Watchtower (band)
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Watchtower (band)
Watchtower is an American progressive metal band based in Austin, Texas, active from 1982 to 1993 and they have reunited occasionally since 1999. The band has released two studio albums―''Energetic Disassembly'' (1985) and ''Control and Resistance'' (1989)―as well as one compilation album, four digital singles, one EP and three demo cassettes, and has been featured on numerous compilation albums. They are also notable for featuring vocalist Jason McMaster, who left Watchtower after the release of ''Energetic Disassembly'' to form Dangerous Toys, and was replaced by Alan Tecchio, who appeared on ''Control and Resistance'' and the band's 2016 EP '' Concepts of Math: Book One''. Influenced by the progressive rock and then-burgeoning new wave of British heavy metal scenes, Watchtower has been credited (along with Voivod and Coroner) for helping pioneer the subgenre of "technical thrash metal" (also known as "progressive thrash metal"), which mixed elements of progressive music ...
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Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the List of United States cities by population, 11th-most-populous city in the United States, the List of cities in Texas by population, fourth-most-populous city in Texas, the List of capitals in the United States, second-most-populous state capital city, and the most populous state capital that is not also the most populous city in its state. It has been one of the fastest growing large cities in the United States since 2010. Downtown Austin and Downtown San Antonio are approximately apart, and both fall along the Interstate 35 corridor. Some observers believe that the two regions may some day form a new "metroplex" similar to Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, Dallas and Fort Worth. Austin i ...
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Book One
A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical arrangement is ''codex'' (plural, ''codices''). In the history of hand-held physical supports for extended written compositions or records, the codex replaces its predecessor, the scroll. A single sheet in a codex is a leaf and each side of a leaf is a page. As an intellectual object, a book is prototypically a composition of such great length that it takes a considerable investment of time to compose and still considered as an investment of time to read. In a restricted sense, a book is a self-sufficient section or part of a longer composition, a usage reflecting that, in antiquity, long works had to be written on several scrolls and each scroll had to be identified by the book it contained. Each part of Aristotle's ''Physics'' is called a bo ...
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Symphony X
Symphony X is an American progressive metal band from Middletown, New Jersey. Founded in 1994, the band consists of guitarist Michael Romeo, keyboardist Michael Pinnella, drummer Jason Rullo, lead vocalist Russell Allen and bassist Michael Lepond. They achieved some commercial success with the 2007 album '' Paradise Lost'' and the 2011 album ''Iconoclast'', which reached number 76 on the Billboard 200. Symphony X is often compared to other progressive metal bands such as Dream Theater, Fates Warning, and Shadow Gallery. Their music includes complex timings and odd meters while incorporating elements of heavy metal and progressive rock. Their early albums in particular contain strong neo-classical elements reminiscent of Yngwie Malmsteen, Randy Rhoads, and others. The band have been categorized as progressive metal, power metal, and neoclassical metal, though the band themselves dislike genre labels with Romeo stating they can be "misleading sometimes ... at the core of i ...
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Cynic (band)
Cynic is an American progressive metal band formed in Miami, Florida in 1987 and later re-formed in Los Angeles, California in 2007, where the sole surviving member, Paul Masvidal remains to this day. Cynic incorporates elements of progressive rock, alternative, and metal. Their first album, ''Focus'', was released in 1993. Cynic disbanded in 1994, but they reunited in 2006 and released their second album in 2008. ''Traced in Air'' was released through French label Season of Mist, followed up by an EP titled ''Re-Traced'' in 2010 and an EP titled Carbon-Based Anatomy in 2011. Their third studio album, ''Kindly Bent to Free Us'', was released in 2014. In December 2017, after two years of an uncertain future, founding member Sean Reinert confirmed his split from Cynic. Reinert died at the age of 48 in January 2020. Longtime Cynic bass player Sean Malone died at the age of 50 eleven months later, leaving Masvidal as the only remaining original core member. History Demo era ...
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Pestilence (band)
Pestilence is a Dutch death metal band from Enschede, founded in 1986. There have been numerous lineup changes with the band over their -year career, with guitarist and vocalist Patrick Mameli as the only constant member. After disbanding in order to pursue other musical directions in 1994, Pestilence reunited in 2008, and was put on a "permanent hold" in July 2014. However, the band reunited once again in October 2016. To date, Pestilence has released nine studio albums, and they are often known as part of "progressive death metal's Big Four", along with Death, Atheist, and Cynic. History Early career (1986–1990) Pestilence started in the Netherlands in mid-1986 as a thrash metal band. The lineup, consisting of Patrick Mameli (guitar, vocals), Randy Meinhard (guitar), and Marco Foddis (drums), recorded two demos before gaining the attention of Roadrunner Records. After the first demo, Martin van Drunen (bass, vocals) joined them. These two demos – ''Dysentery'' (1987) and ' ...
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Atheist (band)
Atheist is an American death metal band from Florida, founded in 1984 by the vocalist and rhythm guitarist Kelly Shaefer, lead guitarist Rand Burkey, bassist Roger Patterson and drummer Steve Flynn. The band is known for its highly technical playing style, and its 1991 album ''Unquestionable Presence'' is regarded as a landmark of the technical death metal genre. After disbanding in 1994, the group reformed in 2006 and has since released one studio album and a live DVD. History The band was originally formed in 1984 in Sarasota, Florida, firstly under the name Oblivion and later as R.A.V.A.G.E. (which stands for "Raging Atheists Vowing A Gory End"). They recorded their first album, ''Piece of Time'', in 1988, though the album was not released until 1990 due to record company issues. In 1991, Patterson died in a car accident and Atheist recruited Tony Choy (previously a member of Cynic) to record their second album, ''Unquestionable Presence''. Atheist disbanded for the firs ...
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Annihilator (band)
Annihilator is a Canadian thrash metal band founded in Ottawa in 1984. It is the highest-selling Canadian thrash metal group in history, having sold more than three million albums worldwide, although most sales have been generated outside of Canada. Along with Sacrifice, Voivod and Razor, Annihilator is known as one of the "big four" of Canadian thrash metal. They are also considered to be part of the "second wave" of thrash metal bands from the late 1980s and early 1990s. Annihilator has released seventeen studio albums and undergone many line-up changes. Waters is the only remaining original member, and assembles touring or session musicians to perform with him. Annihilator's first two studio albums, ''Alice in Hell'' (1989) and ''Never, Neverland'' (1990), are considered to be influential Canadian heavy metal records. Many of their later albums — including their third, and only major-label album '' Set the World on Fire'' (1993) — also received praise from critics, and ...
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Death (metal Band)
Death was an American death metal band formed in Altamonte Springs, Florida, in 1984 by Chuck Schuldiner. Death is considered to be among the most influential bands in heavy metal music and a pioneering force in death metal. The band's 1987 debut album, ''Scream Bloody Gore'', has been widely regarded as one of the first death metal records, alongside the first records from Possessed and Necrophagia. Death had a revolving lineup, with Schuldiner being the sole consistent member. The group's style also progressed, from the raw sound on its first two albums to a more sophisticated one in its later stage. The band ceased to exist after Schuldiner died of glioma and pneumonia in December 2001, but remains an enduring influence on heavy metal. History Early history (1984–1987) Founded in 1984 by Chuck Schuldiner under the original name of Mantas in Altamonte Springs, Florida, Death was among the more widely known early pioneers of the death metal sound, along with California's ...
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Dream Theater
Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of their studies to concentrate further on the band that would eventually become Dream Theater. Their current lineup consists of Petrucci, Myung, vocalist James LaBrie, keyboardist Jordan Rudess and drummer Mike Mangini. Over the course of various lineup changes, Petrucci and Myung have been the only two constant members, and Portnoy remained with the band until 2010, when he left to pursue other musical endeavors and he has since been replaced by Mangini. After a brief stint with Chris Collins (singer), Chris Collins, followed by Charlie Dominici (who was dismissed from Dream Theater not long after the release of their When Dream and Day Unite, first album), LaBrie was hired as the band's singer in 1991. Dream Theater's first keyboardist, Kevin ...
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Heavy Metal Music
Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With roots in blues rock, psychedelic rock and acid rock, heavy metal bands developed a thick, monumental sound characterized by distortion (music), distorted guitars, extended guitar solos, emphatic Beat (music), beats and loudness. In 1968, three of the genre's most famous pioneers – Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple – were founded. Though they came to attract wide audiences, they were often derided by critics. Several American bands modified heavy metal into more accessible forms during the 1970s: the raw, sleazy sound and shock rock of Alice Cooper and Kiss (band), Kiss; the blues-rooted rock of Aerosmith; and the flashy guitar leads and party rock of Van Halen. During the mid-1970s, Judas Priest helped spur the genre's evolution by discarding much of its blues influence,Walser (1993), p. 6 while Motörhea ...
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Thrash Metal
Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . The songs usually use fast percussive beats and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead guitar work. The lyrical subject matter often includes criticism of The Establishment and concern over environmental destruction, and at times shares a disdain for Christian dogma with that of black metal. The language is typically direct and denunciatory, an approach borrowed from hardcore punk. The genre emerged in the early 1980s as musicians began fusing the double bass drumming and complex guitar stylings of the new wave of British heavy metal (NWOBHM) with the speed and aggression of hardcore punk. Philosophically, thrash metal developed as a backlash against both the conservatism of the Reagan Era and the much more moder ...
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Coroner (band)
Coroner is a Swiss thrash metal band from Zürich. They garnered relatively little attention outside of Europe. Formed in 1983, the band broke up in 1996, but reformed 14 years later.It's Official: Coroner To Reunite For Appearance At Next Year's Hellfest
Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved on 30 June 2010.
The band has performed at multiple live venues and festivals around worldwide since 2011, and plans to release their first studio album in nearly three decades in 2023. Coroner's music combines elements of Thrash metal, thrash, classical music, avant-garde music, progressive rock, jazz, and industrial metal with suitably gruff vocals. With their increasingly complex style of p ...
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