Most Unique Rock and Metal Bands of 21st Century

The Top Ten
1 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are an Australian rock band formed in Melbourne in 1983 by vocalist Nick Cave, multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey and guitarist Blixa Bargeld. The band has featured international personnel throughout its career and presently consists of Cave, violinist and multi-instrumentalist Warren Ellis, bassist Martyn P. Casey and keyboardist Conway Savage, keyboard/percussionist Barry Adamson and guitarist George Vjestica, and drummers Thomas Wydler and Jim Sclavunos. The band has released fifteen studio albums and completed numerous international tours, and has been considered "one of the most original and celebrated bands of the post-punk and alternative rock eras in the '80s ...read more.

Gave these guys a shot and turns out, I really like them. I have much more albums to try out.

2 Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (lead vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards), Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments), Colin Greenwoood (bass guitar), Phil Selway (drums), and Ed O'Brien (guitar).
3 Meshuggah Meshuggah is a Swedish progressive metal band from Umeå, formed in 1987. They are often considered the fathers or founders of the djent metal sub genre due to their use of downtuned guitars. They are also known for their song “Bleed”, which is known for its extremely complicated instrumentation, ...read more.
4 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.

They have always been unique - they tried several metal subgenres and never sounded like the other bands from these subgenres. Same for the symphonic metal they started playing in this century - again, their version sounds different and if you ask me, their version is the best by far.

5 Agalloch Agalloch was an American black/folk metal band from Portland, Oregon. They were formed in 1995 by frontman John Haughm. They released five studios albums, four EPs, two singles, one split single, two demos, four compilation albums, and one live video before disbanding in May 2016.
6 Deftones Deftones are an American alternative metal band from Sacramento, California. The band, which was founded in 1988, consists of Chino Moreno, Stephen Carpenter, Frank Delgado, Abe Cunningham and Sergio Vega. They have released a total of 9 studio albums. Some of their most popular songs are Change (in the House of the Flies), Passenger, Bored, Minerva, Rocket Skates, Back to School (Mini Maggit), Beauty School, Diamond Eyes, Hole in the Earth, Mein, Digital Bath, and etc.
7 Tool Tool is an American alternative metal/progressive metal band, that was formed in 1990. ...read more.
8 Porcupine Tree Porcupine Tree are an English progressive rock band formed by musician Steven Wilson in 1987. The band began essentially as a solo project for Wilson, who created all of the band's music.
9 Gorillaz Gorillaz are an English virtual band created in 1998 by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. The band consists of four animated members: 2D, Murdoc Niccals, Noodle and Russel Hobbs.
10 System Of A Down System of a Down, formed in 1994, is an Armenian-American alternative metal group from Glendale, California. The band name is sometimes shortened to System or SOAD. They've always been a very political band since their inception. Often being against genocide and war most notably in songs like: Pluck, ...read more.
The Contenders
11 Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock band, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio.
12 Flametal

Instrumental metal mixed with flamenco tunes played on both metal and real flamenco guitars. Flametal stands for Flamenco Metal.
It's one of the most unique experiments in metal music of this century that actually works (at least for me).
I made a list with samples and details: Top 10 Flametal Songs

BAdd New Item