Top 10 Countries with the Best Metal Bands
Finland has an outstanding output of quality metal bands. I have not found one Finnish metal band that was terrible. All of them are good. If you want to find more bands, there is no better nation to look at than Finland.
If you are new to metal and want to become more involved, bands I would suggest as a starting point are Children of Bodom, Ensiferum, Nightwish, Turisas, and Stratovarius.
P.S. Best part too, I'm part Finnish, so metal is basically in my genes.
Even Obama talked about Finland having the most metal bands in the world (per capita). I'm Swedish, so it's hard to admit, but thinking logically, Finland is the most metal country ever.
The U.S. was the birthplace of thrash, the greatest genre of all time. The most underrated genre, groove, was also invented there by Exhorder and Pantera. It was popularized by bands like Machine Head and White Zombie.
The UK may have invented metal, but America perfected it.
Pantera, Lamb of God, Pentagram, Cannibal Corpse, Deicide, Tool, Dream Theater, Anthrax, Testament, Overkill, Mastodon, Iced Earth - the list goes on.
Come on, where are In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, Avatar, and Therion?
For the record, Therion is far more skilled than Nightwish and produces a much more impressive sound. Finland deserves the top spot, but Sweden deserves a damn close second.
Sweden overall has to have the best extreme metal scene ever because of Meshuggah, Opeth, Entombed, and Spawn of Possession. So many extreme metal bands came from here.
Twilight Force, Sabaton, Amon Amarth, Timeless Miracle, Lost Horizon, Dionysus, Falconer, ReinXeed - the list goes on for Sweden. Best bands in the world from this place!
I like this list, and the U.K. has some great metal bands, but there are a lot of famous bands from these countries that are missing. Iron Maiden and Judas Priest are hard to beat, though.
I love Nightwish, but Britain created heavy metal. Without British bands, none of the international ones would exist.
I would add Rainbow and Deep Purple. They are pioneers of heavy metal and very talented musicians.
Germany is the capital of metal! The United Kingdom is great too. In my opinion, Germany and the U.K. are the only two really great capitals of metal!
Also, Primal Fear (speed, heavy, power). Edguy (power, heavy). Avantasia (power, metal opera).
German metal sounds the most "metal." The German language was built for metal.
The origin of True Norwegian Black Metal, which obviously is the best kind of metal out there. Come on!
Mayhem, Burzum, Immortal, Emperor, Dimmu Borgir, Enslaved, Darkthrone, Old Man's Child, Ulver.
Come on, Norway has two of the best melodic/death metal bands: Old Man's Child and Dimmu Borgir, in my opinion.
The most metal country ever, hands down!
Canada is now ranked lower than countries like the Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark, Italy, and Brazil, but Canada's metal traditions are longer and more stable compared to those countries. For example, Anvil played thrash before Metallica, and Exciter was one of the first speed metal bands. Montreal is still North America's capital of heavy metal!
This list doesn't correctly represent the real situation. I tried to fix this on my remix. Canada should be higher because its bands play heavy and demanding subgenres, like technical thrash and death metal.
Also, there are many Canadian metal musicians abroad: James LaBrie (Dream Theater), Shawn and Glen Drover (Megadeth), Stu Block (Iced Earth), Alissa White-Gluz (Arch Enemy), Randy Black (Primal Fear), and Sebastian Bach (Skid Row).
The Netherlands has a lot of great singers!
The Newcomers
Angelus Apatrida, great thrashers!
Italy has a great scene for brutal/tech death bands like Hour of Penance and Fleshgod Apocalypse, as well as symphonic metal.
Come on, each genre has a Polish metal band or bands that are in the top league of that genre. Also, when it comes to extreme metal, there is no match for Poland. Just look at Behemoth, Decapitated, and Vader. Seriously, Poland should at least be in the top 5.
Poland should be in the top 10, at least above Italy and the Netherlands. Come on, Behemoth, KAT, Vader, etc.
Poland delivers good quality metal!
France has some good death metal bands like Gojira (the reason why I like extreme metal), Gorod, Benighted, and Kronos.
Japan has some of the greatest bands. They are also very skilled. Japan should be at least ranked 6th.
Japan lacks quantity, but if you consider quality, we all know Japan is one of the best.
Japan definitely should be higher. They are the most skilled ones after all. This is coming from a Bodom fan.
Don't forget Volbeat. In my opinion, Volbeat is the best band from Denmark, in general.
Artcell is all-time best in the sense that it produces quality music and also spreads its global presence through international shows for migrant Bangladeshi fans abroad.
Thanks to whoever added all these bands. Instead of just one genre, different genres of bands were included. These bands are very good (by the way, Satanik is a black metal band). Especially Artcell and Warfaze.
I think Bangladesh is an iconic country for metal music. There are so many bands and listeners. Great!
Metalcore/Deathcore: Parkway Drive, Thy Art is Murder, Make Them Suffer, Boris the Blade
Extreme Metal: Destroyer 666, Denouncement Pyre, Striborg, Abyssal, Ouroboros, Anno Domini
Prog Metal: Ne Obliviscaris, Arcane
Grindcore: King Parrot, Blood Duster
And that's just from the top of my head. Great stuff from an underrated scene.
Australia should be in the top 10: Be'lakor, Ne Obliviscaris, Psycroptic, Alchemist, Mortification, Make Them Suffer, Vanishing Point, The Berzerker, Hollow World, to list some.
Indonesia has many good metal bands. There are many death metal bands from the '90s still productive today, like Jasad, Forgotten, Siksakubur, and Death Vomit.
There are also many good heavy metal bands that are still fresh, but their music is very impressive!
Japan has a bigger metal scene than Indonesia? It's a joke! The Indonesian metal scene is bigger than the Japanese metal scene!
That's actually a weird list to represent this country. The most popular bands from Russia are Aria, Epidemia, Catharsis, Master, Mavrin, Temnozor, Arkona, Arida Vortex, and Mechanical Poet.
Check out Hieronymus Bosch, it's very obscure yet very cool progressive death metal.
Russian bands are very underrated in the West.
Nepal is a small country with a small population, but it has some great metal bands. Nepali metal bands will rise up.
Edenbridge is one of the best symphonic metal bands I've ever heard!