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When you hear the term "heavy metal," the first association that springs to mind is certainly Iron Maiden, perhaps alongside Metallica, and not without reason. After all, the band has consistently been one of the most successful bands in the genre since the early 1980s and is one of the most famous in the genre. Even outside the metal scene, every child knows the band's mascot, Eddie the Head. This success, however, was anything but foreseeable when the maidens were founded in 1975 by Paul Day…

When metal first emerged in the 1970s, the majority of bands were primarily based in England; other countries played a minor role at that time. It was in Solingen in 1971 that a band was formed that would spread this music beyond the UK's borders and help the German metal scene achieve its current size. Their name: Accept.

But the road to global fame was long. The first lineup, consisting of Udo Dirkschneider (vocals), Michael Wagener (guitar), Dieter Rubach (bass), and Birke Hoe (drums),…

Arguably one of the biggest and most well-known Finnish bands of all time, Nightwish was founded in 1996 by Tarja Turunen (vocals), Emppu Vuorinen (guitar & bass), and Tuomas Holopainen (keyboards). They were joined by drummer Jukka Nevalainen and Sami Vänskä, who took over from Emppu on bass, before recording their debut album, "Angels Fall First," in 1997. The album offered a relatively typical keyboard-heavy power metal sound and would hardly have been special if Tarja's voice, the band's…

One of the biggest and most important US death metal bands was founded in 1984 under the name Executioner by John Tardy (vocals) and his brother Donald (drums). However, after realizing that a band with that name already existed, the band initially renamed themselves Xecutioner and later Obituary. While there had been several member changes at the beginning of their career, their debut album, "Slowly We Rot," featured a lineup that, in addition to the Tardy brothers, consisted of Allen West and…

One of the most controversial metal bands of all time is certainly Sonata Arctica, founded in 1996 in Finland under the name Tricky Beans under mastermind Tony Kakko (vocals and keyboards), Tommy Portimo (drums), Pentti Peura (bass), Jani Liimatainen, and Marko Paasikoski (both guitars). Some like the band's highly melodic style, while others condemn its lack of heaviness. However, it cannot be denied that, despite all the controversy, the Laplanders have developed into one of the most…

Def Leppard were formed in England in 1977 by Joe Elliot (vocals & guitar), Pete Willis (guitar), Rick Savage (bass), and Tony Kenning (drums). Joe soon gave up guitar, and Steve Clark joined the band instead. There were also several changes on drums before Rick Allen took over. Their debut album, "On Through The Night," was released in 1980 with this lineup. It featured heavy metal with strong hard rock and even some glam influences, albeit in the background. Unfortunately, they sometimes took…

It was 1989 when the Swedes Robert Sennebäck (guitar & vocals), Fredrik Lindgren (guitar), Johnny Hedlund (bass & vocals), and Anders Schultz (drums) founded the band Unleashed. However, Robert left after just a year, and Tomas Olsson took over on guitar. Another year later, their first album, "Where No Life Dwells," was released, featuring a real hit, "For They Shall Be Slain." The band's logo, featuring an upside-down cross, certainly caused a bit of a stir, but musically, Unleashed…

Stratovarius formed in Finland in 1984, back then still under the name Black Water. Lineup changes were frequent in the early days, but by the time their debut album, "Fright Night" – by then retitled Stratovarius – was released in 1989, the lineup consisted of Timo Tolkki (vocals and guitar), Jyrki Lentonen (bass), Antti Ikonen (keyboards), and Tuomo Lassila (drums). The album offered power metal, which could be understood as a watered-down version of Black Sabbath, enriched with all sorts…

The band was formed in England in the late 1970s when Mantas and Abaddon met at a Judas Priest gig. They quickly brought three more musicians on board, adopted evil-sounding pseudonyms, and began making heavy music with a satanic image. The initial phase was marked by several lineup changes; original singer Jesus Christ soon left the band, and former guitarist Cronos took over the vocals. When the band also lost its bassist, Cronos took over the bass as well, and thus, in 1980, the lineup with…

In 1990, just as a death metal scene was emerging in Sweden, a certain Jesper Strömblad (drums, guitar, keyboards) formed his band with his colleagues Johan Larsson (bass) and Anders Iwers (guitar). Their name was In Flames. Before the band could really gain attention, however, Anders was already out, briefly replaced by a certain Carl Näslund and then by the much more famous Glenn Ljungström. They also had a singer in the band for a while, but he quickly left. When their debut album, "Lunar…

I've been looking forward to this biography for a while. Suffocation was founded in 1990 by singer Frank Mullen, string players Terrance Hobbs and Guy Marchais, bassist Josh Barohn, and drummer Mike Smith. They quickly signed a deal with the (then) mini-label Relapse Records and released "Effigy Of The Forgotten" just a year later. The album, with arguably the most gruesome sound since those of various black metal bands in the early 1980s, was a huge success and revolutionized the death metal…

Dark Tranquility was founded in 1989 by singer Anders Fridén, guitarists Niklas Sundin and Mikael Stanne, drummer Anders Jivarp, and bassist Martin Henriksson, none of whom could even play an instrument at the beginning. Back then, they were still called Septic Broiler. When they made a stylistic shift from thrash to (later dubbed) melo death metal a year later, they felt the name was somewhat inappropriate and renamed themselves Dark Tranquility. The new musical style certainly sounded very…

There's hardly a band formed in the mid-1980s that doesn't cite Iron Maiden as a major influence, but hardly any other band is as strongly influenced by this influence as Iced Earth. Even when the band was founded in 1984 by Gene Adams (vocals), Richard Bateman (bass), Greg Seymour (drums), and Bill Owens and Jon Schaffer (guitar) under the name Purgatory, the influence of the virgins was unmistakable, and the band has maintained this influence ever since.

The name was soon changed to Iced…

The year was 1964 when Vincent Furnier (vocals), Michael Bruce (guitar & keyboard), Glen Buxton (guitar), Dennis Dunaway (bass), and Neal Smith (drums) formed their band The Earwigs. After several name changes (The Earwigs - The Spiders - The Nazz - Alice Cooper), the band finally settled on its definitive name in 1969 and released their debut album, "Pretties For You," which, however, was a completely insignificant album and received little public attention. The era of heavy music hadn't yet…

At The Gates was founded in 1990 by brothers Jonas (bass) and Anders Björler (guitar), along with Tomas Lindberg (vocals), Adrian Erlandsson (drums), and Alf Svensson (guitar). Barely two years later, the young Swedes not only had a record deal but also released their first album, "The Red In The Sky Is Ours." The album offered relatively chaotic, black metal-influenced death metal, but also reflected influences from thrash metal and hardcore. Despite the extremely muddy production, the album…

Death was founded in 1983 by guitarist Chuck Schuldiner along with his friends Rick Rozz (guitar) and Kam Lee (drums), then still under the name Mantas. While Kam initially held the lead vocals, he was quickly replaced by Chuck. One year after the band received its final name, all members except Chuck left the band. Chuck subsequently performed with several different lineups, ultimately recording their debut album, "Scream Bloody Gore," in 1987 entirely on his own (except for the drums).…

Arguably the most well-known band in the New York death metal scene, Cannibal Corpse was founded in 1988 by Chris Barnes (vocals), Jack Owen, Bob Rusay (both guitars), Alex Webster (bass), and Paul Mazurkiewicz (drums). One year later, the band received a record deal with Metal Blade Records and began working on an album, which was released a year later under the title "Eaten Back To Life." The quintet offered technically demanding, relatively complex death metal, and they also managed to…

Bolt Thrower were formed in England in 1986 by Barry Thompson (guitar) and Gavin Ward (bass). The latter, however, also switched to a six-string guitar relatively quickly. After several changes, the band's initial lineup was completed by vocalist and bassist Karl Willetts (vocals), Jo Bench (guitar), and Andrew Whale (drums). They quickly entered the studio and recorded "In The Battle There Is No Law!" Although the album featured a very high-quality grindcore/death metal mix, it didn't quite…

Children Of Bodom were founded in 1992 by Alexi "Wildchild" Laiho (vocals & guitar) and Jaska Raatikainen (drums), although the band was still called Inearthed at the time. They initially joined the band with Samuli Miettinen (bass), who soon left the band and was replaced by Henkka "T. Blacksmith" Seppälä, as well as Alexander Kuoppala (guitar), and Jani Pirisjoki (keyboards). The latter also left before the first album, replacing Janne "Warman" Wirman. The band's musical style also changed.…

HammerFall was founded in Sweden in 1993 by Mikael Stanne (vocals), Jesper Strömblad (drums), and the string section consisting of Johan Larsson (bass), Niklas Sundin, and Oscar Dronjak (both guitars). Before the release of their first album in 1996, however, all but Oscar and Jesper had been replaced, so the lineup for "Glory To The Brave" consisted of Joacim Cans (vocals), Fredrik Larsson (bass), and Glenn Ljungström (guitar). The album was a huge success throughout Europe and marked the…