Artist Highlight: At the Gates

Key Release: Slaughter of the Soul (1995)

If there’s a poster child for going out on top in the music world, it is Swedish band At the Gates. The quintet spent all of two years in the limelight before calling it quits in 1996 at the peak of their popularity, having just released their fourth album Slaughter of the Soul to international acclaim. Based around the talents of brothers Anders and Jonas Björler, At the Gates also featured Tomas Lindberg  on vocals, and Adrian Erlandsson on drums (rhythm guitarist Martin Larsson was brought aboard after two albums).

Artist Highlight: Gamma Ray

Key Release: Land of the Free  (2005)

Few bands have impacted their genre the way that Gamma Ray has. The origins of power metal can be traced back to the early 80’s, beginning with Savatage and Accept and continued by Stratovarius and Blind Guardian. However, it wasn’t until 1988 that the modern power metal sound really found its groove. German speed metal band Helloween released its second album Keeper of the Seven Keys, Pt. 1 that year, melding intricate and high-energy guitar work by Kai Hansen with Michael Kiske’s operatic vocals. After releasing a sequel the next year, Hansen withdrew from the band to pursue other projects. One of these became Gamma Ray, which released its debut in 1990.