Formed in Sheffield, England in 2008, the classic rock-influenced quintet Black Spiders had released their debut single by the close of that same year. Led by vocalist/guitarist Pete Spiby -- formerly of the more alternative rock-focused '90s act Groop Dogdrill -- their frenetic, accessible, hook-filled sound was also fashioned by Andrew Lister and Mark Thomas on guitar, Adam Irwin on bass, and Si Atkinson on drums. With influences ranging from Black Sabbath to Motörhead, and from ZZ Top to Guns N' Roses, it was their playful, post-Darkness lack of gravity as much as their no-nonsense, riff-based approach that endeared them to the U.K. metal press. The release of their 2011 debut album, Sons of the North, immediately followed an intensive tour of Europe, and by the time they issued their 2013 U.K.-charting follow-up, This Savage Land, they'd been as far as China and had also fulfilled prestigious U.K. support slots with Thin Lizzy and Guns N' Roses. ~ James Wilkinson