Formed in Orange County, California, USA by Scott Hill (vocals/guitar), Ruben Romano (drums), Brad Davis (bass) and Eddie Glass (lead guitar). Their debut EP was released in 1990, establishing their headily psychedelic, groove-orientated approach. Wh…

In the second half of the 1990s, there was no shortage of bands eager to resurrect the heavy-rock musical values of the '70s. Unlike many of these, whose methods were either slavishly derivative or too post-modern/jokey, the Queens of the Stone Age m…

New Jersey's Monster Magnet have been space truckin' on the highways of seriously heavy, drug-fueled guitar rock since the late 1980s. The band trades in massive Black Sabbath-style riffs and is cloaked in a Hawkwind-inspired outer space aesthetic. M…

During the late 1980s, guitarist/vocalist Page Hamilton formed the NYC-based Helmet after stints with Glenn Branca's "guitar orchestra" and the Branca-affiliated Band of Susans. Combining remarkably heavy riffs with tight rhythms, spare song structur…

This noise-metal quartet was formed in 1991 by childhood friends Neil Fallon (vocals), Tim Sult (guitar), Dan Maines (bass) and Jean-Paul Gaster (drums), who grew up together in Germantown, Maryland, USA. The band drew from hardcore, metal, punk and …

The late Kurt Cobain of Nirvana described the US rock band the Melvins as his favourite group. Unsurprising, perhaps, as they are the only other band of note to originate from his hometown of Aberdeen in the USA (though they have since relocated to S…

Guitaristvocalist Matt Pike bass player George Rice and drummer Des Kensel formed High on Fire in 1999 following the collapse of Pikes previous band doom metal titans Sleep But while Sleep had built their fame on impossibly slothful tunes and copious…

This San Jose, California, USA-based doom metal band drew from 60s and 70s influences, including Black Sabbath, Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd, to produce their own retro-styled brand of "stoner' metal, a term derived from the band's smoking habits, eve…

A US heavy metal "supergroup", Down were formed in the early 90s by Phil Anselmo (b. 30 June 1968, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; vocals, Pantera), Pepper Keenan (guitar, Corrosion Of Conformity), Kirk Windstein (guitar, Crowbar), Todd Strange (bass, C…

Formed in 1984, Sepultura put Brazilian metal on the map. Their early recordings are typified by speed, aggression, and anger, much of which stemmed from the band's preoccupations with the poor social conditions in their native land. Few metal groups…

The Melvins have the dubious honor of being one of the very first bands to which the term grunge can be aptly applied. The Aberdeen, Washington trio's formula is simple enough: take the fierce, riff-heavy crunch of punk and metal and slow it down. Co…

Although Nirvana and Pearl Jam may have been the most commercially successful bands of the 1990s Seattle movement, Soundgarden was every bit as important and influential. Part Black Sabbath/part Ramones, Soundgarden helped unite both punks and metalh…

While a select few hard rock bands incorporated rap into their sound (Anthrax, Faith No More, etc.), it was Rage Against The Machine that perfected and popularized the rap-metal genre in the 1990s. Unlike the aforementioned bands, the Los Angeles-bas…

San Francisco's Faith No More began dispensing their funk-laden thrash metal in the early 1980s with vocalist Chuck Moseley. When tensions led to the firing of Moseley, the band found a fitting replacement in Mr. Bungle frontman Mike Patton. Their cl…

Metallica deflated the pomposity of 1970s rock, while reinvigorating heavy metal with their fast, fierce, and surprisingly melodic sound. Pioneers of the thrash metal subgenre, vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich set down the fo…

When death metal is mentioned, you can't help but automatically think of the genre's originators--Slayer. By merging brutal speed metal and scream-singing with disturbingly dark tales of death, the occult, and serial killers, the California quartet h…

Though Chicago's Ministry is known as the archetypal industrial rock band, they actually started out as a dour synth-funk outfit before founder Alain Jourgensen really ratcheted up the noise and the gloom on 1988's THE LAND OF RAPE & HONEY. In so doi…

This mid-80s American hardcore crossover band, originally known as No Labels, was formed in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA, in 1982 by Reed Mullin (drums), Woody Weatherman (guitar) and Mike Dean (bass/vocals), and rose to become one of the biggest dra…

Heavy metal rockers that compose Orange Goblin are Martyn Millard bass Ben Ward vocals Joe Hoari guitar Pete OMally guitar and Chris Turner drums and together these fine bandmates compose the harsh doom rock sounds similar to the likes of Mammoth Vol…

Founded in the late 1990s by Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan and guitar tech Billy Howerdel, A Perfect Circle takes the former group's brooding sonic template and lightens the heavy, prog-rock load with more melodic arrangements and varied instrum…