Manticora

Emerging in 1996 from the remnants of thrash metal act Fear Itself, Danish metal outfit Manticora took shape through guitarist Kristian Larsen, vocalist Lars F. Larsen, and drummer Mads Volf, with bassist Kaspar Gram and lead guitarist Martin Arendal helping define the ensemble's hard melodic sound. A contract with Greece's Black Lotus label arrived in 1998, paving the way for the group's debut full-length, Roots of Eternity, the next year. Scarlet Records then issued the follow-up Darkness with Tales to Tell in 2001. The ambitious concept album Hyperion surfaced in 2002, succeeded by 8 Deadly Sins in 2004 and the even more ambitious The Black Circus, Pt. 1: Letters in 2006. Lance King's Nightmare Records has since handled U.S. reissues of every Manticora album.