Grupa powstała w 1993 roku w Piotrkowie Trybunalskim. Do roku 2007 jej jedynym choć sporym dorobkiem były wydawnictwa płytowe i kasetowe dostępne jednynie w nieoficjalnym obiegu. Było to kilka kaset i płyt demo oraz koncertowych, a także jeden pełnometrażowy album. Grupa miała okazje wielokrotnie występować na festiwalu Castle Party, w tym podczas jego pierwszej edycji w Grodźcu w 1994 roku a także na festiwalu w Jarocinie.

Tak musiało się kiedyś stać. Steven Severin musiał kiedyś spotkać swoją Siouxsie i musieli razem założyć zespół. Zespół, który wywarł ogromny wpływ na młodsze pokolenie muzycznych buntowników i outsiderów. Zespół, który zapoczątkował wyrosły z punk rocka nowy muzyczny styl - rock gotycki.

Nazareth - jedna z legend muzyki rockowej. Zespół powstał w 1968 roku w Szkocji i wciąż jest aktywny - gra koncerty i wydaje płyty. Czasy największej świetności grupy przypadły na lata 70., kiedy to muzyka hard rockowa była bardzo popularna, a płyta "Razamanaz" z 1973 roku wyniosła Nazareth na szczyty list przebojów na zachodzie Europy. Wydany dwa lata później album Hair of the Dog przyniósł zespołowi uznanie na całym świecie, a w samych Stanach Zjednoczonych sprzedał się w ilości miliona egzemplarzy.

Sodom - niemiecka grupa grająca thrash metal. Zespół powstał w 1979 roku. Karierę muzyczną rozpoczęli od wydania nieco nieudanego demo "Witching Metal" w 1982 roku. Początkowy skład zespołu obejmował trzy osoby: Tom Angelripper (Thomas Such) (wokal, gitara basowa), Aggressor (gitara elektryczna, wokal), Witchhunter (Chris Dudeck) (perkusja). Ta właśnie trójka wydała dwa pierwsze dema: "Witching Metal" oraz "Victims Of Death".

Fjoergyn - niemiecka kapela założona w 2003 roku. Nazwa zespołu pochodzi z islandzkiej mitologii i oznacza "ziemia". Kapela gra folk/viking metal oraz symphonic black metal. Znajdują się pod opieką wytwórni Reartone Records (wcześniej Black Attakk).

Flowing Tears - niemiecki zespół gothic metalowy, założony w 1994 roku. Pierwotna nazwa - Flowing Tears And Withered Flowers - została skrócona do Flowing Tears w 2000 roku. Operacja spowodowana była ułatwienie mediom i słuchaczom zapamiętanie nazwy.

Pennywise - amerykański zespół punkowy powstały w 1988 roku, jeden z przedstawicieli tzw. punkowego odrodzenia lat 90 XX wieku. Muzykę grupy można określić generalnie jako punk, oparty na solidnej tradycji tzw. kalifornijskiego hardcore'u (szybka, dynamiczna i melodyjna muzyka), z umiejętnie dodanymi elementami funku, popu i klasycznego rocka.

Fragile Hollow - fiński zespół gothic metalowy założony w 1997 roku w Helsinkach. Początkowo zespół nazywał się Prophet, w 2001 roku nazwa została zmieniona na obecną.

1349 - norweski zespół black metalowy założony w 1997 roku w Oslo, kiedy grupa Alvheim przestała istnieć. Kilku członków zespołu Alvheim postanowiło utworzyć nową black metalową kapelę - 1349. Zespół zwrócił szczególną uwagę fanów black metalu ze względu na dobrze znanego perkusistę Frosta (Satyricon). 1349 to rok, w którym czarna śmierć dotarła do Norwegii.

Forefather - angielska grupa wykonująca heavy metal z wpływami black metalu. Powstała 1997 roku z inicjatywy braci Athelstana oraz Wulfstana. Muzycy założyli iż twórczość grupy będzie rodzajem hołdu dla ich praprzodków Anglosasów.

Enslaved - norweski zespół wykonujący muzykę na pograniczu black metalu i viking metalu. Nazwa grupy została zaczerpnięta od utworu demo zespołu Immortal - "Enslaved In Rot". Został założony w 1991 roku w norweskim miasteczku Haugesund przez Ivara Bjørnsona i Grutle Kjellsona, mających odpowiednio po 13 i 17 lat.

And Oceans - fiński zespół black metalowy. Początkowo zespół grał tradycyjny black metal, jednak na ostatnich płytach muzycy zaczęli zmierzać w kierunku elektronicznego i industrialnego metalu. Członkowie zespołu udzielają się w zespole grającym surowy fiński black metal O. ...And Oceans zakończyło działalność po 10 latach aby zmienic nazwę na Havoc Unit.

Impaled Nazarene - fiński zespół black metalowy, założony w 1990 roku jako jeden z pierwszych zespołów grających ten rodzaj muzyki w Finlandii. Grupa jest kombinacją black metalu z elementami thrash, heavy metalu, a także punk rocka. Teksty ich utworów są mocno antychrześcijańske i często były powodem protestów.

Non Opus Dei - polska grupa wykonująca awangardowy black metal zawierający wpływy tradycyjnego black i death metalu oraz muzyki elektronicznej. Powstała w 1997 roku w Olsztynie z inicjatywy gitarzystów znanych pod pseudonimami K'ris i Klimorh.

Dismal Euphony - norweski zespół powstał w 1992 roku z inicjatywy Ole K. Helgesena oraz Kristoffera Vold Austrheima. Nosił on wtedy nazwę The Headless Children a zespół miał charakter rytmicznego death metalu. Po dołączeniu do muzyków Erika Borgena nazwę zespołu przemianowano na Carnal Tomb i od tego momentu zespół ukierował swoje brzmienia na black metal.

Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic metal band formed in 1996 in the town of Kitee. Nightwish composes songs that are often classified as either symphonic metal or power metal, and sometimes as variants of the genre called opera metal and epic metal. Nightwish is considered one of the main developers of the symphonic metal genre, which encompasses similar bands such as Epica, After Forever and Visions of Atlantis.

Although the band has been prominent in their home country since the release of their first single ("The Carpenter"), they did not achieve worldwide fame until the release of the album Once (2004). This album led to Nightwish video clips being shown on MTV in the United States and inclusion of their music on U.S. movie soundtracks. Their biggest U.S. hit, "Wish I Had an Angel", made it onto two U.S. film soundtracks, as a way to promote their first North American tour. They later produced three singles and music videos for the album, and "Sleeping Sun", from the 2005 "best of" compilation, Highest Hopes, prior to vocalist Tarja Turunen's departure.
As of 2007, the band is searching for a replacement for Turunen, who was fired at the end of 2005. A replacement for the soprano singer has not yet been found, and the band has stated that they do not plan to make any decisions on this issue before 2007.[1] Recently, the band declared that the new vocalist will be announced at the end of May 2007, together with the release of a new single

VNV Nation, is an electronic music group originally from London, now based in Hamburg, that combines elements of trance, synthpop and electronic body music (EBM), into what they call futurepop. The members are Ronan Harris and Mark Jackson. The "VNV" in the name stands for Victory, not Vengeance.

Laibach has frequently been accused of both far left and far right political stances due to their use of uniforms and totalitarian-style aesthetics and also due to the Wagnerian influence found in some of their music, notably the thunder in "Sympathy for the Devil (Time for a Change)" and releases such as Macbeth. Laibach always denied this strongly, pointing out that, as fascism needs a scapegoat, they had become their own scapegoat in the name of satire. Milan Fras, vocalist, is quoted as saying "We are fascists as much as Hitler was a painter" when confronted with such accusations. [1]

Laibach is notorious for rarely stepping out of character. Some releases feature artwork by the Communist and early Dada artist/satirist, John Heartfield. Laibach concerts have sometimes aesthetically appeared as political rallies. When interviewed, they answer in wry manifestos, showing a paradoxical lust and condemnation for authority. [2]

Laibach's method is extremely simple, effective and horribly open to misinterpretation. First of all, they absorb the mannerisms of the enemy, adopting all the seductive trappings and symbols of state power, and then they exaggerate everything to the edge of parody... Next they turn their focus to highly charged issues — the West's fear of immigrants from Eastern Europe, the power games of the EU, the analogies between Western democracy and totalitarianism. [Wolfson, 2003]

Laibach is also known for their cover versions, which are often used to subvert the original message or intention of the song - most notable being their cover version of the song "Life is Life" on the album Opus Dei, which completely changes the meaning of the original song ("Live Is Life") from the original writers' (Opus (band)), an Austrian arena rock band) intentions. Whereas the original is a feel-good reggae anthem, Laibach's subversive interpretation twists the melody into a sinister, rolling military march. The refrain is at one instance translated into German, giving an eerie example of the sensitivity of its lyrics to context.

Other notable covers include the entirety of the Beatles album Let It Be (with the exception of the title track) and their album Sympathy for the Devil which deconstructs the Rolling Stones song of the same name with seven different covers of the song. Opus Dei (itself titled apparently in reference to their cover of Opus's reggae anthem "Live is Life") features a cover of Queen's "One Vision" with the lyrics translated into German under the title Geburt einer Nation, starkly revealing the ambiguity of lines like "One race one hope/One real decision". In NATO, they also memorably rework Europe's hair-metal anthem "The Final Countdown" as a Wagnerian disco epic.

Laibach recently covered the song Ohne Dich by Rammstein in a significantly altered version. It features male and female vocals (supplied by Laibach's Milan Fras and Mina ©piler from the band Melodrom), as opposed to the solo male vocals in the Rammstein version. The orchestral sound of the original has been supplemented, and in some sections replaced, by a more electronic element.

Theatre of Tragedy is a Norwegian band from Stavanger, originally assembled in 1992 and best known for their earlier albums, which provided a great deal of influence to the gothic metal genre. The band made use of contrasting vocals - male bass vocals (making some use of death grunts) and female soprano singing (commonly referred to as "Beauty and the Beast" vocals) - and on their first three albums, presented lyrics written predominantly in Early Modern English. Starting from the album Musique, however, Theatre of Tragedy made drastic changes to its style, which became significantly inspired by the industrial rock genre, abandoning Early Modern English writing and death grunts in the process.

Theatre of Tragedy was founded in 1992 by Raymond István Rohonyi and Pål Bjåstad. Drummer Hein Frode Hansen quit his former band "Phobia" in 1993 and started looking for a new musical project to play in. A friend of his told Hein that a band called Suffering Grief was looking for a new drummer, and after entering in contact with them, he joined the band. At the time, Suffering Grief was composed of vocalist Raymond István Rohonyi, keyboard player Lorentz Aspen and guitarists Pål Bjåstad and Tommy Lindal. No bassist had joined the band yet, but Eirik T. Saltrø had agreed to play with them in live concerts.

After finding a rehearsal place, the band decided to work upon a couple of piano arrangements composed by Lorentz. The vocals, at the time, were mostly entirely composed by raw death grunts.

After composing their first song, "Lament of the Perishing Roses", the band changed its name to La Reine Noir and then to Theatre of Tragedy. They subsequently invited singer Liv Kristine Espenæs to do female vocals for one song, but quickly invited her to join the band permanently.

In 1994, their first studio demo was recorded, and in 1995, the debut album Theatre of Tragedy was released, followed by Velvet Darkness They Fear in 1996 and the Rose for the Dead EP in 1997, which contained unreleased material from Velvet Darkness. Arguably, the band reached the apogee of its career in 1998, with the release of the critically acclaimed album Aégis.

In 2003 Liv Kristine assembled a band (Leaves' Eyes) with her husband Alexander Krull and musicians from his band Atrocity. Later on in August 2003, following Theatre of Tragedy's genre switch to industrial rock in their albums Musique (2000) and Assembly (2002), the band declared in an official statement [1] on their website, that Liv Kristine was removed from the band's line-up due to "musical differences which could not be bridged". Liv Kristine, for her part, claimed in a statement on her website that she was fired via e-mail, and not personally informed of the fact by any of the band members. [2]. It is speculated that the reason for her firing was mostly in part due to her move to Germany that same year. Due to her relocation and commitment to Leaves' Eyes, it made it difficult for the rest of the band to keep in contact with Liv.

Female singer Nell Sigland (from The Crest) joined Theatre of Tragedy on the following year. In winter 2004/2005 a short concert tour (together with Pain, Sirenia and Tiamat) with Sigland singing was performed.

The band released their sixth studio album Storm on March 24, 2006 and a European tour followed, with Gothminister as supporting act. The single to the album's title song was released on February 24, 2006. The new release sees the band taking a step away from the industrial and electronic sounds of the last two albums, and could be seen as a mixture between the sound of Aégis and Musique.

Lineup

* Raymond István Rohonyi - Vocals & Programming
* Nell Sigland - Vocals
* Frank Claussen - Guitar
* Vegard K. Thorsen - Guitar
* Lorentz Aspen - Keyboards
* Hein Frode Hansen - Drums

Former members

* Liv Kristine Espenæs Krull - Vocals
* Tommy Lindal - Guitar
* Tommy Olsson - Guitar
* Pål Bjåstad - Guitar
* Geir Flikkeid - Guitar
* Eirik T. Saltrø - Bass

Discography

Albums

* Theatre of Tragedy (1995)
* Velvet Darkness They Fear (1996)
* Aégis (1998)
* Musique (2000)
* Closure: Live (2001)
* Assembly (2002)
* Two Originals (Compilation, 2003)
* Storm (2006)

Singles and EPs

* Theatre of Tragedy (Demo, 1994)
* Der Tanz Der Schatten (Single, 1996)
* A Rose for the Dead (EP, 1997)
* Cassandra (Single, 1998)
* Image (Single, 2000)
* Machine (Single, 2001)
* Inperspective (EP, 2001)
* Let You Down (Single, 2002)
* Envision (Single, 2002)
* Storm (Single, 2006)

Amorphis is a Finnish metal band started by Jan Rechberger, Tomi Koivusaari and Esa Holopainen in 1990. Amorphis absorbed and incorporated influences from many metal genres, and with time passing their sound evolved dramatically. Initially, the band was a Death Metal act, but with time they have evolved into making music that is more classifiable as doom metal with folk influences, and, more recently, progressive metal and hard rock, utilizing increasingly complex arrangements and a less brutal sound.