Nuclear Blast
Nuclear Blast is an independent record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The record label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Releasing hardcore punk records, the label moved on to releasing albums by melodic death metal, industrial metal, power metal and black metal bands, as well as tribute albums, it distributes and promotes two post-hardcore/metalcore labels, SharpTone Records, focused on American scene, Arising Empire, focused more on European bands such as Novelists, Cold Snap and While She Sleeps. In October 2018, French independent label Believe Digital acquired a majority stake in Nuclear Blast. More recent signings include names such as Epica, The Adicts, Wednesday 13, Helloween, Decapitated, Cradle of Filth, Nightwish, Symphony X, Machine Head, Fear Factory, Fit for an Autopsy, Rob Zombie, Comeback Kid and The Damned Things. Nuclear Blast was formed in 1987 after founder Markus Staiger traveled throughout the United States for four weeks and saw a gig of his favorite band BL'AST!.
The label's first release was a vinyl compilation called Senseless Death featuring US hardcore bands like Attitude, Sacred Denial, Impulse Manslaughter and others. Swedish band Meshuggah became the first band in the history of Nuclear Blast Records to crack the Billboard 200, landing at number 165 with their 2002 album, Nothing. Meshuggah became the first Nuclear Blast band to be reviewed in Rolling Stone magazine. In 2004, Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish released Once on Nuclear Blast, which rocketed to the top of the charts in multiple countries, including Finland, Norway, Sweden and more, it became the first release in the company's history to reach number 1 on the German charts. Slayer released the album Repentless in 2015 which went to number 4 on the Billboard 200 making it the highest charting Nuclear Blast release in the United States; the exclusive distribution in Greece is being carried out by Infinity Entertainment IKE. List of record labels List of Nuclear Blast artists Nuclear Blast Europe
Kavarna Rock Fest
Kavarna Rock Fest was a Bulgarian rock festival that took place every year at the Kavarna Stadium in Kavarna. Until 2010 the festival's name was Kaliakra Rock Fest; the first edition of the festival was on the 25 August 2006. The festival was in one day and featured: Testament and Twisted Sister; the next edition was in 2007. This edition of the fest continued for three days and featured: 28 June — Heaven and Hell 29 June — Motörhead 30 June — ManowarThe concert of Manowar was filmed for an official DVD released by the band. Furthermore, it was marked by the band singing the Bulgarian national anthem in Bulgarian, much to the delight of the audience; the third edition took place in 2008 and featured: 5 July — Holy Hell and Manowar 6 July — Sixth Sense and Alice Cooper 7 July — Slayer and In FlamesThe official calendar of municipality Kavarna was with photos of Manowar. Manowar made their record-long concert in that day featuring 5 hours; the fourth edition of the festival took place in 2009 and the headliners were: 1 July - Mötley Crüe 2 July - Scorpions 3 July - Dream Theater, Cynic In 2010 the festival's name was changed to Kavarna Rock Fest.
The festival is organised by The municipality of Kavarna and Loud Concerts and here's the lineup: 23 July - Tarja, Epica, Leaves' Eyes, Atrocity24 July - Destruction, Kreator, Korpiklaani25 July - Accept, Primal Fear, VoivodThe official festival radio of Kavarna Rock Fest 2010 was radio Tangra. The sixth edition of the festival took place in 2011 and featured: 15 July - Paradise Lost, Sonata Arctica, Dreamshade 16 July - Opeth, Tiamat, Sylosis 17 July - Arch Enemy, Lake of Tears, Suicidal Angels The seventh edition of the festival took place in 2012 and featured: 13 July - Dio Disciples, Glenn Hughes, Michael Schenker Group, B. T. R. 14 July - Stryper, Big Noize, D2&Dicho 15 July - Lizzy Borden, Rhapsody of Fire, Renagat The eighth edition of the festival took place in June, 2013 and featured: 1 June - Accept, Aria, Cherno Feredzhe 2 June - Deep Purple, Doro Pesch, Analgin The ninth edition of the festival took place in June, 2014 and featured: 27 June - Signal, Black Sea Battle Of The Bands 28 June - Europe, Pretty Maids, Uli Jon Roth 29 June - Helloween, Gotthard, Jorn The tenth edition of the festival took place in June, 2015 and featured: 26 June - Jägermeister Battle of the Bands 27 June - Within Temptation, Kamelot, Delain, A winner band from Jägermeister Battle of the Bands 28 June - Twisted Sister, Hammerfall, UFO, Candlemass, A winner from Jägermeister Battle of the Bands The eleventh edition of the festival took place in July, 2016 and featured: 2 July - Axel Rudi Pell, Varg, Odd Crew, E-an-na 3 July - Avantasia, Myrath, Last Hope, Thiarra Official site of the festival
Hallucinations (Atrocity album)
Hallucinations is the debut album by the German death metal band Atrocity. It was produced by Scott Burns; this is a concept album which follows the story of a young girl, sexually abused as a child, her descent into drug abuse and eventual death. The album was reissued in 1997 with the Blue Blood EP. "Deep in Your Subconscious" – 5:26 "Life Is a Long and Silent River" – 3:36 "Fatal Step" – 2:45 "Hallucinations" – 4:30 "Defeated Intellect" – 5:25 "Abyss of Addiction" – 3:39 "Hold out" – 5:14 "Last Temptation" – 5:17 Alexander Krull - Vocals Mathias Röderer - Guitars Richard Scharf - Guitars Oliver Klasen - Bass Michael Schwarz - Drums H. R. Giger - Cover illustration: Work Nº 93, “Hommage an S. Beckett I” Recorded and mixed at Morrisound Recording, Florida, June / July 1990 Produced by Scott Burns and Atrocity Mixed by Scott Burns and Atrocity Engineered by Scott Burns and Tom Morris Executive production by Markus Staiger
Gothic metal
Gothic metal is a fusion genre combining the heaviness of heavy metal with the dark atmospheres of gothic rock. The music of gothic metal is diverse with bands known to adopt the gothic approach to different styles of heavy metal music; the genre originated during the early 1990s in the United Kingdom as an outgrowth of death-doom, a fusion of death metal and doom metal. Lyrics are dark and introspective with inspiration from gothic fiction as well as personal experiences. Pioneers of gothic metal include Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride and Anathema, all from the north of England. Other pioneers from the first half of the 1990s include Type O Negative from the United States, Tiamat from Sweden, The Gathering from the Netherlands. Norwegian band Theatre of Tragedy developed the "beauty and the beast" aesthetic of combining aggressive male vocals with clean female vocals, a contrast, adopted by groups before them, but not as a regular trademark. During the mid-1990s, Theatres des Vampires, Rotting Christ and Cradle of Filth brought the gothic approach to black metal.
By the end of the decade, a symphonic metal variant of gothic metal had been developed by Tristania and Within Temptation. Nightwish integrated elements of gothic metal into their well-known mix of symphonic metal and power metal. In the 21st century, gothic metal has moved towards the mainstream in Europe in Finland where groups such as Entwine, HIM, Lullacry and Poisonblack have released hit singles or chart-topping albums. In the US, only a few bands such as Type O Negative, HIM, Lacuna Coil and Cradle of Filth have found some degree of commercial success; the term gothic entered heavy metal music with the release of Paradise Lost's Gothic album in 1991. Since fans have been at odds with one another as to "which bands are, or most are not, authentically Goth"; some musicians have disputed the gothic label associated with their bands, including Rozz Williams of Christian Death and Andrew Eldritch of The Sisters of Mercy. In the gothic metal subgenre, members from such groups as After Forever, HIM and Nightwish have downplayed or dismissed the gothic label from their music.
The music of gothic metal is characterised by its dark atmospheres. The adjective "dark" is used to describe gothic music in general while other terms that are less used include deep, romantic and intense. Gothic metal has sometimes been viewed as "a combination of the darkness and melancholy of goth rock with heavy metal". Allmusic defines the genre as a fusion of "the bleak, icy atmospherics of goth rock with the loud guitars and aggression of heavy metal" and further notes that "true goth metal is always directly influenced by goth rock — ethereal synths and spooky textures are just as important as guitar riffs, if not more so". Gothic metal is a varied genre with bands pursuing many different directions, from "slow and crushing variations" to "orchestral and bombastic"; the doom metal background of early pioneers like Anathema, Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride has been taken up by groups like Artrosis, Ava Inferi and Draconian. The black metal approach of Cradle of Filth, Theatres des Vampires and early Moonspell can be found in such subsequent bands as Graveworm and Samsas Traum while the symphonic metal approach of Tristania and Within Temptation can be found in other groups like Epica and After Forever.
Other variations include the symphonic black metal of Trail of Tears, the folk metal of Midnattsol, the industrial metal of Deathstars and Neon Synthesis, the alternative metal of Katatonia and Lacuna Coil, the doom metal of Type O Negative, the nu metal of Coal Chamber, the metalcore of Motionless in White. There is a diverse range of vocal styles in gothic metal. Male singers in the genre range from the guttural growls and black metal shrieks of Dani Filth and Morten Veland to the clean baritone vocals of Østen Bergøy and the bass range of Peter Steele. For the female singers, the different vocal styles includes the screams and growls of Cadaveria, the "poppy" vocals of Tanja Lainio from Lullacry and the operatic soprano style of Vibeke Stene from Tristania. There are more female singers in gothic metal than there are in any other heavy metal subgenre, but female vocals are neither necessary nor synonymous with the genre. Liv Kristine of Theatre of Tragedy and Leaves' Eyes notes that the gothic tag is misinterpreted and points out that "not every band with female vocals is a gothic band".
The genre is known to attract more female fans relative to other subgenres of heavy metal music. The lyrics of gothic metal are known to be melodramatic, romantic, dark or sometimes gloomy. For the three English bands that helped to pioneer the genre, their gloomy lyrics reflect their background in doom metal while their darker or melodramatic lyrics draw influence from gothic rock; the music of My Dying Bride has been noted as "dripping with treachery and pain" from a "lyrical fascination with deceit and transgressions of every variety". Lyrics that focus on suicide and the meaninglessness of life can be found in Anathema while Paradise Lost too has "never lost their depressive edge". Gothic fiction, a literary genre that blends horror and romance, has been a source of inspiration for the lyrics of many gothic metal bands like Cadaveria, Cradle of Filth, Theatres des Vampires and Xandria. Critic Eduardo Rivadavia of Allmusic identifies drama and mournful beauty as requisite elements of the genre.
For My Dying Bride, the subjects of "death and misery and lost love and romance" have been approached from different angles. The common gothi
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It employs distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, powerful drumming featuring double kick and blast beat techniques, minor keys or atonality, abrupt tempo and time signature changes, chromatic chord progressions; the lyrical themes of death metal may invoke slasher film-stylized violence, occultism, Lovecraftian horror, mysticism, philosophy, science fiction, politics, they may describe extreme acts, including mutilation, torture, rape and necrophilia. Building from the musical structure of thrash metal and early black metal, death metal emerged during the mid-1980s. Bands such as Venom, Celtic Frost and Kreator were important influences on the genre's creation. Possessed, Necrophagia, Obituary and Morbid Angel are considered pioneers of the genre. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, death metal gained more media attention as popular genre. Niche record labels like Combat and Roadrunner began to sign death metal bands at a rapid rate.
Since death metal has diversified, spawning several subgenres. Melodic death metal combines death metal elements with those of the new wave of British heavy metal. Technical death metal is a complex style, with uncommon time signatures, atypical rhythms, unusual harmonies and melodies. Death-doom combines the deep growled vocals and double-kick drumming of death metal with the slow tempos and melancholic atmosphere of doom metal. Deathgrind and pornogrind mix the complexity of death metal with the intensity and brevity of grindcore. Deathcore combines death metal with metalcore traits. Death'n' roll combines death metal's growled vocals and distorted, detuned guitar riffs with elements of 1970s hard rock and heavy metal. English heavy metal band Venom, from Newcastle, crystallized the elements of what became known as thrash metal, death metal and black metal, with their 1981 album Welcome to Hell, their dark, blistering sound, harsh vocals, macabre, proudly Satanic imagery proved a major inspiration for extreme metal bands.
Another influential band, formed in 1981. Although the band was a thrash metal act, Slayer's music was more violent than their thrash contemporaries Metallica and Anthrax, their breakneck speed and instrumental prowess combined with lyrics about death, violence and Satanism won Slayer a rabid cult following. According to AllMusic, their third album Reign in Blood inspired the entire death metal genre, it had a big impact on genre leaders such as Death and Morbid Angel. Possessed, a band that formed in the San Francisco Bay Area during 1983, is described by Allmusic as "connecting the dots" between thrash metal and death metal with their 1985 debut album, Seven Churches. While attributed as having a Slayer influence and former members of the band had cited Venom and Motörhead, as well as early work by Exodus, as the main influences on their sound. Although the group had released only two studio albums and an EP in their formative years, they have been described by music journalists and musicians as either being "monumental" in developing the death metal style, or as being the first death metal band.
Earache Records noted that "the likes of Trey Azagthoth and Morbid Angel based what they were doing in their formative years on the Possessed blueprint laid down on the legendary Seven Churches recording. Possessed arguably did more to further the cause of'Death Metal' than any of the early acts on the scene back in the mid-late 80's." During the same period as the dawn of Possessed, a second influential metal band was formed in Orlando, Florida: Death. Called Mantas, Death was formed in 1983 by Chuck Schuldiner, Kam Lee, Rick Rozz. In 1984 they released their first demo entitled Death followed by several more; the tapes circulated through the tape trader world establishing the band's name. With Death guitarist Schuldiner adopting vocal duties, the band made a major impact on the scene; the fast minor-key riffs and solos were complemented with fast drumming, creating a style that would catch on in tape trading circles. Schuldiner has been credited by Allmusic's Eduardo Rivadavia for being recognized as the "Father of Death Metal".
Death's 1987 debut release, Scream Bloody Gore, has been described by About.com's Chad Bowar as being the "evolution from thrash metal to death metal", "the first true death metal record" by the San Francisco Chronicle. Along with Possessed and Death, other pioneers of death metal in the United States include Macabre, Massacre, Cannibal Corpse,Obituary, Post Mortem. By 1989, many bands had been signed by eager record labels wanting to cash in on the subgenre, including Florida's Obituary, Morbid Angel and Deicide; this collective of death metal bands hailing from Florida are labeled as "Florida death metal". Morbid Angel pushed the genre's limits both musically and lyrically, with the release of their debut album Altars of Madness in 1989; the album "redefined what it meant to be heavy while influencing an upcoming class of brutal death metal." Death metal spread to Sweden in the late 1980s, flourishing with pioneers such as Carnage, God Macabre, Entombed and Unleashed. In the early 1990s, the rise of melodic death metal was recognized, with bands such as Dark Tranquillity, At the Gates, In Flames.
Following the original death metal innovators, new subgenres began by the end of the decade. British band Napalm Death became associated with death metal, in particular, on their 1990 album Harmony Corruption; this alb
Leaves' Eyes
Leaves' Eyes is a German symphonic metal band from Germany and Norway. They were formed in 2003 by Liv Kristine, the former lead singer of Theatre of Tragedy and the entire line-up of Atrocity. To date, the band has released seven studio albums, a single, six EPs, one live album and a DVD. Most of Leaves' Eyes' lyrics, written by concern Norse mythology and the Viking Age; the melodic singing vocals of Liv Kristine are backed up by death growled vocals from Krull, identified under the vocal style Kristine refers to as "beauty and the beast". Leaves' Eyes have featured naturalistic themes in their music since the release of their 2004 debut album, Lovelorn. Many of the lyrics to this album were inspired not only by nature, but by sagas and legends drawn from Norse mythology; the band was received well at the band's stage premiere. Every band member had previous professional experience in other musical endeavors for years before joining Leaves' Eyes, thus making it a supergroup. Frontwoman Liv Kristine sang in the band Theatre of Tragedy in the mid 1990s.
This Norwegian band was one of the first to feature a female voice in the metal scene, their club hit Tanz der Schatten became synonymous with the direction and expression of a whole musical genre. In addition, Liv Kristine was present in the pop music scene and sang the songs to TV hits such as Tatort and Schimanski; the supporting members of the band hail from the death metal band Atrocity. One year after Lovelorn, Leaves' Eyes released the follow-up album Vinland Saga in 2005, inspired by Viking Leif Eriksson; the album's first single, charted in Germany for four consecutive weeks. Television station ProSieben used Elegy as the official song for the TV series NUMB3RS. In addition to their studio endeavors, Leaves' Eyes tours extensively. In the course of four years, the band traveled through four continents and 34 countries and played 222 concerts; the Live DVD We Came with the Northern Winds: En Saga i Belgia entered the German DVD charts at number 11 in 2009. This exclusive package documented the history of the band and features the concert at the Metal Female Voices Festival in 2007.
This headline show was performed including a Viking longship on stage. Njord was released in 2009; the album's first single My Destiny soon became the successor to the anthem Elegy. Njord was critically acclaimed as "an epic masterpiece"; the album was done in a much more modern style than those previous, featured symphonic metal tracks of increasing complexity with the help of the Lingua Mortis Orchestra directed by Victor Smolski. Many of the lyrics were inspired by the English traditional "Scarborough Fair"; the band's live performances were as successful throughout Europe and North America as their studio work. For the Special Fan Edition of Njord, Leaves' Eyes recorded the At Heaven's End EP in 2010. One year Leaves' Eyes released their fourth studio album, Meredead. Produced by Alexander Krull, the artists combined folk elements from previous albums to inspire the mood of Meredead; the opening track, "Spirits' Masquerade", uses folk instrumentation to refine the album's varied sound. The tracks Étaín and Sigrlinn lyrically recount the mysticism of past cultures and are supported by uileann pipes.
The album features more traditional-sounding songs, such as Nystev and Kråkevisa. The latter makes use of the Scandinavian keyed fiddle. Present on the album is a cover of To France, an interpretation of the tragedy and emotion of Mike Oldfield's classic track. Maite Itoiz and John Kelly, Carmen Elise Espenæs, the Norwegian Anette Guldbrandsen, Victor Smolski's Lingua Mortis Orchestra once again provide supporting vocals and instrumentation; the EP Melusine in 2011 was a special release in co-operation with German Sonic Seducer Magazine. It was announced through an interview with Valkryian Music, that Leaves Eyes had begun writing new material for their fifth studio album which they hoped to release spring 2013. On January 7, 2013 the band announced on their official Facebook page that the title of their fifth studio album would be Symphonies of the Night. On March 23, 2013 Leaves' Eyes announced on their official Facebook page that vocal recording had begun, with the statement: At the moment Liv Kristine is tracking vocals for the up-coming Leaves' Eyes album: "The recording sessions at Mastersound studios are so much fun, as well as being intense.
Today I recorded an classically influenced new song. We are all excited about the songs for the new album." On May 9, 2013 the band announced that the vocal recordings were finished and that Alexander Krull had begun the mix of the album: Good news from Mastersound Studio: The vocal recordings for all songs of our up-coming release "Symphonies of the Night" have just been completed. Moreover, Alex is busy with the mix of the album. We have taken a great inspirational step since the production of "Meredead", both sound-wise and vocal-wise, it has been such a pleasure evolving in my singing techniques and knowledge and I thank my band members for "giving me an inspirational kick" when I needed to gain momentum behind the microphone. "Symphonies of the Night" is hauntingly dream-like and heavy to the core! " The band premiered the first new song off of the album, titled "Hell to the Heavens", at Summer Breeze Festival. Artwork for the new album was released on August 26, 2013. A few days the band released a video saying that they would be performing in Metal Female Voices Fest 2013.
A teaser of the studio version of Hell to the Heavens was in the video. Leaves' Eyes stated that in 2015, they will release a new album, entitled King of Kings
