Valient Thorr, Skeletonwitch, Early Man

Early Man
Ohio heavy metal duo Early Man revel in the raw energy of truly stripped-down hard rock. Raised Pentecostal in the college town of Columbus, the two friends may have discovered the works of Motörhead, Judas Priest, and Mercyful Fate far later than most -- they were 19 at the time...

Valient Thorr
According to frontman Valient Himself, hard-rocking metal outfit Valient Thorr were birthed on the planet Venus several millennia ago, hopscotching across the space-time continuum before finally arriving on Earth in 1957.

Skeletonwitch
Although they only came together as a band in 2003, the members of Athens, Ohio's Skeletonwitch draw the bulk of their inspiration from artists and musical styles born all of two decades earlier -- namely the undying flame of classic, Bay Area thrash, its creative bedrock in the...