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Hirax

Hirax is an American band from Buena Park, California. Starting in 1984 under the leadership of vocalist Katon W. De Pena, the band played in Los Angeles and San Francisco with the other new thrash metal bands of the area such as Metallica, Exodus and Slayer. The band was a clear example of the thrash/speed metal/crossover genre. After releasing some demos, Hirax signed with Metal Blade and debuted with their first full-length, "Raging Violence" in 1985. The band was composed of Katon W. De Pena (vocals), Scott Owen (guitar), Gary Monardo (bass) and John Tabares (drums).

Read more about Hirax on Last.fm.

Defiance

There are 2 bands with the name Defiance: (1) Defiance is a thrash metal band from Oakland, California. While virtually unknown to mainstream metal and rock circles, Defiance is known as one of the classic second-tier thrash bands to come from the Bay Area thrash metal scene. They played a decidedly technical style of thrash originally evoking bands like Testament, though they would later move on to playing in their own unique, more progressive thrash style. They reformed in 2005 and have since release an album entitled The Prophecy in late 2009.

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Gamma Ray

Founded in 1989 by Kai Hansen in Hamburg, Germany after leaving Helloween, Gamma Ray borrowed straight from the Helloween classics, and continued to pioneer Hansen's style of power metal. After four years with Helloween, Kai Hansen decided to leave the band at the height of their career. He then went on to do some studio work with Blind Guardian. Kai and his friend Ralf Scheepers from Tyran' Pace decided to start a project. They recruited bassist Uwe Wessel and drummer Mathias Burchard. The resulting sound was very close to Helloween's power metal style.

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