 | | Culling its membership from various Norwegian black metal luminaries, Arcturus has been an evolving project for founding keyboardist Steiner "Sverd" Johnsen and drummer Hellhammer (also known as a member of Mayhem, one of the most infamous Norwegian black metal ensembles). |
 | | Taking their name from the Norewgian word for wolf, Ulver is a black metal band employing both noisy death-metal blasting and more relaxed, morose acoustic instrumentation, depending on the concept of their work. |
 | | A combination side project and supergroup of the Norwegian black metal scene, Borknagar members Oystein G. |
 | | Of all the major second wave black metal bands to emerge from Norway's fertile breeding grounds during the early 1990s, only a handful -- Mayhem, Emperor, Enslaved, Ulver -- have achieved the same exalted status and world-wide recognition as the legendary Darkthrone; and arguably none has been as consistent or prolific in the decades that followed. |
 | | Born in Oslo, Norway under the supervision of guitarist/singer Thomas "Grusom" Rune and fellow ax-man Jardar, the two wanted to create a project that was filled with the bleak lyrical content of modern day black metal and an influence of early death metal. |
 | | Brought together in Stockholm by guitarists Peter Lindgren and Mikael Åkerfeldt in 1990, Opeth added progressive influences and acoustic instrumentation to their brand of Swedish death metal. |
 | | Black metal outfit Watain emerged from Uppsala, Sweden, in 1998, quickly gaining underground credibility with an uncompromising 7" release entitled "The Essence of Black Purity," then solidifying their commitment to the dark metal arts via 2000s thematically shocking (i. |
 | | Lead guitarist Esa Holopainen and drummer Jan Rechberger formed the band Amorphis in Finland in 1990. |
 | | 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. |
 | | Guitarists Infernus and Tormentor are the center of the Norwegian black metal outfit Gorgoroth, which took its name from the work of J. |
 | | Formed in 1987, Irish death/thrash metal outfit Primordial began primarily as a cover band, peppering their sets with the occasional original tune as their confidence grew. |
 | | Hailing from the nation of Portugal, the doomy goth metal quintet Moonspell consists of vocalist Fernando Ribeiro, guitarist Ricardo Amorim, keyboardist/programmer Pedro Paixão, bassist Sérgio Crestana, and drummer Mike Gaspar. |
 | | Norwegian black metal band Enslaved were formed in 1991 by guitarist/keyboardist Ivar Bjørnson and bassist Grutle Kjellson; a demo titled Yggdrstll followed a year later. |
 | | Norwegian black metal trio Satyricon are led by Satyr, also featuring drummer Frost and keyboardist Kine. |
 | | Considered to be one of the leading death metal bands to emerge from Poland in the 1990s, Behemoth have endured quite a few lineup shifts during their career (especially in the bass department), with founding singer/guitarist Nergal being the only constant member. |
 | | Created in 1999 with the sole purpose of providing the soundtrack to Armageddon, Anaal Nathrakh is actually a side project for Englishmen V. |
 | | Blending black metal's most brutal tendencies, the melancholic beauty of opera, and industrial metal's production techniques, Dimmu Borgir carved a niche in the metal world as one of the most savage and creative acts to hail from the Norwegian scene. |
 | | Formed around 1985 by Necrobutcher and guitarist Euronymous (born Oystein Aarseth), Mayhem was the first black metal band from Norway to make a serious impact in their homeland, which in the early '90s developed a burgeoning underground scene rife with violent, sometimes anti-Christian activity, as evidenced by Mayhem's non-musical history. |
 | | Over the course of more than a decade and seven increasingly accomplished albums, Chuck Schuldiner, the architect behind the ubiquitous Death, became a bona fide heavy metal icon. |
 | | Gothenburg, Sweden-based death metal outfit Dissection were formed in 1989 by singer/guitarist Jon Nödtveidt and bassist Peter Palmdahl; with the addition of drummer Ole Öhman the following spring, the group recorded its first demo, The Grief Prophecy. |
 | | Celtic Frost's impact on the evolution of European heavy metal cannot be overstated. Along with power metal kings Helloween (and to a lesser degree, the sometimes cartoonish Mercyful Fate), Frost's enduring influence on Europe's heavy metal landscape is arguably comparable to Metallica's standing in America. |
 | | 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. |
 | | When attention first focused on Norway's almost cartoonishly violent black metal scene in the mid-'90s, Mayhem were dubbed its godfathers, but most of the critical accolades were bestowed upon Emperor, whose musical innovations have had more impact on the genre than any other band. |
 | | Inspired by Scandinavian one-man black metal entrepreneurs like Bathory's Quorthon, Burzum's Count Grishnach, and the ubiquitous Mortiis, San Francisco native Jeff Whitehead adopted the nom de guerre Wrest in 1998 and soon began self-recording and releasing demos under the Leviathan heading. |
 | | Noticing the start of the crazed black metal scene in the Scandinavian region, the Tolis brothers, Sakis (vocals/guitar) and Themis (drums), wanted to begin their own spectacle in their hometown of Athens, Greece. |
 | | Combining the extreme speed and nihilism of modern death metal with the ancient styling of Middle Eastern music, Nile formed in their hometown of Greenville, SC, in 1993. |
 | | European goth metal band My Dying Bride formed in June 1990. The four-piece first recorded the demo tape Towards the Sinister, and after the release of a 7" single for the French Listenable label, the group signed to Peaceville Records in 1991. |
 | | Of all the Norwegian black metal bands, Immortal has, arguably, stuck the closest to the mystical, occult-inspired vision of the scene: the bandmembers kept the evil-Kiss makeup throughout the band's existence, rarely experimented outside of the traditional guitars-drums-bass instrumental configuration, and never revealed their real names. |
 | | In a musical realm where scale of influence has little to do with commercial success, few originators of the extreme metal arts evoke as deep a sense of mystery, or incite such hushed, reverential tones of admiration, as Sweden's Bathory. |
 | | 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. |
 | | Death metallists Vital Remains formed during 1989, and hail from Providence, Rhode Island - influenced by the likes of Venom, Celtic Frost, Bathory, Mercyful Fate, Sodom, and Destruction. |
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 | | Groups like Venom, Mercyful Fate, and Slayer may have founded death metal in the early '80s, but it wasn't until such disciples as Morbid Angel came along at the close of the decade that the genre was pushed to its most extreme level, both musically and lyrically. |
 | | Nasum, a Swedish grindcore band formed in 1992 by Necrony members Anders Jakobson(guitar) and Rickard Alriksson(drums and vocals), would develop into one of that country's premier metal acts, but would be felled tragically by the events of the December 2004 tsunami that brought mass destruction to Thailand, ending the life of (eventual) vocalist and beloved member Mieszko Talarczyk. |
 | | The fathers of grindcore, Napalm Death pushed the envelope of metal to new extremes of ear-splitting intensity, rejecting all notions of melody, subtlety, and good taste to forge a brand of sonic assault almost frightening in its merciless brutality. |
 | | 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. |
 | | In Germany, there have been two different metal bands called Dark Fortress. One of them was an '80s-influenced power metal band that was formed in Riedstadt in 1998 and recorded an album titled Light and Darkness in 2000; after that band's breakup a few years later, three of its ex-members -- singer/bassist Torsten Thassilo Herbert and guitarists Thorsten Brand and Matthias Bludau-- went on to form the power metal band Dragonsfire in 2005. |
 | | The Swedish death metal band Hypocrisy was formed by Peter Tägtgren in 1990 upon his return to Sweden from Florida, where he had been inspired by that state's flourishing death metal scene (bands like Morbid Angel, Deicide, Death, and Obituary). |
 | | One of the leading figures (arguably the leading figure, at least from a musical perspective) in the history of Norwegian black metal, Ihsahn -- born Vegard Sverre Tveitan, in Notodden, Norway, in 1975 -- is best known as the singer, guitarist, and lead composer of the legendary band Emperor. |
 | | All-star Swedish death metal group Bloodbath was the side project of Opeth vocalist Mikael Akerfeldt, Katatonia guitarist Blackheim and bassist Jonas Renkse, and Edge of Sanity drummer Dan Swano. |
 | | Formed at the outset of the '90s, Brazilian death metal band Krisiun featured guitarist Moyses Kolesne, his brother Max Kolesne on drums, and bassist/vocalist Alex Camargo. |
 | | 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. |
 | | An unswerving commitment to blasphemy and extremity combined with a relentless touring schedule and a steady stream of recordings has helped establish Sweden's Marduk as one of the better-known bands on the Scandinavian black metal scene. |
 | | Since they were formed in the spring of 2000 by guitarist Juha Raivio and drummer Pasi Pasanen, Finnish sextet Swallow the Sun (later completed by vocalist Mikko Kotamäki, guitarist Markus Jämsen, keyboardist Aleksi Munter, and bassist Matti Honkonen) have made it their mission to reanimate the corpse of classic late-'80s/early-'90s death/doom -- first via 2003's "Out of the Gloomy Light" demo, and then via their critically acclaimed 2005 full-length debut, The Morning Never Came. |
 | | Considered by many to be one of the heavyweights of Swedish metal, Katatonia had a long and storied career that saw them move from a rough, sludge-like doom metal sound to a more streamlined approach, losing the guttural vocals and adding a more accessible, riff-based sheen to their brand of gothic doom. |
 | | Arising from the ashes of the important mid-'90s Swedish death metal band At the Gates and featuring former members of Witchery and Face Down, the Haunted went through countless lineup changes during the late '90s before finally releasing The Haunted Made Me Do It in 2000, confirming the excitement surrounding the band. |
 | | Norwegian death metal/black metal band Susperia, formerly known as Seven Sins, was formed by ex-Oldman's Child and Dimmu Borgir drummer Tjodalu and guitarist Cyrus, later joined by singer Athera, bassist Memnock, and guitarist Elvorn. |
 | | Scandinavian metal legends Entombed were at the forefront of the death metal uprising, releasing their influential debut, Left Hand Path, in 1990, just as the movement was beginning to proliferate internationally. |
 | | The death metal band Immolation formed in New York in 1986; originally dubbed Rigor Mortis, the group first comprised singer/bassist Ross Dolan, guitarists Robert Vignaud and Thomas Wilkinson, and drummer Craig Smilowski. |
 | | British black metal band Cradle of Filth were formed in 1991, originally comprised of vocalist Dani Filth (born Daniel Lloyd Davey), guitarist Paul Ryan, his keyboardist brother Benjamin, bassist John Richard, and drummer Darren. |
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