggressive, heavy sound. |
 | | Edgy Las Vegas-based hard rock outfit Adelitas Way broke into the mainstream in 2009 with the song "Invincible," which appeared on numerous television spots for CSI Miami and served as the theme song for the weekly World Wrestling Entertainment Superstars show. |
 | | Melodic hard rockers Shinedown hail from Jacksonville, Florida and originally featured vocalist Brent Smith, guitarist Jasin Todd, bassist Brad Stewart, and drummer Barry Kerch. |
 | | The Atlanta-based quintet Sevendust became one of the rising acts in late-'90s heavy metal with an aggressive blend of bottom-heavy riffs and soulful, accessible melodies. |
 | | Hard rockers J. Loren and Evan Johns met after Johns' producer father, Andy, heard Loren on a demo tape and was intrigued by the singer's voice. |
 | | Heavy metal band Disturbed came together through the matching of a band with a singer. Longtime friends Dan Donegan (guitar), Mike Wengren (drums), and Fuzz (bass) played together in Chicago for some time before hooking up with singer David Draiman around 1997. |
 | | The members of metalcore outfit Avenged Sevenfold (or A7X) were still attending high school in Huntington Beach, CA, when they formed their band in 1999. |
 | | Hard-hitting Canadian post-grunge outfit My Darkest Days formed in the mid-2000s around the talents of singer/songwriter/guitarist Matt Walst, bass player Brendan McMillan, drummer Doug Oliver, and guitarist Sal Costa. |
 | | In late 2000, guitarist Aaron Fink and bassist Mark James Klepaski made a surprising and unexpected decision: they left Lifer, an alternative metal band that was signed to Universal and was gaining commercial acceptance. |
 | | Based in Memphis and named after one of its roads, hard rock group Egypt Central were formed by lead singer John T. |
 | | Heavy metal quartet Mudvayne formed in Peoria, IL, in 1996, its members adopting the unusual pseudonyms sPaG (M. |
 | | Although formed in September 1996, Saliva didn't hit the mainstream until 2001, when the band's mix of angsty hard rock and hip-hop helped earn a double-platinum certification for its sophomore album, Every Six Seconds. |
 | | Hailing from South Africa and comprising members Shaun Morgan (vocals, guitar), Dale Stewart (bass), and John Humphrey (drums), Seether embraces a brand of heavy metal mostly associated with the post-grunge era of alternative music, complete with crunchy distortion and brooding textures. |
 | | With a name like Sick Puppies, you wouldn't think hugs would play a major role in the gutsy indie crew's rise to fame, but they do, along with malls and YouTube. |
 | | Cavo's four members -- frontman Casey Walker, guitarist Chris Hobbs, drummer Chad La Roy, and bassist Brian Smith -- champion a mix of hard rock muscle and alt-pop melodies. |
 | | The Boston-based alternative metal group Godsmack were originally comprised of vocalist Sully Erna (a devout Wiccan), guitarist Tony Rambola, bassist Robbie Merrill, and drummer Tommy Stewart. |
 | | One of the founding members of Hollywood Undead, rapper, producer, and songwriter Deuce broke out on his own in 2010. |
 | | Melodic post-grunge outfit Pop Evil formed in Grand Rapids, MI, in November 2001 with a sound that took cues from the likes of Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, aptly putting the quartet right in line with popular modern rock acts such as Crossfade, Shinedown, and Puddle of Mudd. |
 | | Soundgarden made a place for heavy metal in alternative rock. Their fellow Seattle rockers Green River may have spearheaded the grunge sound, but they relied on noise rock in the vein of the Stooges. |
 | | The post-grunge outfit Days of the New rocked heavy in 1998 with their major-label eponymous debut and the singles "Solitude" and "Touch, Peel and Stand," and the boys from Louisville, KY, quickly absorbed the fast success and MTV's praise. |
 | | The Gaslight Anthem rose out of the fertile punk scene of New Brunswick, NJ, flaunting a unique style that melded the influence of Bruce Springsteen, Wilson Pickett, and various Motown groups with the rough, emotional grit of Hot Water Music and Jawbreaker. |
 | | One of Canada’s more explosive hard rock acts, Vancouver-based five-piece Art of Dying's raucous blend of ardent post-grunge and blistering, three-part, harmony-laden alt-metal falls somewhere in between Pearl Jam, Incubus, and Hinder. |
 | | When Zack de la Rocha left Rage Against the Machine in October 2000, the band's future was put into question. |
 | | Formed in 2004 by vocalist Jared Weeks and guitarist Jason Null, Saving Abel combine riff-heavy hard rock with sexually charged lyrics and Southern rock influences. |
 | | Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins and guitarist Mike Lewis grew up together in the Cardiff satellite town of Pontypridd. |
 | | This thrash-oriented solo project of Mark Tremonti, the Grammy-winning lead guitarist of Alter Bridge(and formerly Creed), was formed in 2010 as an outlet for the prolific songwriter's material that was not suitable for his main band. |
 | | The Helsinki, Finland quartet Apocalyptica were initially comprised of classically trained cellists Eicca Toppinen, Max Lilja, Antero Manninen, and Paavo Lotjonen; formed in 1993, the group made waves internationally in 1996 with Plays Metallica by Four Cellos, which combined their formal background with their love of heavy metal. |
 | | The wailing rally cries of Rage Against the Machine and the urban blues punk of the Kills were two major components of Dead Sara's first single "Weatherman," but the song also filled a gap left after the decline of grunge, as a straightforward, guitar-driven rock & roll anthem in the spirit of L7 and Hole. |
 | | Ann Arbor, MI's own Taproot sent their demo to Limp Bizkit's frontman/business entrepreneur Fred Durst in 1998, not ever thinking Durst would call them back personally. |
 | | Tool's greatest breakthrough was to meld dark underground metal with the ambition of art rock. Although Metallica wrote their multi-sectioned, layered songs as if they were composers, they kept their musical attack ferociously at street level. |
 | | Dallas-based heavy metal group Drowning Pool was one of the most promising bands of the early 2000s. |
 | | Vocalist Paul McCoy, bassist Kevin Dorr, guitarist Eric Weaver, and drummer Aaron Gainer were mostly still in their teens when they formed 12 Stones in the small New Orleans suburb of Mandeville, Louisiana. |
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 | | Hard rock/heavy metal band Crossfade is based in Columbia, SC, where its members reside. The group came together in the late '90s with the merging of singer/guitarist Ed Sloan with bassist/backup singer Mitch James and drummer Brian Geiger as the power trio the Nothing. |
 | | Chicago's Rise Against began in 1999 when ex-88 Fingers Louie bassist Joe Principe tapped area vocalist Tim McIlrath for a new project rooted in the sound and social vision of traditionalist hardcore. |
 | | It has been said that first impressions last a lifetime. Luckily for Staind, some only last for about 45 minutes. |
 | | By the late '90s, a whole new generation had missed out on experiencing the likes of Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, and Nirvana first-hand (with some perhaps not even knowing of their existence at all), so a new crop of similarly styled bands picked up the slack, including Days of the New. |