 | | Originally known by the less-than-subtle moniker Burn the Priest, Richmond, Virginia-based Lamb of God decided to change their name shortly after the release of a self-titled debut in 1998. |
 | | After leaving Ceremonial Oath to form In Flames, founding member and guitarist Jesper Strömblad saw this project as a way of expressing his songwriting creativity rather than being stuck in the background. |
 | | Formed by guitarist Oli Herbert and ex-Shadows Fall vocalist Phil Labonte in 1998, Massachusetts' All That Remains debuted in 2002 with Behind Silence and Solitude on Metal Blade. |
 | | Hailing from central Florida, Trivium formed in 2000 and quickly built a buzz around Orlando's metal community with a blend of metalcore, thrash, and progressive metal flourish. |
 | | As I Lay Dying are a metal-hardcore crossover band from San Diego, California. The group formed as a trio in 2001 with vocalist Tim Lambesis, drummer Jordan Mancino, and guitarist Evan White, and shortly thereafter released Beneath the Encasing of Ashes. |
 | | The four bandmembers who came together and created Killswitch Engage already had strong fan followings. |
 | | Following the dissolution of Marilyn Manson/Korn-aping, nu-metal also-rans Coal Chamber, vocalist Dez Fafara hooked up with guitarists Evans Pitts and Jeffrey Kendrick, bassist Jon Miller, and drummer John Boecklin to form DevilDriver -- a rather more extreme band dedicated to the subsequent hardcore-meets-death metal trends. |
 | | Formed in 1998, the Cleveland, OH-based hardcore sextet Chimaira consists of singer/screamer Mark Hunter, guitarists Matt DeVries (who replaced Jason Hager in mid-2001) and Rob Arnold, bassist Jim LaMarca, drummer Andols Herrick, and electronic specialist Chris Spicuzza. |
 | | Detroit's the Black Dahlia Murder, named for the infamous 1947 slaying of 22-year-old Elizabeth Short, aka the Black Dahlia, actually sounds like they should live in Scandinavia, whence originates much of the frenetic brand of death and black metal that inspires them. |
 | | God Forbid forges the gritting, teeth-baring bile of American death metal together with the melodic overtones of the so-called "New Wave of Swedish Death Metal" promulgated by bands like In Flames, Arch Enemy, and the late, lamented, and legendary At the Gates. |
 | | Massachusetts metalcore enthusiasts Unearth formed in 1998 and immediately started rocking, both in around Boston and on the road. |
 | | The New Haven, Connecticut-based Hatebreed got together in 1993 for the purpose of creating a "back to basics" hardcore band with heavy metallic guitars, screaming vocals, and 30-second songs. |
 | | Influential West Coast heavy metal quartet Machine Head formed in 1992 around the talents of ex-Vio-Lence guitar players Robert Flynn and Phil Demmel, bass player Adam Duce, and drummer Chris Kontos. |
 | | Although their music sometimes bears strong similarities to the technical, progressive brand of death metal centered around Gothenburg, Sweden and epitomized by bands like In Flames, Shadows Fall actually hail from Massachusetts. |
 | | Washington, D.C.'s Darkest Hour is a supporter of the death metal/hardcore merger, founded in the early '90s by such outfits as Carcass and Entombed. |
 | | The Swedish metal sextet Soilwork formed in early 1997, fusing the country's signature ultra-heavy death metal sound with the power-groove riffs of late-'70s, early-'80s British and European metal. |
 | | Boston, MA trio Revocation is comprised of vocalist/guitarist David Davidson, vocalist/bassist Anthony Buda, and drummer Phil Dubois-Coyne -- all of whom showcase incredible dexterity at their chosen instruments, even by heavy metal standards, and came together as a group in 2005. |
 | | Technical death metal band All Shall Perish hails from Oakland, California, but their eponymous three-track demo had to make its way across the Pacific Ocean and be embraced by Japan's Amputated Vein Records to make possible their first album, Hate, Malice, Revenge, released in 2003. |
 | | Chicago-based metalcore outfit Born of Osiris (formerly known as Rosecrance) formed around the talents of Lee McKinney (guitar), Ronnie Canizaro (vocals), Joe Buras (keyboards/backing vocals), David Darocha (bass), Cameron Losch (drums), and Matt Pantelis (guitar) while still in high school. |
 | | Formed by ex-Carnage, Carcass, and Candlemass guitarist Michael Amott (concurrently of Spiritual Beggars) with his brother Christopher (Armageddon), Arch Enemy took a straight-ahead approach to death metal reminiscent of Entombed or late-period Carcass, blending catchy, classic-style metal riffs with crushing grooves for an intense yet accessible sound. |
 | | Unleashing a relentless fusion of hardcore and death metal with the precision guitar attack of progressive metal, Job for a Cowboy was formed in Glendale, AZ, in 2002. |
 | | They look like clean-cut suburban kids, but when August Burns Red plug in to play, they unleash a precise, powerfully emotional metalcore onslaught that has won them a loyal following among fans of adventurous hard rock. |
 | | Taking their name from the original Japanese pronunciation of Godzilla, French heavy metal quartet Gojira have risen from utmost obscurity during the first half of their career to widespread global recognition in the second, including regular mention amongst the genre's leading new millennium upstarts. |
 | | Hailing from the hippie-loving beachfront town of Byron Bay, Australia, metalcore outfit Parkway Drive blasted out of their serene surroundings touting a volatile blend of intricate metal riffing, punishing breakdowns, and hardcore's emotional tension. |
 | | Swedish death metal band Amon Amarth originally formed in 1988 under the name Scum; by the time the new moniker was adopted four years later, the line-up consisted of vocalist Johan Hegg, guitarists Olli Mikkonen and Anders Hansson, bassist Ted Lundstrom and drummer Niko Kaukinen. |
 | | Originally known as Black December, Winds of Plague formed in 2002 in Upland, California. The band went through a good number of roster changes, eventually settling on Jonathan Cooke (vocals), Nick Eash (guitar), Nick Piunno (guitar), Kristen Randall (keyboards), Andrew Glover (bass), and Jeff Tenney (drums). |
 | | Combining elements of melodic death metal, power metal, neo-classical, and thrash, Children of Bodom have been one of the world's most expansive and hard to define bands since their formation in 2003. |
 | | The side project of hyperkinetic Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz, Times of Grace formed in 2008 while Dutkiewicz was convalescing after getting emergency back surgery while on tour. |
 | | Even if he had retired from public life to raise goats in North Dakota, guitarist Dino Cazares' heavy metal legacy would have been indefinitely perpetuated thanks to his groundbreaking work in the 1990s with Fear Factory, one of the first bands that successfully soldered industrial elements to metal, while introducing the synchronized use of both gruesomely growled vocals and melodic singing that became so popular in the 2000s. |
 | | Formed in 2006 by Phil Bozeman, Brandon Cagle, and Ben Savage, tech-heavy Knoxville, TN-based death metal outfit Whitechapel (named for the London neighborhood where the notorious Jack the Ripper disposed of most of his victims) blend grindcore, hardcore, and black metal into an unholy trinity of audio violence. |
 | | Orange County, CA, sextet Bleeding Through formed in the year 2000, featuring vocalist Brandan Schieppati, guitarists Brian Leppke and Scott Danough, bassist Ryan Wombacher, drummer Derek Youngsma, and keyboardist Marta Peterson. |
 | | Boston-based death metal/grindcore outfit the Red Chord combine a crushing rhythmic assault and guitar patterns that bite like a circular saw with the menacing but intelligent lyrics and furious vocals of frontman Guy Kozowyk. |
 | | East Coast alternative metal ensemble the Acacia Strain utilize a bone-crushing rhythm section, apocalyptic samples, and a unique triple-guitar assault to deliver their signature blend of hardcore, noise, and death and doom metal. |
 | | Toward the end of the '90s, Scandinavian death metal -- or at least one branch of it -- began to evolve into a more accessible amalgamation of death metal intensity, a bit of progressive metal experimentation, and more traditional late-'70s/early-'80s British metal, with its catchy, groove-oriented riffs and twin-guitar lead lines. |
 | | Offering a complex form of metal that combined the sweeping adventurism of math rock, the oddball tempos of experimental jazz, and the stunning brutality of thrash metal, Meshuggah raised the bar for metal bands everywhere upon their debut. |
 | | Between the Buried and Me is a thinking man's hardcore unit hailing from Raleigh, North Carolina. The band began in 2000 after the dissolution of vocalist Tommy Rogers and guitarist Paul Waggoner's previous group, Prayer for Cleansing. |
 | | One of the more melodic death metal bands to expand beyond Sweden and spread their sound across the world alongside peers such as Entombed, At the Gates played a significant role in the death metal genre before breaking up in 1996, leading to the formation of the Haunted. |
 | | Chillicothe, OH-based progressive death metal quintet Woe of Tyrants formed in 2004 around the talents of vocalist Chris Catanzaro, bassist Shaun Gunter, drummer Johnny Roberts, and guitarists Matt Kincaid and Nick Dozer. |
 | | Riverside, CA's Suicide Silence formed in 2002. A quintet, the band specializes in that 21st century metal phenomenon known as deathcore, and was signed to international mega metal label Century Media. |
 | | Having been known for running his own label Hevy Devy Records, helping out with such acts as Steve Vai and Front Line Assembly and fronting two other bands (Infinity and Ocean Machine), Strapping Young Lad frontman Devin Townsend seems to keep himself busy with the rock & roll lifestyle. |
 | | Described as "the world's greatest cultural force," the virtual death metal band Dethklok star in the Adult Swim television show Metalocalypse. |
 | | Atlanta-based sludge/stoner/alternative metal outfit Mastodon formed in 1999 around the talents of guitarist Bill Kelliher, drummer Bränn Dailor, bassist/vocalist Troy Sanders, and guitarist/vocalist Brent Hinds. |
 | | From their humble beginnings in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Sepultura went on to become the most successful Brazilian heavy metal band in history. |
 | | "If vomit were a movie, this would be the soundtrack," wrote one critic of Cannibal Corpse's music, some of the most extreme, violent death metal sounds and subject matter ever committed to tape. |
 | | Fear Factory were one of the first bands to fuse the loud, crushing intensity of death metal with the cold harshness of industrial electronics and samples, producing a more varied sonic palette with which to express their bleak, pessimistic view of modern, technology-driven society. |
 | | The preeminent metal band of the early to mid-'90s, Pantera put to rest any and all remnants of the '80s metal scene, almost single-handedly demolishing any notion that hair metal, speed metal, power metal, et al. |
 | | Originally a side project for Cannibal Corpse vocalist Chris Barnes and former Obituary guitarist Allen West, Six Feet Under eventually became a full-time proposition when friction between Barnes and his other bandmates became too much to bear. |
 | | Upon his exit from Sepultura in late 1996, singer/guitarist/songwriter Max Cavalera almost automatically set out to form his next musical endeavor, the ultra-heavy Soulfly. |
 | | Spanning two continents, three names, and nearly a dozen members, Asking Alexandria are a band whose short career seems to be more about change than anything else. |
 | | Growing tired of their metalcore band, Hamartia, guitarist Slim (aka Brendan MacDonald) and drummer Mark Castillo began Bury Your Dead as a side project in late 2001. |
