10 Best Metal Bands Of The Last 10 Years

Who are our future festival headliners?

Heavy Metal 2018
Wikipedia/Roadrunner/Republic

At time of writing, the underground heavy metal scene is the best that it has ever been!

Oh, sure, the vintage metal icons of the 1980s may have been the ones to have reached the most audiences, make the most money and write a lot of their genre’s storied history, but, as far as the sheer quality and diversity of the music is concerned, there is so much to love about the heavy subgenre in the 2010s, and so many hugely different yet constantly awesome subsects and styles to stumble upon.

As a result, it only feels right to celebrate the very best youngsters that heavy metal has offered over the course of the past decade. From arena-filling titans to small yet lauded favourites, from established names to those whose best years are still ahead of them, no stone shall be left unturned as we whisk you through a journey of the very best metal acts to have formed over the course of the past ten years.

Honourable mentions: Holding Absence, King Goat, Babymetal, Prophets of Rage, VUUR, Sons of Apollo, Rivers of Nihil, Møl, Plini, Intervals, Employed to Serve, Wiegedood, Circles, Pallbearer, Sleep Token, Power Trip, Caligulas Horse, Abhorrent Decimation, Brutai, Cane Hill, Bell Witch, Astronoid, As Lions and literally hundreds more!

10. Ghost

Having formed in 2008, the ‘70s-inspired Swedish stalwarts Ghost barely scrape their way onto this list.

Their position here at number ten is secured by their sheer success. The Satanic six-piece are a sensation all over the metal-loving world, their decade-long career already heralding more crowd-popping hits and festival headline slots than anyone could count.

It all comes thanks to their simple yet genius music and appearance. Ghost possess enthralling tunes that mix the old-school heaviness of Blue Öyster Cult with the subversive tint of metal and the melodies of modern radio rock. Their look, meanwhile, is in a league of its theatrical own: their vibrant and antitheistic “devil church” gimmick is bolstered by an undying dedication to the weird and wacky, resulting in gigs and music videos that captivate the eye just as much as the ear.

The end result speaks for itself. Three albums in and with many, many more surely on the way, Ghost feel unstoppable. They’re that perfect mix of charmingly simple and unpredictably forward-thinking, and, as a result, have found the affection of both hardened rock ‘n’ roll traditionalists and young, hungry metalheads. Bombastic and constantly creative, they’re a true treat for all of the senses.

 
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