The Metal Music Archive

Cynic (Miami, Florida)                 With a major influence of jazz, Cynic were ahead of their time in fuzzing jazz with metal, and the only metal band where the vocalist used/uses an octave generator, vocoder, for his clean vocals most of the time.  Once you hear this band, their sound […]

Alice in Chains (Seattle, Washington)           Making vocal harmonies as eerie and metal as humanly possible, Layne Staley and Jerry Cantral produced some of the darkest, most hypnotic melodies put on record.  And responsible for being an influence on more bands then you could ever count, good or bad.  Much of Alice […]

System of a Down (Glendale, California)  A huge mixture of styles with heavy use of vocal harmonies and being silly as all hell at times, this band is one of the most unique acts around.  Lyrical content mostly hits on politics, sex, drugs, and war.  They’ve been known for having a Frank Zappa-esque attitude/demeanor.  And they […]

Deftones (Sacramento, California)                  The Deftones are innovators of their craft.  From the beginning they created an  atmosphere of raw energy with an addicting combination of metal, hip hip, and rock.  As they’ve changed over the years, they’re always trying something new and stepping outside the lines to build […]

Primus (San Francisco, California)              Wild & Crazy, Weird & Wacky, you will not find a band like this.  One-of-a-kind says it all.  They are extreme in any realm you put them in, so here is where they belong.  Either you love ’em, or you hate ’em.  No matter your […]

Snot (Santa Barbara, California)              It’s sad when something so great, that has massive potential is cut short of achieving amazing heights, which is the case with Snot.  With the release of only one album, they combined different genres such as blues, funk, rap, alternative rock, punk, and metal giving […]

Nothingface (Washington D.C.)              An instance where a band gets together and the pieces fit just so, to create something a little different, a little out of the ordinary, but still familiar and palatable.  Pummeling screams and many strange and creative melodic lines over riffs that were innovative and sometimes […]

In Flames (Gothenburg, Sweden)                  One of the first true melodic death metal bands along side Dark Tranquillity and At The Gates, these hard working musicians have paved a much admired musical path growing ever stronger with each release.  They’ve sold over 2 million albums world-wide if that […]

Soilwork (Helsingborg, Sweden)                 Stating influences such as Pantera, Meshuggah, and Carcass, you can expect a high level of musicianship that delivers in almost every aspect and are one the leaders in Swedish Melodic Metal.  If you like your metal really fast and heavy, lots of screaming, but also […]

The Melvins (Montesano, Washington)   Who doesn’t like The Melvins?  I’m serious, who doesn’t like The Melvins?!  IT’S THE MELVINS!  Shall I say more?  Yeah probably.  These guys are hard to categorize.  More than most.  They are metal, but with their strange sense of humor, experimenting, and different mix of styles they are quite unique. […]

Killswitch Engage (Westfield, Massachusetts)                   These metal-core kings are crowned as one of the biggest metal bands in the world and guilty of hooks that are way too catchy for your own good.  From studio giants to bringing it live, this band ain’t goin’ nowhere. Forming in 1999, […]

Ozzy Osbourne (Birmingham, England)               He’s still alive?!  Yes, he is still alive.  He’s been studied, analyzed, had everything done to him but an autopsy and nobody can figure out how one person with as many drugs he’s taken and crazy shit he’s done, can still be walking around […]