Favorite Metal Music Artists

Both the mainstream and underground metal scenes have developed a reputation for producing crowd-pleasing artists who rip through power chords and serious solos unlike any other genre. This list is dedicated to the metal bands you love the most while giving you the opportunity to separate the riff from the raff for your friends. So, don't fret about making your list, mosh on down to the ranking section and rate your must-hear metal bands right now!

Filter coming soon.

Real-Time Results(actually, partially randomized placeholder data for now)

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    Metallica
    Ranked by 38 users
    230 +73
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    Led Zeppelin
    Ranked by 20 users
    100 -93
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    Iron Maiden
    Ranked by 21 users
    98 -38
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    Black Sabbath
    Ranked by 21 users
    98 -81
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    Megadeth
    Ranked by 21 users
    91 -42
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    System of a Down
    Ranked by 28 users
    89 +36
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    Guns N' Roses
    Ranked by 19 users
    85 -58
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    Slipknot
    Ranked by 19 users
    83 +95
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    Linkin Park
    Ranked by 14 users
    83 -26
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    Nine Inch Nails
    Ranked by 12 users
    69 -20
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    Dream Theater
    Ranked by 10 users
    66 -27
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    Rage Against the Machine
    Ranked by 17 users
    59 +23
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    Alice in Chains
    Ranked by 14 users
    55 -98
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    Slayer
    Ranked by 12 users
    55 -67
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    Disturbed
    Ranked by 16 users
    55 -85
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    Judas Priest
    Ranked by 16 users
    53 -22
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    Rammstein
    Ranked by 12 users
    53 -22
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    Marilyn Manson
    Ranked by 11 users
    51 -58
  • 19 image/svg+xml
    KoЯn
    Ranked by 11 users
    50 -67
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    Ozzy Osbourne
    Ranked by 7 users
    47 +36

Conversations

  • 7 years ago
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    Linkin Park is #4 on a heavy metal faves list? Really? Hehe...my jaw is dropped right now. I'm willing to bet that anyone that listed Linkin Park actually doesn't enjoy heavy metal.
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    • Splatterhouse 5
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      Splatterhouse 5
      Editing … Alright, I feel a little better knocking that terrible pick to #7
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    • Husky Wing
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      Husky Wing
      Editing … uno momento ranking Linkin Park :^)
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    • Silent Gamer
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      Silent Gamer
      Editing … Genres make no sense to me, but I do love Linkin Park!
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    • Husky Wing
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      Husky Wing
      Editing … I should rank some Simple Plan! That's metal right?
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    • Splatterhouse 5
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      Splatterhouse 5
      Editing … Haha...I have no particular problem with Linking Park, but they would never cross my mind as an option for heavy metal. Suggesting it to my metal friends would get me laughed out of the room without following it up with a "I'm just fucking with you" gesture.
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  • 9 years ago
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    Slayer at 31??? seriously?
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  • 9 years ago
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    Nine Inch Nails is metal? Can someone show me a metal video from them, because all the songs I heard were far from metal... closer to ambient music in fact.
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  • 9 years ago
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    Maiden IS Metal.
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  • 9 years ago
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    So many bands here who are NOT metal...
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    • Ulty
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      Ulty
      Editing … Like which ones?
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    • Revolution666
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      Revolution666
      Editing … Linkin Park, RAtM, SoaD, Manson, Zeppelin (an influential band, yes, but not really metal), Trent Reznor, Slipknot, Korn, Rammstein, Incubus, AC/DC, Papa Roach, Guns n' Roses,Taproot, Dope, Horse the Band. A lot of these bands are either hard rock or aren't even metal at all. At times a few of them may border metal, but for the most part they aren't. Don't get me wrong, though, I do enjoy a number of those bands, they just really aren't metal, at least proper metal.
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    • Ulty
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      Ulty
      Editing … Well that's what you're missing. This is an overall list of best Metal bands, not "proper Metal" bands. Every sub-genre counts, they exist for a reason: to illustrate how diverse and complex the Metal genre is.
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    • NoSoundIsHeard
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      NoSoundIsHeard
      Editing … Seriously though, some bands really should be disqualified here. This is like if some mainstream magazine like Time did a best metal band list.
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    • Magwaza
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      Magwaza
      Editing … Bands like Guns N' Roses and AC/DC are hard rock though. They don't even belong to a metal sub-genre.
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    • NoSoundIsHeard
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      NoSoundIsHeard
      Editing … Exactly. Same with bands like Korn.
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    • Magwaza
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      Magwaza
      Editing … Jonathan Davis himself doesn't like it when Korn is considered a metal band. Nu-Metal is basically just another form of alternative rock. There is nothing really "metal" about a band like Linkin Park. If there was a rock band list on favslist it would probablyl look alomst the same and that's kind of missing the point of having a metal list to begin with. I didn't vote for metal bands 2 weeks ago, because I knew something like this would happen.
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    • Fincher
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      Fincher
      Editing … Eh, I wouldn't call all of these bands metal, but I wouldn't call all of the movies in the Favorite Horror Films list horror. The scope for these genre lists tend to go broad because different people have different understandings of genre limits. I'm all right with it. Whether AC/DC makes the cut or not, I wanted a way to rank some metal bands like Sirenia, ReVamp, etc. that wouldn't make my favorite artists list, and this let me do it.
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    • VolTRH
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      VolTRH
      Editing … Deleted by himself
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    • VolTRH
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      VolTRH
      Editing … Me being a veteran of both the official Guitar Hero and Rock Band forums, I am absolutely sick of reading comments like these. Metal, like pop, rock, and electronic, is an umbrella term that encompasses many different subgenres, and just like those other umbrella terms, is not specific enough to be used as a reliable method of labeling genres. This i why subgenres exist, so that people can reliably compare the sounds of one band to another without losing the integrity of the argument. It's just the same that if you were to talk to a self-proclaimed gamer only to find out that he exclusively plays mobile games. Mobile games may not be what you think of when you think of games, and they may not fit into your definition of what is a worthwhile game, but nevertheless, mobile games are still games. The same is true when it comes to metal. Metal, by definition, is only characterized by heavily distorted and amplified guitars and an overall "loudness". That means that Megadeth, Linkin Park, Avenged Sevenfold, Motley Crue, Evanescence, Bring Me the Horizon, Led Zeppelin, Amon Amarth, Emperor, and Iron Maiden are all metal. Metal is too broad and too vague to have a list like this have any real value, just like the All Time Favorite Games list. So instead of arguing about what is and what isn't metal, figure out what subgenres you like the most, and find some bands that fit into that subgenre. You'll get more accomplished that way.
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  • 9 years ago
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    Knew Dream Theater would be at the top of an actual metal list ;D
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  • 9 years ago
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    The picture of this list looks like a silhouette of MC/@Bob GutSmasha :D
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  • 9 years ago
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    Hey, @Pape Badiane, it's currently impossible to add bands to the list, and there's also a bunch of metal genres missing from the associations. My suggestion would be to just tag all metal bands/artists with "Metal" (not "Heavy Metal" though, which is a specific genre) and make that the requirement.
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    • Papissama
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      Papissama
      Editing … Sorry guys, we're looking into it.
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    • Papissama
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      Papissama
      Editing … what do you mean by tagging all metal bands?
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    • Axersia
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      Axersia
      Editing … Well, there's A LOT of different metal genres out there, and all need to be added to the eligibility requirements for those bands/artists to be listable. If someone adds a new metal genre to the database, that genre will then have to be added to the eligibility requirements as well. It'd be easier if you just added "Metal" as a music genre, and tagged all metal bands with it.
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    • MasterCrash
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      MasterCrash
      Editing … Or manage to associate subgenres to genres
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    • Axersia
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      Axersia
      Editing … Btw, Papi, if there's another "engineering problem" that prevents bands and artists from sharing the same list, just like Turn-Based Strategy and Tactical Turn-Based RPGs can't share the same list, I think we can all agree that for the time being, this should be a list of bands and not artists.
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    • Husky Wing
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      Husky Wing
      Editing … I don't know what happened but now all of my favorite artists, including those who aren't related to metal whatsoever, have automatically been ranked here.
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    • Axersia
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      Axersia
      Editing … Well, the list works now, except that I can't list my favorite bands because #Melodic Death Metal, #Melodic Black Metal and #Atmospheric Black Metal aren't on there.
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    • Papissama
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      Papissama
      Editing … It should be good now.
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    • Axersia
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      Axersia
      Editing … People are gonna keep asking you to add more genres, though. :P
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    • MasterCrash
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      MasterCrash
      Editing … There's already a bunch of weird picks, like, I can see why Nu Metal can be considered, well, metal, but Alice in Chains? Tenacious D? Zebrahead? I like all three bands, but they aren't metal!
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  • 9 years ago
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    Bands aren't available to add yet.
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Deleted!