Iron Maiden

                Iron Maiden is the band that has been the inspiration of most bands around. All the bands in the Rock Genre that is, this band has been all around the world. They have sold millions of albums, shirts, jackets, DVD’s and posters. Founded by bassist Steve Harris in the mid ‘70s, Iron Maiden were already firmly established as heavy metal’s brightest hopes when they stormed the world with their third album (and first with vocalist Bruce Dickinson) The Number Of The Beast in 1982. Throughout the decade that followed, Maiden recorded and toured relentlessly with seven new studio albums and seven World Tours in the ‘80s alone. Cementing their reputation as the hardest-touring  band on the planet and with the unmistakable figure of band mascot Eddie adorning every album cover and T-shirt , Iron Maiden created a world of their own; one that welcomed fans from every culture, creed and social sphere with a guarantee of heartfelt conviction and unprecedented professionalism. Despite radio play around the world being limited to occasional heavy metal speciality shows and the band’s refusal to deal with celebrity and lifestyle-based mainstream media and magazines. The ‘90s proved to be a difficult time for heavy metal bands in general, but Iron Maiden ploughed  forward, coming up with more success with albums like 1992’s acclaimed Fear Of The Dark and even weathering the departure of Bruce Dickinson in 1993.

The band made two strong albums with new singer Blaze Bayley and continued to honor their commitment to intensive touring, delivering the goods at every show. However, it was the return of Dickinson and guitarist Adrian Smith (who originally left the band in 1990) in 1999 when  Iron Maiden became a six-piece, that established the ultimate Iron Maiden line-up of Bruce Dickinson on vocals, Steve Harris on bass, Nicko McBrain on drums and “the three amigos” – Adrian Smith, Dave Murray and Janick Gers - on guitar. This line-up has scaled new heights and become increasingly fearless and boldly creative since the release of the Brave New World album in 2000. They will be coming back soon in July! I will hopefully be going…. If the tickets aren’t too expensive.. They also have a band that has inspired them so much that they made a band of their own, all women, and they are cllaed Iron Maidens. They're not too bad!

Killswitch Engage

                      Killswitch Engage is an American metalcore band from Westfield, Massachusetts, formed in 1999 after the dismantlement of Overcast and Aftershock. Killswitch Engage's current lineup consists of vocalist Jesse Leach, bassist Mike D'Antonio, guitarists Joel Stroetzel and Adam Dutkiewicz, and drummer Justin Foley. The band has released five studio albums and one DVD. Killswitch Engage rose to fame with its 2004 release The End of Heartache, which peaked at number 21 on the Billboard 200, and was certified gold in December 2007 for over 500,000 shipments in the United States. The title track, "The End of Heartache", was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2005, and a live DVD titled (Set This) World Ablaze was released in 2005. Killswitch Engage has performed at festivals such as Wacken Open Air, Reading and Leeds Festivals, Ozzfest, Download Festival, Rock on the Range, Rock Am Ring, Mayhem Festival, Pointfest, and the Australian Soundwave Festival. The band has sold over four-million records in the United States alone and has been widely referred to as "one of the founders of metalcore.” I love these guys, they are amazing! They did a remake of the song Holy Diver that was originally sung by Ronnie James Dio. I think they will be coming to Indianapolis in May for Mayhem Fest! Hopefully I will be going!

Motionless in White

                Motionless in White is an American metalcore band from Scranton, Pennsylvania. Formed in 2005, the group is known for its dark horror-themed lyrics and physical appearances, that of which heavily correspond to gothic imagery. Motionless in White is currently signed to Fearless Records and have released two EPs and one full-length album. Their full-length, Creatures, reached position 175 on the Billboard 200 upon its release in 2010. Motionless in White was founded in 2005 by members Chris Cerulli, Angelo Parente, Frank Polumbo and Mike Costanza during high school. With a sound, at the time, being influenced by alternative rock, emo and post-hardcore bands, they incepted many other friends into the group until finally settling on what would be Motionless in White and later chose to follow a more heavy metal sound, descriptively; a metalcore musical style highly influenced by gothic and industrial metal bands and carried this sound on as their signature style after the release of their 2005 self-distributed demo. Motionless in White's renown musical style is primarily modern metalcore, with drawn-in influence from gothic and industrial metal genres.The band has even been dubbed as "gothic metalcore"and "horror-metal" by Fearnet. Being influenced from a wide variety of artists such as Marilyn Manson, Misfits, Bleeding Through, Cradle of Filth, Himsa, The Black Dahlia Murder and Eighteen Visions, the group's song structure commonly features intricate riffs coupled with blast beats during verses and breakdowns present in songs. The band's keyboard effects are also noted, having been claimed to add  "dark and uneasy atmosphere" to the group's music.

Bullet for my Valentine

                                Bullet for My Valentine is a Welsh heavy metal band from Bridgend, formed in 1998. The band is composed of Matt Tuck (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Michael Paget (lead guitar, backing vocals), Jason James (bass guitar, backing vocals), and Michael Thomas (drums). They were formed under the name Jeff Killed John and started their music career by covering songs by Metallica and Nirvana. Jeff Killed John recorded six songs which were not released; two of these tracks were reworked later in their career as Bullet for My Valentine. Financial difficulties dictated the name change, which was followed by a change in music direction. In 2002, the band secured a five-album deal with Sony BMG. The band has stated that their music is influenced by classic heavy metal acts such as Metallica, Iron Maiden, and Slayer. Bullet for My Valentine's debut album, The Poison, was released on 3 October 2005 in the UK and on Valentine's Day, 2006 in the US. It entered the Billboard 200 at number 128, and attained number 11 on the Independent Albums chart. On 30 January 2009, the album was certified gold by the RIAA after 500,000 copies were sold in the US. Four singles were released from The Poison: "4 Words (To Choke Upon)", "Suffocating Under Words of Sorrow (What Can I Do)", "All These Things I Hate (Revolve Around Me)", and "Tears Don't Fall". Bullet for My Valentine promoted the album by touring across the world. In 2005, with increased popularity, they played on the larger Download Festival Snickers stage; in 2006, the band were moved to near the top of the main stage bill. Other tours included opening for Metallica and Guns N' Roses in the summer of 2006, the Vans Warped Tour and Earthday Birthday.

Bring me the horizon

                Bring Me the Horizon are a British metalcore band from Sheffield, Yorkshire. Formed in 2004, the group consists of lead vocalist Oliver Sykes, lead guitarist Lee Malia, rhythm guitarist Jona Weinhofen, bassist Matt Kean and drummer Matt Nicholls. They are currently signed to Visible Noise Records in the UK, Epitaph Records in the US and to Shock Records in Australia. Their music has been said to be influenced diversely by grindcore, death metal and emo, and their earlier work is noted for its strong influence from American metalcore bands. They have released three studio albums and one extended play. Bring Me the Horizon was formed in March 2004 after all the founding members, who had all been a part of several local and separately defunct bands were noticed by Thirty Days of Night Records and formed the band while signing them, being the first band ever signed to the label. In the months following their formation Bring Me the Horizon created a demo album, titled Bedroom Sessions, featuring two songs that would be re-recorded for their debut release. The band's name is derived from the final line of the film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, in which Captain Jack Sparrow says "Now, bring me that horizon.The group released their first EP, This Is What the Edge of Your Seat Was Made For on 2 October 2004. The EP was recorded in Nottingham over the course of two weekends, recording the drums and bass guitar in the first weekend and then guitars and vocals in the second weekend in the studio. It was re-released on 20 January 2005 through Visible Noise. The re-release of the EP gained the band a significant amount of attention, peaking at 41 on the UK album charts. They released their debut, full-length album Count Your Blessings in October 2006 in the United Kingdom and in August 2007 in the United States. Across late November and December 2006 Bring Me the Horizon accompanied Lostprophets and The Blackout in a UK tour. In January 2007 Bring Me the Horizon replaced Bury Your Dead on Killswitch Engage's European headline tour.

AFI

                AFI (A Fire Inside) is an American rock band from Ukiah, California formed in 1991. They have consisted of the same lineup since 1998: lead vocalist Davey Havok, drummer and backup vocalist Adam Carson, with bassist Hunter Burgan and guitarist Jade Puget, who both play keyboard and contribute backup vocals. Of the current lineup, Havok and Carson are original members. The band enjoyed its first major commercial success 12 years after it formed, in 2003, with Sing the Sorrow reaching number five on the Billboard 200, and remaining on the chart for 51 weeks. The album was supported by popular singles "Girl's Not Grey" and "Silver and Cold", both of which peaked at number seven on America's Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart in 2003. "The Leaving Song Pt. II" was also released as a single, reaching number 16 on the chart. It went onto receive Platinum certification in the US, having sold over 1.2 million copies as of September 2009. The band returned in 2006 with Decemberunderground, which featured the hit single "Miss Murder". Both achieved the top spot on the Billboard 200 and Hot Modern Rock Tracks, respectively. The album also featured "Love Like Winter", which attained number four on the Modern Rock charts. It reached as far as Australia, where it grasped Gold certification, and also achieved this in the United States, where it has sold in excess of 993,000 copies. AFI's eighth studio album Crash Love was released in 2009, peaking at number 12 on the Billboard 200, selling 52,000 copies in its first week of release.

HIM

                HIM is a Finnish rock band from Helsinki. Formed in 1991 by vocalist Ville Valo, guitarist Mikko "Linde" Lindström, and bassist Mikko "Migé" Paananen, HIM's current lineup consists of Valo, Linde, Migé, Janne "Emerson Burton" Puurtinen on keyboards and Mika Karppinen on drums. They have released seven full length albums to date, the latest, Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice, released on February 8, 2010. On September 5, 2006, HIM's fifth studio album Dark Light was certified gold by the RIAA, making HIM the first Finnish band to have a gold album in the United States. HIM had five of their studio albums certified platinum in Finland with Razorblade Romance being certified double platinum in Finland and platinum in Germany. As His Infernal Majesty the band released two demos and one EP. Their first demos were "Witches and Other Night Fears" and an untitled demo tape which has been named by fans as "This Is Only The Beginning", released in 1992 and 1995 respectively. The former was never released and the sole copy resides with Valo. The EP, 666 Ways to Love: Prologue, was released in 1996 solely in Finland. Only 1,000 copies of this album EP were sold. Recently a near mint condition copy of the bands EP was listed on eBay for around six hundred dollars. The lady on the cover is said to be Valo's mother, who  worked in a shoe shop at the time. It was produced by Hiili Hiilesmaa, and was recorded at Finnvox Studios, MD and Peacemakers, Helsinki. On April 14, 2003, HIM released Love Metal. This was the first album that did not feature singer/songwriter Ville Valo on the cover. Instead, it featured a gold heartagram, the band's well-known logo. "The Funeral of Hearts" was the first single and their first high appearance on the United Kingdom charts at number fourteen, it also hit number three in Germany. It was followed by "Buried Alive By Love" and "The Sacrament".

Atreyu

                Atreyu is an American metalcore band from Orange County, California, formed in 1998. The band consists of vocalist/lyricist Alex Varkatzas, guitarists Dan Jacobs and Travis Miguel, bassist Marc McKnight and drummer/vocalist Brandon Saller. Originally named Retribution, they changed their name to "Atreyu" when they found out that another band from Hemet, California had already been using Retribution. They have released five studio albums: Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses, The Curse, A Death-Grip on Yesterday, Lead Sails Paper Anchor, and Congregation of the Damned. In 1998, Atreyu released an independent seven-track EP titled Visions. The album was sold at their live performances. Their second release, was a short five-track EP titled Fractures in the Facade of Your Porcelain Beauty released by underground label Tribunal Records and featured tracks that would be re-worked for later releases. Atreyu signed with Victory Records in 2001, and their most critically acclaimed works would be to come from these releases. The band also introduced a second singer, Brandon Saller, the drummer, who would become more prolific in their later releases. However, for Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses, his parts were largely confined to choruses. Music videos were filmed for the singles "Ain't Love Grand" and "Lip Gloss and Black." The latter video found significant airplay on Headbangers Ball and Uranium in fall of 2003, gaining Atreyu some of its initial mainstream attention.

Evanescence

                Evanescence is an American rock band founded in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1995 by singer/pianist Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody. After recording private albums, the band released their first full-length album, Fallen, on Wind-up Records in 2003. Fallen sold more than 17 million copies worldwide and helped the band win two Grammy Awards and seven nominations. A year later, Evanescence released their first live album, Anywhere but Home, which sold more than one million copies worldwide. In 2006, the band released their second studio album, The Open Door, which sold more than six million copies. Announced in June 2009, the newest line-up of the band eventually returned with Evanescence, their self-titled third studio album, released on October 11, 2011. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart with 127,000 copies in sales. According to Examiner.com, the album also debuted at number one on four other different Billboard charts; the Rock Albums, Digital Albums, Alternative Albums, and the Hard Rock Albums charts. The first single, "What You Want", was released on August 9, 2011. The second single, "My Heart Is Broken", was sent to radio stations in October 31, 2011. The band is currently on tour in promotion of their new album with other bands including The Pretty Reckless and Fair to Midland. Evanescence was founded by singer, pianist and songwriter Amy Lee and former lead guitarist and songwriter Ben Moody. The two met in 1994 at a youth camp in Little Rock, where Moody heard Lee playing "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" by Meat Loaf on the piano. Their first songs together were "Solitude" and "Give Unto Me", both written by Lee, and "Understanding" and "My Immortal", both written by Moody. The songs were edited by both artists, and they shared equal credit.

Iwrestledabearonce

                They are a American Heavy Metal band that was formed in 2007 in Shreveport, Louisiana and currently based in Birmingham, Alabama. They have released one EP and two full length albums, and have toured with a lot of other great bands.  The origin of the band's name was inspired by a comment that Gary Busey had said on Comedy Central. They signed to Tragic Hero Records and released their debut EP Iwrestledabearonce EP through the label. The release gained the band a small cult following due to their highly experimental musical style. It also granted the band enough attention to acquire drummer, Ryan Pearson. Due to the band lacking a drummer during the EP's recording, all percussion was done in a drum machine program. Iwrestledabearonce signed to Century Media by 2008 after their inclusion on tours supporting the EP. The group then recorded and released their debut full-length album “It's All Happening” on June 2, 2009 in the USA and August 31, 2009 in European stores. In June through September 2008, their single, "Tastes Like Kevin Bacon" appeared on the Sirius Hard Attack radio station "Devils Dozen" list as high as #4 in the 12 most requested songs. The band attempts to evade catagorisation so significantly that they focus on spasticly blending as many genres as possible. Their song structures are known for chaotic changes in pace, varying between blast beats, breakdowns and then constrasted rapidly by melodic, "lounged-out" interludes in the middle of their songs Influences for their musical style have come from a wide variety of bands including The Dillinger Escape Plan, Radiohead and Björk. Björk, particularly, is noted as being an inspiration for Krysta Cameron's sung vocals.