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List of heavy metal bands. This is a list of heavy metal artists from the formative years of the movement ( formed between 1963 and 1981 ). For bands that formed after 1981, please consult the lists for each heavy metal subgenre. In the late 1960s, a number of bands began pushing the limits of blues rock into a new genre which would be called ...
- Iron Maiden. 27,948 votes. One of the leaders of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, this quintessential band managed to create an enduring legacy through their aggressive, melodic sound, and keen storytelling abilities.
- Black Sabbath. 25,281 votes. Often hailed as the pioneers of heavy metal as a genre, this legendary band introduced darker themes and innovative techniques, such as downtuned guitars, that have become essential elements of the metal sound.
- Metallica. 30,082 votes. Initially labeled as the "biggest underground band in the world," these trailblazers rose to fame thanks to their unique blend of thrash, speed, and progressive metal.
- Judas Priest. 19,807 votes. Hailing from Birmingham, England, this iconic band brought a distinct style and attitude to the world of heavy metal. Their unmistakable sound, characterized by soaring vocals, dual lead guitars, and a penchant for catchy hooks and anthemic choruses, cemented them as one of the genre's most influential and revered acts.
- Iron Maiden
- Metallica
- Judas Priest
- Black Sabbath
- Slayer
- Megadeth
- Rammstein
- Pantera
- Anthrax
- Korn
Needing no introduction, Iron Maiden’s brand of metal is electric, with a voltage that could kill on impact. With exhilarating, breathless guitar chords, they grip listeners by the neck and shake a few times for good measure. Their music retains the power rock elements of the eighties and maintains an unarguable vitality and rhythmic audacity. The ...
Metallica can be single-handedly credited with bringing the genre into the mainstream, and to a stadium audience everywhere. I’ve seen them live, and it is riveting, riotous, deeply moving stuff. You can feel their stage presence from the nosebleed, no lie. Their music features cascading, poignant melodies, and strangely raw and intimate lyrical fl...
One of the original metal anthems “Breaking the Law” comes courtesy of yours truly, British metal kings, Judas Priest. They formed in 1969 and were at the vanguard of a dynamic, vivacious, satisfyingly hostile new moment in music. Their sartorial expressionism was heavy on spikes, leather, occultist trinkets, and glam rock elements. They were not a...
The godfathers of the genre, British greats Black Sabbath were veritable game changers when they began their long careers in the late sixties. Fearlessly dabbling with themes of paganism, countercultural excess, anti-establishment calls to arms, and hermetic insinuations, their music certainly did not go down well among respectable circles. I consi...
Thrash icons Slayer defined in many ways what it meant to be a metal band in the 20th century. They were political vocalists above all, exploring taboo and controversial themes at every turn: genocide, corruption, hypocrisy, terrorism, fascism, and torture, among others. Their modus operandi was to ruffle the feathers of the powers that be with hos...
Megadeth are one of the early pioneers of the genre and a top heavy metal band. They formed in 1983 and transformed what metal meant. Scathing, unapologetic, dirty, and carnal, their music possessed an arrogant sensuality that is damn near inimitable. Along with Metallica, Anthrax, and Slayer they are considered one of the “Big Four” of thrash meta...
“Du Hast” has spawned a thousand and one cultural memes. That’s unfortunately the beginning and end of most casual listeners’ understanding of the German metal musicians Rammstein. They are veritable legends, however, and are a fundamental reason people associate gothic metal with Germany. Their sound has a dark vitality, industrial flourishes, and...
Even listeners with a cursory interest in metal know Pantera, the preeminent American groove metal band. Founded in 1981 by brothers Vinnie Paul and Dimebag Darrell (both tragically deceased), the band cast a powerful, inspirational shadow over rhythmic and glam metal during the genre’s resurgence during the mid-nineties. They are best remembered f...
Named after a killer bacteria – how very metal of you, Anthrax. Considered one of the big four of thrash metal, they were founded in NYC in 1981. They’ve sold over ten million albums and have achieved broad commercial success. Their songs make quirky references to cheeky humor and comic books, and they lean wholeheartedly into their bizarre crossov...
California nu metal nineties cult heroes Kornare every basement dwelling slackers favorite band – and I don’t mean that in a negative way. Their music touched a nerve, hitting on themes of alienation, isolation, and apathy and they spoke to the peculiar anxieties that defined the turn of the century. Melodic, with vocals disintegrating into intrica...
Jul 20, 2016 · 10. Death. Death mastermind Chuck Schuldiner is regarded as death metal’s most crucial innovator. Authoring the first purely death metal record, ‘Scream Bloody Gore,’ Evil Chuck was careful ...
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- ‘Welcome to Hell,’ Venom. Blasphemy has been an effective attention grabber for centuries, but until 1981, heavy metal had never seen a band go as all-in on Satan as the three lads from Newcastle calling themselves Venom did.
- ‘Planets Collide,’ Crowbar. In the early Nineties, Crowbar established themselves as the gruffest act on the bustling New Orleans metal scene. But “Planets Collide,” the leadoff track from the band’s fifth album, 1998’s Odd Fellows Rest, showed that there was way more to guitarist-vocalist-bandleader Kirk Windstein than his bellowing, grimacing MTV visage suggested.
- ‘Executioner’s Tax (Swing of the Axe),’ Power Trip. Everything about Power Trip screamed throwback — from their tasteful marriage of hardcore and thrash, building on the golden era of so-called “crossover,” right down to their 1987-style album-cover font.
- ‘43% Burnt,’ The Dillinger Escape Plan. Prog and hardcore punk once seemed like polar musical opposites, but by the late Nineties, a handful of innovative acts had found a way to combine the complexity of the former style with the fury of the latter.
1. Black Sabbath. Soundtrack | Iron Man. Black Sabbath were an English rock band, formed in Birmingham in 1968, by guitarist and main songwriter Tony Iommi, bassist and main lyricist Geezer Butler, drummer Bill Ward and singer Ozzy Osbourne. Black Sabbath are often cited as pioneers of heavy metal music. The band helped define the genre ... 2.
Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With roots in blues rock, psychedelic rock and acid rock, heavy metal bands developed a thick, monumental sound characterized by distorted guitars, extended guitar solos, emphatic beats and ...
