About - Bullet for my valentine

Bullet for My Valentine are 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), 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. The band is part of the Cardiff music scene.
Bullet for My Valentine's debut album, The Poison, was released on October 3, 2005 in the United Kingdom and on February 14, 2006 in the United States to coincide with Valentine's Day hence their band name. The album entered the Billboard 200 in the US at number 128. It was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. The band made appearances at the Download Festival and Kerrang! XXV, and undertook a US tour with Rob Zombie. Bullet for My Valentine's second studio album, Scream Aim Fire, was released on January 29, 2008 and debuted at number four on the Billboard 200. The band's third album, Fever, was released on April 26, 2010 and debuted at number three on the Billboard 200. The band has sold over two million albums worldwide and are the most-successful act of all-time in the Kerrang! Awards category of "Best British Band" with three wins.

Musical style and influences

Bullet for My Valentine's music has been described by critics as metalcore, heavy metal, and thrash metal. The band has cited being influenced by bands such as Metallica, Annihilator, Pantera, Machine Head, Iron Maiden, Testament, Stuck Mojo, Slayer, Judas Priest, and Megadeth. These bands inspire Bullet for My Valentine's "catchy vocals, aggressive riffs and melodies" according to Thomas. The band describe their two albums, The Poison and Fever as having a "super dark" tone, Tuck went on to state that "…we’re a hard rock band with metal influences, and I’ve said that from Day One.” Kirk Miller of Decibel Magazine praised the band for the effort in synchronised song structures. When asked of their views on their looks, members of the band have stated that they would not change their sound or image for a commercial approach; Tuck commented that, "Without sounding harsh, we're more interested in what our music sounds like than what our fucking hair looks like."

Awards and achievements

• Welsh Music Award
  • Best Newcomer (2004)

• Metal Hammer Golden God Award
  • Best British Band (2006, 2010)

• Kerrang! Awards
  • Best UK Single for "Tears Don't Fall" (2006)
  • Best British Newcomer (2005)
  • Best British Band (2008, 2009, 2010)
  • Headlined Kerrang!'s 25 year anniversary tour of the UK
  • Best Live Band (2010)

Band members

Current members

• Matthew Tuck – lead vocals, rhythm guitar (1998–present)
• Michael Paget – lead guitar, backing vocals (1998–present)
• Michael Thomas – drums, percussion (1998–present)
• Jason James – bass guitar, vocals (2003–present)

Former members

• Nick Crandle – bass (1998–2003)

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About - Audioslave

Audioslave was an American hard rock supergroup who formed in Los Angeles, California in 2001. It consisted of then-former Soundgarden frontman, rhythm guitarist, and lead singer Chris Cornell and the then-former instrumentalists of Rage Against the Machine: Tom Morello (guitar), Tim Commerford (bass and backing vocals) and Brad Wilk (drums). Critics initially described Audioslave as an amalgamation of Rage Against the Machine and Soundgarden, but by the band's second album, Out of Exile, it was noted that they had established a separate identity.
The band's trademark sound was created by blending 1970s hard rock with 1990s alternative rock. Moreover, Morello incorporated his well-known, unconventional guitar solos into this mix. As with Rage Against the Machine, the band prided themselves on the fact that all sounds on their albums were produced using only guitar, bass, drums and vocals.
After Audioslave released three successful albums, received three Grammy nominations, and became the first American rock band to perform an open-air concert in Cuba, Cornell issued a statement in February 2007 announcing that he was permanently leaving the band "due to irresolvable personality conflicts as well as musical differences". As the other three members were busy with the Rage Against the Machine reunion, and Morello and Cornell had each released solo albums in 2007, Audioslave was officially disbanded.

Musical style and influences

By combining '70s style hard rock riffing with alternative rock, Audioslave created a distinctive sound. This mix was driven by Cornell's wide vocal range, Morello's innovative guitar solos and the rhythm section of Wilk and Commerford. Morello, although stating he "never felt musically limited" in Rage Against the Machine, did say that he had "a lot more scope to explore with Audioslave" and a "wider musical territory". This meant that the instrumentalists had the opportunity to write slow and melodic songs, something they had not done before.
As opposed to de la Rocha's lyrics, Cornell's were mostly apolitical; Morello referred to them as "haunted, existential poetry". They were characterised by his cryptic approach, often dealing with themes of existentialism, love, hedonism, spirituality and Christianity. Audioslave's first two albums drew influences from 1970s hard rock such as Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath and from the members' previous bands (the alternative metal of Soundgarden and the funk metal of Rage Against the Machine). For Revelations, which was influenced by 1960s and '70s funk, soul and R&B music, Morello used vintage guitars and amplifiers and Cornell adopted his "seventies funk and R&B-flavor vocals". The guitarist also cited Sly & the Family Stone, James Brown and Funkadelic as a reason for the funk overtones on the album
Just as Rage Against the Machine did, Audioslave also included the statement "All sounds made by guitar, bass, drums and vocals" in their albums' booklets as Morello's guitar work often caused listeners to believe that the band used samples, synthesiser effects or different turntable techniques to produce certain sounds.

Songwriting and recording process

All of Audioslave's lyrics were written by Cornell, while all four members—as a band—were credited with writing the music. Their songwriting process was described by Wilk as "more collaborative" and "satisfying" than Rage Against the Machine's, which was "a battle creatively". Cornell also felt the same way; he saw Soundgarden's songwriting method inferior to Audioslave's. Rick Rubin, producer of the band's first two albums, was also lauded as "a great collaborative partner" and was likened to "the fifth Beatle" by Tom Morello.
The time spent on songwriting by the band was always short. They wrote 21 songs in 19 days for the first album and exceeded that rate for the second album by having a song or sometimes two written every day.
This method was adopted for the third album as well.
Cornell's battle with drug addiction and alcoholism was a defining factor in the writing and recording process of the debut album. The singer admitted that he was "never able to write effectively" while drinking, and attended rehab after recording Audioslave. Although Morello stated that Revelations was "the first record [Cornell] didn't smoke, drink or take drugs through the recording", he later clarified his statement by saying: "Chris was stone sober during the making of our Out of Exile album. Chris was also sober during the making of Revelations and prior to recording he gave up smoking as well."

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About - Disturbed

Disturbed is an American nu metal band from Chicago, Illinois, formed in 1996 when musicians Dan Donegan, Steve "Fuzz" Kmak, and Mike Wengren hired David Draiman as their singer. Since the band's formation, they have sold over 11 million albums worldwide, making them one of the largest grossing rock bands in recent years. The band has released five studio albums, four of which have consecutively debuted at number-one on the Billboard 200

Mascot

Disturbed's mascot, named "The Guy", was originally just a drawing of a face with a large grin, as seen on the back of the album The Sickness. The Guy eventually became the official mascot for the band, fully animated by Spawn creator Todd McFarlane in the album artwork and music video for Disturbed's "Land of Confusion" cover, and has also appeared on the artwork of three of Disturbed's studio albums: Ten Thousand Fists, Indestructible and Asylum.

Style and lyrical themes

Classified by most as a rock,^[58][59][60] or nu metal band, Disturbed is also regarded by some critics as alternative rock alternative metal, heavy metal. However, when asked about die-hard heavy metal fans not finding Disturbed heavy enough, frontman David Draiman stated:

"We probably have too much melody going on or we're not quite as turbulent or caustic. While I really love that type of music, it's not what we try to do. If we have to place things in context, we're more hard rock than heavy metal these days."

"The secret is that we were never really part of any particular trend, although we definitely benefited from the popularity of what was called nu-metal at the time," Draiman says. "We never had the stereotypical attributes that those bands had. We don’t rap; there’s no turntable involved; no fusion in that respect. We play, in my opinion, classic metal. Sabbath, Maiden, Priest, Metallica, Pantera: these are the bands that made us want to play.

Allmusic reviewer Bradley Torreano described the album Believe as "taking the sort of jump that their heroes in Soundgarden and Pantera made after their respective breakthrough records". He also described the title track as moving "from a brutal chug to a sweeping chorus that suddenly stops in its tracks and turns into a winding riff that recalls the work of vintage James Hetfield". Believe is also considered by several critics to be a step away from the nu metal sound featured on The Sickness, moving towards a more hard rock/heavy metal sound that was continued in their following albums.
According to frontman David Draiman on the band's home documentary M.O.L., the lyrics that he writes are inspired by life experience, perception, and actual experiences of his own, and he stated that he likes to present his ideas with cryptic lyrics. These lyrical themes range from the ideology of Heaven and Hell, domestic abuse, suicide, insanity, relationships, war, and Horror lyrical themes, such as vampires and demons
Guitarist Dan Donegan typically uses tunings such as drop D and drop C, which are lower tunings than regular E standard. These lower tunings allow for a darker, more mysterious feel in Donegan's riffs. Donegan also uses subtle electronic effects to add to the fullness of the music, which the rest of the band refers to as "The Dan Donegan Orchestra."

Band members

Current

• David Draiman – lead vocals (1996–present)
• Dan Donegan – guitar (1996–present)
• Mike Wengren – drums (1996–present)
• John Moyer – bass guitar (2004–present)

Former

• Steve "Fuzz" Kmak – bass guitar (1996–2003)

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