HELLOWEEN

HELLOWEEN are known as the inventors of 'German Melodic-Speed-Metal’ and are creative pioneers and one of the most successful Metal bands in personal union since their beginnings in 1984. If there is a golden thread throughout more than 25 years of band history, 13 studio albums, countless headliner tours around the globe and far more than 5 million sold records, then it's the special kind of humor: don't take yourself too seriously and simply live statements like: ‘just have fun with the shit you're doing.’ Maybe it's exactly this easiness, that allows HELLOWEEN to be one of the most constant bands of the genre, and yet the one that at the same time dares to experiment more than others and has defined Metal in advanced and modern ways for decades. While some copycats rather stick with the same old patterns, Andi Deris, Michael Weikath, Sascha Gerstner, Markus Großkopf and Dani Löble aren't afraid of risking something - and are rightfully rewarded with success.

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DEATH ANGEL

Not every band can rise up to a musical legend but every once in a while, a group is able to exceed all expectations, to define the boundaries and even extravagate them – the sky’s the limit! Among the youngest bands ever to storm the metal genre, to take the Thrash Olympus by assault and to cut their own path, DEATH ANGEL have come to be known as one of the most influential bands to emerge from the thriving Bay Area Thrash Metal scene in the early 80s due to their inventive style and speedy, complex arrangements. But DEATH ANGEL weren’t just a band, they were family! The band was formed in 1982 by five cousins, guitarists Rob Cavestany and Gus Pepa, bassist Dennis Pepa, drummer Andy Galeon and vocalist Mark Osegueda, who stayed together all the way through the first era of the band's history.

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U.D.O.

Sometimes words are just totally insufficient to describe the importance of an artist. When Udo Dirkschneider left his band Accept in 1986 as a result of musical disagreement it was clear that he will continue to make music in the tradition of the legendary Accept albums ‘Balls To The Wall (1983), ‘Metal Heart (1985)’ or ‘Russian Roulette (1986) with his own band. ‘Animal House (1987)’, ‘Mean Machine (1988)’, ‘Faceless World (1989)’ and ‘Time Bomb (1991)’ hit successfully the spirit of Accept: riffs as sharp as a knife, catchy melodies and the inimitable rough voice of Udo put further accents and let the trademark ‘Teutonic Metal’ progress to an international recognized seal of approval. After the massive required Accept-reunion in 1992 with the truthful comeback-album ‘Objection Overruled’ (1993), ‘Death Row’ (1994) and ‘Predator’ (1996) it was crystallized again that the musical development from Udo and Stefan on the one as well as guitarist Wolf Hoffmann and bassist Peter Baltes on the other hand had more then ever inconsistently spread in different ways. After a worldwide Accept-farewell-tour history repeats ones more and Dirkschneider and Kaufmann now together re-establish U.D.O. Dirkschneider returns with U.D.O., starting his comeback with ‘Solid’ in 1997, followed by ‘No Limits’, „Holy’, the eagerly awaited live album „Live In Russia’ (2001), ‘Man And Machine’ and ‘Nailed To Metal’. As you can imagine the high class of the previous U.D.O. releases seems hard to top, but the band recorded in 2003 a brilliant and extremely powerful new cd entitled ‘Thunderball’ that is able for the first to compete with such classics as ‘Balls To The Wall’, ‘Russian Roulette’ or ‘Animal House’. The album impresses more than ever with a versitileness, concise riffs, earwig-melodies, aliveness as well as a good portion of quantity of soul - ‘Trainride In Russia’ (Poezd Po Rossii) e.g. is flanked with influences from the Russian folklore as well as the sensitive classical orientated song ‘Blind Eyes’ stand for a tremendous musical dynamic of ‘Thunderball’. In 2005 U.D.O. then released the ‘Mission No. X’. album, but 2007 would see him release what is widely accepted as the most successful U.D.O. album to date. ‘Mastercutor’, according to press and fans alike, somehow marked a ‘reinvention’ of the band. Although still classic Heavy Metal the album showed a new side to U.D.O. and all was justified when the said album entered the German charts at #39, not only proof of the class and longevity of the whole line up and band but the highest chart entry in more than 20 years of U.D.O. history. A live album soon followed to celebrate. On ‘Dominator’, U.D.O. once again displays the charismatic Heavy Metal sound that has made him famous. Overall it sums up perfectly what he stands for (and what Accept itself stood for). With its up-to-date sound (another trademark also of ‘Mastercutor’), there’s a huge selection from all episodes of Udo´s illustrious career: the classic riffing and charismatic choruses that might hark back to Accept (‘Black And White’), the more epic/orchestral sounds of the ‘Faceless World’ album (1990) (‘Stillness Of Time’), a ‘Man And Machine’-like grooving thunderbolt entitled ‘Heavy Metal Heaven’, and the straight up, in your face headbangers, ‘Dominator’ and ‘The Bogeyman’ mixing smoothly with the ballad ‘Whispers In The Dark’, but this album is not to be taken lightly – this is once again a great statement from a great statesman. Dirkschneider intends to stay true to Heavy Metal and no one is going to stop him!

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FORBIDDEN

Vocalist Russ Anderson grew up in Los Angeles but moved to San Francisco in 1984. He didn't know anyone but put an ad out in music stores. Rob Flynn (Vio-Lence, Machine Head) called him and in March of 1985 the thrash metal band FORBIDDEN Evil (they were known under that monicker in their early days prior to the release of their debut album) was formed. They played regular shows with bands like Exodus and Testament. In July of 1987 they entered the Sunnyvall Studios to record a three song demo. This demo led to them signing a deal with Combat Records, supported by their manager Debby Abono. The band released the classic album ‘FORBIDDEN Evil’ and played the Dynamo Open Air Festival and also recorded the concert for the mini album ‘Raw Evil Live @ the Dynamo’. In 1990 the band toured Europe to promote ‘Twisted Into Form’ with new guitarist Tim Calvert for one of the finest metal albums to date. After the album there was a change of drummers as original drummer Paul Bostaph left to make way for Steve Jacobs. It wouldn't be until 1994 that they started to record new material and by 1995 the album Distortion was released by Gun Records (in Europe). More label problems seem to haunt the band but they still manage to record and release 1997's ‘Green’ on Gun Records and a tour ‘what the fuck am I alive for’ in support of Testament swept across America showing everone just what the Bay Area metal scene was all about. Soon after with no label support they disband with Tim joining Nevermore and Craig, Steve and Matt going on to form a more radio friendly style music with Manmadegod. Over the years FORBIDDEN has had many great players contributing to the music. In 2008 the band came together for the first time in 11 years for a short re-union tour that included Russ Anderson on vocals, Craig Locicero and Glen Alvalais on guitar, Matt Camacho on bass, Mark Hernandez (Vio-Lence, Torque, Defiance) and the Great Gene Hoglan (Dark Angel, Death, Strapping Young Lad,…) on drums. Even Paul Bostaph (Slayer, Testament) sat in for three shows. After the shows (Graspop Metal Meeting, Bang Your Head Festival, Hellfest, Waldrock, 2 shows in Japan with Testament & Voivod and a bunch of other gigs) were completed in 2008, four of FORBIDDEN were motivated and inspired enough to start working together closely and create music once again. A conscious decision was made to continue moving forward and write a new FORBIDDEN album, the first in 13 years! After many conversations and soul searching the band decided on the following line up to accomplish this. Early 2009 the band announced the following on their website: ‘We would like to proudly announce that the line up for this new album and all of our up coming shows are, Russ Anderson, Craig Locicero, Steve Smyth, Matt Camacho, and Mark Hernandez. That being said, the re-union is now over and the future of FORBIDDEN has begun. Mark and Steve are officially members of FORBIDDEN! We are extremely excited about Steve Smyth joining us for our newest chapter! Steve has been jamming and writing with us already and is a perfect compliment to the new material. The chemistry between the five of us has been a real inspiration, Steve is just the fresh blood we needed to carry out such an endeavor. Yes, the new material will be what you would want and expect with more then a few surprises. It will absolutely be FORBIDDEN.... Evil and Twisted!!!’

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HELSTAR

HELSTAR were founded in 1981 in Houston, Texas. The band started with high goals, but who could forsee that shortly after HELSTAR should build a legacy and a reputation as one of the most technically skilled and intense U.S. power metal outfits. With a singer like James Rivera (who was later also part of Vicious Rumors, Seven Witches and Destiny´s End) the band found a charismatic frontman with a unique voice. But also the razor-sharp, powerful riffs and guitar licks of Barragan and Trevino, combined with the enormous technical skills that the whole band displayed, became one of the main trademarks of HELSTAR.

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ANACRUSIS

ANACRUSIS' first demo, Annihilation Complete was voted Best Demo of 1987 by the readers of Metal Forces magazine and was later included in the publication's Demolition... Scream Your Brains Out! compilation album. This led to a deal with England-based indie Active Records, for whom the group created its first album, Suffering Hour, the following year on a meager $1,200 budget in just under a week. The following Reason album began revealing signs of the band's popular sound. ANACRUSIS toured in support of the band D.R.I., but without an album released on an American label, the drummer Mike Owen left to join the United States Navy shortly after they returned home. Former Heaven's Flame member Chad Smith took over the drums, while the band was eventually signed to the American label Metal Blade Records.

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VICIOUS RUMORS

August 27, 1979 - Geoff Thorpe moves from Hawaii to Santa Rosa, California, to pursue his musical career and start his own band. For the first year, before even having the band together, Geoff went to every concert and club show, passing out VICIOUS RUMORS business cards, which helped to generate a interest in the music scene when the band did start finally playing out in the clubs.

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COMMUNIC

If you like progressiv metal, there is no way without COMMUNIC.

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AFTER ALL

Those who thought AFTER ALL reached their creative peak with the previous album ‘This Violent Decline’, think again! ‘Cult Of Sin’ displays a band that is determined and focused to deliver an outstanding collection of modern thrash songs, overpowering the previous AFTER ALL albums in every aspect. Once more, AFTER ALL showcase the art of combining relentless thrash with power and melody. And first and foremost: the band delivers real songs, with memorable verses and choruses, and not just some endless stack of riffs.

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IZEGRIM

IZEGRIM recorded and released its first propaganda on tape, called 'Most Evil Demo' in spring 1998. The demo (featuring symphonic deathmetal) was generally received very positively by the media. IZEGRIM released the self-financed mini-CD 'Bird of Prey' in the summer of 1999. From the start, IZEGRIM was received very well by both the media and audience at live-gigs.

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