Best Metal Bands Not From U.K. or U.S.

The Top Ten
1 Celtic Frost (Switzerland) Celtic Frost was a Swiss extreme metal band from Zürich. They are known for their strong influence on the development of extreme metal. Formed in 1981 as Hellhammer, the band became Celtic Frost in 1984 and was active until 1993.
2 Opeth (Sweden) Opeth is a Swedish progressive death metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1990 by David Isberg, who invited Mikael Akerfeldt into the band as a bassist. Isberg ended up leaving the band, which lead to Mikael becoming the band's vocalist, guitarist, principal songwriter, and driving force. Along with ...read more.
3 Mercyful Fate (Denmark) Mercyful Fate was a Danish heavy metal band from Copenhagen, formed in 1981 by vocalist King Diamond and guitarist Hank Shermann.
4 Amon Amarth (Sweden) Amon Amarth is a Swedish melodic death metal band from Tumba, formed in 1992. The band takes its name from the Sindarin name of Mount Doom.
5 Destruction (Germany) Destruction is a German thrash metal band. They are considered one of the "The Big Four" of the German thrash metal scene, the others being Kreator, Sodom and Tankard.
6 Exciter (Canada) Exciter is a Canadian speed metal band from Ottawa, Ontario, formed in 1978 as Hell Razor. In 1980 they changed the name Exciter. They are widely considered to be one of the first speed metal bands and a seminal influence of the thrash metal genre.
7 Coroner (Switzerland) Coroner is a Swiss thrash metal band from Zürich, formed in the early 80s. They have been called "the Rush of thrash metal" for their increasingly complex style of progressive rock-infused thrash. They garnered relatively little attention outside Europe .
8 Artillery (Denmark) Artillery is a Danish thrash metal band. They participated in the early development of the genre, and their highly energetic, riff-centric and often fast-paced music is similar in style to that of Voivod, Coroner, Megadeth and Sabbat from the same era.
9 Kreator (Germany) Kreator is a German thrash metal band from Essen. Their style of music is similar to that of their compatriots Destruction, Sodom and Tankard; along with those three bands, Kreator has been referred to as one of the "big four" of Teutonic thrash metal, and they are often credited with helping pioneer ...read more.
10 Helloween (Germany) Helloween is a German power metal band founded in 1984 in Hamburg, Northern Germany. The band is a pioneering force in the power metal genre, and their second and third studio albums, Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part I and Part II, are considered masterpieces of the genre.
The Contenders
11 Sodom (Germany) Sodom is a German thrash metal band from Gelsenkirchen, formed in 1981. They have gone through many line-up changes, leaving bassist vocalist Tom Angelripper as the only constant member.
12 Stratovarius (Finland) Stratovarius is a Finnish power metal band that formed in 1984. Since their formation, they have released 16 studio albums, 4 DVD and 3 live albums.
13 Bathory (Sweden) Bathory was a Swedish Black/Viking Metal band formed in 1983 by Quorthon and Jonas Åkerlund. Bathory's first 4 albums layed the blueprint for Scandinavian Black Metal. Quorthon is often credited with creating the "shrieking" vocal style of Black Metal. Their 5th album, Hammerheart (1990) displayed ...read more.
14 Gamma Ray (Germany) Gamma Ray is a power metal band from Hamburg, northern Germany, founded and fronted by Kai Hansen after his departure from the German power metal band Helloween.
15 Therion (Sweden) Therion is a Swedish symphonic metal band founded by Christofer Johnsson in 1987. Its name was inspired by the Celtic Frost album To Mega Therion.
16 Dimmu Borgir (Norway) Dimmu Borgir is a Norwegian symphonic black metal band from Oslo, Norway, formed in 1993. The name is derived from Dimmuborgir, a volcanic formation in Iceland, the name of which means "dark cities" or "dark castles/fortresses" in Icelandic, Faroese and Old Norse.
17 Accept (Germany) Accept is a German heavy metal band from the town of Solingen, originally assembled by former vocalist Udo Dirkschneider, guitarist Wolf Hoffmann and bassist Peter Baltes.
18 Razor (Canada)
19 Sonata Arctica (Finland) Sonata Arctica is a Finnish power metal band from the town of Kemi, Finland. Created as a hard rock band named Tricky Beans, they later changed to Tricky Means and finally to Sonata Arctica, when they shifted to power metal.
20 Anvil (Canada) Anvil are a Canadian heavy metal band from Toronto, Ontario, formed in 1978. The band consists of Steve "Lips" Kudlow, Robb Reiner and Chris Robertson.
21 Hypocrisy (Sweden) Hypocrisy is a death metal band from Sweden. It was formed in 1990 in Ludvika, Sweden by Peter Tägtgren.
22 Dreamtale (Finland)
23 Rhapsody of Fire (Italy) Rhapsody of Fire is an Italian symphonic power metal band created by Luca Turilli and Alex Staropoli, widely seen as a pioneer of the symphonic power metal subgenre.
24 Running Wild (Germany) Running Wild is a German heavy metal band, formed in 1976 in Hamburg. They were part of the German metal scene to emerge in the early to mid-1980s.
25 Firewind (Greece) Firewind is a Greek power metal band. Formed in 1998, the group is currently signed to Century Media Records and was originally a small project created by guitarist, Gus G.
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