| Artist |
Genre |
Description |
| Aastraal | Experimental Black Metal |
| Abaddon | Brutal Death Metal | Notable for including elements of Funk Metal on their sole album |
| Abhorrent | Technical Death Metal |
| Abhorrent Expanse | Experimental Death Metal |
| Abhoth | Death Metal |
| Abigor | Experimental Black Metal |
| Abjeto | Eperimental Black Metal |
| The Abodox | Experimental Grindcore | Wonky Technical Avant-Grind not too dissimilar to Asterisk* et al. |
| Abominor | Dissonant Black Metal |
| Abriosis | Technical Death Metal | Notable Mathcore influence and wonky, Voivod-esque riffing style |
| Abruptum | Experimental Black Metal | Pioneers of improvised Blackened Noise Metal |
| Absolutely | Post-Hardcore |
| Absolute Zero | Technical Thrash Metal | Some of the most knotty and out-there Thrash I've ever heard |
| The Abstract | Technical Death Metal |
| An Abstract Woe | Progressive Death Metal |
| Abstruse | Avant-Garde Metal |
| Absu [ITA] | Experimental Black Metal | Weird ameteurish nofi-Ritual Metal |
| Absu [US] | Black/Thrash Metal | Well-known Black/Thrash with excellent drumming |
| Absurd² | Technical Thrash Metal | Busy and intense, with a bit of a Mathcore-vibe, especially in the vocals |
| Abu Lahab | Experimental Black Metal |
| Abysmal Torment | Technical Brutal Death Metal |
| Abyssal | Dissonant Death Metal | Murky blackened Cavern-Death |
| Abyssal Suffering | Experimental Technical Death Metal |
| Acausal Intrusion | Dissonant Death Metal |
| AC/DC | Hard/Blues Rock | You know who these guys are |
| Acephalix | Death Metal / Crust Punk | Pretty much a straight fusion of Death Metal and Crust Punk |
| Acerbus | Technical Death Metal |
| Acheode | Technical Death Metal |
| Achiral | Experimental Black Metal |
| Achokarlos | Technical Death Metal |
| Acid Bath | Sludge Metal | Legendary NOLA-sludge with heavy influences from Southern Metal, Grunge and occasionally Death Metal |
| Acid Death | Technical Death Metal |
| Acid Injector | Technical Goregrind |
| Acid King | Stoner Metal | Leans a bit more towards the mellow, psychedelic side of the genre |
| Acrania | Experimental/Technical Death Metal |
Very heavy influence from Latin Jazz, especially in the percussion. Imagine Atheist, if they had kept developing the style they explored on "Elements" and gotten significantly sloppier |
| Acrimony | Stoner Metal |
| Ad Christi Gloriam | Experimental Black Metal |
| Adebisi Shank | Math Rock | Bouncy and upbeat, somewhat similar to Battles, but without the electronic experimentation |
| Adeia | Progressive Metal |
| Ade Parlor | Progressive Death Metal |
| Ad Nauseam [ITA] | Dissonant Death Metal |
| Ad Nauseam [UK] | Art Punk | Basically just Cardiacs in all but name |
| Adolf Satan | Sludge Metal | Crusty Sludge featuring Seth Putnam of Anal Cunt fame |
| Adrian Belew | Progressive/Art Rock | Played in King Crimson from 1981 to 2013, but also had a fairly prolific solo career |
| Ænigmatum | Progressive Death Metal |
| Æpoch | Melodic Death Metal |
| Aero Gros M | Hypnagogic Ambient |
| Ætheria Conscientia | Experimental Progressive Black Metal |
| Ævangelist | Avant-Garde Metal |
| Aeviterne ★ | Experimental Dissonant Death Metal | Pretty much the successor band to Flourishing. Highly atmospheric Disso-Death with Post-Hardcore-ish melodic flourishes. |
| Afflicted | Death Metal |
| Afgrund | Grindcore |
| Afterbirth ★ | Progressive/Brutal Death Metal | Started out as one of the earliest Slam acts, before emerging 20 years later, playing Prog-Death |
| Aftermath | Technical Thrash Metal |
| The Aftermath | Technical Deathgrind |
| Ageless Oblivion | Technical Death Metal |
| Agent Orange ★ | Punk Rock |
| Agent Steel | Speed Metal |
| Ages Gone | Experimental Death Metal | Seriously bizarre psychedelic jamming Hippie-DM. Sounds like nothing else. |
| Agony | Technical Brutal Death Metal |
| Agony Conscience | Brutal Death Metal |
| Agony Face | Technical Death Metal |
| Agoraphobic Nosebleed | Cybergrind | Classic Cybergrind with blasting drum machines and a lots of drug references |
| Agretator | Technical Thrash Metal | Almost leans into Proto-Djent at times |
| Ahab | Death Doom Metal |
| Ahleuchatistas | Brutal Prog / Math Rock | Extremely technical instrumental wankery |
| Ahrimah | Experimental Death Metal | Doomy and atmosphere-focused |
| Ahulabrum | Experimental Black Metal | Les Legions Noires for UFO-fanatics |
| A.I.D.S. | Experimental Black Metal | Grimy and urban, with heavy Noise Rock influence |
| AinMatter | Experimental Death Metal | No guitars, only bass |
| AIR | Trip Hop |
| Akakor | Technical Death Metal | Entirely instrumental |
| Akercocke | Progressive Death Metal | Grand and operatic with some Black Metal influence |
| Akimbo | Sludge Metal | Mid-paced and crushing, with heavy influence from Noise Rock, Hardcore Punk, Post-Hardcore and Stoner Metal |
| Alamaailman Vasarat | Avant-Prog |
| Alameda | Experimental Rock |
| Alarum | Progressive Death Metal | Fairly generic Atheist/Cynic-wannabes |
| An Albatross | Experimental Noisecore | Hilarious bullshit, fusing chaotic Noise-/Sasscore bursts with keyboard-laden Retro-Prog (on "Blessphemy" at least) |
| Albino Slug | Avant-Garde Metal | Completely unpredictable and hard to describe |
| Alboth! | Brutal Prog | Noisy and intense, with a general piano-focus and Grindcore-influenced songstructures |
| Alchemist | Progressive Metal | Started out playing experimental Death Metal, but became increasingly proggy and psychedelic over time |
| Alestorm | Power/Folk Metal | Cheesy, highly accessible pirate-themed Power/Folk-Metal |
| Algophobia ★ | Technical Death Metal | One of the better Atheist-wannabes out there |
| Alice in Chains | Grunge | Sits on the heavier end of the genre, with noticeable influence from Stoner- and Sludge Metal |
| Alienation Mental ★ | Technical Deathgrind | Intense and quirky Czechgrind, with thousands of riffs flying through the air |
| Alien Crucifixion | Technical Cybergrind | Chaotic and intense UFO-grind |
| Alitor | Technical Thrash Metal |
| Alkaloid | Progressive Death Metal |
| Allegaeon | Progressive Death Metal |
| Altarage | Dissonant Death Metal |
| Altered Moves Two | Technical Thrash Metal |
| Altered States | Brutal Prog |
| Alte Zachen | Surf Rock / Jewish Folk Music | Jewish folk music filtered through a Surf Rock lens, with an added noisier edge shining through on occasion |
| Alucarda | Doom Metal | Unusually fast-paced, often leaning more into Stoner Metal or Garage Punk territory |
| Aluk Todolo | Psychedelic/Noise Rock |
| Alustrium | Technical Death Metal |
| Amboog-A-Lard | Experimental Thrash Metal |
| Amebix | Crust Punk | Classic Crustcore with noticeable Heavy Metal and Post-Punk influence |
| Amenra | Sludge Metal |
| American Heritage ★ | Progressive Sludge Metal | Generally similar to the likes of Keelhaul, Knut, or even early Mastodon. Technical yet crushingly heavy. |
| Amia Venera Landscape | Post-Metal |
| Amnesia | Experimental Technical Death Metal | Completely unhinged |
| Amnesia Scanner | Experimental Electronic | Chaotic Club sounds of the Cyberpunk future |
| Amogh Symphony | Technical Metal | Jazzy, fusiony, djenty techwank |
| Amok | Technical Death Metal |
| Amon Amarth | Melodic Death Metal | Rode an eight-legged horse into Metal superstardom off a strong ear for "epic" melodicism, despite their overall mediocrity |
| Amon Düül II | Krautrock | One of the Krautrock essentials. Somewhat heavier and more psychedelic than most of their peers. |
| Amorphic Form | Technical Death Metal |
| Ampere | Technical Screamo | Blindingly fast-paced, rubbing up against Emoviolence stuff like Combatwoundedveteran |
| Amputated Genitals | Brutal Death Metal | Pretty typical for colombian BDM: raw, underproduced and beyond br00tal |
| Amun Dragoon | Ambient Vaporwave |
| Anaal Nathrakh | Black Metal / Grindcore |
| Anachronic | Technical Thrash Metal |
| Anachronism | Dissonant Death Metal |
| Anacrusis | Progressive Thrash Metal | More melancholy and melodic than many of their peers, though burdened with some awful harsh vocals |
| Ananda | Metalcore / Mathcore |
| Anarcrust | Crust Punk / Technical Thrash Metal | An interesting oddity. You rarely hear this kind of off-the-wall songwriting in something Crust-adjacent |
| Anata | Technical Death Metal |
| Anatomy of the Heads | Noise / Drone |
| Ancestors | Black Metal | Noisy and intense, with strong Hardcore Punk influence |
| Ancestral | Death Metal |
| Ancient Necropsy | Brutal Death Metal | More technical and even melodic than most Colombian BDM |
| The Ancients Rebirth | Technical Black Metal | Chaotic, grandiose and fairly melodic |
| Anciients | Progressive Metal | Heavy influence from Stoner and Sludge Metal, pushing into similar territories as Dvne or Baroness |
| Android ★ | Hardcore Punk | Noisy, fast and violent. "Evolution Letdown" in particular is an absolute Hardcore-masterpiece. |
| Andromorphus Rexalia | Brutal/Technical Death Metal |
Similar to some of the more technical Colombian stuff, elevated by a weird fixation on aliens and conspiracy theories |
| Anetia Insignis | Progressive Thrash Metal | Thin and melancholy with weak vocals |
| Aneural | Avant-Garde Metal | Shitty quirkcore |
| Anfinnsaas | Experimental Sludge Metal | Atonal Progressive Djent-Sludge. Very weird. |
| Angel of Disease | Progressive Death Metal | Underwhelming latter day Death wannabes |
| Angst Skvadron | Experimental Black Metal | Genuinely weird retro-scifi BM |
| Anguine | Dissonant Death Metal |
| Animal Collective | Experimental Psychedelia |
| Animals as Leaders | Technical Metal | Bland guitarwank with heavy Djent and Jazz Fusion influences. Feels weirdly lightweight and poppy. |
| Animosity | Technical Deathcore | Pretty solid, with a bit of Deathgrind in the mix |
| Anna Pest | Technical Deathgrind | Too quirky for its own good, with awful cleans and melodic bits courtesy of some unwelcome Deathcore influence |
| Annihilator | Thrash Metal | Classic Canuck-thrash with impressive guitar acrobatics |
| Annon Vin | Progressive Metal |
| Anodyne ★ | Mathcore / Metalcore | Intriguing fusion of blunt, hardcore-derived riffing with some insane drumwork |
| Ansur | Experimental Progressive Metal |
| Antarctica | Mathcore |
| Antareth | Doom Metal | Melancholy and amateurish, with awful vocals |
| Antediluvaian | Blackened Death Metal | A dense, chaotic maelstrom of hellish noise |
| Anthrax | Thrash Metal | Probably the punkiest and most up-beat member of the big 4, always one step short of being actually good |
| Anthurus d'archer | Brutal Prog / Jazz-Metal |
| Antigama ★ | Technical Grindcore / Mathcore | Heavy and brutal, with some seriously weird riffs |
| Antigua y Barbuda | Experimental Progressive Metal | Pretty great music dragged down by questionable vocals |
| Antipsychocircumseptemsomambulation | Experimental Cybergrind / Brutal Prog | Extremely weird, with a strong focus on microtonality and atonality |
| Antlion | Technical/Progressive Death Metal |
| Antropophobia | Avant-Garde Metal / Experimental Rock |
| Anubi | Experimental Black Metal | Infamously odd Lithuanian Folk-Jazz-BM |
| Aokigahara Online | Ambient Vaporwave |
| The Apemen | Surf Rock | Solid 90s retro-surf from the Netherlands |
| Aphasia | Sound Collage |
| Aphex Twin | IDM |
| Aphrodite's Child | Progressive/Psychedelic Rock |
| Apocryphon | Death Metal |
| Apotheosys | Technical/Melodic Black Metal |
| Appalling Spawn | Technical/Brutal Death Metal | Predecessor band to Lykathea Aflame. Takes the intensity and violence of BDM and injects a stronger sense of melody. |
| Ara | Technical Death Metal |
| Arab on Radar | Noise Rock / No Wave | Weird and wonky, with influences from Experimental Jazz and Post-Punk |
| Arca | Experimental Electronic |
Part of the whole "Deconstructed Club" scene, taking the sounds of contemporary club beats and reshaping them into abrasive, cyberpunk soundscapes |
| Archaïa | Zeuhl | A relatively early example of electronic influence in rock-based music |
| Archspire | Technical Death Metal |
| Arch Ultra | Progressive Rock |
| Area | Avant-Prog / Jazz-Rock |
| Ares Kingdom | Death/Thrash Metal | Somewhat reminiscient of Arghoslent |
| Arghoslent | Melodic Death Metal | Very melodic, with strongly Heavy Metal-influenced riffs and let's say controversial lyrics |
| Arkaik | Technical Death Metal |
| Arkhe | Progressive Death Metal |
| The Armed | Noise Rock / Mathcore |
| Armia | Hardcore Punk / Avant-Garde Metal | Odd stuff, with frequent horn use and christian themes |
| Armory | Speed Metal | Solid enough retro-Metal with high-pitched vocals |
| Arms | Mathcore |
| Arnaut Pavle | Black Metal | Heavy influences from Crust/Hardcore Punk, not too dissimilar from some of Darkthrone's stuff |
| Arrigo Barnabé e a Banda Sabor de Veneno | Experimental Rock |
| Arsebreed | Technical Brutal Death Metal |
| Arsedestroyer | Noisecore / Grindcore | for fans of the Gerogerigegege |
| Arsonists Get All the Girls | Experimental Deathcore | Quite mathy, with plenty of synths and other electronic gimmickry |
| Art Far Away | Progressive Metalcore |
| Artificial Brain ★ | Dissonant Death Metal | Spacey and expansive, with some noticeable Brutal Death Metal and Black Metal influence |
| Artillery | Thrash/Speed Metal | Technically impressive, with expressive, high-pitched vocals and a strong melodic bent |
| Ascended Dead | Blackened Death Metal |
| Aseitas | Dissonant/Experimental Death Metal | Pretty sludgy, at times even dipping into Death-Doom tempos |
| Ashbreather | Progressive Metal |
| Ashenspire | Experimental Progressive Metal | Grand and operatic, with dramatic clean vocals and occasional string use |
| Asleep Country | Experimental Electronic / Sound Collage |
| Asmodeus | Technical Thrash Metal | Notable mainly for its occasional inclusion of Czech folk elements |
| Assassins of God | Art Punk / Post-Hardcore | Proggy and weird, reminiscient of groups like NoMeansNo or Plaid Retina |
| Association Area | Noise Rock / Mathcore |
| Assück | Deathgrind | Fast-paced and very heavy, with great drumming and left-wing/anarchist lyrical themes |
| Asterisk* ★ | Technical/Experimental Grindcore / Noisecore |
Seriously bizarre stuff, shifting from noisy blasting into vaguely Discordance Axis-inspired technical sections and god knows what else |
| Asters | Techno | Floaty and atmospheric, heavily inspired by Vaporwave and Ambient music |
| Astharoth | Technical Thrash Metal |
| As the Sun Sets | Technical Grindcore / Mathcore |
| Astral Tomb | Experimental Death Metal | Serious weirdoes, approaching the whole spacey scifi-DM thing from a more psychedelic angle |
| Asystole | Dissonant/Technical Death Metal | Heavy and BDM-inspired |
| Atheist ★ | Progressive/Technical Death Metal |
Top-notch musicianship and songwriting with heavy Thrash Metal and Jazz fusion influences. Produced a very good debut followed by two of the very best (Metal) albums ever made and then broke up, before reunifying almost two decades later and releasing a solid, but underwhelming fourth album, oh well. |
| Atheretic | Technical Brutal Death Metal |
| Atka | Technical Grindcore / Mathcore | Very intense and spazzy, with a weird, Gridlink-esque melodic undercurrent that shines through on occasion |
| Atomic Rooster | Progressive/Hard Rock |
| Atomsmasher | Experimental Rock | Aka Phantomsmasher. Grindcore samples, glitching and electronic influence. Completely unique. |
| Atrocity | Death Metal / Gothic Metal (later) |
Started out making intricate and accomplished semi-technical Death Metal, before turning into god-awful Goth/Groove/Industrial peddlers |
| Atrox | Experimental Progressive Metal | Choppy, almost djenty rhythms and a female singer delivering emotive clean vocals |
| At the Drive-In | Post-Hardcore |
| At the Gates | Progressive Death Metal (early) / Melodic Death Metal | Along with Carcass laid the groundwork for Melodeath as we know it |
| Atvm ★ | Progressive Death Metal | Focused on lengthy songs with a bit of a melodic focus and some thrash influence. Very weird and unique, despite that description. |
| Aufgehoben | Noise / Noise Rock |
| Augury | Progressive Technical Death Metal |
| [auloplegma] | Experimental Noise Metal | Sludgy and atmospheric, leaning into Industrial and Ambient territories |
| Australis | Technical Death Metal |
| Autechre | Experimental IDM |
| Autocatalytica | Technical Metal |
| Autokrator | Experimental Death Metal | Droning, repetitive and massively heavy |
| Autonoesis | Melodic Blackened Thrash Metal |
| Autopsy | Death Metal / Death-Doom | One of the earliest DM-groups to emphasize slower tempos and sheer heaviness, leading to the creation of Death-Doom |
| The Avalanches | Dance / Sound Collage | Up-beat, sunny Dance music built from samples of various popular music |
| Avicularia | Experimental Technical Death Metal | Mainly notable for its peculiar style of percussion |
| Axis of Perdition | Experimental Industrial Black Metal | Bleak and grimy, frequently leaning into Ambient territories |
| Ayasoltec | Technical Death Metal |
| Azath | Death Metal |
| Azure Emote | Experimental Death Metal | Extremely bizarre and unique, with heavy electronic influences |
| Azusa | Progressive Metal / Post-Hardcore |