Metal After Midnight

Overkill are one of Thrash Metal's Pioneers as well as one of the genre's biggest names to come out of the East Coast.  It's hard to believe they came from the New Jersey, the same state as Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen.

Blind Guardian is often credited as one of Power and Speed Metal's founding fathers.  They were singing about fantasy subjects found in J.R. Tolkien books way before it was cool again in the 2000's.

"Sinner" is a German band that has been around since the 80's by Mat Sinner, who has kept the project going for around three decades now.  I call it a "project" because Mat is the only consistency in the band over the years.

Kamelot has become one of the biggest names in Progressive and Power Metal over the years due to the relentless dedication of American guitarist Thomas Youngblood.

Queen was never consider a "Metal" band, but their influence on Metal continues to this day.

Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, and Megadeth were universally the big names in Thrash Metal.  Following closely behind them were Testament.

The Metal scene in North America has been slim for the past 25 years or so, but there have been a handful of bands from the States that have shown the world we still have what it takes.

If you were at Ozzfest back in 2008 you were treated to an unlikely combination of Metallica and King Diamond.

Pantera was one of the Metal bands to survive grunge in the early 90's and help mold the Metal scene for many years to come.

Once in awhile a new band comes along with some young guys who weren't even born by 1980 that capture the spirit of the Classic Metal Bands.  "3 Inches Of Blood" is a perfect example.

Back in 1992 Motorhead went ahead and put out probably their most commercial sounding release ever called "March Or Die", including a ballad with Ozzy and Slash.

I had the pleasure of watching this band come from a four-song demo to a full-blown monster Power Metal band who's guitarist would eventually wind up playing with Ozzy!