Metropolis

Metropolis is a name used by several different acts in rock, metal and electronic music. These include an AOR band from Canada, a short-lived progressive rock group from Berlin, and a number of later projects in Slovakia, Turkey, Sweden, Belgium, the UK, the US and elsewhere.

Canadian AOR band

One Metropolis is a Canadian AOR band formed by Stan Meissner and Peter Fredette. This version of the group releases the album Power of the Night in 1999.

Berlin progressive rock band

Another Metropolis is a progressive rock band from Berlin, formed in 1973 by Michael Duwe. Duwe has previously been an early member of Agitation Free and produces Seven Up with Ash Ra Tempel. The group also includes drummer Thomas Hildebrand, who has played in Mythos, and Michael Westphal, who has worked with Ash Ra Tempel.

The band’s self-titled debut is recorded in Munich in December 1973. It becomes a rare vinyl release and later appears in the early 1990s on the Germanofon label as an unauthorised CD bootleg. The album is a concept record with a strong vocal focus. Duwe also takes part in the Berlin production of Hair, and the music combines symphonic, folk, blues, jazz and Krautrock influences. After this release, the band splits and the members move on to other groups or solo work.

Slovak hard rock / nu metal band

Metropolis is also a band from Nitra, Slovakia, formed in 2002. This group plays hard rock and nu metal, drawing on different genres rather than using a single fixed style. Its name is inspired by the German film Metropolis. The band releases Radioactivity in 2005 and Vodoo in 2007, and is working on a third album.

Other acts using the name

Other bands and projects using the name include a hardcore band from Aurora, Ontario active between 2008 and 2010; a progressive metal band from Belgium; an indie rock band from Cheltenham formed in September 2012 by Ollie Weikert, Bradley Hutchings, Thomas Muddle and Andy Burgess; an alternative rock, grunge and indie band from Ankara; a progressive metal band from Gävle, Sweden; a vocalist in Foreign Beggars; a Bulgarian electro community or organisation; an alias used by The Future Sound of London; a solo project by Ben Hardwidge that later becomes a live band; a US barbershop quartet; an avant-jazz group from Leeds linked with LIMA; a US progressive metal act that releases Unsure Destination in 1994; a minimal synthpop band that issues a 7-inch in 1982; an early name for Avatar before they become Savatage; and a one-man crust punk project from Iran by Hangoth of December Moon.