Best Metal Bands

METAL (and some 'close-to' bands)

(All-time favorites in CAPS)

1. The Acacia Strain - Sludgy, brutal schlock-metal with goofy breakdowns. Very fun.
2. An Albatross - Thrashy, trashy speed. The Locust with more keyboard and funnier lyrics.
3. Amanda Woodward - French metal. Sounds like Saetia kind of, but way more French.
4. AMERICAN NIGHTMARE - Technically hardcore. They are incredible for two reasons: speed and emotion. One of the best-ever lyricists.
5. Arch Enemy - Mechanical sounding Death. Sometimes they sing-sing, which I consider a bit lame. Musically interesting.
6. AS THE SUN SETS - Older, and brutal. They started off intense grindish, then got thrashy. Singer now in DAUGHTERS.
7. Asterisk - For when songs over a minute are a crime. Grind it.
8. At the Gates - "Slaughter of the Soul" is one of the most classic albums ever. They are death metal, I guess.
9. Beyond the Sixth Seal - Guys from THE RED CHORD having fun... and being another awesome band, more melodic, more silly, but incredible.
10. The Black Dahlia Murder - Death metal. So fast, growl and high-pitched vocals. Their latest album "Nocturnal" is EXCELLENT.
11. Blind Guardian - Seven albums about Lord of the Rings, and a lot of it is pretty decent, if you like fantasy metal. Funny regardless.
12. The Blood Brothers - Not really metal, but I'd consider them avant-garde indie with a metal (but girly) mouth.
13. The Bronx - More like "rock" but they are a band many metal lovers can enjoy for their sheer fun factor. They sing sing, sort of.
14. The Chariot - New venture from the singer of Curl Up and Die. Has a lot of "Chug chug chugg weeee" type guitar action, but very good regardless. Sounds similar to old CUaD but more repetitive.
15. CHARLES BRONSON - I should call them 'punk' but I am going to call them Thrash, and put their picture next to the word in the dictionary.
16. Circle Takes the Square - Indie with metal teeth, and songwriting complexity to make you very very happy.
17. combatwoundedveteran - Thrash.
18. CONVERGE - They are good no matter how many people like them. Aggressive, hateful metal. J Bannon is one of the best voices in music.
19. Crestfallen - Converge dumped in a bucket of dirty, drippy, smelly thrash.
20. Curl Up and Die - Long, sludgy parts, distinctive deep and almost robotic voice. Lots of repetition. Surprisingly good for sleeping to.
21. Darkest Hour - Used to be pretty good, be prepared for terrible sing sing parts though. They are where the 'screamo' feces came from, even though that stuff is nothing like the old screamo like I Hate Myself.
22. Das Oath - Amazing thrash doing it dirty.
23. DAUGHTERS - Started thrash, now they are something else, equally fast. Lazy vocals mixed with frenetic jazz and speed rhythm and riffs. Incredible, innovative.
24. Discordance Axis - Like a screaming squirrel falling down glass stairs in a box of working jackhammers, DA is perfect for music this fast. Thrashy. Fast.
25. ED GEIN - Fast, creative, political, incredible. They dust the competition for sheer aggression.
26. EVERY TIME I DIE - Probably the most popular band on here, these guys started the cack-rock/metal thing getting popular. Their music is so fun I can't hate them, only love.
27. EYES LIKE AUTUMN - Melodic metal with breakdowns. This NH band lasted less than a year but are more than slightly worth looking up. Bad recordings.
28. The Fall of Troy - More like indie or pop, the guitar work and singing is very good, as are the crazed time changes. A fun listen.
29. Fear Before the March of Flames - Fun indie metal, with occasionally girly singing.
30. Find Him and Kill Him - Are they punk, thrash, rock, metal, or hardcore. Well, hardcore. Listen to them if you are a fan of fast stuff with hardcore singing and a bonus of cussing.
31. Found Dead Hanging - Fun, fast metal with breakdowns and fierce deep singing. Some doom-ish parts.
32. From a Second Story Window - I don't know why they did what they did recently, but they were very good and fast, especially for having long songs and being melodic.
33. From Autumn to Ashes - Stop laughing. You liked their first album too. (except when the drummer sings.)
34. F*ck I'm Dead - (trying to keep 'G' rating) A guy screaming into a drum machine set on fastest speed.
35. Genghis Tron - Another guy with a drum machine, except he plays keyboard too and has some slow, silly parts. Some legit brutal parts.
36. The Great Redneck Hope - Fast, short songs with quick changes and angry vocals. Winner of funniest song titles award.
37. HAMARTIA - Best melodic metal band. Together for a short time. Amazing.
38. Head Wound City - Blood Brothers' singer trying to be thrash, with mixed but fun results.
39. Heavy Heavy Low Low - A mix of quickness and intricate parts, but laced with some of the most brutal breakdowns I've ever heard, without being stupid.
40. The Hostage Heart - Brutal voice in melodic metal, almost ruined by sing sing parts on occasion. Overall, very good.
41. Invocation of Nehek - Intricate metal, with some truly awesome parts.
42. Ion Dissonance - Stop. Start. Then go extremely fast.
43. Ishia - Good straight-up metal, with a variation of parts.
44. Isadora Crane - Indie metal with a load of parts, jazzy, very cool.
45. Leng Tch'e - Deep voice, trashy drum machine metal.
46. A Life Once Lost - Used to be more straight metal, now they are obsessed with showing how many time signatures they can chug chug through in a song. Very percussive.
47. Light This City - Fun, fast death with an absolutely brutal female lead singer.
48. The Locust - Dirty thrash with keyboards. Have become even more innovative and creative in recent years, though straying from roots. I think improving.
49. Modern Life is War - Very good metal-influenced hardcore, much like With Honor.
50. Nasum - Asterisk the 2nd
51. Norma Jean - Soaring crushed voice metal with repetitive breakdowns.
52. THE NUMBER TWELVE LOOKS LIKE YOU - They define the jazz-metal stuff out there, in my eyes. Changes will twist your gut, vocals shred, just amazing.
53. ORCHID - 30 seconds ominous intro, 30 seconds of thrash-speed per song. Percussive snare, distinct guitars, nectar.
54. Pig Destroyer - So fast, and all their songs are too loud on any player. They are fast.
55. THE POWER AND THE GLORY - They are fast, they have awesome changes, they have some melody, they are brutal incarnate. Up there with ED GEIN if not better, this band crushes.
56. THE RED CHORD - Only better with time, they used to be based on drums, but the creativity of their guitar work is unbelievable. One of the best bands in existence. Not very great lyrics though.
57. Saetia - Indie metal with creativity, anguish and speed. They are so indie. Very good.
58. The Sawtooth Grin - Fast, tap dancing metal with brain-piercing high pitched vocals.
59. Since the Flood - NH tough guy metal, fun, tough, definitive weight-lifting music.
60. Some Girls - Trashy metal with elements of thrash, speed and hardcore. Lazy vocals.
61. Transistor Transistor - They are indie, sing sing, but they deserve inclusion of their sheer intensity.
62. Walls of Jericho - Tough guy metal with a chick singer, they get better with every release. Positively silly breakdowns.
63. WITH HONOR - They are actually hardcore, but their guitar work from a former member of HAMARTIA is phenomenal. Very feel-good lyrics as well.
64. xbxrx - It's almost like they're making fun of you for listening to them, but they're great fun trash when they get going.