Forbes Unveils List Of The 38 Greatest Heavy Metal Bands

Jeff Walker James Hetfield Nergal

Forbes‘ new list of the 38 Greatest Metal Bands features a surprisingly strong showing for extreme metal. Over ten bands pushing the boundaries of the genre made the cut!

Metal lists often highlight the mainstream acts, and there are plenty of those here too. But the inclusion of so many extreme metal bands is a refreshing change of pace and a sign of respect for this often under-appreciated side of heavy metal.

Full list is available below. For Forbes‘ commentary on each band, visit original article.

38. Carcass
37. At The Gates
36. Exodus
35. Behemoth
34. Napalm Death
33. Kyuss
32. Dream Theater
31. Nightwish
30. King Diamond
29. Danzig
28. Converge
27. Cannibal Corpse
26. Anthrax
25. Meshuggah
24. Machine Head
23. Lamb of God
22. Mastodon
21. Sepultura
20. Type O Negative
19. Motorhead
18. Death
17. Dio
16. Megadeth
15. Gojira
14. Korn
13. Rammstein
12. Deftones
11. System of a Down
10. Avenged Sevenfold
09. Tool
08. Slayer
07. Slipknot
06. Ozzy Osbourne
05. Judas Priest
04. Pantera
03. Iron Maiden
02. Black Sabbath
01. Metallica