Top Ten Heaviest Metal Bands

I love CC but calling them the heaviest band is just not accurate in my opinion. This is more of a popularity contest than actually basing it on heaviness, Metallica is 6th ffs. I can think of a plethora of bands heavier than the top 5 combined. Devourment, Embryectomy, Cephalotripsy. This lists should be composed of 80% slam and 20% of everything else. because that genre's main focus is sheer chug chug heavy riffs and is pretty damn good in doing their job. I am surprised Suffocation isn't here and they are one of the more popular bands that are heavy. Belphegor ain't even here and they are way way heavier than Slayer. Dying Fetus is way down the list but is significantly heavier that everything else on the top ten.

CC is the band that made every Anal Destruction of Child Anihilator sorrow of madness of satan band wich belongs to progre death black not hipie blood ancient metal genre possible, so Yeah, if I have to go with one I rather go with the original.

Cannibal Corpse is the most hardcore, aggressive, and kick ass band I have ever heard. I enjoy many of the bands above but they are no where near as hardcore as Cannibal Corpse. This is one of the rare bands you find that can sound like they do. Bands like bring me the horizon and peirce the veil do not even need to be close in the ranking, as they are not hardcore, and are not the best bands out there. This band knows how to scream and make riffs, unlike so many other bands

I expected the top 20 to be full of Death Metal bands... What I found: Metallica, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Black Sabbath, Pantera, Megadeth, Motorhead. Guys, it's 2016 and you still think that those bands are the heaviest? Slayer is the only band that doesn't play Death Metal to belong near the top. About the modern metal bands in the top 20: I can accept Slipknot, but AX7 shouldn't even be on the list!

So brutal, Raining Blood is extremely heavy, but that doesn't compare to their song "Disciple" off God Hates Us All! How heavy is this band?!

they're not even the heaviest thrash band. that prize goes to Kreator. I mean some of their songs are pretty intense but compared to some other bands, they're about as heavy as a nursery rhyme band no joke

Slayer realeased some of the heaviest albums of all time such as Reighn in Blood and Seasons of the Abyss. Even their name just screams heavy band. I personally find them heavier than Cannibal Corpse because I find that E, Eb, and D/Drop D are the heaviest tunings (the most common thrash tunings) and that Slayer's vocals are just the right range to be heavy. Many people would disagree, but it's an honest opinion. I find some Cannibal Corpse songs heavier than others, but I think Slayer just beats them out.

If you disagree that they are heavy, just listen to Angel of Death or Raining Blood loud through good sound equipment, and feel the music crushing you.

Slayer may be "heavier" band than Metallica, but they all represent the same time era of being created. There will be time when Slayer, Metallica, Megadeath and all together will be satanic stories for the kids, and there will be the time when these are "hippy" proge metal. To me Slayer is more like faster style trash metal than Metallica, while Metallica is deeper and heavier... But to get the hippies to leave the premises I would choose Reign in Blood over Enter Sandman.

They are not softer than slayer, I like cc but they're just too mainstream. I'm not voting for my favorite band. They're just heavy as heavy can be..

Come on guys, this list is not bout voting for yer favorite band.. My favorite metal band is lamb of god and pantera and not to mention I'm not a very big fan of behemoth but I have to agree their music are extremely heavy take slaves shall serve for example, the song itself sounded like it want to kill you

Have you already heard "Slave Shall Serve"? "He Who Breeds Pestilence" maybe? No? Then go and check most heavy band in existence. Sure - there is more mainstream stuff like "Cannibal Corpse" or more 8th empty string 0-0-0-0-0 like "Meshuggah", but this one is true hell, and in artistic way also.

I voted for Behemoth as the heaviest band ever because, they're basically black and death metal combined together. That's what makes them heavy.

This is a popularity contest. Nile is way heavier than all these other 9 bands, Cannibal Corpse deserves to be on the list, not the other 8. Dying Fetus, Misery Index, Mortician, Malevolent Creation, Suffocation, Carcass, Beheaded, Morbid Angel. All those bands should be here. Not those other bands that are mentioned. People just don't know what heavy is or they are completely uneducated when it comes heavy music

Metallica, Pantera, Slipknot and Black Sabbath in the Top 10? Even Slayer is way too light compared to Death or Black Metal.
Brutal Death Metal like Nile is pretty much one of the heaviest music types you can find out there.

Annihilate the wicked on this page. Nile is amazing band who really understand technical death metal. Enough said and those who think a musically oblivious 8th graded is voting well I am musically smart 9th grader

Apparently Linkin Park, Slipknot and A7X are grind core because they're heavier than this. NOT! Cannibal Corpse are high on the list because they're more mainstream now.

Not only is Meshuggah's tone and overall vibe by far the heaviest on this list, their lyrics push the bar to a whole new level of dark poetry. There couldn't be a stronger juxtaposition between the whiny, insipid lyrics of many "core" bands splattered with unnecessary F-shots, and the rich imagery and hellishly uncanny lyricism found in Meshuggah.

This list is horrible!

1: Slayer is the heaviest band on earth? Come on, these guys never heard of death metal! Specially when it comes 2 strings lower

2:heaviest band does NOT mean the best band! Why should "heavy=best"?

Black metal can be extremly heavier than death sometimes but its much more dark. I should discover more heavier stuff if I'm wrong with voting for meshuggah

This band is definitely the heaviest on the list. Most bands you'll hear at least one or two songs in an album that aren't as heavy as the others, sometimes more. However, Meshuggah only makes heavy music, and, to me, is the heaviest sounding band I've ever heard.

Different people have different defintions of HEAVY. Meshuggah introduces a kind of layered complexity that is more heavy and intense than anything I have ever heard before. By my defintion of heavy nothing comes close (and I mean not even in the slightest) to MESHUGGAH.

My vote goes to these guys. Death Metal and Black Metal bands are more noise than heavy. Slayer is really fast and aggressive, but Metallica came up with some of the heaviest riffs ever in the 80s, fast AND slow. If you don't think they are heavy, listen to Fight Fire With Fire, The Thing That Should Not Be, Battery, Harvester of Sorrow, Damage Inc, Dyers Eve, Blackened, For Whom The Bell Tolls, and Trapped Under Ice. When you're done, show me proof they aren't heavy.

If you say they aren't heavy at all, you aren't a metalhead. At all. Listen to that Slayer isn't heavy when they palm mute. When Metallica palm mute, they are. Heck, The Thing That Should Not Be has a riff that slam bands would use! Fight Fire With Fire, Battery, and Dyers Eve have some difficult and fast riffing, which is what death metal is made of.
Go listen to The Thing That Should Not Be, Fight Fire With Fire, Battery, and Dyers Eve as loud as you can and go tell me they're not heavy!

Metallica are in top 500 or 1000, but not top 6. They are heavy but they are too mid-tempo compared to doom metal (really slow) and black and death metal (really fast). Get these guys out of the top 10!

Yes, Fight fire with fire is probably in the top 5 heaviest songs in metal history but id put them down just a little lower. Slipknot, slayer, Pantera, Death, Cannibal Corpse, Meshuggah, Infant Annihilator are a small notch heavier.

This list is lying. Pantera are OBVIOUSLY heavier than Metallica, Slayer, and pretty much every other band ever (except for MAYBE Cannibal Corpse)! Don't believe me? Here's my proof:

Cowboys from Hell
Vulgar Display of Power
Far Beyond Driven
The Great Southern Trendkill (especially this one, it's the best metal record of all time right up there with Pantera's previous two efforts)
Reinventing the Steel

Listen to all of these (in order), and I guarantee you will think that I am right. If not, then that's fine, it's probably just because Cannibal Corpse out-heavies them by just a little bit...

Heavy? Walk. Hollow.

This list is actually a measure of band popularity and public familiarity.
It is certainly not a list of heaviest.

For ultra heavy bands see:
Born Of Osiris, Electric Wizard, Bongripper, Admiral Angry, Candlemass, Gorguts, Nile, Job For A Cowboy, Dethklok, The whole genre of djent with Animals as leaders and Periphery are super heavy, also Pentagram and the Doom genre are slow and brutal.

I could go all day listing heavier bands than these classics and popular bands.

Heaviness is available in all tempos, slow and fast and mid tempo, and the techniques and sounds involved are different. I love Sabbath, Priest, Maiden, Megadeth, Metallica and Slayer, and yet also how the younger bands have pushed the envelope.

And anyone who thinks Maiden or Metallica or LoG are heavier than Slayer listen to Reign In Blood, Seasons in the Abyss, God hates us all, and Crionics personally is better than fight fire with fire.

Although the list is messed up, pantera would definitely be the heaviest of the bands mentioned in the top 10. Listen to 5 minutes alone, god that song is heavy! One of the heaviest riffs ever made in the history of metal, no song I have heard can match up to the heaviness of this song. And trust me, I listen to a lot of metal.

These "musicians" should be number 1. I quoted musicians because they aren't musicians. They're beasts. Their music isn't the fastest, but they have Dimebag's signature sound, Vinnie Paul's amazing grooves, Rex's pounding bass, and Phil's skull crushing screams.

Heaviest band ever. Castigation and Betrayal is the most unfairly heavy song ever, 30 seconds of extremely heavy doom metal, 3 minutes of insanely aggressive death metal, and back to those 30 seconds. That song alone makes them the heaviest band ever, not to mention Pandemonic Hyperblast is the second heaviest song ever, behind that.

Musically, nothing really competes against Anaal Nathrakh in regards to heaviness. Black Metal with strong influences of Grindcore and Industrial Music, its an effective combination to establish something uniquely heavy, which this band succeeds. In fact, the music is so chaotic, even bands like Cannibal Corpse sound rather mellow in comparison.

I think they should be number one honestly. They're basically the total annihilation of mankind in music form. Just listen to tracks like "I Am The Wrath Of Gods And The Desolation Of The Earth" and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Maybe not the absolute heaviest band ever, but definitely the heaviest band with clean choruses, and aside from maybe Meshuggah and Cattle Decap they are clearly much heavier than anything else in the top 10.

Okay so according to this list A7X and System of a Down are heavier than Cryptopsy, Suffocation, and I don't even see Cattle Decapitation. Apparently Metallica is heavier than Cannibal Corpse… please, people. This isn't the "10 Most Fangirled Metal Bands." This is a list of the heaviest. Oh and what is with people thinking Slipknot is heavy? That's what 10 year olds said back in 2001. Just like how a bunch of scenes in 2008 jabbered about how Suicide Silence was so "br00tal."

Honestly, no nu-metal or thrash metal is as heavy as death, black, or grind. Infant Annihilator is the only deathcore band deserving of the top 10. And fangirls need to get off. Now.

Heaviest band I know. Just look at the lyrics and listen to the sheer brutality.
Don't know what people have against deathcore. It's just as heavy or heavier than death metal. Maybe it's the way the people in the bands look. Or maybe death metal fans are jealous of the success of bands like suicide silence. Check out the band Callenish Circle

I'm sorry but Slayer sound like nursery rhymes compared to this... The guitars, drumming, vocals, heck even the lyrics are heavier. I was going to pick cattle decapitation... but due to the lyrics I decided on IA

Disgusting. Their name is basically just "baby killer". Play 2 seconds of a song and it will summon satan himself.

Some people don't know the definition of heavy. Were talking chunky riffs, layered raw sounds, relentless tempo, growling vocals and technicality here. Not popular bands and certainly not nu metal!

Death is the final form of metal music development. It is the absolute. Without any posing or heavy for the sake of sounding heavy. It's raw, melodic and metal as it gets. It is metal in its pure form.

Death! In my opinion one of the best and first bands in real death metal their old school sound is much heavier than nu metal!

Just like Death. Being Death metal they out-heavy most other metal bands.

Lamb of God is heavier than most bands, but there's no need to compare them with extreme Thrash Metal (such as Slayer) or BDM (such as Cannible Corpse) even some Deathcore (if you considered deathcore as metal). There are two reasons:1, LOG's music, mostly, are slow, or at mid-tempo. 2, They have pretty melodic riffs. Rate the Bands for their heaviness, If Cannible Corpse and Slayer are at 10, the Beatles at 1, I think LoG should be around 7.5.

I love Black Sabbath. With that said, no other band besides Meshuggah should be on this list with Lamb of God. The first Slipknot album was decent, Metallica isn't half bad, and I do enjoy Pantera. Cannibal Corpse is a total joke, so there's that. The rest, I can totally do without. Especially on a "Heaviest Bands" list. Seriously, what.

Lamb of God is amazing. Nobody does vocal like randy Blythe. He kicks ass, their material is amazing and everything they have is kick ass, heavy, bad ass, and metal as HELL! They are heavier then half the bands on this list and although they aren't they heaviest ever, they are without a doubt one of the best ever!

Don't get me wrong, Lamb of God is my favourite band of all time, I mean, they kick serious ass and have the best riffs and drum progressions.
However, they are not the heaviest band, heavy bands are like Chelsea Grin, Cannibal Corpse etc
Come on people, learn what heavy means, not just who is the most intense...

Very technical, fast and heavy death/groove metal band. If you think Cannibal Corpse is either too gruesome for you or your a Meshuggah and Slipknot fan you'll easily get into these guys. System of a Down is hard rock and CoF is mall core. What's next, Bathory being heaviest on this list? I hope not.

This list is a joke. Cannibal Corpse is the only heavy band at top ten. Check the remix that I made of this and you will see the real heaviest metal bands...

Powerful drums, speed, low tuning, brutal vocals. Dying Fetus is the definition of heavy. This should be number one on the list without a doubt.

This and Infant Annihilator are the Heaviest bands I listen to.

The name and the music... Says it all.

So heavy with vocals because it literally sounds like a dying bullfrog

Slipknot are actually still very heavy. Maybe not as heavy as Meshuggah or Cannibal Corpse, but still very heavy. People who don't say they're heavy, go listen to People = S***, Psychosocial, Disasterpiece etc. They are 10 billion times heavier than Black Sabbath, A7X, Metallica, Deep Purple. While they do have some ballads (Snuff, Till We Die etc.) Most of their songs are HEAVY, and the vocals are pretty brutal.

To those who don't say they're heavy, go suck some eggs. They're heavier than Metallica, though they may not be as heavy as any true dark metal band. Joey Jordinson's drumming is truly phenomenal (Lord rest his soul), and Corey Taylor can scream the yellow pages of the phone book to me if he wanted to.

I listen to Slayer and Cannibal Corpse and Death, I listen to lamb of god and Pantera. I've listened to all the stuff that most Metalheads would say SlipKnoT is no where near as heavy as, all that Black Metal and Death Metal and I do believe that SlipKnoT are the heaviest band of all time, I believe that Iowa is the heaviest album ever made and, if I have the correct definition of heavy, Disasterpiece is the heaviest song you could possibly listen to. My ten heaviest bands would be:
1. SlipKnoT
2. Immortal
3. Lamb of god
4. Cannibal Corpse
5. Slayer
6. Machine Head
7. Black Sabbath
8. Marduk
9. Pantera
10. Mastodon

I love Metallica and Slipknot and I'm okay with Slayer but Metallica was the true heavy metal in the 80s like For Whom the Bells Toll and Master of Puppets! But Slipknot is a very heavy metal band, dark lyrics, Corey's vocals, the down toned of guitars, and the masks. Metallica has gotten softer slipknot is getting more harder and awesome. I mean they weren't what they were like in Iowa and Subliminal Verses but they said the next album is darker than Iowa and Subliminal combined! Their darkest songs are Eyeless, People=S***, and Heretic Anthem. Well to me, MAGGOTS FOR LIFE

Cryptopsy, Cattle Decapitation and Periphery need to be higher.

Their album "None So Vile" is probably the heaviest death metal album ever

GREYBOYY seems to know very little about Heavy Metal and is citing bands that just use speed and relentless noise to quantify what is 'Heavy'. For volume to have impact there must also be silence in the music. How can you seriously be discounting bands that are responsible for creating Heavy Metal in the first place? Maiden are a Heavy Metal band (How can this band NOT be in the top 30? ). Priest is a Heavy Metal band. Sabbath are a Heavy Metal band. Metallic are a Heavy Metal band. Heavy does not equal constant racket and growling tuneless vocals.

Black Sabbath has nothing to do with extreme metal, it's a classic blues-rock band, then it became a hard rock/heavy metal band, Metallica and megadeth have some heavy songs, but there are much pop metal bands, Slayer is among the heaviest, but Iron Maiden are more melodic and with complex songs, and with much better vocalist!

I am the same 11 year old. I looked up the definition of heavy and changed my mind. Iron maiden is heavy. I do think that all of the songs above iron maiden in this list are heavier though. Bands that are heavier than iron maiden: Motörhead, Otep, Cacophony, Armored Saint, some Van Halen songs, some AC/DC songs, Megadeath and more bands.

As much as I love iron maiden they aren't super heavy they are more of a classic 70's metal band which back then was very much like more heavy version of rock and roll.

Basically Nile but more raw and less technical.

Spill the dirty blood of jesus it's over human level
It's not the only, No forgiveness, Coronation, Paradygmat, Death's evangelist and more are simply insane

This band is just as heavy as Metallica... Metallica is not that heavy compared to any death metal, black metal, or doom metal band. Especially funeral doom metal bands.

This band isn't even that heavy. They're about as heavy as Metallica was. Listen to some real heavy thrash like kreator, dark angel, and morbid saint.

Metallica's heavy? Heavier than Megadeth and Lamb of God and Slayer? Ha Ha. Really, there should be some sense among people. Come on.

Still rocking after all these years. Better than the rest. Enough said. From Killing is My Business to Super Collider, better quality.

This appears to be a popularity contest, rather than what is really "heaviest". Love slayer, slipknot... Etc but nothing can compare to SYL (except maybe meshuggah) for heaviness.

Stop what you're doing. Go and listen to 'Oh My God' by Strapping Young Lad. Come back and vote then.

How Strapping Young Lad is not the first of the list is beyond my comprehension.

Listen to "Oh My God" and "Happy Camper" then come back and vote correctly.

If you don't agree with Nails being top choice, I guess You Will Never Be One of Us.

You haven't heard heavy until you heard of these guys.

Every single song is a facemelter. You haven't heard heavy till you've heard these guys

Their self titled song is the doomiest song of all time!
The bridge of Children of the Grave and the chorus riff of Hand of Doom is almost as doomy!

If you think the almighty Sabbath is go heavy, hear me out. See, there is a song by Black Sabbath that is called Black Sabbath on the album Black Sabbath. Now, this song's riff uses the diminished 5th, also known as the augmented 4th. Now, this interval sounds so evil that in medieval times, it was forbidden for it was believed do summon the Devil himself. The lyrical content describes Satan and the end of the world. Sure, metal can get faster, lower, and louder, but it sure as hell doesn't get HEAVIER.

SABBATH>ALL
Man seriously Black Sabbath owns them all.
They invented heavy metal, and they are the heaviest among the heaviest.
Tony is the RIFFMASTER, nothing is heavier than his riffs, actually he is so good he probably:
"let two of his fingers being cut off because becoming a guitar legend with ten fingers was just too easy" Tony Iommi Fact #015

It seems that people have voted to their favorite bands instead of Heavy ones, compare Black Sabbath with Electric Wizard, which one is heavier? Of course Electric Wizard, Black Sabbath=not heavy at all, not every Heavy Metal band is "Heavy", know the difference.