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Genre
metal
Parent Genre: metal

Metal music is a genre that is characterized by its heavy and aggressive sound, often featuring distorted guitars, fast-paced drumming, and powerful vocals. It has roots in rock and roll, but has evolved over the years to include a wide range of sub-genres, including thrash, heavy, and power metal. Metal music often deals with themes of rebellion, anger, and darkness, and is known for its intense live performances.


Top artists of metal genre

Metallica
Ghost
Black Sabbath
Iron Maiden
Ozzy Osbourne
Mötley Crüe
Megadeth
Pantera
Slayer
Deep Purple
Judas Priest
Motörhead
In Flames
Gojira
Alice Cooper
Lamb of God
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metal music timeline

Explore metal history by listening to songs from every decade. Click on the decade to view songs.

2020s 2010s 2000s 1990s 1980s 1970s 1960s 1950s 1940s 1930s

Similar Genres to metal

Discover more related genres to metal genre. This list is ordered by similarity from left to right.

hard rock death metal thrash metal power metal speed metal rock old school thrash album rock black metal neo classical metal glam metal melodic metal german metal neo-trad metal brutal death metal alternative metal melodic death metal swedish metal crossover thrash norwegian metal
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metal playlist created by Chosic

Enjoy this playlist of popular metal music. We made this playlist using an algorithm created by our team.

Play on spotify

List of metal artists

Here is a list of metal artists on Spotify, ranked based on popularity, who exemplifies the metal genre. You can find out what metal genre sounds like where you can preview artists or sort them the way you want, just click the headers to sort.

#namePopularity instrumentalnessdanceabilityenergyacousticnessHappinesstempofollowers
1
Metallica
83 15 39 89 1 37 126 24891212
2
Ghost
75 15 47 78 5 37 123 2442653
3
Black Sabbath
73 10 37 65 11 41 122 6991951
4
Iron Maiden
73 7 30 90 3 39 123 8326426
5
Ozzy Osbourne
71 2 40 82 7 38 125 4803618
6
Mötley Crüe
71 10 47 90 2 46 123 4653813
7
Megadeth
70 23 39 92 0 35 136 4719336
8
Pantera
69 15 37 87 2 39 116 4424695
9
Slayer
67 21 32 96 0 19 116 3504127
10
Deep Purple
66 17 45 72 8 50 124 5056129
11
Judas Priest
66 6 40 82 5 34 127 3687912
12
Motörhead
65 13 35 92 5 32 135 3675660
13
In Flames
65 35 45 92 2 32 121 1080665
14
Gojira
64 34 36 85 2 21 116 1151280
15
Alice Cooper
64 5 46 72 14 47 126 3432330
16
Lamb of God
64 20 38 97 0 21 123 1833663
17
Whitesnake
64 1 41 81 6 39 120 2715157
18
Rainbow
63 11 42 72 19 54 126 1380325
19
Dio
62 11 42 79 3 44 120 2360113
20
Bad Wolves
62 3 44 86 1 31 126 626093
21
Thin Lizzy
62 15 45 69 17 59 134 1164581
22
Twisted Sister
62 0 43 82 2 53 132 2402055
23
Skid Row
62 3 44 85 0 49 127 2636785
24
Trivium
61 9 41 94 1 35 128 1472060
25
Dream Theater
60 14 38 79 8 27 127 1473776
26
Amon Amarth
60 35 41 96 0 26 145 1014288
27
Type O Negative
59 27 35 79 11 25 114 803034
28
DragonForce
59 1 29 94 1 26 157 960922
29
Sepultura
59 17 38 92 2 23 123 1679858
30
Nazareth
59 5 51 69 10 54 127 1311338
31
Danzig
59 14 44 69 5 30 130 837359
32
Quiet Riot
58 1 45 83 6 46 127 1669360
33
Helloween
58 4 38 86 3 29 132 1110870
34
Testament
58 18 36 87 2 36 120 967910
35
Mastodon
58 34 33 92 1 27 128 824869
36
Machine Head
57 5 32 91 4 19 128 1220455
37
Zakk Wylde
57 1 40 63 27 33 119 526652
38
Manowar
57 16 42 75 3 25 126 906222
39
Black Label Society
57 3 45 74 9 30 116 1573577
40
Arch Enemy
57 23 33 94 2 19 127 912148
41
Accept
56 11 46 85 1 43 133 849977
42
Anthrax
56 9 37 93 1 31 126 1514991
43
HammerFall
56 7 45 82 3 29 129 591674
44
Children Of Bodom
56 42 42 95 0 37 118 650124
45
Opeth
56 35 35 64 19 19 117 835669
46
Cannibal Corpse
55 64 32 98 0 24 118 812863
47
W.A.S.P.
55 17 29 84 2 28 132 877883
48
Death
55 24 29 94 0 26 112 730614
49
Meshuggah
55 53 36 94 0 26 125 616473
50
Blind Guardian
54 17 38 86 8 25 136 671053
51
Queensrÿche
54 2 45 87 5 31 122 614424
52
Kreator
54 26 36 95 1 23 119 682527
53
Suicidal Tendencies
54 1 40 88 1 49 115 636932
54
Stratovarius
54 10 41 87 2 31 128 593075
55
Avantasia
54 1 44 80 4 28 125 415852
56
Fear Factory
54 10 51 92 0 34 123 614026
57
ANGRA
52 1 38 84 5 25 136 395324
58
Municipal Waste
52 8 32 98 0 40 121 249736
59
Sonata Arctica
52 7 40 79 8 31 127 586244
60
UFO
52 8 41 69 6 43 128 525466
61
Cradle Of Filth
52 21 34 92 2 21 129 481707
62
Dokken
52 2 47 81 5 40 126 634266
63
Behemoth
51 28 30 95 2 12 122 552458
64
Dimmu Borgir
51 40 22 86 4 18 120 466644
65
Kamelot
51 2 41 84 7 31 135 358900
66
Carcass
50 45 26 89 0 28 110 337307
67
Soulfly
50 21 40 93 3 26 120 635185
68
Rob Halford
49 0 51 96 0 18 136 99683
69
Mayhem
49 74 21 92 6 13 131 474280
70
Exodus
49 25 37 97 1 35 130 658474
71
Saxon
48 16 43 85 3 38 124 536469
72
Amorphis
48 21 38 86 1 31 125 292739
73
Yngwie Malmsteen
48 34 35 78 9 32 121 388968
74
Dark Tranquillity
48 38 41 89 2 29 124 331939
75
Immortal
48 63 19 93 0 8 111 308733
76
Bruce Dickinson
48 1 45 78 5 36 124 565701
77
Paradise Lost
48 25 44 84 0 28 114 288200
78
Burzum
47 63 24 57 24 18 117 348432
79
Kataklysm
47 15 43 97 0 21 131 149961
80
Obituary
47 14 34 93 0 28 117 425968
81
Edguy
47 1 47 84 4 31 131 263205
82
Bathory
46 60 33 80 9 20 124 324194
83
Morbid Angel
46 26 33 89 3 26 121 372304
84
Rhapsody Of Fire
46 0 39 85 7 23 131 357779
85
Napalm Death
46 64 27 91 0 18 111 311987
86
Overkill
46 36 32 91 0 35 124 520506
87
Sodom
46 43 34 94 0 28 130 402536
88
Iced Earth
46 15 42 90 0 31 134 346341
89
Rotting Christ
45 44 39 89 1 25 134 211837
90
Annihilator
45 16 46 91 4 33 131 349237
91
Deicide
45 51 30 96 0 21 124 348028
92
Dissection
45 44 26 84 9 27 118 165953
93
Savatage
45 14 35 65 15 24 122 222721
94
Dying Fetus
45 44 34 93 0 36 116 279089
95
Ensiferum
45 29 39 91 3 34 124 295275
96
U.D.O.
44 11 50 85 5 39 120 191137
97
Entombed
44 45 23 95 0 25 126 198425
98
Darkthrone
44 42 19 92 3 13 134 318194
99
At The Gates
44 49 32 92 3 26 113 221064
100
Decapitated
44 31 35 98 0 18 122 215201
101
Candlemass
43 12 24 80 1 26 111 200395
102
Satyricon
43 46 36 92 0 25 130 256667
103
Bolt Thrower
43 78 23 90 0 21 125 185408
104
Venom
43 11 28 83 4 22 116 466435
105
Moonspell
43 48 42 78 0 27 127 220139
106
King Diamond
43 45 38 85 6 39 131 461804
107
Septicflesh
42 47 32 87 2 16 121 143535
108
Gamma Ray
42 4 32 90 2 25 131 257481
109
Doro
42 1 45 68 14 21 127 169902
110
Vader
42 28 37 96 0 22 125 215388
111
Hypocrisy
42 50 34 84 0 18 113 169282
112
Mercyful Fate
42 34 36 87 1 43 135 299967
113
Metal Church
42 10 43 95 0 33 129 196273
114
Nile
41 77 28 90 1 12 124 216910
115
Bloodbath
41 35 35 94 0 22 115 184974
116
Sentenced
41 10 45 85 0 33 123 95017
117
Wintersun
41 48 28 78 0 19 127 186324
118
Death Angel
41 20 37 93 3 33 141 332876
119
Michael Schenker Group
41 19 41 83 5 45 121 192231
120
Anvil
41 17 34 93 0 43 126 112728
121
Havok
41 48 41 97 0 31 140 153927
122
Six Feet Under
40 50 44 92 1 34 120 162534
123
Running Wild
40 17 35 93 0 33 135 157063
124
Warlock
40 20 48 75 6 29 123 180715
125
Belphegor
40 40 37 90 0 11 123 175445
126
Emperor
40 83 14 89 0 7 133 249917
127
Suffocation
39 64 32 94 0 35 116 203103
128
Primal Fear
39 2 45 91 1 27 134 144861
129
Firewind
39 9 39 90 0 38 131 90994
130
Celtic Frost
39 59 27 81 1 25 118 213690
131
Dark Funeral
39 46 24 97 0 5 125 219797
132
Marduk
39 33 25 94 0 10 113 215438
133
Cavalera Conspiracy
38 7 29 95 0 26 107 273290
134
Gorgoroth
38 61 23 95 0 14 124 258497
135
Enslaved
38 44 28 90 1 17 134 143796
136
Nevermore
38 1 45 89 3 32 120 119701
137
Grave Digger
38 10 42 90 0 24 132 137535
138
Toxic Holocaust
38 35 29 93 1 42 141 132260
139
Nuclear Assault
37 51 27 96 3 20 119 182754
140
My Dying Bride
37 32 28 63 8 15 117 153569
141
Evile
37 34 35 95 0 20 114 96441
142
Demons & Wizards
36 45 41 82 3 23 114 118148
143
Impaled Nazarene
36 65 20 93 0 13 138 68335
144
Rage
36 1 43 90 1 32 129 101692
145
Samael
36 36 43 93 0 26 115 113857
146
Halford
36 2 44 95 0 22 118 244455
147
Tankard
36 3 42 97 0 38 124 135812
148
Ronnie James Dio
36 0 0 0 0 0 0 88892
149
Diamond Head
36 24 29 90 0 41 144 164874
150
Destruction
36 44 32 96 0 33 132 251359
151
Immolation
35 85 22 95 0 14 118 98676
152
Midnight
35 26 23 97 0 25 132 53869
153
Riot
35 9 29 91 2 37 129 54357
154
Voivod
35 15 28 91 0 22 122 104276
155
Warbringer
35 30 32 98 0 21 126 100071
156
Possessed
34 20 26 94 2 12 118 161287
157
Armored Saint
33 0 40 95 1 33 142 85047
158
Benediction
33 33 36 96 0 33 129 69660
159
Heaven & Hell
32 5 38 84 0 35 108 258612
160
Asphyx
31 65 22 92 0 24 106 77230
161
Autopsy
31 37 22 88 3 18 108 93673
162
Krisiun
30 68 27 97 0 18 110 108636
163
Abbath
30 77 31 94 0 16 129 106925
164
Angel Witch
30 8 31 77 0 39 136 82359
165
Grim Reaper
29 13 31 92 0 38 130 78012
166
Virgin Steele
29 4 34 86 2 29 145 37503
167
Malevolent Creation
29 39 34 95 0 23 111 102378
168
Exciter
28 38 27 89 0 31 125 57345
169
Artillery
28 25 39 94 0 31 126 73274
170
Crimson Glory
28 7 39 81 6 40 130 49499
171
Hellhammer
28 49 16 93 1 21 151 89211
172
Raven
27 33 33 85 9 43 129 62908
173
Wovenwar
26 3 37 97 0 24 133 41694
174
Sanctuary
26 5 42 87 0 38 124 65033
175
Sabbat
19 20 26 97 0 21 112 16855