Best Heavy Metal Bands

Rank	Band / Formed / Genres	Albums
1	Judas Priest 1970, United Kingdom Heavy Metal, Hard Rock	Painkiller (1990) #2 Defenders of the Faith (1984) #13 Screaming for Vengeance (1982) #46
2	Iron Maiden 1975, United Kingdom Heavy Metal, NWOBHM	Powerslave (1984) #12 The Number of the Beast (1982) #15 Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988) #84
3	Black Sabbath 1969, United Kingdom Heavy Metal, Hard Rock, Doom Metal	Paranoid (1970) #19 Heaven and Hell (1980) #25 Master of Reality (1971) #136
4	Ozzy Osbourne United Kingdom Heavy Metal, Hard Rock	Blizzard of Ozz (1980) #31 Tribute: Randy Rhoads (1987) [Live] #73 Diary of a Madman (1981) #639
5	Scorpions 1964, Germany Heavy Metal, Hard Rock, Pop Rock	Moment of Glory (2000) #257 Love at First Sting (1984) #271 Sting in the Tail (2010) #285
6	Impellitteri 1987, United States Heavy Metal, Neoclassical Metal	Screaming Symphony (1996) #224 Stand in Line (1988) #398 The Nature of the Beast (2018) #1218
7	Primal Fear 1997, Germany Heavy Metal, Power Metal	Unbreakable (2012) #461 Devil's Ground (2004) #800 Delivering the Black (2014) #1008
8	Rage 1986, Germany Heavy Metal, Thrash Metal, Power Metal	Lingua Mortis (1996) #376 Strings to a Web (2010) #554 Trapped! (1992) #736
9	Dio 1982, United States Heavy Metal, Hard Rock	Holy Diver (1983) #98 The Last in Line (1984) #341 Dio at Donington UK: Live 1983 & 1987 (2010) [Live] #762
10	Savatage 1983, United States Heavy Metal, Progressive Metal, Hard Rock	Gutter Ballet (1989) #238 Streets: A Rock Opera (1991) #387 Dead Winter Dead (1995) #748
11	Queensrÿche 1982, United States Heavy Metal, Progressive Metal	Operation: Mindcrime (1988) #20 Empire (1990) #862 Operation: Livecrime (1992) [Live] #1036
12	부활 (Boohwal) 1985, Korea Heavy Metal, Rock, K-Pop	II : Remember (1987) #80 III : 기억상실 (1993) #370 Volume 1 (1986) #903
13	Iced Earth 1988, United States Heavy Metal, Power Metal, Thrash Metal	Alive in Athens (1999) [Live] #571 The Glorious Burden (2004) #1014 Horror Show (2001) #1031
14	Avenged Sevenfold 1999, United States Heavy Metal, Metalcore, Hard Rock	City of Evil (2005) #545 Nightmare (2010) #703 Avenged Sevenfold (2007) #1398
15	Accept 1976, Germany Heavy Metal, Hard Rock	Balls to the Wall (1983) #790 Blood of the Nations (2010) #823 Metal Heart (1985) #840
16	Firewind 1998, Greece Heavy Metal, Power Metal, Neoclassical Metal	Days of Defiance (2010) #580 The Premonition (2008) #901 Allegiance (2006) #1467
17	Anthem 1981, Japan Heavy Metal, Power Metal	Bound to Break (1987) #410 Hunting Time (1989) #643 Immortal (2006) #885
18	Motörhead 1975, United Kingdom Heavy Metal, Hard Rock	Ace of Spades (1980) #61 Overkill (1979) #403 Inferno (2004)
19	Crimson Glory 1983, United States Heavy Metal, Progressive Metal	Transcendence (1988) #100 Crimson Glory (1986) #180 Strange and Beautiful (1991) #3805
20	King Diamond 1985, Denmark Heavy Metal	Abigail (1987) #347 Conspiracy (1989) #828 Fatal Portrait (1986) #1248
21	Alice in Chains 1987, United States Heavy Metal, Grunge	Dirt (1992) #473 Facelift (1990) #1776 MTV Unplugged (1996) [Live] #2085
22	HammerFall 1993, Sweden Heavy Metal, Power Metal	Threshold (2006) #1159 No Sacrifice, No Victory (2009) #1433 Crimson Thunder (2002) #1610
23	W.A.S.P. 1982, United States Heavy Metal, Hard Rock, Glam Metal	The Crimson Idol (1992) #227 W.A.S.P. (1984) #1145 The Headless Children (1989) #1333
24	Downhell 2003, Korea Heavy Metal	A Relative Coexistence (2011) #448 At the End of Death (2006) #1037 Karma (2008) [EP] #3133
25	Metal Church 1980, United States Heavy Metal, Power Metal, Thrash Metal	Metal Church (1984) #302 The Dark (1986) #1371 Live (1998) [Live] #1396
26	Battle Beast 2005, Finland Heavy Metal	Steel (2011) #692 Battle Beast (2013) #735 Bringer of Pain (2017) #1766
27	Black Hole 1986, Korea Heavy Metal	Hero (2005) #1158 Made in Korea (1995) #1299 Survive (1990) #1405
28	Marty Friedman United States Heavy Metal, Neoclassical Metal, Progressive Metal	Dragon's Kiss (1988) #1009 Scenes (1992) #1638 Loudspeaker (2006) #1835
29	Halford 1999, United Kingdom Heavy Metal	Live Insurrection (2001) [Live] #383 Resurrection (2000) #1472 Live in Anaheim - Original Soundtrack (2010) [Live]
30	Dream Evil 1999, Sweden Heavy Metal	The Book of Heavy Metal (2004) #883 Evilized (2003) #1339 In the Night (2010) #2052
31	Manowar 1980, United States Heavy Metal, Power Metal	Kings of Metal (1988) #1259 Hail to England (1984) Louder Than Hell (1996) #2553
32	The Poodles 2005, Sweden Heavy Metal, Hard Rock, AOR	Performocracy (2011) #574 Clash of the Elements (2009) #1104 Metal Will Stand Tall (2006) #1336
33	Beast in Black 2015, Finland Heavy Metal, Power Metal	Berserker (2017) #504 From Hell With Love (2019) #1609
34	Loudness 1981, Japan Heavy Metal, Hard Rock	Soldier of Fortune (1989) #1826 Loudness (1992) #2178 Hurricane Eyes (1987) #2449
35	Jorn 2000, Norway Heavy Metal, Progressive Rock	Life on Death Road (2017) The Duke (2006) #1232 Unlocking the Past (2007) #1706
36	Venom 1979, United Kingdom Heavy Metal, Speed Metal, NWOBHM	Welcome to Hell (1981) #1869 Black Metal (1982) #2009 Warhead (1984) [Single]
37	Mercyful Fate 1981, Denmark Heavy Metal	Don't Break the Oath (1984) #229 Melissa (1983) #1544 In the Shadows (1993)
38	Running Wild 1979, Germany Heavy Metal, Power Metal, Speed Metal	Death or Glory (1989) #1424 Port Royal (1988) #1562 Masquerade (1995) #2133
39	Rob Rock United States Heavy Metal, Power Metal	Holy Hell (2005) #605 Garden of Chaos (2007) #2104 The Voice of Melodic Metal - Live in Atlanta (2009) [Live]
40	Budgie 1967, United Kingdom Heavy Metal, Progressive Rock, Hard Rock	Never Turn Your Back on a Friend (1973) #813 In for the Kill (1974) #2216 An Ecstasy of Fumbling: the Definitive Anthology (1996) [Compilation]
41	Saxon 1978, United Kingdom Heavy Metal, NWOBHM	Unleash the Beast (1997) Metalhead (1999) Crusader (1984)
42	Riot 1975, United States Heavy Metal, Speed Metal, Power Metal	ThunderSteel (1988) #1044 Sons of Society (1999) Through the Storm (2002)
43	Pretty Maids 1981, Denmark Heavy Metal, Hard Rock	Future World (1987) #2165 Anything Worth Doing, Is Worth Overdoing (1999) Motherland (2013)
44	Grave Digger 1980, Germany Heavy Metal, Power Metal, Speed Metal	25 to Live (2005) [Live] The Grave Digger (2001) Heavy Metal Breakdown (1984)
45	Anvil 1981, Canada Heavy Metal, Thrash Metal	Pound for Pound (1988) Strength of Steel (1987) Worth the Weight (1992)
46	백두산 (Baekdoosan) 1986, Korea Heavy Metal, Hard Rock	King of Rock'n Roll (1987) #1202 III (1992) #3654 Too Fast! Too Loud! Too Heavy!! (1986) #3730
47	Dokken 1977, United States Heavy Metal, Hard Rock, Glam Metal	Back for the Attack (1987) #1657 Beast From the East (1988) [Live] #1888 Under Lock and Key (1985) #2362
48	Alcatrazz 1983, United States Heavy Metal, Hard Rock	No Parole From Rock 'N' Roll (1983) #1198 The Best of Alcatrazz (1998) [Compilation] Live '83 (2010) [Live]
49	Heaven & Hell 2006, International Heavy Metal, Doom Metal	The Devil You Know (2009) #1041 Live from Radio City Music Hall (2007) [Live] #2265 Live from Radio City Music Hall (2007) [Video]
50	Axel Rudi Pell Germany Heavy Metal, Hard Rock, Power Metal	Mystica (2006) Diamonds Unlocked (2007) Oceans of Time (1998)

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