Lethal

From their unusual home base of Kentucky, Lethal produced expertly executed and technically refined progressive heavy metal whose only true weakness was sounding way too similar in style to the works of early <a href="spotify:artist:2OgUPVlWYgGBGMefZgGvCO">Queensrÿche</a> and especially <a href="spotify:artist:4S6URhg3PMKnCv9clR4ejE">Fates Warning</a>. Otherwise, vocalist Tom Malicoat, guitarists Eric Cook and Dell Hull, bassist Glen Cook, and drummer Jerry Hartman absolutely delivered the goods with their surprisingly mature debut, Programmed, released by Metal Blade in 1990. Sadly, the band dallied for too long before coming up with a suitable follow-up, and when these finally arrived, in 1995's Your Favourite God EP and 1996's Poison Seed LP (both replacing Hull with new guitarist David McElfresh), they revealed an ill-fated shift towards grungey alternative metal, and didn't connect with those fans the band had left. Lethal soon realized the error of their ways and decided to break up, but are rumored to have re-formed in 2006. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia, Rovi