10 Viral Metal Bands That Didn't Stay Popular

10. Van Canto

German power metal outfit Van Canto made headlines in the late 2000s, thanks to their notable line-up of one instrument across seven members.

The group instantly became a roadie’s wet dream as they backed a single drumkit with a cappella vocals – which they would dub “rakkatakka”. The unique instrumentation grabbed everyone’s attention, possessing a definitive “seen to be believed” quality, which they then immediately combined with the alt music fan cheat code of “play the classics but do it weird”.

Breaking ground with their covers of Metallica, Manowar, Nightwish, Iron Maiden and more, Van Canto polarised sturdier metalheads purists. Still, they refused to be deterred and struck while their iron was hot, releasing four albums in five years to relatively decent responses from critics and fans at each venture (though it’s hard to properly gauge as 2008’s Hero scored both a 95% and a 0% on Metal Archives).

With the novelty waning away, Van Canto settled into the European festival scene, making a multitude of appearances at Wacken Open Air, Masters of Rock, and a trip overseas as part of 70,000 Tonnes of Metal. Their latest album, To the Power of Eight, was released quietly in 2021.