Best metal bands of all time
Metal has raged, evolved, and split into a thousand subgenres since the days of thunderous riffs and doom-laden anthems first shook stadiums and basements alike. From the pioneers who forged the genre's iron backbone to the innovators who pushed it into darker, heavier, or more technical territory, the debate over who truly reigns supreme never ends. Cast your vote and help settle which bands deserve the crown as the greatest in metal history.
What counts: Seeded with approximate figures where shown — the crowd's votes decide the order.
AC/DC▲ Rising
Back in Black wasn't just a comeback after Bon Scott's death, it was proof that pure riff-driven rock could be stripped to its bones and still hit like a sledgehammer. Angus Young's schoolboy uniform and duckwalk became as iconic as the three-chord swagger underneath it, influencing every band that ever learned volume beats complexity. They're the argument that metal's heart is really just blues turned up past eleven.
Peak era: 1970s
added by IJRin 7 rankings
111
Metallica▲ Rising
Master of Puppets and the Black Album bridged thrash's fury with mainstream dominance, proving metal could sell out arenas without softening its teeth. Cliff Burton's death and the band's relentless reinvention through the 90s and beyond kept them culturally unavoidable for four decades. No band did more to drag metal from underground tape-trading circles into the center of rock culture.
Peak era: 1980s
added by IJRin 5 rankings
39
Iron Maiden▲ Rising
The Number of the Beast turned NWOBHM into a global movement, with Bruce Dickinson's operatic wail and Eddie the mascot giving metal both musical ambition and visual mythology. Their galloping bass lines and historical-lyric obsessions set the template for power metal and beyond, all while touring relentlessly without ever chasing radio trends. Few bands have stayed this heavy, this theatrical, and this consistent across 40-plus years.
Peak era: 1980s
added by IJRin 4 rankingsIron Maiden
34
Black Sabbath▼ Falling
Tony Iommi's down-tuned, doom-laden riff on the title track of their 1970 debut essentially invented the genre from a Birmingham factory floor mentality, turning blues-rock dread into something darker and heavier than anyone had dared before. Ozzy's unhinged delivery and lyrics about war and madness gave metal its first true voice of alienation. Every band on this list, in some way, is standing on the foundation Sabbath poured in blackened concrete.
Peak era: 1970s
added by IJRin 2 rankings
-23
Linkin Park▼ Falling
Hybrid Theory fused nu-metal aggression with rap cadences and pop hooks, making Chester Bennington's raw vulnerability a gateway drug for millions of kids who'd never touch a Sabbath record otherwise. Their inclusion sparks endless debate about genre purity, but their riffs, breakdowns, and sheer commercial impact reshaped what 'heavy' sounded like for a generation. Love them or not, In the End became the unlikely bridge between metal's underground roots and 2000s mainstream radio.
Peak era: 2000s
added by IJRin 3 rankings
-69
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Comments (8)
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This order is closer to right than any editor would've gotten.
Voted — and the gap between #1 and #2 should be bigger.
The crowd is sleeping on the bottom half of this list.
- WWill RossiJul 29, 2026
Exactly the kind of argument the internet was built for.