Shadows Fall

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Shadows Fall is an American heavy metal band formed in Westfield, Massachusetts in the late 1995. Although the band has experienced several lineup changes, for most of its recording career Shadows Fall has comprised of Brian Fair (vocals), Jonathan Donais (guitar), Matt Bachand (guitar), Paul Romanko (bass), and Jason Bittner (drums).
Since its formation, Shadows Fall has released five studio albums, two compilation albums, and one DVD. The band's first album featured Philip Labonte on vocals, although he was soon replaced by Fair. Shadows Fall's first two studio albums featured David Germain playing drums, but in 2002 Bittner joined the band full time. Last year, the band was a Grammy Award nominee in the category Best Metal Performance for the song "Redemption" off the album Threads of Life.

Avantasia

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Avantasia is a symphonic metal project created by Tobias Sammet, vocalist and frontman of the power metal group Edguy. The project's title is a portmanteau of the words "avalon" and "fantasia" ("fantasy") and describes "a world beyond human imagination" (a quotation from the booklet). The project consists of a self-titled single, two full-length albums with the subtitle The Metal Opera, two EPs called Lost in Space, and the recently released album The Scarecrow.
In Spring 1999, during Edguy's Theater of Salvation tour, Tobias Sammet began to write down his ideas for a metal opera, a concept album with many guest musicians. When the tour was finished, he carried this plan out, recruiting well-known metal players like Kai Hansen and the ex-Helloween singer Michael Kiske. The project was recorded with a core band of four members - Sammet playing keyboards and arranging orchestration, Henjo Richter playing guitar, Markus Grosskopf playing bass, and Alex Holzwarth on drums. In 2001, the self-titled single and the first full-length album, The Metal Opera, were released. The project was completed in September 2002 with the release of The Metal Opera Part II. At the end of 2006, Sammet confirmed the rumours of a third Avantasia album, due for release in 2008. On March 24, 2007, the name was confirmed to be "The Scarecrow". The album was released on January 25, 2008, and includes special guests such as Rudolf Schenker, Sascha Paeth, drummer Eric Singer, and singers Bob Catley, Jørn Lande, Michael Kiske, Alice Cooper, Roy Khan and Oliver Hartmann.

Rush

Rush is a Canadian rock band originally formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, presently comprised of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart.
The band and its membership went through a number of re-configurations between 1968 and 1974, achieving their definitive form when Neil Peart replaced original drummer John Rutsey in July 1974, two weeks before the group's first U.S. tour. Since the release of the band's self-titled debut album in March 1974, Rush has become known for the instrumental skills of its members, complex compositions, and eclectic lyrical motifs drawing heavily on science fiction, fantasy, and libertarian philosophy, as well as addressing humanitarian, social, emotional, and environmental concerns.
Musically, Rush's style has evolved over the years, beginning in the vein of blues-inspired heavy metal on their first album, then encompassing hard rock, progressive rock, a period dominated by synthesizers and, more recently, modern rock. They have influenced various musical artists, including Metallica, The Smashing Pumpkins and Primus, as well as notable progressive metal bands such as Dream Theater and Symphony X.

Tenacious D

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Tenacious D is an American satirical rock duo formed by musicians and actors Kyle Gass and Jack Black in Los Angeles, California in 1994. Their music fuses vulgar absurdist comedy with rock music in a style that critics have described as "mock rock". Tenacious D's music showcases Black's theatrical vocal delivery and Gass' acoustic guitar playing abilities. Their songs discuss the duo's purported musical and sexual prowess, as well as their friendship and cannabis usage. Their debut self-titled album features absurd and humorous sketches. Music critics have compared the storyteller-style lyrics of their songs to lyrics of rock opera. The band first gained popularity in 1999 when they starred in the self-titled Tenacious D, a television series on US cable network HBO, in which Black and Gass attempted to establish themselves as the "Greatest Band on Earth". The series airs occasionally on Comedy Central and is available on their DVD, The Complete Masterworks. In addition, they have since recorded two albums, and starred in their own movie, Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny.
Black has said that the first song he enjoyed was ABBA's "Take a Chance on Me". He attributes influences from Dio, Black Sabbath, Meat Loaf and Bobby McFerrin Gass describes their influences as being derived from "big dinosaurs of rock" such as Led Zeppelin. In addition, Gass lists his influences as being Tom Waits, Tony Hawk and Tony Robbins. The band claimed that the inspiration for the song "Tribute" came after Black played Metallica's "One" for Gass, describing it as "the best song in the world", leading to a failed attempt to themselves write an even better song. Gass has described Tenacious D's comic assertion that they are the best band as being "ridiculous because it's a matter of opinion". Black characterizes Tenacious D's comic nature as an antidote to "the masculinity of rock", adding "There's also something funny about the macho-ness of rock. Like the bands that are the fucking hardest rocking are like, 'We'll fucking kick your ass, dude... with our rock.'"

Children of Bodom

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Children of Bodom is a metal band from Espoo, Finland. There is some contention regarding the band's genre classification, but in general the band's musical style can be described as a cross between melodic death metal and power metal (with some concluding this tag only includes their earlier works.
Their name was derived from the Lake Bodom murders. The lyrics of Children of Bodom's songs are written in English and are most often concerned with the subjects of death/the grim reaper, personal struggles, war and the Lake Bodom murders.
Recent albums have seen a shift to more antagonistic lyrics (songs such as "You're Better Off Dead" and "In Your Face") and a more straight-forward heavy metal style.
Children of Bodom's genre classification is debated amongst fans and critics. The band could be part of several musical genres, among them power metal, thrash metal, neo-classical metal, speed metal, and melodic death metal.
The term "Tuonela Metal", recently introduced by Finnish press, albeit rare should be taken into some consideration, due to its expressiveness (i.e., its reference to the Ade, the Reign of Shadows) and to its implicit tribute to Jean Sibelius, the most representative Finnish composer. Laiho, however, says that he prefers to just be called a metal group and nothing other.

Current members
Alexi Laiho: vocals, lead guitar (1993–present)
Roope Latvala: Rhythm guitar (2003–present)
Janne Wirman: keyboard (1997–present)
Henkka Seppälä: bass (1996–present)
Jaska Raatikainen: drums (1993–present)