An effective metal song can make your heart race. It conveys power, resilience and hope for its listener.
Gojira captured everyone in the metal scene’s imagination with their song Toxic Garbage Island, boasting fast mosh riffs layered atop slow-burning grooves and an atmospheric vocal melody – something truly extraordinary.
Dillinger Escape Plan
If you prefer complex metalcore music, The Dillinger Escape Plan are sure to please. A New Jersey band named after John Dillinger – an infamous bank robber – they were among the pioneers of their genre and known for creating chaos and danger with headbanging genius that defied convention and challenged boundaries. At an age of copycat bands, Vitamin Water-sponsored “punk” culture, keyboard criticism and conservatism, they stood as true champions of free expression.
Calculating Infinity was an incredible, flowering tour-de-force and established them as one of the greatest metal bands ever. It featured intricate King Crimson-like lead guitar lines, chuggle-chuggle rhythms, clickety basslines, quieter Slint-esque dreamy moments and Mike Patton’s eccentric vocal style; changing tempo, time signatures and playing styles more frequently than an IBM supercomputer can do in 30 seconds!
Though a complex album, Nothing’s Funny will surely hook you. This album should serve as an ideal introduction to the band; if you enjoy this one, check out Dissociation as well.
Lamb Of God
LAMB OF GOD’s change to LAMB OF GOD at the turn of the millennium (due to concerns that their Burn The Priest moniker would be mistaken for Satanic metal outfit) signaled their intention of becoming modern metal’s most intense band. Their albums (2000’s New American Gospel and 2003’s As the Palaces Burn in particular) garnered heavy metal awards from Revolver and Metal Hammer while cementing themselves as top-tier band with an electrifying live show.
VII: Sturm und Drang is proof of this; featuring tracks such as “Ruin” and “Eleventh Hour,” it takes the black-and-chrome speed metal approach of their debut and transfers it to full Technicolor glory. Chris Adler (replaced this year by Winds of Plague’s Art Cruz) unleashes his demonic riffs freely, while vocalist D. Randall Blythe sounds as though being rudely shaken from eternity in the afterlife.
Though their fan base is extensive, the band still tours at smaller venues and has yet to break through to mainstream audiences. Their lyrics often address topics such as sexism, depression, addiction, mental illness and suicide – these topics make up part of their political motivation and often find expression through song lyrics.
Meshuggah
Meshuggah are Swedish extreme tech-metal pioneers and deliver an arresting music video to transport viewers on an unforgettable adventure into their surreal world. This epic clip depicts a mythic and emotionally charged journey into an inhospitable desert wasteland filled with malevolent forces and violent powers; plus otherworldly scenes such as bodies flying through the air or turning into dust – plus many other experimental elements!
Meshuggah quickly rose to fame as an influential act in underground metal, becoming an inspiration to contemporary metal bands and amassing a dedicated following. They became known for their musical style with polymetered song structures and polyrhythms – and today are one of the world’s most influential heavy metal acts.
Immutable was released through Atomic Fire Records in April 2022 as the band’s ninth studio album and marks their most eccentric and unusual musical journey yet, defying all expectations and pushing beyond all boundaries of collective brilliance. Recorded at Sweetspot Studios in Halmstad Sweden by Rickard Bengtsson and Staffan Karlsson for mixing purposes; mastering was handled by multiple Grammy winner Vlado Meller (Metallica, Rage Against the Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers and System of a Down). Visionary artist Luminokaya created the striking cover artwork.
Whitechapel
Whitechapel, based out of Knoxville, Tennessee is an eight-piece musical group led by vocalist Phil Bozeman and featuring guitarists Ben Savage and Alex Wade as well as bassist Zach Householder and drummer Brandon Zackey. Whitechapel are currently signed to Metal Blade Records.
Whitechapel has released eight albums and several music videos since forming in 2003, with its latest offering, Breeding Violence, being released in February 2011. They have also embarked upon a headlining tour alongside Acacia Strain, Veil of Maya and Chelsea Grin.
Whitechapel was an important hub of Jewish immigrant life during the 18th and 19th centuries, serving as home for soup kitchens and eventually even the Whitechapel Gallery. However, due to postwar London redevelopment efforts that spared this area its wholesale destruction by developers – so much so that every year, 100,000 participants take part in Jack the Ripper tours!
Whitechapel recently unveiled their brand new music video for their instrumental track “Without You,” taken from their eighth studio album Kin. Watch below!
Ghost
Ghost is an intangible spirit often imagined to take the form of an invisible presence; generally perceived in vague, shadowy or evanescent form that appears among living beings or haunts them. A secondary image often seen on the edges of negative or prints due to double or imperfect reception of light from lenses is sometimes known as ghosting; Ella Henderson’s song Ghost features this phenomenon and shows flashbacks of him happily with her at motels or river trips, sometimes depicting happy times where both had enjoyed each others company.
Ella Henderson has quickly made her mark in the music industry after finishing sixth on The X Factor talent show. Since then, she has released multiple singles and looks set for an exciting future ahead of her.
iwrestledabearonce
Iwrestledabearonce (IWABO), formed in 2007, are an American metalcore/avant-garde metal band known for their eclectic approach and frequent genre shifts within songs. Dubbed as “metal at its most diverse,” they can incorporate jazz, disco, grindcore and other genres into their sound with ease.
Doomed to Fail is a song about perseverance and never giving up on your dreams. It is an empowering track about believing in yourself and going after your goals even if they may seem impossible or “doomed to fail”.
This song comes complete with an incredible music video featuring the band performing inside an ice cave – check it out! This is an ideal song to listen to whenever you need a little boost of motivation or just feel down!
BABYMETAL
BABYMETAL has taken the world by storm with sold-out concerts and huge merch sales. Their iconic stage outfits and dance moves, combined with their combination of J-Pop with Metal music has garnered them millions of views online. Additionally, they have collaborated with artists like Dragonforce.
Kobametal formed in 2010 as a subunit of Sakura Gakuin with producer Kobametal seeking to blend heavy metal and Japanese idol music. Consisting of three members (Suzuka Nakamoto known as “Su-metal,” Moa Kikuchi known as Moametal and Yui Mizuno known as Yuimetal), they sing, dance and scream together while producing this unique style of heavy metal music.
Their lyrics explore real-world issues as well as traditional idol-pop topics, encouraging young teens to accept themselves, stand up against bullying, promote friendship and family values, as well as their shared love of chocolate. A typical BABYMETAL concert usually lasts about an hour; including two encore songs; they have performed at Tokyo Dome both Red Night and Black Night performances.
Avenged Sevenfold
Though often mocked for not being heavy enough, Avenged Sevenfold remains an effective force. “Critical Acclaim,” one of their heaviest songs, boasts walls of guitar dissonance to canon-blasting drums for an explosive thrash-metal assault with an infectious groove to match. Shadows also unleashes his most ferocious and baleful vocal screams to date on this track!
The band formed in 1999 in Huntington Beach, California under the name Cain and Abel; their logo features stylized deathbats as a nod to religious scripture. M. Shadows used his Catholic education and love of Biblical passages to create their name and identity for this band.
Sounding the Seventh Trumpet, their debut album released in 2004, was metalcore-themed; but on 2005’s City of Evil they made the transition into capital-M Metal with sinewy songs that are equally catchy as they are heavy. One such track, “Gnarly Riffage”, captures these elements perfectly. From Shadow’s theatrical Dani Filth shrieks to its heavy rhythms and its sludge-soaked breakdown. It should not be missed!