Lies of the Machine

Stolen Babies are an American experimental/avant-garde rock band formed in California in 2001, built around Dominique Lenore Persi's accordion and theatrical vocals in a 'dark cabaret' meets prog-metal frame. Twin brothers Rani and Gil Sharone anchor the rhythm section; influences include Oingo Boingo, Mr. Bungle and Fishbone. They released There Be Squabbles Ahead (2006) via No Comment/The End Records.

Gates of Paris is a French symphonic/opera power metal side-project of Kerion guitarist Remch Carrairou and Chris Barberi, releasing a self-titled concept album in 2018 — a theatrical cabaret-revue journey through Parisian history blending power metal with jazz, swing, flamenco, cancan, gypsy music, and classical citations from Bizet and Berlioz.

Kiryū (己龍) were a Japanese visual kei act founded in 2007 around a concept of 'Japanese terror' and 'painful nostalgia,' pairing heavily stylized angura-kei stagecraft with a folk-metal-inflected sound rooted in traditional Japanese aesthetics. Fronted by vocalist Mahiro Kurosaki alongside guitarists Takemasa Kujō and Mitsuki Sakai, bassist Hiyori Isshiki, and drummer Junji Tokai, the band charted repeatedly on Japan's Oricon Indies chart and played Nippon Budokan before entering an indefinite hiatus at the end of 2023.

天照 (Amaterasu)play in the dockcompare profiles →

Ordkløver is a music-and-poetry project begun in 1999 by Düreforsög vocalist Boris Schiøler alongside bandmates Nis Bysted and Andreas Hauer-Jensen. Its sole release, Byen Buldrer ("The City Rumbles", 2005, Escho), pairs Schiøler's phonetic poetry with rock guitar and drums and an eight-voice choir, described by reviewers as sounding like "intoxicated monks and/or sea pirates."

A Verbal Equinox was a six-piece dark cabaret/experimental rock band from Elmwood Park, New Jersey, active 2010-2014. Their sole LP featured future solo artist Will Wood. Not a metal band by any reasonable definition — surfaced in the RYM chart despite this.

System of a Down are an Armenian-American alternative-metal band from Los Angeles, formed in 1994, whose sound welds thrash aggression to Armenian folk melodies, abrupt tempo shifts and Serj Tankian's operatic, politically charged vocals. Multi-platinum records like Toxicity (2001) and the Mezmerize/Hypnotize pair made them one of the era's biggest metal acts. In 2008 Tankian co-wrote and traded vocals with Mike Patton on 'Bird's Eye' for the Body of Lies soundtrack.

Polkadot Cadaver is an American avant-garde/alternative metal band formed in Rockville, Maryland in 2007 by ex-members of Dog Fashion Disco, and stylistically a close continuation of that band. Their 'schizophrenic musical madness' shape-shifts between thrashing metal, folk-pop, experimental rock and darkly comedic theatricality across albums like Purgatory Dance Party, Sex Offender and Echoes Across the Hellscape. Clutch's Neil Fallon guested on their 2013 record.

Angizia is an Austrian avant-garde/gothic metal act founded in Vienna in 1994 by Michael Haas (Engelke), built around theatrical, operetta-influenced concept albums often likened to a traveling circus or puppet theater. Their catalog, including the 'Russian trilogy' of Das Tagebuch der Hanna Anikin, Das Schachbrett des Trommelbuben Zacharias and 39 Jahre für den Leierkastenmann, fuses Central European folk and classical operetta with gothic/black metal texture. They have released on Napalm Records and Black Rose Productions.

První Hoře ('First Grief,' named after a Franz Kafka short story) is a Czech alternative/experimental rock band formed in 1998 in Jičín, fronted by theatrical stage personas. Won the 2008 Anděl Award (Czech national music award) in the Hard'n'Heavy category. Fundamentally an alt-rock/jazz-punk-chanson act rather than a metal band by genre identity, with only a later 'metal-tinted playing style'.

Rabbit Rabbit Radio is the song-a-month art-pop duo of Carla Kihlstedt and Matthias Bossi, both formerly of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum. Founded in February 2012, the project releases a new song to Bandcamp subscribers on the first day of every month, collecting them into yearly volume albums. Drawing on art song, folk song, industrial and improvised music and heart-wrenching balladry, their songs are described as raw, beautiful, sparse and rich. The core duo is expanded in performance and recording by Jeremy Flower and Jon Evans.