Roots of DragonForce

Stratovarius is a Finnish power metal band formed in 1984. They have released sixteen studio albums, six DVDs, and six live albums. The band's line-up has changed many times, with no founding member left since the departure of drummer Tuomo Lassila in 1995, and no member from their early recording days left following guitarist Timo Tolkki's departure in 2008. Currently, the longest standing member is singer Timo Kotipelto, who joined in 1994.

Slipknot is an American heavy metal band formed in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1995 by percussionist Shawn Crahan, vocalist Anders Colsefni and bassist Paul Gray. After several lineup changes in its early years, the band settled on nine members from 1999 until Gray's death in 2010: Crahan, Gray, Joey Jordison, Craig Jones, Mick Thomson, Corey Taylor, Sid Wilson, Chris Fehn, and Jim Root. Slipknot is well known for its attention-grabbing image, aggressive style of music, and energetic and chaotic live shows.

Sonata Arctica is a Finnish power metal band from the town of Kemi. Created as a hard rock band named Tricky Beans, they later changed to Tricky Means and finally to Sonata Arctica, when they shifted to power metal. The current lineup consists of drummer Tommy Portimo, lead singer Tony Kakko, keyboardist Henrik Klingenberg, guitarist Elias Viljanen and bassist Pasi Kauppinen. All the musicians of the band's history except Portimo also acted as backing vocalists.

Between the Buried and Me, often abbreviated as BTBAM, is an American progressive metal band from Raleigh, North Carolina. Formed in 2000, the band consists of Tommy Giles Rogers Jr., Paul Waggoner, Dan Briggs, and Blake Richardson (drums).

Blind Guardian is a German power metal band formed in 1984 in Krefeld, West Germany. They are often credited as one of the seminal and most influential bands in the power metal and speed metal subgenres. Nine musicians have been part of the band's lineup throughout its history, which currently includes singer Hansi Kürsch, guitarists André Olbrich and Marcus Siepen, and, since 2005, drummer Frederik Ehmke.

Sylosis are a British heavy metal band formed in Reading, Berkshire, in 2000. Signed to Nuclear Blast Records, the band has released seven studio albums, a live album, two EPs and twelve music videos. Their latest album, The New Flesh, was released on February 20, 2026.

Buckcherry is an American hard rock band from Anaheim, California, formed in 1995. The band released two albums, Buckcherry (1999) and Time Bomb (2001), before dissolving in 2002. Buckcherry's first album Buckcherry was DreamWorks' first album to go gold. In 2005, lead vocalist Josh Todd and lead guitarist Keith Nelson reformed Buckcherry with a new lineup and released a new album in 2006, 15. It contained Buckcherry's biggest crossover hit to date, "Crazy Bitch", and their first Billboard Hot 100 top ten hit, "Sorry". The band continued to record albums, releasing seven between 2008 and 2023: Black Butterfly in 2008, All Night Long in 2010, Confessions in 2013, Rock 'n' Roll in 2015, Warpaint in 2019, Hellbound in 2021 and Vol. 10 in 2023. Their eleventh album, Roar Like Thunder was released in June 2025.

Firewind is a Greek power metal band formed in Thessaloniki in 1998. The group is currently signed to AFM records and was originally a small project created by guitarist Gus G. to showcase his demo, Nocturnal Symphony, in 1998. Firewind later became a full band over three years later when they recorded their debut album, Between Heaven and Hell. To date, the band has released ten studio albums and has been met with international success.

Scream Bloody Gore is the debut studio album by American death metal band Death, released on May 25, 1987, by Combat Records. It is considered by many to be "the first true death metal record". Chuck Schuldiner, the band’s co-founder and leader, performed guitar, bass and vocals, and composed all tracks on the album.

The Power Cosmic is the fourth album by the English metal band Bal-Sagoth, released in 1999. The album was their first recording for Nuclear Blast.

Demoniac were a New Zealand heavy metal band, formed in Wellington in 1993 by singer and bass player Lindsay Dawson, guitarist Sam Totman and drummer Steve Francis. They later moved to London, UK. Their unusual musical style has been labelled "blackened power metal". Three of the members went on to form DragonForce.