The formation of Solid State Records can be traced back to the early '90s underground music scene. Tooth & Nail Records became a force in Christian music circles and niche underground subculture alike, with bands whose broad appeal could not be pigeonholed to a particular crowd but instead created music powerful enough to make crossover inevitable. Among those bands were heavier and more extreme sounding artists whose intensity put them alongside some of the bigger bands in the heavy metal, hardcore and then-emerging metalcore and screamo genres.

Classic Tooth & Nail metal and hardcore releases from bands like Living Sacrifice, Strongarm, Focal Point and Zao led to the creation of Solid State Records, an imprint designed to have a specific focus on the heavy music world. Now recognized as a distinct entity all its own, Solid State is home to the most important heavy bands with positive and creative artistic viewpoints operating in the scene today, gracing the covers of magazines like Revolver and Outburn.

Solid State bands receive airplay on MTV2's "Headbanger's Ball," Fuse and modern rock stations across the country and take part in tours like Rockstar Taste Of Chaos and Ozzfest and festivals like Cornerstone.

Underoath's Define The Great line debuted at 2 on Billboard's Top 200 Album chart. And yet the sound and style of Solid State's artists remains uniquely beneath the surface, empowering and informing an entire subculture of listeners hungry to hear loud, passionate and envelope-pushing music played by people who live and breathe it.

Early Solid State releases from Overcome, Extol and Training For Utopia remain touchstones for the genre while newer albums from bands like Demon Hunter, Haste The Day and As Cities Burn are already classics as well. The iconic symbol that represents the band Demon Hunter is one of the most easily recognizable logos in modern heavy metal.

Exciting and hard-touring bands like August Burns Red, Becoming The Archetype and Oh, Sleeper represent the freshest infusion of blood into the Solid State roster, ensuring that the label's family expands and touches future generations the way those "in the know" in the heavy music world have already experienced.

Power, proficiency, passion: all are to be found within Solid State Records, so take a look around.

Gwen Stacy, August Burns Red, Oh Sleeper, Inhale Exhale, Demon Hunter, To Speak of Wolves, Haste The Day