Best Metal Bands That Have Changed Their Sound

The Top Ten
1 Metallica Metallica is an American Heavy/Thrash Metal band formed in 1981. The original lineup was James Hetfield (Vocalist and Rhythm guitarist), Dave Mustaine (Lead Guitar), Lars Ulrich (Drums), Ron McGovney (Bassist). The group came into mainstream from their Self-Titled album and the hit single "Enter Sandman".

With their first two albums, Kill 'Em All and Ride The Lightning reaching underground success, their third effort, Master of Puppets has since become one of the most important heavy metal albums ever, as it became the first thrash metal album to be certified platinum. The title track has since become the band's most played song live. ...read more.

They want from pure thrash to hard rock/metal

2 Pantera Pantera was an American heavy metal band formed in 1981 by guitarist Dimebag Darrell and drummer Vinnie Paul. The band started out as a glam metal act in the 1980s with little success. After discarding their original lead vocalist and enlisting Phil Anselmo, the band signed a major record deal with Warner Music Group via Atco Records. Around this time, Pantera underwent a major change in their musical... read more

From Glam to Groove Metal

3 Sepultura Sepultura is a Brazilian heavy metal band from Belo Horizonte. Their first album, Morbid Visions presented a proto-black metal sound with Wagner Lamounier of Sarcófago. Sepultura's sound varies by the album, from thrash metal, groove metal, and even death metal.

They played Black Metal in their debut, had a few Thrash records, and a few Groove Metal records.

4 Katatonia Katatonia is a Swedish metal band formed in Stockholm in 1991 by Jonas Renkse and Anders Nyström. The band has released nine studio albums spanning the course of three decades, and their tenth studio album, The Fall of Hearts was released on May 20, 2016.

From Black/Death to Doom/Gothic to Alternative and to Progressive

From Death-Doom to Gothic Doom

5 Opeth 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 Edge of Sanity, Opeth is credited with being the first progressive death metal band, although they now play progressive rock. Akerfeldt is good friends with Jonas Renkse of Katatonia, and Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree.

From Progressive Death Metal to Prog Rock

6 Behemoth Behemoth is a Polish blackened death metal band from Gdańsk, formed in 1991. They are considered to have played an important role in establishing the Polish extreme metal underground.

From Black Metal to Blackened Death Metal.

7 Carcass Carcass are a British extreme metal band from Liverpool, who formed in 1985 and disbanded in 1995. A reformation was enacted in 2007 without one of its original members, drummer Ken Owen, due to health reasons.

From grindcore, to melodic Death Metal, to straight Death Meta

8 Blind Guardian Blind Guardian is a German power metal band formed in the mid-1980s in West Germany. They are often credited as one of the seminal and most influential bands in the power metal and speed metal subgenres. Heavily influenced by Queen, they use the technique of overdubbing. They also incorporate large amounts of orchestral arrangements. Hansi Kürsch creates a huge choir effect by overdubbing his own voice multiple times in complex, overlapping harmonies. Thanks to overdubs and numerous backing vocals Blind Guardian stand out with a very dense sound.

From thrashy Speed Metal to Power Metal to Progressive Metal to Symphonic Metal. Their transitions were smooth and did not bring disappointments, including the most recent change - their 2015 album, which was their first symphonic metal album.
If you listen to Majesty and then to Sacred Worlds, you will see how much the band has evolved over time - they sound like two completely different bands but not less awesome.

9 Ministry Ministry is an American industrial metal band founded by lead singer and only original member Al Jourgensen in 1981. Originally a new wave synthpop outfit, Ministry changed its style to industrial metal in the mid-1980s. In late 1990s and after that, Ministry have explored other metal genres, most notably thrash metal.

They started off as synthpop and later became industrial metal, lol.

10 Living Sacrifice Living Sacrifice is an American Christian metal band formed in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1989. Over the years, their music has evolved to encompass various styles, including thrash metal, death metal, and metalcore. They are considered pioneers in the Christian metal genre, known for their unflinching lyrics and complex compositions. Living Sacrifice has been influential not only in religious circles but also in the broader metal community.
The Contenders
11 Enslaved Enslaved is a Norwegian extreme metal band formed in Haugesund in June 1991. They are currently based in Bergen, Norway.

One of the original Norwegian Black Metal bands. Now they play Progressive Black Metal. Enslaved are living proof that black metal can be innovative

12 In Flames In Flames is a Swedish melodic death metal band from Gothenburg, Sweden, formed in 1990. ...read more.
13 Cynic Cynic is an American band which incorporates elements of progressive, experimental, alternative, and heavy metal. Founded in Miami, Florida. Founding members Paul Masvidal and Sean Reinert publicly revealed their homosexuality in May 2014, a move that was broadly supported by the heavy metal community.

These guys are absolutely fantastic no matter what genre they play.

14 Morbid Angel Morbid Angel is an American death metal band based in Tampa, Florida. UK music magazine Terrorizer ranked Morbid Angel's 1989 debut Altars of Madness first in its list "Top 40 greatest death metal albums".

Actually, all their albums are labeled death metal but not all of them are just death metal

From Death Metal to Industrial Metal. Very disappointing, yeah.

15 Mastodon Mastodon is an American heavy metal band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in early 2000 and composed of bassist Troy Sanders, guitarists Brent Hinds and Bill Kelliher and drummer Brann Dailor.
16 Korn Korn is an American nu-metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The band's current lineup includes founding members Jonathan Davis, James "Munky" Shaffer, Brian "Head" Welch, and Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu, with the addition of Ray Luzier, who replaced the band's original member, David ...read more.
17 Soilwork Soilwork is a Swedish melodic death metal band from Helsingborg. They are signed to Nuclear Blast. Formed in late 1995 by Björn Strid and Peter Wichers, originally under the name Inferior Breed, the band changed their name in late 1996 to Soilwork.
18 Job For a Cowboy Job for a Cowboy is an American death metal band from Glendale, Arizona. Formed in 2003, the band's debut album Genesis was released in 2007, peaking at No.

Deathcore to progressive death metal.

Deathcore to Death Metal

19 Demon Hunter Demon Hunter is an American Christian metal band from Seattle, Washington, started in 2000 by brothers Don Clark and Ryan Clark. Although the brothers created the band together, only Ryan remains, since Don left the band to take care of his family.
20 Slipknot Slipknot is an American metal band formed in Des Moines, Iowa in 1996. The band is best known as one of the pioneers of the New Wave of American Alternative Metal during the late 1990s - 2000s and are distinguishable by the band's clothing choices, consisting of black/red jumpsuits and horror inspired masks. ...read more.

Started as nu metal but from Vol: 3. and onwards, they've had a more traditional metal sound with the inclusion of solos and less Scratching/Sampling.

21 Paradise Lost Paradise Lost are a gothic metal band that formed in 1988 in Halifax, England and are considered by some to be one of the pioneers of the death/doom genre and of the gothic metal genre.

From deathdoom to gothic metal, then to gothic rock incorporating electronic elements and then back to their roots.

22 Bring Me the Horizon Bring Me the Horizon is a British rock band from Sheffield, Yorkshire. Formed in 2004, the group currently consists of vocalist Oliver Sykes, guitarist Lee Malia, bassist Matt Kean, drummer Matt Nicholls, and keyboardist Jordan Fish. They are signed to RCA Records globally and Columbia Records exclusively in the US. The style of their early work, including their debut album Count Your Blessings, has primarily been described as deathcore, but they started to adopt a more eclectic style of metalcore on subsequent albums. Furthermore, their latest album That's the Spirit marked a shift in their sound to less aggressive rock music styles. ...read more.

From Deathcore (Count Your Blessings) to Heavy Metalcore (Suicide Season), to Lighter Metalcore (There Is A Hell), to Lighter Metalcore with Post Hardcore (Sempiternal), to That's The Spirit (A Small Bit Of Metal, and Mostly Pop Rock)

23 Machine Head Machine Head is an American heavy metal band from Oakland, California. Formed on October 12, 1991, the group was founded by vocalist and guitarist Robb Flynn and bassist Adam Duce. They have received great critical success especially for their album "The Blackening" which is considered a modern metal masterpiece.

Hey the Band I use to Like they went from Groove Metal to Nu Metal to Thrash Metal

24 Burzum Burzum is an influential black metal solo project of Norwegian musician and writer Varg Vikernes. Burzum came to prominence at the beginning of the Norwegian Black Metal scene in the early 1990s. Vikernes was imprisoned for 21 years for the murder of Mayhem guitarist Euronymous, and charges of church ...read more.
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