Halifax, England

Founded in 2010 as a side project/bereavement vehicle for Paradise Lost mastermind Gregor Mackintosh after the death of his father, the punishing English extreme metal supergroup Vallenfyre (Old English for "strong fire") eventually developed into a precision death metal machine. With a lineup featuring Mackintosh, Hamish Glencross (My Dying Bride), Adrian Erlandsson (At the Gates, Paradise Lost), and Scoot (Doom, Extinction of Mankind), the Halifax-based quartet issued its debut long-player, the cathartic and heartfelt yet undeniably powerful and abrasive The Fragile King, through Century Media in 2011. The group's 2014 sophomore effort, the aptly named Splinters, continued to look toward stalwart decibel-makers like Celtic Frost, Autopsy, Discharge, Napalm Death, and early Bathory for inspiration, as did 2018's hard-hitting Fear Those Who Fear Him. ~ James Christopher Monger