10 Best Heavy Metal Live Bands Of 2018

This really shouldn’t be a surprise. Skindred have long been hailed as one of the greatest live bands in not just heavy metal, but all of popular music as a whole. Ever since winning the 2011 Kerrang! Award for Best British Live Act, the Welshmen haven’t looked back: they’ve brought the ragga-metal party on countless headline tours and with slots at festivals from Bloodstock to Reading + Leeds.

Even in 2018, after initially stirring up controversy with the polarising Big Tings, the Welshmen’s shows continued to excel. So what’s their secret?

Arguably the biggest factor is the genre hybridity of their hook-laden anthems. Hits like “Warning”, “Nobody”, “Kill the Power” and “Stand for Something” blend the energy of metal with the catchiness of hip-hop and the vocals of reggae. They’re a melting pot of styles that ultimately resonate through their joint excitement and accessibility.

Skindred themselves are obviously clued into this fact, as they use their performances to take this eclectic wackiness to the nth degree. The band often make their way onstage to a dance remix of Star Wars’ “Imperial March”, before jamming such party-starting songs as AC/DC’s “Back in Black” and House of Pain’s “Jump Around”.

A Skindred show is just pure fun and movement from start to finish. And nobody does it better.