Godsized are a hard rock band based in London and apparently "got serious"* and first began playing a large number of live shows in 2007. Godsized are comprised of Glen on guitar and vocals, Neil on guitar, Gav on bass and Effon on drums. Their main aim is to put "everything they have into creating heavy, groove based hard rock with powerful, dynamic live shows". They recruited their drummer, Effon, in 2008, which "boosted their collective sense of purpose and direction". They first went into the studio in August 08 to record their self-released, 5-track EP "Brothers in Arms" with producer Mark Mynett. It was later mastered in Los Angeles by Brian Gardner (who had previously worked on albums by bands Lamb of God and Alter Bridge). They recently played short set on the Sophie Lancaster stage of heavy metal festival Bloodstock Open Air.
*quotes taken from the band's Myspace page
Record labels -
Roadrunner Records - Currently a subsidiary of Warner Music Group, Roadrunner Records was first founded in the Netherlands in 1980 and mainly concentrates on hard rock, heavy metal and hardcore punk acts. They have open offices around the world in the US, Wales, Germany, France, Japan, Australia, Denmark and Canada. The first Roadrunner Records act to enter the Billboard top 200 albums chart was the band King Diamond while the Sepultura album Chaos A.D. was the first to crack the top 40. Type O Negative were the first Roadrunner band to have an album go gold with Bloody Kisses (as well as being the first Roadrunner band to receive radio play) and Slipknot were the first to have an album go platinum with Iowa.
Other notable Roadrunner acts include: Nickelback, Machine Head, Killswitch Engage, Soulfly, Stone Sour, Trivium, Black Stone Cherry, Cradle of Filth, Dragonforce, Dream Theater, Megadeth and Opeth.
Nuclear Blast - An independent label formed in 1987, Nuclear Blast started off releasing hardcore punk records and have since become well known for their focus on metal, specifically the melodic death metal, power metal and black metal sub genres. The label gained popularity after black metal became increasingly popular in the European underground in the early nineties and by 1996 Nuclear Blast artists were beginning to appear in European charts. Swedish band Meshuggah before the first band on the Nuclear Blast label to break into the Billboard top 200 with their 2002 album Nothing.
Some of their most successful artists include: Blind Guardian, Soilwork, In Flames, Dimmu Borgir, Anthrax, Death, Behemoth and Nightwish.
Being two of the biggest rock/metal labels in the world, Roadrunner and Nuclear Blast could very well be good fits for Godsized if they ever were to be signed to a major label (though they seem content in self-releasing their music for the time being). Both labels sign a wide range of bands from many different rock/metal sub genres and the band could receive acclaim or recognition under either label. Nuclear Blast in particular have taken many previously underground bands and helped them reach success and popularity that they probably wouldn't have achieved otherwise, such as black metal band Dimmur Borgir, who (like many bands from the scene's genesis) had very humble beginnings and have gone on to sell a large number of albums, with their most recent release, In Sorte Diaboli, going on to grab the number 1 spot on the album chart in their native Norway.
However, Roadrunner have been criticised for mainly being interested in current or trendy artists. For example many of their thrash or death metal bands that were popular in the 90s have since either left after enduring ill treatment or have been dropped from the label. This includes bands like Obituary, Decide, Death and Pestilence.
Genre -
Heavy Metal - A genre that branched off from rock (blues rock and psychedelic rock in particular), metal first surfaced in England and the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The genre is characterised by high levels of distortion, extended guitar solos, heavy beats and an overall loud sound. The lyrics and performance styles are generally associated with masculinity, but this isn't always the case. Metal is notable for having a huge number of different sub genres, these including: death, black, power, battle, symphonic, gothic, melodic, progressive, doom, thrash and glam metals (not to mention hybrid genres such as metalcore and nu-metal).
Early bands from the genre include Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Deep Purple. Judas Priest expanded on the genres evolution by ditching the blues influences and Motorhead introduced various punk rock sensibilities and an increased sense of speed. Bands such as Iron Maiden followed a similar vein. In the 1980s glam metal became highly popular with bands like Motley Crue while more underground bands introduced a more aggressive, extreme style (resulting in the thrash, death and black metal subgenres).
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