Top Ten Best Instrumental Metal Bands
Animals as Leaders is an American progressive metal band from Washington, D.C. It is composed of guitarists Tosin Abasi and Javier Reyes along with drummer Matt Garstka, having been formed by Abasi in 2007. Their musical style has also been described as djent. Abasi should get the Nobel Peace Prize.
Russian Circles is an American three piece instrumental rock/metal band from Chicago. Mostly headlining now, in their earlier days they toured with Boris, Isis, Red Sparowes, Minus the Bear, Daughters, Coheed & Cambria, Mono, and Pelican as well as appearances at the 2006 SXSW, and 2009's Bonnaroo.
They don't work with riffs, they work with textures. The ultimate Drone Metal band.
At first, I thought, "Why am I listening to this? This is just a bunch of chords being played over and over again." For some reason, I didn't want to turn it off, and now I love Sunn!
Pelican is a post-metal quartet from Des Plaines, Illinois. Established in 2000, the band stems from their native post-metal scene and is known for their atmospheric and almost entirely instrumental style.
Blotted Science is an instrumental technical metal supergroup formed in 2004. It is headed by Ron Jarzombek, bassist Alex Webster and drummer Hannes Grossmann. They play like a technical death metal band without vocals.
Ron Jarzombek is a genius. This is the best band ever!
Apocalyptica is a Finnish metal band from Helsinki, Finland formed in 1993. The band is composed of classically trained cellists Eicca Toppinen, Paavo Lötjönen, and Perttu Kivilaakso and drummer Mikko Sirén. They do lots of classical-metal, I guess you'd say. Their music has even been dubbed "cello metal". It isn't my preference, but they are pretty popular.
This band is so good, very technical but soulful and creative all at once. It made me want to learn to play the 7 string guitar so I could learn their songs and play with the record.
Insane technical parts and some of the best guitar melodies I've ever heard. Tim Henson is a theory genius.
Liquid Tension Experiment was an instrumental progressive metal band founded by Mike Portnoy, then Dream Theater's drummer, in 1997. The band has released two albums through Magna Carta Records. Also in the band was John Petrucci. The two albums are definitely worth listening to, although it's important to note that the band doesn't exist anymore.
Just listen to "When the Water Breaks". Simply one of the best progressive metal songs ever.
Hands down one of the best instrumental bands I know, especially since they are not only good at making awesome individual tracks but also excel at making each album a consistent experience and journey, making it a "Gesamtkunstwerk" in itself.
I just found these guys. I'm loving their stuff!
The best instrumental out there, guitar has soul and is not as technical as the others.
Karma to Burn was formed in Hicksville, WV, by guitarist William. Karma to Burn is a highly original heavy rock band who insisted on remaining an instrumental combo. The band doesn't even name their songs, simply assigning them numbers as they are written.
Brian Patrick Carroll, known professionally as Buckethead, is an American guitarist and multi-instrumentalist who has worked within many genres of music.This is a phenomenal band. It should be more well-known.
Um, these guys are the cream of the crop. How can you be this complex yet groove harder than anyone else?
They combine real flamenco guitar and rhythms with thrash, prog, and neo-classical metal. Their first album (2005) had some songs with vocals, but later they started doing what they do best - instrumental metal. I totally dig their 2014 album, with pieces like: Cosmosis (Bulerias), Magnetic Propulsion (Tientos), Cuatro Cervezas (Sevillanas), and Alien Ghost Maneuvers. By the way, not long ago I made a Top 10 list about them - there's lots of info in it.
This is a very underrated band. These guys are awesome!
One of my favorite bands. So many sick songs. Volume and Terraforming are two of my personal favorite albums.