1349 - Really aggressive black metal, great drumming
Alice In Chains - One of, if not the best, rock bands of the 90s, really heavily metal influenced grunge.
Amon Amarth - Viking-centered death metal, earlier was moreso straight forward death, now is more melodic.
Anal Cunt - The greatest joke in the history of metal, hilarious band.
Arckanum - Raw but very awesome black metal, I find it hard to describe but the word artistic keeps coming to mind.
Arcturus - Their first album was great black metal, everything else is excellent avant-garde. Amazing vocals/drums/keys.
Assuck - Good mixture of death and grind, if you're into that.
At The Gates - One of the first "melodeath" bands, some is good, some is shit. Kind of responsible for kick-starting metalcore, thoguh.
Atheist - Incredible tech death metal.
Bathory - Quorthon is the god father of black metal and viking metal. There is very little you can go wrong with here.
Behemoth - Began is a great and very energetic black metal band, moved into blackened death metal with albums like Thelema.6. Brutal Death now, only focus on older material.
Belphegor - Blackened death metal, new album is a good listen.
Black Sabbath - One of the godfather bands of metal, they have some great early-doom stuff.
Carcass - One of the best death metal bands to exist, pioneers of goregrind and melodic death metal.
Carpathian Forest - Interesting third-wave black metal, very brutal but pretty good.
Celtic Frost - Big influence on black metal and several other genres as a whole, pretty experimental with their sound, can be pretty trans-genre.
The Covenant - Very enjoyable black metal, Nexus Polaris is very experimental and kind of controversial among black metal fans.
ChthoniC - Asian symphonic black metal, makes use of traditional instruments, pretty decent band.
Cynic - Pretty awesome progressive metal with some death metal influences.
Dark Funeral - Decent third wave black metal.
Darkthrone - One of the big names in the second wave of black metal, some albums get boring but some are masterpieces.
Death - One of the pioneers of death metal, also in my list of top ten greatest death metal bands.
Death Angel - Early bay area thrashy goodness.
Decapitated - Some good drumming here, tech death metal. Band is on hold since Vitek died.
Deicide - First two albums are amazing death metal, Legion is in my top 3 death metal albums.
Destroyer 666 - Mostly death metal with some black and thrash metal thrown in, great band all around.
Destruction - Great german thrash.
Dimmu Borgir - Older stuff is great, past Enthrone is hit and miss (mostly miss).
Dio - Happens to be an amazing vocalist. Good guitars as well, solid heavy metal band.
Dissection - Black metal in earlier days, then death metal. Some solid releases here.
Dismember - Pioneers of brutal death metal, worth checking out.
Dog Fashion Disco - Love these guys, awesome avant-garde metal band that mixes elements of jazz, funk, hardcore, thrash, psychodelic, etc.
Dying Fetus - Some good brutal death, although many don't like 'em.
Emperor - Another one of the stars of the second wave of black metal, highly recommended.
Ensiferum - First album is awesome Folk/Viking metal, rest is decent.
Enslaved - Kind of underrated viking/black metal band that should get more attention.
Entombed - Left Hand Path should say it all, death metal.
Ex Dementia - Little-known death metal, but solid old-school style.
Exodus - High-quality thrash, hard to go wrong with their material.
Fantomas - One of Mike Patton's projects, insane vocals, really groovy avant-garde metal.
Finntroll - Very fun (really is a good word to describe them to be honest) folk/black metal.
Frightmare - Maniac Neil is a douchebag and a cry baby (trust me on this), but still good death/grind.
Ghoul - Old-school thrash meets Carcass-style death metal, has several members of Impaled in it. Highly recommended.
Graveworm - Old material was interesting gothic/black metal.
Gwar - Scumdogs... and America... are two excellent punkish thrash albums, rest is hit or miss. Really fun live, though.
Hatebeak - Death metal with a parrot as a vocalist. Worth a listen if just for the laughs.
Helloween - Awesome power metal.
Hellhammer - See Celtic Frost
Holy Moses - Another good german thrash band.
Hypocrisy - Old stuff was kind of boring, new stuff is pretty cool melodic death metal.
Iced Earth - Mix of thrash/heavy/power metal, a lot of talent and creativity here.
Immortal - Great black metal, has been able to actually evolve over their career too, unlike some others.
Impaled - New death metal with Carcass-style influences, highly recommend "The Last Gasp" album.
Impetigo - Early grindcore, definitely check out if you like death metal or want to know what real grindcore is.
Infernal Stronghold - Very punkish black metal, well worth a listen although hard to find their album. Fun live.
Iron Maiden - Pioneers of heavy metal, also one of the greatest bands in metal's history. Check out songs like "22 Acacia Avenue," "Hallowed Be Thy Name," "The Trooper," "Flash Of The Blade"
Judas Preist - Same as above (minus the songs of course). Vocals are incredible, as are the guitar duo.
Kataklysm - Their older material is solid death metal, new stuff is lacking though.
King Diamond - One of the best vocalist and the greatest concept writer in metal, big influence on early black metal.
The Kovenant - Mixes industrial with black metal with great results, highly recommended.
Kreator - One of the greatest thrash metal bands in existence, together with Sodom make the German scene > Bay area for me.
Lord Gore - Goregrind-y death metal-y goodness.
The Lord Weird Slough Feg - Awesome heavy/power metal, very Manilla Road-influenced. Celtic lyrics.
Lykathea Aflame - Their only album is awesome death metal with middle eastern influences. It grows on you, highly recommended.
Malevolent Creation - One of my top three favorite death metal bands, old-school like almost no one can do.
Manowar - Power metal, for manly men.
Marduk - Great, great black metal. Definitely worth checking into if you like black metal at all.
Massacra - Always overlooked but great early death metal, when thrash still had its place in it.
Mayhem - Have been hit or miss with their career in black metal, Hellhammer is a great drummer though.
Megadeth - Good Bay Area thrash/speed metal, Dave is a great guitarist.
The Melvins - Big influence on the doom/drone/sludge/grunge genres.
Mercyful Fate - Like King Diamond but without the concept albums, big influence on early black metal.
Metallica - First four albums were pretty good thrash albums.
Moonspell - Gothic/Folk/Black metal, some good stuff here, some not so good.
Morbid Angel - First few albums were incredible, death metal at its finest.
Mortiis - Worth mentioning, I guess they fall under "dark industrial?" Mortiis is fucking ugly, though.
Motorhead - Big influence on a lot of metal bands, great early speed metal. Lemmy is god.
Mr. Bungle - See Fantomas, Mike Patton is an amazing vocalist.
Municipal Waste - New-school/crossover thrash, fun live.
Napalm Death - Pioneers of grindcore, also played some death metal.
Nile - See Lykathea Aflame, although less awesome.
Obituary - Early death metal, worth a listen.
Polkadot Cadaver - See Dog Fashion Disco, although a little more dancish. Avant-garde.
Possessed - Early Death metal, their EP is also a source of the genre's name. Very nice band.
Running Wild - Early power metal, before the genre got polluted with shit like Dragonforce.
Rush - Big influence on progressive metal.
Sabbat - Some cool japanese black/thrash metal.
Saturnus - Melodic Death/Doom Metal, very interesting music, check 'em out.
Satyricon - Older stuff is very good black metal, newer isn't horrible, although not amazing either.
Skeletonwitch - Black/Thrash metal, kind of similar to Toxic Holocaust.
Slayer - First four albums were very good thrash bands, new stuff is meh.
(The Lord Weird) Slough Feg - Power/Folk Metal, talented and fun to listen to.
Sodom - Kreator's counterpart, excellent german thrash, Agent Orange is my favorite thrash metal album ever.
Strapping Young Lad - Industrial/Thrash metal, Devin Townsend is a legend.
Swashbuckle - Death/thrash metal, pirate style. Dress as pirates, awesome to see live.
The Sword - Heavy/Doom Metal, sound a lot like a modern Black Sabbath with Norse-based lyrics.
Thorr's Hammer - Really good death/doom band, only released an EP sadly.
Toxic Holocaust - The perfect mix of thrash and black metal, fun live, very energetic. Highly recommended.
Ulver - Early black metal, then avant-garde. Garm is an incredible vocalist and extremely creative, very weird but good band.
Vader - Polish death metal, very awesome.
Vital Remains - Brutal death metal, check out Dechristianize.
Venom - NWOBHM/Blackened Thrash metal, had a big influence on black metal as well as giving the genre its' name.
Windir - Black / Folk / Viking Metal, a little overrated in my opinion but good nonetheless.
Wintersun - Epic Death Metal, sounds a lot like Ensiferum and has its old guitarist. Good stuff.
Wolves In The Throne Room - Very experimental black metal, known for their eco-friendly ideas and isolation for the black metal scene, as well as long fucking songs.
Zimmers Hole - Thrash/Death Metal, some good listens here.
Zyklon - Industrial Death/Black Metal, interesting listen.
Zyklon-B - Very good black metal in Emperor fashion.
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