What’s up my fellow metal heads. One of the things that drives me absolutely bonkers is reading my childhood friends posting up how they love Mumford & Sons, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Beatles, and all these other bands that they have somehow “evolved” into being fans of while still pretending to fly their metal flag. Don’t get me wrong, an eclectic taste in music is tremendous and I’m certainly not one to throw stones in that direction, but when you post up a dozen Top 40 videos and then say you’re metal. You’re not. With the Grammy’s just days away it’s getting worse and worse on my Facebook timeline to the point I’m going to snap! So I have been compelled by a force deep within my body to compile for you my personal Top 10 Heavy Metal Bands of ALL TIME. It’s not your Top 10, it’s all mine. And you’re welcome to argue the points of it in the comment section at the end.
For the record, we’re talking metal only here. Not Hard Rock, 80′s rock, etc. even though often times they are considered the same. Quiet Riot for instance is my favorite band of all time. But it’s Hard Rock, not Metal. So you get my drift here? Good.
10. Stahlhammer
This is a newer band from Austria that formed in 1992. Stahlhammer means “Steel Hammer” in German and their music hits you like a hammer with it’s Industrial Metal riffs. Most of the songs are in German from their 6 albums but there are enough English songs to keep you cranking it up. Personally I just learned the German lyrics (and subsequently end up online learning what the words mean) so in some ways I can thank Stahlhammer for teaching me a few words of a new language.
They’re one of the biggest bands to ever come out of Austria. They covered Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick In The Wall” to rich acclaim, and did a Death Metal version of M.C. Hammers “U Can’t Touch This” so just like the US metal bands, they have a hearty sense of humor to go with their tremendous musical presence. If this is one you never heard of before, check it out on YouTube and get your ears wet.
Check them out at: www.stahlhammer.org
9. Motorhead
9. MotorheadThe 1975 English rock band that started the Speed Metal and Thrash Metal revolution that took place a few years after their popularity begun to rise. Lemmy and his revolving cast of characters have always kept the same kick you in the face act going since the start and still are kicking ass today. They’ve gotten popular to the next generation through the WWE and their entrance music for HHH.
Motorhead’s name is a reference to amphetamine users keeping that speed theme throughout everything they do. War-Pig / Snaggletooth, created by artist Joe Petagno has been a mainstay for the band since 1977 and will surely be until their final release.
Check them out at: www.imotorhead.com
8. Dio
Ronnie James Dio formed Dio after leaving Black Sabbath in 1982. They released 10 studio albums including the widely acclaimed Holy Diver and The Last In Line. Dio made some theatrical videos over the years and kept a style of metal from Black Sabbath and into this new incarnation. As with many metal bands, Dio was not without their demonic mascot Murray.
Dio is one of those bands that was always around me as a teenager but it wasn’t until later in life that I really appreciated the music. Maybe it was his holding onto the hair bald look, I don’t know.
Dio always rocked, it just took me longer to focus on it than some of the other bands I’ve obsessed on over the years.
Ronnie James Dio passed on May 16th, 2010.
Check Dio out at: www.ronniejamesdio.com
7. Slayer
If you don’t think of Slayer when you think of Metal. They you just are not really that into metal. Reign In Blood is, was, and will always be one of the greatest acts of metal aggression in my lifetime. It’s just the f’n bomb. 11 studio albums of the hardest, heaviest metal you can put through your ears. Sure there’s other genres of metal now technically heavier, but th
South of Heaven was an amazing album, a clearly slowed down album that proved they were by no means a one trick pony. They never did another album quiet like it… before or after South of Heaven. Will they again? Who knows.ey suck. They don’t hold Slayers balls.
They have a new studio album coming out in 2013 so get ready to crush your skull one more time!
Official website: www.slayer.net
6. Kreator
This Essen, Germany band is one that as a kid I played over and over
and over. I still listen to them today. I found out about them in 1986 when Pleasure To Kill was released and have been hooked ever since. They drive music deep into your body, it’s penetrating. You feel each and every work belted out by Mille Petrozza like someone it hitting you with a sledgehammer.
Terrible Certainty and Out of the Dark… Into the Light followed Pleasure and man did it just keep delivering. They still perform live and in 2012 released their latest album Phantom Antichrist. It’s one of those trash bands where you either love them or hate them.
Their website is: www.kreator-terrorzone.de
5. Powerman 5000
PM5K is one of those bands that just wake me up inside. Spider One and his revolving cast of bandmates have created this Science Fiction meets Alternative Metal sound and look that just works. Hell I was hooked on the band before I even knew Spider One was the younger brother of Rob Zombie.
Most of us first heard them when Mega!! Kung Fu Radio came out and if not by then surely by the time Tonight the Stars Revolt! hit the airwaves. Somewhere on the Other Side of Nowhere keeps their one of a kind metal form alive and well. Just this week, Feb 1, 2013 they announced the next studio album is being worked on.. I’m pumped!
Check out their site: www.powerman5000.com
4. Anthrax
Being a New Yorker, you have to be an Anthrax fan or you might as well back up and go somewhere else. Hell any metal fan should be an Anthrax fan if they even remotely enjoy the thrash metal scene, of which I do! I’ve been listening to them since 1984 when Joey Belladonna joined the band and it’s been music to my ears ever since.
The John Bush era is not a bad one. It’s heavier and it’s still got that Anthrax feel to it. But for me,it’s not my favorite Anthrax. That’s when Joey B. is on stage. Scott I
an also had the old S.O.D. project with Benante, Lilker and Billy Milano which was a cool band in it’s day. This group of guys just churn out good music no matter what direction they go, and it’s what makes me love them so much.
Spreading the Disease is one of my favorite albums of all time, wait no, maybe it’s Among The Living, or State of Euphoria. Really, I can’t decide it’s got my brain all caught in a mosh. Anthrax just kicks ass, 24/7/365.25 that’s right, Anthrax includes Leap Year! That’s how metal they are.
Check em out: www.anthrax.com
3. Pantera
This Texas metal band formed in 1981 and tore up the metal scene as most of us knew it. Dimebag Darrell (RIP) shred a guitar like nobody else in the history of metal one could argue. His body of work speaks for itself.
Cowboys from Hell is where I got my first Pantera introduction and I’ve been a fan ever since. They just grind the music out like bosses and they’ve actually grown more and more over time on me. So to go from “HELL YEAH PANTERA ROCKS” in 1989 to “Top 5 metal band ever” in my ears is a pretty cool thing. They’re music is what pumped them up my internal charts and have kept them in that place.
Once Anselmo joined Pantera it immediately shot from a second class glam act, to a first class metal battalion of destruction. His havoc inducing singing and the bands rhythmic metal onslaught brought fans to a froth rarely seen by any band. Vulgar Display of Power and Far Beyond Driven only gave an emphatic exclamation point on their musical body of work.
Do you listen to Pantera? You better. If you think METAL ROCKS and they’re not on your playlist.. poser.
Go to their site at: www.pantera.com
2. Metallica
This is a tricky one for me. Anyone who knows me knows that to me “Metallica died after In Justice for All” and I really do believe that. They got too caught up in themselves, their fame, and their bullshit. But let’s not be stupid here. Kill ‘Em All, Ride The Lightning, Master of Puppets alone could be the Top 3 metal albums of all time. They are all that tremendously metal and kick ass.
They’re still one of the greatest metal bands of all time. The riffs, the lyrics, the beats. Every one of the early songs just explodes into your brain with reckless abandon. Some of my favorites are Battery, Am I Evil, Phantom Lord, Seek and Destroy, Master of Puppets, and Damage Inc.
When St. Anger came out I thought it was time to give them another shot. I’ve always been a Rob Trujillo fan so he gets enough of my metal respect to hear what he brought to the table. Great album and it got me back into Metallica. I’ve since listened to more of the “commercial years” of Metallica and while they’re nothing to me compared to the first 3/4 albums, they’re not hot garbage either.
Metallica is always on my playlist, and it should always be on yours!
Can you guess where to find their site: www.metallica.com
1. Iron Maiden
Here we are metal heads. My all-time favorite heavy metal band. IRON MAIDEN. I can not express to you how much I love this band and how awesome I think their music is. I remember the first time I saw their videos in the 80s for The Number of the Beast. I remember the cassette cover and wondering if I should hide it from my parents. Nah, screw it. Eddie will protect me. Eddie is the guardian of metal heads around the globe. You can draw on his inner strength to guide you through anything!
I’ve spent thousands of hours listening to Iron Maiden over the years, all time well spent. Powerslave, Somewhere in Time, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, Piece of Mind, Live After Death, No Prayer for the Dying… all amazing albums but really name every album there is no duds from this group. Even their latest album The Final Frontier is fantastic and captures the Iron Maiden essence.
Are you ready to Up The Irons??
For my generation this has got to be one of the most influential bands out there. By far the first metal band my ears and eyes fell upon as a child and for sure will be the final metal song I hear in my Earthly existence. Iron Maiden is a band that I can always listen to no matter what the mood, situation, whatever. There is always time to crank up the Maiden and conquer your Fear of the Dark!
Check them out: www.ironmaiden.com
Now ya have it.. The cheddar has been delivered. My Top 10 Heavy Metal Bands of All Time. What did you think? Hate the list? Love it? Let me know who I missed out on adding, who should get the hell off my list, and what metal is cranking out of your crappy desktop speakers right now!
\,,/ Metal Rules \,,/
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