The Best Heavy Metal Musicians

Antim Grahan

Hell Yeah… Antim Grahan is a ultimate metal band. They take metal genre to new level… Shame to all those people who call themselves metal lover and do not listen to Antim Grahan. Many of you may not have heard of Antim Grahan because its band from nepal. But If you give a try and listen one of the song then the real metal lovers can not stop them from loving this band. Listen to their songs like FOREVER WINTER or 300 and you will know what I’m trying to say. You can feel the potential of Nepali metal band in the international sense of music!

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Judas Priest are clearly one of heavy metal’s most notable bands if only because in true metal spirit they never die. But the most enjoyable aspect of heavy metal isn’t the power or the loudness, it’s the endless, fruitless discussion over what actually constitutes “heavy metal.”

First, there was the dubious distinction between “hard rock” and “heavy metal,” then, of course, “punk” vs. “metal,” then we had “crossover” bands who polluted the waters still. Now, with grindcore, screamo and other sub-varieties that make you wonder where are the “Log Cabin Metallists,” it’s to the point where you could argue that Cher and Ween should qualify somehow.

Well, I didn’t have quite as cynical a take. But I did notice that I was favoring the old vs. the new. Maybe because everything is fresher the first time around. And while every single bio I receive on a new metal band tells me how UNLIKE ALL THE OTHER BANDS this one is, somehow, it isn’t true. I’m not accusing anyone of lying, I just think that most bands and their supporters have what could be called “Parental Vision.” That’s where the only person who really believes you’re beautiful is your mom or dad. These people want to believe their band doesn’t sound like all the others and to highly trained ears—senior metallists, that is—the distinctions are obvious and concrete. To normal folks who are just looking to turn the radio up when they hear something they like, well, let’s just say it’s become pretty obvious why most metal has become part of a hardcore subgenre and not the mainstream phenomenon it once was.

Following are the top Metal Bands EVER I could list. Have a look.

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Black Sabbath:

The lords of darkness who were always trying to find the sunshine but couldn’t find the energy to lift the blinds. By keeping it simple and focusing on the most elemental elements, Black Sabbath mastered the art of the powerchord and the downward spiral. Killing themselves to live, never saying die and fighting the war pigs! What a legacy!

Led Zeppelin:

Zep never stayed in one place too long and while Jimmy Page had an arsenal of riffs for aspiring young guitarists to emulate, the band coasted off into acoustic Hobbit tributes and art-rock when they got bored. But their complete demolition of the blues was damn impressive, whether it was Bonzo’s beating the drums into submission or Bob Plant screeching for another inch of his love.

AC/DC:

Chords on top of chords, hooks on top of hooks and two singers—Bon Scott and Brian Johnson—who combined for a serious number of knockout punches. AC/DC knew how to flirt with radio without losing the crunch. And how Angus manages to bang his head and hop around the stage to this day remains one of metal’s unsolved mysteries.

Jimi Hendrix Experience:

Hendrix was far more than some heavy metal guitarist. Putting his music in any box is useless because it always sneaks out. But from the opening notes of “Purple Haze,” it’s obvious that Jimi was interested in being louder than the other boys. While it’s an obvious shame that he didn’t live through the ensuing decades, it’s a blessing that he came of age at a time when musicians relied on band chemistry and not Pro-Tools to make their magic. Because as good as Hendrix was, he also knew how to pick the right supporting cast.

Van Halen:

Some metallists say these guys aren’t metal because they like girls and to party and they cover the Kinks, Roy Orbison and Motown. But have you heard Eddie’s tone? He re-taught the guitar for an entire decade and while they lose points for employing Sammy Hagar (whose band Montrose, you’ll note, is absent from this list), they did once bring us that ultimate, premium, all natural ham of hams, the great David Lee Roth.

Judas Priest:

Their songs were always pretty catchy for a metal band, but I always preferred singer Rob Halford’s between song banter. Very brief and always spoken in the same punctuated strain that he uses for the climax of their best tunes. In other words, he never lets up the intensity or drops the mask. He is the dominator on that stage and with two guys—K.K. Downing and Glenn Tipton—on guitars who virtually defined the overused trope “twin-guitar attack”—how much more definitive do you need?

Metallica:

Whether their new album this Fall brings them back up a few pegs remains to be seen, but before they started a virtual war with their fans over $$ (weird, coming from a band who’d already raked in more than most bands would see in a lifetime) and put out St. Anger, the album that made people think that maybe Load was worse than they originally rationalized, Metallica were once the lords of a new generation. Master Of Puppets remains one of the sacred treaties and the self-titled Black Album is that one metal album that non-metal people own and pull out to prove they “like” heavy metal.

Aerosmith:

There are those who will swear they aren’t heavy metal. Yeah, I know. They were once considered a Rolling Stones ripoff because Steven Tyler had big lips like Jagger and Joe Perry was the sullen shadow playing the role of Keith Richards. But this bluesy, R&B-based hard rock band wrote stuff like “Toys In The Attic,” “Back In The Saddle” and “Draw The Line” before crashing, burning and reforming in the ’80s to further a more commercialized rock sound that sure sounded like a lot of heavy metal at the time.

Motorhead:

By never swerving from their ideals, Motorhead managed to win the hearts and souls of metal loyalists everywhere while simultaneously gathering punks and critics (same thing?) for their cause. Playing louder than others proved to be a key strategic move. Writing “Ace Of Spades” proved to be the other.

Iron Maiden:

Just caught a live concert of theirs from 1985 on—where else?—a sports network. Great, since the music networks can’t be bothered. And boy did these guys look kind of funny with all that billowing smoke and weird prancing around—and those spandex tights. In some respects, almost as good as Spinal Tap, and in some ways better since they were serious. “Rime Of The Ancient Mariner” is ponderous, but the hoof-beating gallop of “The Trooper” and just about anything from The Number Of The Beast makes up for their inherent corniness.

Slayer:

Slayer redefined “heavy” back in the 1980s by speeding things up to the point of hardcore punk but with intricate riffs and shout-outs to Satan that made them obvious followers of the Metal church. With such a volatile sound and temperament, who would’ve thought they’d still be hanging together this many years later?

Deep Purple:

While Sabbath and Zeppelin have gone on to be immortalized, Deep Purple have fallen dangerously behind. Ritchie Blackmore deserves better than to be lumped in with the “Where Were They Then?” pile. “Smoke On The Water” may be obvious, but “Space Truckin’” and the rest of Machine Head should be textbook cases for all aspiring young hard rockers. And they were purple when only hippies were ruining the color and not dinosaurs and Prince.

Spinal Tap:

Everyone says they weren’t real. Yet I will put them on every Heavy Metal list possible, since their material—you know, the songs—are every bit as good as the “real” thing. And even if they never really did record an album called Intravenus DeMilo, they should’ve. And if the budget had been there, they just might’ve. And who’s to say Shark Sandwich isn’t just the victim of a clever two word put-down review? Maybe someone should go back and re-evaluate this band’s imaginary oeuvre.