I’ll try to add some bands that haven’t been mentioned yet, grouped by “if you like one you’ll probably like the others”:

• Allegaeon, Archspire, Rivers of Nihil
• Gamma Ray, Helloween, Blind Guardian, Sonata Arctica, Rhapsody, DragonForce
• Lovebites, Unlucky Morpheus, Galneryus, X JAPAN
• Devin Townsend, Strapping Young Lad
• Electric Callboy, Wargasm, BabyMetal, Maximum the Hormone
• Children of Bodom, Norther, Mercenary, Zemeth, Arch Enemy, Moonsorrow
• Alestorm, Gloryhammer, Feuerschwanz
• Overkill, Exodus, Megadeth, Artillery, Sodom, Agent Steel
• Anaal Nathrakh, Fleshgod Apocalypse

• Metallica
• Slayer
• Cannibal Corpse
• Slipknot
• Fleshgod Apocalypse
• Pantera
• Skeleton Witch
• Gojira
• Behemoth
• Rammstein
• Ensferium
• Agalloch
• Judas Priest
• War Bringer
• Decrepit Birth
• The Faceless
• Static X
• Bloodbath
• Cradle of Filth
• Insomnium
• November’s Doom
• Arch Enemy
• Winter sun
• Lamb of God
• Trivium
• Nile
• Necrophagist

This is always hard for me lol. G Metallica takes top spot, that’s just the way it is.

But there’s an ever shifting bunch after that. Iron maiden pretty much qualifies for spot #2, though I’ll have spurts where I listen to someone else more.

An example of that is vitriol. I just discovered them recently, so I’m obsessed.

Amon Amarth, Kataklysm, Megadeath, GWAR, Dio (I guess any band RJD was in might as well be added to that), Ozzy and Sabbath separately or together, ac/dc if you count them as metal, anthrax, dimmu borgir, halestorm, spirit box, and that’s the bands that have major presence in any metal playlist I set up.

There’s some, like guns n roses, or Skyclad, (just as examples, there’s tons more) where I like specific albums, or specific eras of the band, rather than the band as a whole.

But that first group, I can pop in any album they have and listen to it with maybe a few skips here and there, though I might not really listen as much as with other albums. Megadeath is like that a lot, where I kinda treat it like background music on some albums because the lyrics are kinda meh, or the songs don’t really click for me, but I still like the overall sound.

Hell, cannibal corpse and dying fetus are pretty much entirely like that lol. Can’t understand a word without lyrics in front of me, but who cares, right? The vocals aren’t meant to be understood, they’re part of the composition. But I can have them going in the background and just pay attention on my favorite songs.

If Soundgarden counts as metal, then that’s my favorite one. And Audioslave. I thought they were grunge, though…

When I hear “metal bands” I’m thinking like… Deth Klok and Party Cannon or Gojira. Or old school like Led Zeppelin.