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Divine (2024)
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Agamemnon (2025)
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Sunset on the Golden Age (2017)
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85 bands found
Helix are a Canadian hard rock and heavy metal band whose history reaches back to 1974, when they began as the Helix Field Band before tightening into the louder, more direct act associated with Brian Vollmer. The group's 1980s run made them a durable name in Canadian heavy rock, especially through No Rest for the Wicked, Walkin' the Razor's Edge, and Long Way to Heaven. Songs such as "Heavy Metal Love," "Rock You," and "Deep Cuts the Knife" show the band's strengths clearly: big gang choruses, punchy guitar riffs, a party-ready sense of movement, and Vollmer's high, gritty voice. Helix were never as dark as some metal peers, but they carried enough riff weight and road-dog volume to belong in the heavy metal and glam-metal continuum. Their long career also matters because the band kept recording and touring through lineup changes, regional shifts, and changing tastes. At their best, Helix sound like working-class arena rock with denim, sweat, and a simple belief that a chorus should hit like a shouted order.
Helloween are one of power metal's defining bands, turning speed metal velocity, twin-guitar melody, and soaring vocals into a template that reshaped European heavy metal. The early Walls of Jericho material still carried a raw, thrashing edge with Kai Hansen singing and playing guitar, but the Keeper of the Seven Keys albums expanded the band's reach dramatically after Michael Kiske entered on vocals. Those records established the combination that became central to the style: fast drums, harmonized leads, heroic choruses, fantasy-colored scale, and a sense of brightness that did not sacrifice force. Later eras with Andi Deris kept the band active through lineup changes and added a harder, earthier vocal character, while the Pumpkins United reunion brought Hansen and Kiske back into the fold alongside Deris for a three-singer, seven-member version of the band. Helloween's catalog is vast, but its core achievement remains clear: making melodic metal feel fast, grand, technically sharp, and emotionally huge.
Iron Maiden are the towering titans of British heavy metal, whose galloping bass lines, twin-guitar harmonies, and Bruce Dickinson's operatic vocal power have defined the genre since 'The Number of the Beast' in 1982. From the epic storytelling of 'Powerslave' and 'Seventh Son of a Seventh Son' to their continued stadium-filling dominance with albums like 'Senjutsu,' Steve Harris's band remains the gold standard of heavy metal ambition and longevity.
Jackyl are a Kennesaw, Georgia hard rock band whose music combines Southern boogie, heavy metal punch, and a proudly unruly sense of showmanship. Formed in 1991, the group broke through with its self-titled 1992 album, led by Jesse James Dupree's gritty vocals and the notorious chainsaw solo on "The Lumberjack." Songs such as "Down on Me," "When Will It Rain," and "I Stand Alone" established Jackyl as a late arrival to the hard rock mainstream, arriving after glam metal's peak but before Southern rock revivalism fully settled into a new lane. The band fits hard rock and metal-adjacent scope through loud riffs, swaggering rhythms, and a stage identity that favors spectacle without abandoning blues-based guitar drive. Jackyl's music is not subtle, and that directness is central to its character. The riffs are built for volume, the choruses are blunt, and the live show turns rowdy excess into a calling card. Later albums such as Cut the Crap, Relentless, Best in Show, Rowyco, and 30 Coming In Hot kept the band active for a loyal audience. Jackyl remain distinctive because they make Southern hard rock feel combustible, funny, and heavier than the bar-band tag suggests.
John Corabi is an American hard rock singer and guitarist from Philadelphia whose career has made him one of the more respected journeymen in heavy rock. After fronting The Scream, he became the lead vocalist for Motley Crue during Vince Neil's absence, singing on the band's 1994 self-titled album, a heavier and more brooding record than many expected from that catalog. Corabi later worked with Union, Ratt, Brides of Destruction, The Dead Daisies, ESP, and solo material, building a long resume rooted in hard rock, glam metal, and bluesy heavy music. He fits hard rock and metal scope through both his voice and his writing history: his delivery is raspy but controlled, capable of gritty arena choruses, acoustic storytelling, and heavier guitar-led material. Corabi's career has often been shaped by difficult timing, lineup changes, and bands with complicated histories, but that has also made him a durable figure among fans who value craft over celebrity. His best work shows a singer who can bring soul and weight to riff-based rock without sounding theatrical for its own sake. John Corabi remains compelling because he treats hard rock as a working musician's language, not just a period style.
Kill The Lights formed in 2019 as a Welsh-American heavy metal and metalcore group led by musicians with deep histories in modern heavy music. Former Bullet for My Valentine drummer Michael "Moose" Thomas began the project after wanting to return to a heavier, more organic style, bringing together players connected to bands including Throw The Fight, Still Remains, Threat Signal, Glamour of the Kill, and later Bullet for My Valentine bassist Jason James. The band debuted with "The Faceless," introducing a sound built on sharp riffing, double-kick drive, melodic choruses, and a clear affection for mid-2000s metalcore and classic heavy metal. Their first album, The Sinner, arrived in 2020 and established the group's mix of aggression and accessible hooks. Death Melodies followed in 2024, expanding the guitar work, vocal range, and darker melodic atmosphere. Kill The Lights stands apart through experienced musicianship: the songs are compact and hook-conscious, but the arrangements keep a strong metal focus through fast leads, breakdowns, and muscular rhythm-section work.
Lacabra are a Seattle metal band whose music draws from progressive death metal, industrial bite, classic heavy metal, punk urgency, and dark wave atmosphere. Built by veterans of the local heavy scene, the group quickly developed a reputation for chaotic energy and a sound that refuses to sit inside one narrow subgenre. Releases such as Human Quilt and the self-titled debut show a band comfortable with sharp riffing, harsh vocals, melodic guitar movement, and rhythmic shifts that keep the songs from becoming standard death metal exercises. Lacabra fit metal scope directly through death metal and heavy metal, but their identity is also shaped by the broader Seattle tradition of bands that value texture, weirdness, and live force. The vocals are aggressive, the guitar work can move from serrated attack to eerie melody, and the rhythm section gives the songs a tense, forward-driving shape. Industrial and punk influences add extra abrasion, making the music feel restless rather than simply technical. Lacabra's appeal is that they sound like a contemporary underground metal band with history behind them: disciplined enough to write memorable songs, but raw enough to keep the edges dangerous.
Finland's Lordi shocked the world by winning the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest in full monster costumes with the hard rock anthem 'Hard Rock Hallelujah,' bringing horror-themed heavy metal to the continent's biggest stage. Led by the masked Mr. Lordi, the band has spent over two decades delivering Kiss-meets-GWAR theatrical hard rock and horror entertainment.
Mac Sabbath are a Los Angeles parody heavy metal tribute band that reimagines Black Sabbath songs through a fast-food nightmare universe. Formed in 2014, the group presents itself through characters such as Ronald Osbourne and performs altered Sabbath-style material with elaborate costumes, theatrical props, and a satirical fixation on processed food, consumer culture, and corporate absurdity. The concept is comic, but the band fits metal and hard rock scope because the musical foundation is rooted in Black Sabbath's heavy riffs, doom-laden pacing, and classic metal vocabulary. Their live show works by balancing joke density with real musicianship; the riffs still need to land, the grooves still need weight, and the vocals still need to carry the shape of the original songs even when the lyrics have been twisted into surreal parody. Mac Sabbath's appeal is partly novelty, but it survives because the execution is committed. The band turns tribute culture into performance art, using heavy metal's theatrical side to make something that is both ridiculous and oddly faithful to Sabbath's ominous stomp. At their best, Mac Sabbath remind audiences that heavy music has always had room for humor, spectacle, and grotesque imagination.
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World Metal Index indexes hundreds of World heavy metal bands across every subgenre — death metal, black metal, thrash metal, doom metal, metalcore, hardcore punk, grindcore, sludge, stoner metal, and more. Browse heavy metal bands by genre, city, or state.
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World Metal Index is an index of World heavy metal bands — death metal, black metal, thrash metal, doom metal, metalcore, hardcore punk, and all heavy music. Browse bands by genre, find metal concerts near you, and discover the World metal scene.