Amorphis is a Finnish metal band started by Jan Rechberger, Tomi Koivusaari, and Esa Holopainen in 1990. Initially, the band was a straightforward death metal act, but on later albums they evolved into playing other types of genres. Noteworthy is their frequent use of the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala, as a source for their lyrics.

Nightwish is a Finnish symphonic power metal band, formed in 1996 in Kitee, Finland. Nightwish performs a blend of power metal and symphonic metal. Their music has been described as "bombastic, symphonic and cinematic, with keyboards and strings creating a gothic atmosphere." While the music of Nightwish is "laced with accessible pop sensibilities," the band is also known to be complex and multi-layered. Their approach is epic, theatrical and operatic.

Epica is a Dutch symphonic metal band founded by guitarist and vocalist Mark Jansen subsequent to his departure from After Forever. Epica's performs a blend of progressive metal, gothic metal, and symphonic metal. Another component of Epica's style is power metal with their guitarist Ad Sluijter describing the band as "a bridge between power metal and gothic metal." Vocalist Simone Simons has expressed a preference for the group to be described as symphonic metal though the founder of the group Mark Jansen notes that they do not mind being called gothic metal.

Photos taken at the concert supporting last Rage's album "Carved in Stone". Rage are a German heavy metal band, formed in 1984. They were part of the German heavy/speed/power metal scene to emerge in the early to mid 1980s, along with bands such as Helloween, Running Wild, Accept, Sinner, and Grave Digger.

Valery Gaina formed the band Gain, with Vladimir Bajin (vocals), Alexander Shprot (bass), and Andrei Shatounovsky (session drummer). This band recorded an album in 1990 but it only came out in 1995, with two bonus tracks from the unreleased third Kruiz album Culture Shock.

A-ha is a band from Norway. The origin of the name a-ha comes from a title Paul contemplated giving to a song. He could not choose between the names "a-ha" and "A-men". Morten was looking through Paul's notebook and came across the name "a-ha". He liked it, and said, "That's a great name. That's what we should call ourselves." After checking dictionaries in several languages, they found out that a-ha was an international way of expressing recognition, with positive connotations. It was short, easy to say and unusual.

Uma2rman (AKA "Umaturman" or "Ума2рман") is a Moscow-based band made up of the two brothers Sergei and Vladimir (or Vova) Kristovski. In addition the track "Uma Thurman" is a song about how Vladimir has fallen in love with the real Uma Thurman. In the song Uma complains about how Quentin Tarantino was drunk and that she had to reprimand him for his behaviour. Unfortunately, by the end of the song Vladimir is shunned by Uma but she thanks him for coming to visit regardless.

Photos taken at concert supporting Kipelov's new album "The rivers of time". Viktor Smolski (Rage) played in concert, though wasn't officially included in its lineup and was referred to as "special guest".

Victor Zinchuk is a Russian guitarist. In 1976, Zinchuk entered a Music prodigy school in Russia and studied there for 4 years. While there he was taught by a classical guitarist. In 1987, after 7 years of working with various bands, Zinchuk started a solo career. According to the National Radio, this is when Zinchuk was recognized as the best national guitar player. He played "The Flight of the Bumble Bee" in 24 seconds, which is the fastest in the world. He also played 20 notes in one second, which earned him an entry into the Guinness Book of World Records.

Judas Priest are a heavy metal band formed in 1970 in Birmingham. Originally formed by guitarist K. K. Downing and bassist Ian Hill, Judas Priest's core line-up consists of Downing, Hill, vocalist Rob Halford and guitarist Glenn Tipton. They have been cited as an influence on many heavy metal musicians and bands. Photos taken at the concert supporting Judas Priest's last release, "Angel of Retribution".

Dio is a heavy metal band led by vocalist Ronnie James Dio, who formed it in October 1982 after leaving Black Sabbath. In an interview Dio states that he never intended to begin a solo career. His intention was to form a new band with fellow former Black Sabbath member drummer Vinny Appice. Naming the band Dio made sense from a commercial standpoint, as the name was already well-known at that time. Dio in Italian means "God."

Photos taken at concert supporting upcoming Kipelov's new album "The rivers of time".

Photos taken at concert supporting Aria's new album "Baptizm by fire".

No matter what we get out of this
I know we'll never forget...
...Smoke on the water - fire in the sky

These photos aren't mine. Security guy didn't let me take my camera with me. But I saw that guy who made these nice shots. Thanks a lot!

Three original members of legendary heavy rock supergroup, Whitesnake, have reformed as The Company of Snakes. They are Micky Moody, Bernie Marsden, Neil Murray and ex-voice of Black Sabbath - Tony Martin.

Concert at Sport Palace, Nizhny Novgorod