Greatest Heavy Metal Bands of All Time

Genius

Cannot see any band shifting Sabbath from 1st. Pioneers of metal. Top spot is well deserved.

yay

because tony iommi

incredible bassist geezer

HAIL Ozzy

they gave birth to ozzy osbourne

They were the original metallers and they are still the best there ever was.

ok well tool is by far my favorite band and imo they are the most invent song writers around every member of the band is gifted in the extreme and second to none I feel is if they should be number one on this list but BS is great too but they are still not nearly as musically talented as tool imo most bands put out albums with only have two of three great song on them if the band is great itself with tool you might have one great song on the album with all the rest masterpieces but this only my opinion anyways tool really deserved this spot as number two on this chart go tool!!!

Best heavy metal Band of all time. without giving **** weak bullsh!t technical reason behind my answer.. ill keep it simple. Daney Carey best drummer in the world mixed with heavy, distorted guitar riffs and hard hitting, vocal chord straining, scarey lyrics produced by Maynard. They will never by beaten and anyone who still thinks its Metellica vs Tool for top spot is dreaming.. Tool buried that debate after lateralus.

Tool Rules

I think Meshuggah are as progressive as Tool. Both bands are progressive in different ways. I think I prefer Tool's sound a little bit but Meshuggah are awesome too just for sheer brutality. You are right when you say that there are a lot of annoying Dream Theatre wannabes out there.

The funny thing about TOOL is they don't really fit anywhere. Prog metal is the best fit but most prog metal fans would disagree with that as ironically most prog metal bands sound very similar, basically like poor imitations of Dream Theater and nothing like TOOL. These bands are not progressive IMO, they're just DT tribute acts. TOOL is more progressive than all of them, and nowadays TOOL is more progressive than even DT itself! Genres are funny things.

Tool are a progressive metal band... they indeed rule!

haha! Agreed. No way are Tool nu metal, that's ridiculous! Slipknot aren't thrash metal either, Slipknot are nu metal. How strange... Oh well. Tool are a great band whatever they are.

Tool is metal, but definitely not nu.metal like it says in the description.

THIS IS THE PAINKILLER. keep riding that metal monster...

My personal favourites. You cannot go wrong with Priest. I would put them as the best but I respect Sabbath and Tool and 3rd is not too shabby.

yes

Pantera makes me want to break things. Other bands also make me want to break stuff like Slayer and Pig Destroyer. Tool makes me want to put those things back together, then break them again. Pantera makes me want to smash my tv with a sledgehammer.

No second best after maiden! :) It should be maiden first, then pantera, then sabbath, then slayer, then tool, then sepultura, THEN priest, then megadeth, then saxon and then either soundgarden or dio for the top 10! :D

YES!! 2nd best band after Priest. Truth.

God knows I miss them! One of the best bands EVER in the history of metal.

RIP Chris, sorry it didn't work out

Hey here's an idea...how bout you just classify them as Soundgarden...

I don't think King Animal or Down On The Upside were heavy. They are good albums but they are not metal albums. The albums before that were heavier.

me again, sorry but i just listened to some of the other songs mentioned before (never the machine forever, jesus christ pose, mailman and black rain) and i am truly baffled. singer wailing at the top of his lungs, heavy riffing, pounding drums, awesome guitar solos... is this not heavy metal? then i heard burden in my hand which is not heavy metal at all but i do like the song. maybe they are not a heavy metal band but to me it seems like most soundgarden songs are heavy metal songs. difficult band to classify

i got told soundgarden was just like pearl jam so i never heard much, i only heard black hole sun before today and i decided soundgarden was pretty weak but i seen these comments and thought maybe they do deserve another chance.. so today i listen to rusty cage and its nothing like black hole sun!! then i listen to a song called birth ritual, one called cold ***** and a kinda weird one called face pollution. i am pretty confused. this stuff dont sound like pearl jam to me. in fact it sounds quite a lot like... heavy metal. which is surprising to me. i can see myself getting into this band. PAINKILLER still dominates however

the grunge tag never suited soundgarden.i vote metal/hard rock/experimental

Oh yeah and it's true that Bruce Dickinson said that Sounggarden were a heavy metal band. Here's the exact quote: "I never got this bull**** about Soundgarden not being a heavy metal band. They're a ******* metal band, for Christ's sake!" That's good enough for me. And I'm not talking about this psychedelic thing or whatever, they were metal. Jesus. Cornell is the definitive metal vocalist.

Well, when Rusty Cage came out I wasn't thinking "wow, this is great grunge", I'll tell you that much. It was metal. Just straight up pure heavy metal. OK, so Burden In My Hand and Black Hole Sun aren't metal. I'll just say this: Dancing In The Moonlight isn't metal, Nothing Else Matters isn't metal, Wynona's Big Brown Beaver isn't metal. So what? Do we want every heavy metal band to stick to some formula? The best ones don't. We should be holding Soundgarden up as a shining example of a heavy metal band with some goddamn variety to their sound.

IDK really I think of Soundgarden as hard rock with some metal songs. They have some songs that are full on METAL but I don't think the overall sound is metal. Don't get me wrong, I get why metalheads like them, respect to Soundgarden and all that, but I'm not so sure they are metal though I agree they were never really grunge. They get my vote for most metal band that isn't metal... does that make sense? It's like they're borderline.

To the first poster, you are wrong on both counts. I would call Soundgarden psychedelic metal. To the second poster, your argument is essentially correct but you are very wrong about one thing, the word grunge was invented earlier than you seem to realise, perhaps you should do some research of your own.

Dude, how is Soundgarden not metal? Soundgarden released 3 full-length albums before the word 'grunge' was even invented. Do some research. Until Nirvana got big, Soundgarden were classed as a metal band, Soundgarden don't sound anything like Nirvana. Sure, they had non-metallic influences, but so what? Even Bruce Dickinson says Soundgarden is metal. What's wrong with you, dude? Rusty Cage, Never the Machine Forever Jesus Christ Pose, Superunknown, Mailman, Beyond the Wheel, even their new song, Black Rain. How are these songs not metal? Perhaps you should have actually listened to the band before posting your laughably ill-informed comment.

MAIDEN! MAIDEN! MAIDEN! MAIDEN!

come on guys,isn't quality of the music the primary concern in this rating list?then how on earth do tool,soundgarden come prior to Maiden?Isn't it ironic for Iron maiden to see them trailing behind bands like tool,soundgarden?I come to terms with anyone who puts pantera in this list but not that they can supersede Maiden.Maiden are far more better than any other metal bands to have any kind of heavy influence on the world of heavy metal.......and nonetheless you guyz are dropping Metallica at the bottom of the list which is pretty much the proof of this list being rated by people who know a little about metal....

OK people they are good but come on.

My lovely Maiden. Sad to see them not in the top 5 (only just!) On the other hand the bands ahead of Maiden are all great too and also many of the bands below them are great (Slayer immediately comes to mind)

best metal band ever...

horror rock... i guess........... but it is where bruce dickinson got their power as a heavy metal............

MAIDEN RUUUUUULES!!!! IRON MAIDEN FOR THE WIN!! :D

Sabbath my have been the first metal band but Maiden took metal to a new level. Up the Irons!

I used to think Iron Maiden was over-rated. Excellent, but over-rated. How foolish I was. These guys are both incredibly gifted songwriters and musicians. And Dickinson is one of the definitive metal vocalists.

hell, y arent they top! these guys rule over metallica ANY day.

Never considered Thin Lizzy to be a metal band. Hard rock yes, metal no.

live and dangerous!!!

not really metal, more prog

If you listen to their new songs then you will see that the prog metal tag is still kind of justified. One of the new-ish songs was called "Caravan". Listen to that. It's good hard rock/prog.

Maybe not heavy enough to be metal by today's standards but back in the day they were called prog metal.

I agree completely. Very good but not a metal band.

Good rock band no real thunder,not ametal band.

LEMMY! LEMMY! LEMMY!

Lemmy is a legend!!!!!!!!

RIPJH

greatest band tob ever walk the planet they are.awesome till the last breath, and shall be until the end.purely awesome. and righteous dudes they are. no one can deny te awesomenes thst is SLAYER. reign in blood. raining blood. Apocyliptic awesome

I think they probably meant the big 4 THRASH metal bands (Slayer, Metallica, Megadeth & Anthrax), not the big 4 metal bands. Slayer were always the best thrash band and they never did sell out. Also, people who think Slayer are nazis are just stupid. Jeff Hanneman's dad fought against the nazis in the war and Tom Araya isn't even white.

They wrote the history of thrash metal. Enough said!

Sabbath, Priest, Maiden, Metallica? 3 of them are in the top 10 ... the 3 that didn't sell out.

Not one of the big four metal bands in the top 10 what a discrace

I don't think they are metal, not any more. I think they are good but some of the songs sound the same.

More of a rock 'n roll band really, I always list them as classic rock, I have to say that musically speaking I think they are overrated, BIG time overrated! I start yawning after one song. You listen to one song and you've basically heard them all...

Same as the other comment. AC/DC was definitely just hard rock. They weren't a precursor, either, because we had the real metal founders around at the same time anyway; Priest and Sabbath

i dont think AC/DC is really "metal"

Dio has legend status and deserves to be higher.

Eternal respect!

Dio is awsome this band needs more points!

One of the greatest Front men ever . ! MOST Metal singers and front men should take notes from Dio ! . . Metal isn't about screaming ... its about Substance ! .

hail to the prince of darkness............

It's not just about Ozzy, it's about the various incarnations of the Ozzy Osbourne Band (a.k.a. Blizzard Of Ozz). If it was just about Ozzy then he would be ineligible, for this is a list of the greatest metal BANDS. Since this is about the Ozzy Osbourne Band, Ozzy's work with Black Sabbath (who are a different band) shouldn't come into it. Black Sabbath has its own entry. This is about Bob Daisley, Randy Rhoads (RIP), Zakk Wylde, and so on, as well as Ozzy's vocals (which I happen to like). It's about all the great music they made as a BAND.

Worst vocalist in metal ever, indeed! I don't think he gets the thums up for the way he sings, but more for his personality. Ozzy is a character and he takes advantage of that. It's hard to dislike him as a person, but Black Sabbath were definitely something else with Dio!

Worst vocalis in metal ever ! But he always has top musicians in his band. This is what makes Ozzy top !

If we were going by talent alone then Primus would indisputably be first., followed by Tool and then possibly someone like Soundgarden.

To be fair, Tool aren't the biggest fans of illegal downloading either. Or even legal downloading, for that matter! My two cents: Metallica's early stuff destroys Tool's early stuff and Tool's later stuff destroys Metallica's later stuff.

I do love Metellica and would put them in my top 5 as im not old enough appreciate or care about the golden oldies of rock. They can never touch Tool however... Tool number 1, more hard hitting and they take you to a different place, they are more real. Who can forget Lars acting like a fool over the napster stuff... booo.

Why so low? Only 3 bad albums load reload saint anger. All other albums are excellent and technique. Metallica shud be number 2 after iron maiden case closed.

The greatest metal band of all time. Almost every one of there songs is badass!!!

Of course it is tragic that Cliff died and especially the way he died and of course it is a shame that Metallica sold out after that but I think Newsted was a very good and underrated bass player. This is not the reason for the band's decline in quality. I don't think he can be blamed for the selling out because he did not have much of a say over the music the band made when he was in the band. I also think Trujillo is a good bass player who gets too hard a time from the fans.

They don't have to prove anything to anyone. They've proved themselves through the years. One of the greatest metal bands that ever existed, no matter what.

"I think the awfulness of their newer material essentially negates their early accomplishments." - Harsh, but fair.

Metallica is still running on the steam from their Cliff Burton days. ...And Justice For All was still excellent, but they haven't released a single good album since then. I think the awfulness of their newer material essentially negates their early accomplishments. Still, Master of Puppets is still a genre staple. It really sucks Cliff died, they had such a promising future.

These guys should be on a list of worst metal bands of all time not number 4 on a best list other than this i like the list

Metallica is the greatest metal band ever ! . . its not even close . Its sad 25 years later and no band has come close to touching them ! .. My generation ... the 90's and 00's think metal is all about screaming like a moron and playing as fast as you can . . Boy are they sadly mistaken. what a shame Metal sucks now a days

This band is the definition of thrash they will kick your ass

WTF ..so funny this band is out of list

Best album: Nothing. Best song: New Millenium Cyanide Christ. Best riff: Opening riff of Catch 33. Done.

New Millenium Cyanide Christ is unbelievably good. One of the most brutal things I ever listened to. Everyone should hear it.

Awesome musicians!

Metal archives is a bit of a joke though, isn't it? For example they have Deep Purple but not Led Zeppelin (they should have both or neither), they have Mortiis but not Rammstein ("say what?"), they have Soulfly but not Tool (you just have to laugh at that one). I'm not saying AIC aren't metal (they basically are...) but I am saying that Metal Archives is probably not the best "authority" you could appeal to.

Definitely metal, in fact one of the heaviest metal bands of all time. Dirt is a huge influence to the sludge metal subgenre.

Lamb of God is metal for poseurs, Alice in Chains got lumped into the 'grunge' scene just because they were from Seattle same with Soundgarden. They sounded nothing alike their 'grunge' contemporaries, song structures usually consisted of eerie atmosphere, Black Sabbath like proto-doom metal riffs, wah-driven subtly textured solos and dark, gloomy lyrics. Both bands are in Metal Archives and 'grunge' is just a term coined by media for a specific scene. Alice in Chains & Soundgarden are heavy metal bands.

I can't believe this bandis higher up than Lamb of God!!! They aren't even metal.

Some of the stuff from the self-titled album is a bit grungy. Songs like Sludge Factory and Blind although they are not pure grunge.

OK, here's how it is. Alice in Chains aren't grunge. Soundgarden aren't grunge. Pearl Jam aren't grunge. And guess what? Nirvana weren't grunge for the most part! Basically, these bands all came from the same state in the space of a few years and got lumped together and called "the Seattle scene". Grunge was a buzzword used to describe a particular sound going around Seattle at the time, if you listen to Bleach by Nirvana, then try to imagine it without the catchy parts, that was real grunge, it was metal influenced, but not metal. The real Seattle scene was just a bunch of guys in various bands playing various styles of rock music, and in the media this scene of rock bands with differing styles somehow got confused with the term "grunge" . Nirvana were influenced by the grunge sound in the beginning but Nevermind is more pop/rock and In Utero is more eclectic. Soundgarden were mostly a metal band with psychedelic elements, though they kind of mellowed gradually over the years. Pearl Jam are mostly like a cross between Led Zeppelin and REM. Alice In Chains came more from the glam metal side of things but they were influenced by the Seattle scene in their early days and moved away from the glam stuff. Some of AIC's stuff is metal, a lot of it isn't metal, none of it is grunge.

This isn't a Metal band ! . . no way in hell . . Its an alternative GRUNGE band !. .

They aren't that good of a band. But they do have a few good songs, though

Idk if they are metal but VH is awsome anyways

FNM is OK but Bungle is better

Faith No More and Mike Patton should definitely be listed in the top 10 Best Bands.

fantastic band

They are a fantastic band, but I wouldn't exactly consider them metal, especially not after Empire

Operation: Mindcrime and Empire - The two best, but don't rule out Promised Land either.

Oh, Dave. What happened? You used to be cool, man.

They indeed are one of the best in inventing guitar riffs!

I will admit that Randy Blythe has a great voice though.

Decent but not top tier.

Lamb of god is the best band in the world. They deserve to be in top 10 , why ? because no one can scream like Randy Blythe, beautiful metalcore screams he got there... long live Lamb Of God.

That is a bit harsh......they have a couple of really good tracks.....Ruin is a good one by them........they are a pretty good band but there are better bands

Bunch of meaningless out of control noise.

It's hard to find people who dislike System of a Down. They can't even be labeled. Simply awesome band!

B.Y.O.B Chop Suey hypnotize stealing soxicty Toxcity Radio/Video This cocain makes me feel like im on this song Revenga question Lost in hollywood old school hollywood Sugar know thetawaves holy mountains good bye blue sky atwa bounce la isa bonita ddevil inervision rowlette lonely day phyco dreaming arials prison song deer dance suggetions

Not strictly a metal band. Good though

What da hell, they are not a Heavy Metal band.

NOT a metal band.

LEGENDS

Founders of black metal subgenre.May be greatest metal band of all time if refusal to compromise and stamina account for anything.32 years and counting CRONOS and cohorts are still shocking people and having a good laugh .

MUCH better than this ranking,Versatile and always powerful.Guitars have a signature sound all their own.Very durable bunch that never has disappointed their fans over 20+years.

Proceeds the weedian!

good band,nice progresive sound, talented mucisians,good times

Great band, should be higher.

I never thought of them as metal.

I've always found this band plain boring.

AWESOME band... theres a female bass guitarist and the white zombie's songs are just so tuney and amazing...

Wrong, Venom founded Black Metal.see album of same name circa1983.

very underrated band. they are like a bit like isis but not as good, obviously

Yeah underrated is the word. For me top10. Also check out UDOs solo. His voice is METAL

should most definitely be higher! Top 25 in my book! Listen to Teutonic Terror and Balls to the wall! Wolf is a guitar wizard! WE WILL GIVE EM THE AXE!

I'm not gonna sit here and pretend they were a great band or anything but they were a breath of fresh air when they first came out with songs like Blind and Clown. It got old fast but they weren't some boy band like Linkin Park. They might not have been able to play the instruments very well but they tried some different things like bagpipes and so on.

I know everybody just stopped appreciating them right after Life is Peachy came out. Still, it's a fact that Korn managed coming up with a new kind of musicat the beginning of the 90's. They will always deserve respect for that. They had the courage to come up with new ideas. The first Korn album is awesome and Davis & co. are some of the best live performers out there! As for the albums after Life is Peachy, well, at least they had the guts to try something new, which is always a BIG risk, especially in the metal world where the fans are more easily disappointed than not. It would have been so easy to re-write albums with songs like Blind, easy money, but unlike other bands, they took that risk and experimented, which can't be a bad thing afterall. Jonathan Davis is a great frontman too, you go to a Korn gig and you never get bored, no matter what the people say. Respect for KoRn!

first album was decent but they went downhill big time

This band was the beginning of the END of metal . . Growing up in the 90's .. they had potential . . But thats all they had ..

I sincerely hope this was a joke.

Underrated

The Blackening...that's all I'm saying! By far one of the best and most complete metal albums of the past 10 years.Old- school but yet modern, awesome guitar solos, powerful. This band always kicks major ass live, no need to say much else, they speak for themselves. Thumbs up all the way!

i agree to that............

Should be way higher .. Even as a glam metal band .. >they were great

most of their songs are hit.......

Love em'.

Not a metal band. They were a rock band. Duff and Slash are still cool but this isn't metal. The man before is right.. where is the power to this music? How can it be metal?;

This band kicked some ass in the late 80's till the mid 90's, no doubts about that! Punk rock meets glam, Axl Rose and Slash...hello?! They went to hell now, but still, you can't deny they used to be ****in good back in the the days!

Long hair,tatoos and cool name does not make you a metal band.Especially when you have no real power in your music.

If I never hear November Rain again, I will die a happy man.

In A Darkened Room. 18 life. Nice soft metal. Voice of Bach is top class