The best new artists, albums, and hits for your 2023 playlists, ranked by over 1 million votes. Click to make your opinion heard.

You Gotta Hear This

Music

From trailblazing German supergroups Rammstein and Scorpions to the legendary metal-heads Lamb of God and Megadeth, 2023's top heavy metal bands are back (and here to stay) with electrifying new music across every metal sub-genre (including nu metal, metalcore, avant-garde metal, doom metal, gothic metal, power metal, Celtic metal, and melodic death metal). Porcupine Tree triumphantly returns to the forefront of the progressive metal scene after their decade-long hiatus, riding high since the release of their powerful eleventh studio album Closure/Continuation; and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Ozzy Osbourne maintains both his “Prince of Darkness” nickname and GOAT status in his mid-70s. Zeal &amp; Ardor continue to disrupt the avant-garde metal world while defying industry stereotypes through their innovative fusion of black metal with African-American spirituals; and English hard rock duo the Nova Twins fearlessly shatter glass ceilings as a black female-led metal duo, fiercely fighting for social justice across their latest projects.&nbsp;Which trending heavy metal groups are you most excited to see live, and whose records are you currently listening to?&nbsp;Vote below for the <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-heavy-metal-bands-that-i-know/music-lover?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">best heavy metal bands</a>&nbsp;of 2023, and be sure to also check out this year's&nbsp;top&nbsp;new <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-80s-metal-songs/ranker-music?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">heavy metal songs</a> afterwards.

The Best Heavy Metal Bands Of 2023

Band/Musician

Jared Baly

Lists that rank the greatest bands and artists in every metal genre.

Hard Rock & Heavy Metal

Female Singers

Though there's still quite a gender disparity in the genre, the <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/best-female-hard-rock-and-metal-guitar-shredders?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">best female metal singers</a> on this list have managed to break barriers to become well known names in the game. The way aggression and machismo was intertwined into metal at first made it difficult for women to make their voices known but thanks to hard rock pioneers like Joan Jett, women began to make their way into the genre.The early 80s band Warlock became successful across Europe thanks to Doro Pesch, the proclaimed "Metal Queen." Then in the 90s, Liv Kristine's feminine vocals provided a stark contrast to the band she joined - Theatre of Tragedy. In the 2010s, Japan saw a rise in all-female metal bands. As metal develops and changes as a genre, more women will no doubt find ways to participate and thrive in vocal and band capacities.Vote up your favorite female metal singer and scan the list for some more talented figures in the genre.

The Best Female Metal Singers

The 26 Best Female Metal Singers

Akansha Kakkad

Metal

Sweden has always been a breeding ground for metal bands. From straightforward doom metal to melodic death metal, the country has churned out a ridiculous number of the top acts in the genre and we've compiled them into this list of the very best Swedish metal bands. Starting in the 1990s, bands like Entombed, Dismember, and At the Gates propelled the Scandinavian country to the forefront of the genre.On this list you'll find a mix of metal bands including extreme metal band Meshuggah, who were dubbed one of the ten most important hard rock and <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-heavy-metal-bands-that-i-know/music-lover?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">heavy metal bands</a> by Rolling Stone, as well as prog metal band Opeth, who are still going strong after 30 years.Vote up your favorite Swedish metal bands and be sure to check out our complete list of <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/bands-from-sweden/music-lover">famous Swedish musicians</a>.

The Best Swedish Metal Bands

Slipknot

Iowa metal favorites <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-slipknot-songs/voteable">Slipknot </a>first threw their heavy hat into the music arena in 1996 with a demo titled Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat., but not until their 1999 self-titled debut studio album did the nine-piece truly started <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/wtf-slipknot-stories/jacob-shelton">making waves on the metal scene</a>.Clad in matching jumpsuits and disturbing, custom-made masks, the band struck some metal fans as nothing more than a gimmick, but Slipknot's ferocious blend of nu-metal spoke for itself. And Slipknot's fans - affectionately dubbed “maggots” - have been eating it up ever since.Slipknot have released several albums since that 1999 debut. Vote up the albums you think are Slipknot's strongest, and vote down the albums you think are the band's weaker work.

Every Slipknot Album, Ranked By Maggots And Casual Listeners Alike

Musical Album

Brian Hauntly

All of your favorite heavy metal rock bands are "back from the dead," as Lzzy Hale passionately sings on Halestorm's fifth studio album's title track.&nbsp;From Danish hard rock band Volbeat to the OG German metalhead group Scorpions, 2022's top <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-heavy-metal-bands-that-i-know/music-lover?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">heavy metal bands</a> are bound to shake the Earth with their electrifying new releases across every metal subgenre (nu metal, metalcore, avant-garde metal, doom metal, gothic metal, power metal, celtic metal, melodic death metal, you name it).Which trending heavy metal groups are you most excited to see live, and whose records are you currently listening to?&nbsp;Vote below for the <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-heavy-metal-bands-that-i-know/music-lover?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">best heavy metal bands</a>&nbsp;of 2022, and be sure to also check out this year's&nbsp;top&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/new-heavy-metal-songs-2022/jared-baly">new heavy metal songs here</a>.

The Best Heavy Metal Bands Of 2022

The 25+ Best Heavy Metal Bands Of 2022, Ranked

2022 Music

We're ranking the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/best-debut-albums-of-all-time?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">best debut albums</a> of 2022 released by the music industry's hottest rising stars. From EDM supergroup Swedish House Mafia's highly-anticipated Paradise Again to 2021 XXL Freshman Coi Leray's Trendsetter, 2022's top debut studio albums feature diverse <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/greatest-singer-and-rappers/makumim?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">singers and rappers</a> across multiple decades and countless subgenres, including hip hop, progressive house music, indie rock, pop, folk metal, trap, electropunk, grunge, drill, and electronic dance music. Indian folk metal band Bloodywood are fearlessly disrupting the heavy metal industry with their debut full-length project Rakshak, and New York native rapper Fivio Foreign continues to thrive with his drill hip-hop album B.I.B.L.E. (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth).Which 2022 debut&nbsp;album will win a Grammy next year? How many of these&nbsp;records&nbsp;will surpass a billion streams across Spotify and Apple Music? Vote below for your favorite new&nbsp;albums by the music industry's hottest rising stars, and be sure to return weekly for additional albums as they're released.&nbsp;

The Best Debut Albums Of 2022

The Best Debut Albums Of 2022, Ranked

Lists that rank the best metal songs about everything from the Dark Lord to a broken heart.

Metal Songs About Everything

Metal songs often express feelings of loneliness and melancholia. These types of songs can be quite powerful, making for an excellent listen if you’re feeling&nbsp;lost or alone.&nbsp;Whether you need a good cry or just need to find a metal song that perfectly sums up your&nbsp;feelings of loneliness&nbsp;or isolation, these lonely hard rock songs will fit the bill. &nbsp;What makes for great hard rock songs about being lonely? Aside from the pounding guitar riffs, a lot of the great metal songs about being alone can help you reflect on your own feelings about social isolation, relying on powerful, heartfelt lyrics that cut to the core.Everyone feels lonely at one time or another, even when surrounded by other people. Yes, being alone can be incredibly painful, but it can also be cathartic. Take time to listen to these hard rock songs about loneliness, and hopefully you can connect with the music in some way. Some of these songs are about people enduring great pain, but others encourage endurance in life, and the ability to overcome that pain.Do you have a particular loneliness metal song that isn’t listed here? Feel free to add it to the list, and by all means, rerank your own list, too.

Lonely Day

The Best Metal Songs About Loneliness

Song

Metal Songs About Loneliness | Best Hard Rocks Songs About Being Lonely

Ranker Music

A closer listen to the decade that brought us everything from Run-DMC to Mötley Crüe to Rick Astley.

Oh Yeah, It's '80s Night

What are the <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-heavy-metal-songs-2020/music-lover?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">best metal songs</a> from the decade that brought the genre from the fringe it enjoyed in the 1970s to the mainstream in the &#39;80s? To answer that question, let&#39;s rank the best &#39;80s metal songs that truly defined the decade and inspired all of the metal acts that followed in the &#39;90s and beyond.

The 1980s is one of the best decades to feature metal music thanks to the growing popularity of the genre. These were the years that Ozzy Osbourne killed it with solo hits like &quot;Crazy Train&quot; and Iron Maiden hit the airwaves with &quot;Wrathchild.&quot; Slayer&#39;s &quot;Angel of Death&quot; kicked off the band&#39;s opening track of their&nbsp;1986 album&nbsp;Reign in Blood with an analysis of Dr. Joseph Mengele and his actions during WWII. That level of depth was especially common in &#39;80s&nbsp;metal, which is one of the reasons the genre solidified itself during the decade. Some other incredible tracks from the age of hair bands include Dio&#39;s &quot;Holy Diver,&quot; Exodus&#39; &quot;Strike of the Beast,&quot; and Motorhead&#39;s &quot;Ace of Spades.&quot;

Vote up your favorite &#39;80s metal songs&nbsp;on this ranked list, and add any tracks that aren&#39;t here already.

The Best '80s Metal Songs

The Best '80s Metal Songs That Still Shred Today

We&#39;re ranking the best Periphery albums of all time. One of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/progressive-metal-bands-and-musicians/reference" target="_blank">best progressive metal bands ever</a>, Periphery&#39;s discography&nbsp;features several popular songs, like &quot;Marigold&quot; and &quot;Ragnarok.&quot; What is the greatest Periphery album ever?

From their self-titled debut album&nbsp;to their 2019 album Periphery IV: Hail Satan, this list of Periphery albums also includes Juggernaut: Alpha, Periphery III: Select Difficulty, and Periphery II: This Time It&#39;s Personal.

Vote up the best Periphery albums, and vote down the ones that were disappointing.

The Best Periphery Albums, Ranked

Ranking All 6 Periphery Albums, Best To Worst

We&#39;re ranking the best Whitechapel albums of all time. One of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/deathcore-bands-and-musicians/reference" target="_blank">best deathcore bands ever</a>, Whitechapel&#39;s discography&nbsp;features several popular songs, like &quot;Let Me Burn&quot; and &quot;The Darkest Day of Man.&quot; What is the greatest Whitechapel album ever?

From their debut album The Somatic Defilement to their 2019 album The Valley, this list of Whitechapel albums also includes Mark of the Blade, Our Endless War, and This Is Exile.

Vote up the best Whitechapel albums, and vote down the ones that were disappointing.

The Best Whitechapel Albums, Ranked

Ranking All 7 Whitechapel Albums, Best To Worst

Hip-Hop / Rap

Ranking the best rap metal bands and artist by readers&#39;&nbsp;votes, this list of the best rap rock bands and singers&nbsp;let&rsquo;s you see who rap metal fans think are the greatest rap rock artists of all time.&nbsp;Though the proverbial seeds were planted in the 1980s, rap metal didn&#39;t become a genre to be reckoned with until the late 1990s. Fusing the vocal elements of hip hop with heavy metal instrumentation, rap metal became hugely popular, with many rap metal bands scoring radio hits and saw their albums at or near the top of the Billboard charts. The pinnacle for this period can be summed up by the Family Values Tour, which saw both rap rock bands and rappers combine to tour the country spreading the ethos of rap metal. This was the highwater mark for the genre, and rap metal has managed to endure even if its some of its creators haven&#39;t.

So, what are the best rap metal bands? Any list of rap metal has to include the likes of Korn, Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park,&nbsp;Slipknot, and Rage Against the Machine. These are the bands closely associated with the genre and with good reason. If not for these bands, then rap metal wouldn&#39;t have been the force it was during its heyday. They are still considered among the best rap metal bands. Good rap rock bands are still a force on radio and you are probably familiar with many of their big songs.

That said, it&#39;s up to you to decide what&nbsp;the best rap metal bands are. This list answers the questions &quot;who are the best rap metal bands of all time?&quot; and &quot;who is the greatest rap metal musician ever?&quot; If you know enough about the genre, please vote based on the quality of the band&#39;s music instead of just voting for the most popular rap metal bands that you might&#39;ve heard of.&nbsp;

Slapshock

The Very Best Rap Metal Bands

The 40+ Best Rap Metal Bands | List of the Best Rap Metal Artists/Groups

2022

If 2022's got you screaming at the top of your lungs, then we've got the perfect heavy metal playlist for you! From the Y2K metalcore rockers Underoath to trailblazing <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/nu-metal-bands-and-musicians/ranker-music?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">nu metal band</a> Korn, this list features&nbsp;the top metal music of 2022.If you're wondering, "where can I find the best 2022 heavy metal songs?" then we've got you covered with our rankings below. Vote&nbsp;for your favorite new releases, and be sure to return weekly for more&nbsp;popular heavy metal hit singles.&nbsp;

The Best Heavy Metal Songs Of 2022

The 50+ Best Heavy Metal Songs Of 2022, Ranked

Entertainment

The 1980s may perhaps be one of the greatest eras of heavy metal music ever. The “Decade of Greed” gave birth to modern metal, spawning an influx of multi-talented <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-hard-rock-bands-and-artists/music-lover?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">hard rock bands</a> across thrash, glam, hair, death, and grindcore music. The Big Four: Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax, were indisputably the metal kings of the 80s, creating immortal legacies with electrifying guitar solos, exceptional tenor vocals, and unparalleled energy across their records and live performances. The eighties unarguably influenced modern metal bands throughout their unapologetic disposition and powerful sound. Legendary groups Iron Maiden and Judas Priest curated millions of teenagers' mixtapes, and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Guns N' Roses and AC/DC remain forces to be reckoned with as they continue to sell out stadium tours and write original music.&nbsp;Which of these talented musicians do you believe are the greatest 80s metal bands, and who deserves GOAT status at the top of this list? Vote below for your favorite 1980s <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-heavy-metal-bands-that-i-know/music-lover?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">heavy metal groups</a> across the decade, and feel free to check out their discography lists afterwards if you'd like to discover more of their best albums.&nbsp;

The Best 80s Heavy Metal Bands

The 50+ Best Heavy Metal Bands Of The 1980s, Ranked

With its origins beginning in the 1970s, darkwave&nbsp;fused&nbsp;post-punk with gothic rock and New Wave while adding&nbsp;dark introspective lyrics, differentiating itself&nbsp;from other genres. Darkwave bands (whose fans were known as wavers and dark wavers)&nbsp;took off in the 1980s. Darkwave music first gained major traction&nbsp;in Europe and got bigger across that decade. This type of music ultimately&nbsp;spawned&nbsp;several other subgenres. However, darkwave bands managed to maintain their brooding brand of music;&nbsp;and even today, darkwave music remains as relevant as ever.

So what are the best Darkwave bands of all time? Any list of darkwave music has to include the likes of Bauhaus, The Cure, Sisters of Mercy, Joy Division, She Wants Revenge and Siouxsie and the Banshees. These artists are widely regarded as the most important and influential darkwave bands.

That said, it&#39;s up to you to determine who&nbsp;the best darkwave bands are. This list answers the questions &quot;who are the best darkwave bands of all time?&quot; and &quot;who is the greatest darkwave musician ever?&quot;&nbsp;If you know enough about the genre, please vote based on the quality of the band&#39;s music (albums and songs)&nbsp;instead of just voting for the most popular darkwave bands that you might&#39;ve heard of.

Project Pitchfork

The Best Darkwave Bands/Artists

The 100+ Best Darkwave Bands, Ranked

Coley Reed

Update:&nbsp;<a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0rNY0x983lwPCj0T1SBclQ?si=ty4Lm6jlQrqYZMzhUuRjJg" target="_blank">Follow Ranker&#39;s official New Metal 2020 playlist&nbsp;on Spotify</a>!

Thrash metal artists list, with photos, ranked best to worst by votes. List of good thrash metal bands includes a filter so you can sort by the groups&rsquo;s label and what albums they&#39;ve put out. This list of the top thrash metal bands in the world includes all musicians who have released recordings that have gotten distribution, and is an up-to-date list. Thrash metal groups and artists are shown below along with any additional genres in which their music belongs. If available, you can also see information about where all thrash metal bands on this list got started. These are truly the greatest thrash metal bands of all time, since the most famous thrash metal artists ever are listed, and the order is decided by actual fans of the best thrash metal music.

You can click on the thrash <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-heavy-metal-bands-that-i-know/music-lover?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">metal band names</a> to see more information about that particular notable thrash metal group. If they&#39;re near the top of the best thrash metal artist list, though, then they should have at least some information available. All the top thrash metal bands named on the list also have discographies on their pages if you click on the thrash metal band names themselves.

The list you&#39;re viewing is made up of many different artists, like Metallica and Judas Priest. Rock the vote by upvoting your favorite artists. If they get enough votes they rise to the top. Are you one of those people that doesn&#39;t like Megadeth or Dave Grohl? Then vote those things down to have your voice heard.

All important, significant and iconic names in thrash metal music history deserve your votes, so make sure to choose wisely. You can only vote once on this list.

The list includes all <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/new-wave-of-thrash-metal-bands-v1/petr_erm_k?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">new thrash metal bands</a>, and if there are any missing on the list, you can always add them yourself. Just make sure they aren&#39;t already on the list and check your spelling, because this is already an accurate compilation of the best examples of thrash metal, as well as a good place to start if you&#39;re asking yourself, or friends, exactly how to get into thrash metal music. Especially since the bands at the top of the list will at the very least be the best choices if you&#39;re looking for a list of good thrash metal bands with which to start out. No point in listening to them if they aren&#39;t actually good or even half-way decent thrash metal bands.

This list answers the questions &quot;who are the best thrash metal bands of all time?&quot; and &quot;who is the greatest thrash metal musician ever?&quot;

If you know enough about the genre, please vote based on the quality of the band&#39;s music instead of just voting for the most popular or famous thrash metal musicians that you might&#39;ve heard of, but not really listened to closely enough to cast an informed vote.

Re-rank the page to fit your opnions then make it votable so you can share it with your friends and get only their input on this whole thing. {#nodes}

D.R.I.

The Best Thrash Metal Bands

Thrash Metal Bands | List of Best Thrash Artists & Groups

Known as a wildly popular subgenre of heavy metal, power metal mixes elements of traditional metal with speed metal and&nbsp;symphonic metal. Other metal subgenres may focus on doom and gloom, but power metal bands write relatively catchy, anthemic songs where the lyrical content focuses on the theatrical, and even fantasy-based. But above all, power metal bands are very melodic and some of the most memorable bands in metal.

So, what are the best power metal bands? You&#39;d be foolish to leave the names&nbsp;of Rainbow, Symphony X, Helloween, Queensr&yuml;che and Rhapsody of Fire off of this list. Power metal bands have followings across the globe, which have&nbsp;led to different types of power metal in the U.S. and Europe. But no matter how you cut it, power metal artists, at least the best power metal bands, have the ability to unite the different fans who will sing along to their catchy songs and headbang to their crunchy solos.

That said, it&#39;s up to you to determine what&nbsp;the best power metal groups&nbsp;are. This list answers the questions &quot;who are the best power metal bands of all time?&quot; and &quot;who is the greatest power metal musician ever?&quot;&nbsp;If you know enough about the genre, please vote based on the quality of the band&#39;s music (albums and songs) instead of just voting for the most popular power metal bands that you might&#39;ve heard of.

Savatage

The Best Power Metal Bands

The 200+ Best Power Metal Bands, Ranked

Metal lists at Ranker - The ultimate source for hundreds of metal lists and rankings

Metal lists on Ranker

Ranking the best guitarists, instruments, and songs to play for everyone, from those who just picked up a guitar to seasoned musicians.

Anyone Can Play Guitar

Rock

List of the greatest metal guitarists of all time, with photos. Clearly, the list contains a broad selection of guitarists who can still be classified as "metal," though some of the featured guitarists predate the period in which "heavy metal" was enjoying mainstream, popular success. It also includes guitarists such as Brian May and Jimi Hendrix who are not typically referred to as "metal guitarists" as their primary genre – but their guitar sounds were actually highly influential in early heavy metal music.Who are the best metal guitarists of all time? Which musicians shredded the hardest on their guitars? The list also notably contains memorable duos or guitar groups, as line-ups featuring multiple guitarists who compliment one another is such a fixture of the metal genre. Guitarists who are featured as part of a group (such as Megadeth's Dave Mustaine and Marty Friedman or KISS's Ace Frehley and Paul Stanley) should not be listed individually except in rare circumstances where that guitarist had notable success and a specific style while playing solo as well as with a metal group. If you can think of anyone who would be in your personal top 100, then definitely add them to this list.&nbsp;

The Best Metal Guitarists and Guitar Teams

Best Metal Guitarists of All Time

Ranker Community

poll

No more is the guitar a boys only club, and it’s about damn time we celebrate and recognize. From Leah Woodard and Aliases to the always incredible Nita Strauss, this list is all about talent. The frenzy of female fronted bands is a sight to behold and a leap forward from the 80′s and 90′s when metal bands were 95% testosterone. Despite all that, women who play instruments besides their voice are under-utilized and under-recognized. Who else should be on this list? Vote up your favorite female hard rock and metal guitarists, and vote down any you don't think deserve a spot of honor here. Also, feel free to add anyone who's missing. You can also rerank this list any way you want.No list of brilliant female guitar shredders would be complete without the incomparable talents of legendary guitarists like Sarah Longfield, Liz Buckingham, Mia Coldheart and Lita Ford. This list also includes some incredible hard rock and metal guitarists you might not know -- but should. And to be fair, a lot of the women listed here should be on any list of the <a href="http://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/the-greatest-guitarists-of-all-time" target="_blank">greatest guitarists of all time</a> and the <a href="http://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/best-metal-guitarists-and-guitar-teams" target="_blank">best metal guitarists and guitar teams</a> -- not just because they're female. Gender does not matter when it comes to natural musical abilities. Need more proof? Check out this list of the <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/best-female-drummers/rockboy" target="_blank">best female drummers</a> of all time, or just vote on all the famous <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/famous-female-guitarists/reference?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">female guitar players</a> on this list.

The Best Female Hard Rock/Metal Guitar Shredders

Fascinating things you didn't know about your favorite entertainers, and lists that rank the greatest rock singers and musicians ever to grace the spotlights.

True Rock Stars

Lists that rank the very best musicians most of us have never heard of.

Great Musicians to Know

The best rock bassists of all time serve as the backbones to some of the most influential rock bands, ranging from the Beatles and Cheap Trick to&nbsp;Chicago and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. All of the best bassists in rock are featured below, including John Paul Jones, Paul McCartney, Flea, Roger Waters, and Sting.&nbsp;From the hard rockers, to the blues bassists, to the genre-crossing masters of four (or sometimes five) strings, this list contains all of the top bass players in rock.

What makes someone the best bass player in rock music? Should the rock bassist with the best stage presence, or the famous bass player with the fastest fingers, or the bass player who&#39;s <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/20-greatest-singers?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">the best singer</a> be considered the &#39;best rock bassist&#39;? Should the bass player with the craziest hair&nbsp;be given special consideration?&nbsp;Well, that would probably go under the category of bass players with the best stage presence, but still...

Who are the best bassists in rock? Who are the best bass guitarists? Who is the top rock bassist ever? The top 10? The top 100? These are some of the questions that this list of the best rock bassists hopes to answer.

If you want to hear some of the harmonious music that the greatest bass players take part in, make sure to check out the <a href="http://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/the-best-rock-bands-of-all-time">best rock bands of all time</a>. Vote below for your favorite rock bass players, and be sure to vote based on the quality of their music (songs and albums) and overall talent rather than just their fame or overall popularity.

The Best Rock Bassists of All Time

The 100+ Greatest Rock Bassists of All Time, Ranked

Lists that rank the best bands and musicians in every genre.

Ranking Top Bands and Artists

Creating some of the <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-heavy-metal-songs-2020/music-lover" target="_blank">best metal songs of 2020</a>, the greatest heavy metal bands ever include some of the most iconic names in music. Famous bands, like Judas Priest and Black Sabbath, paved the way for many of today&#39;s biggest acts. They&#39;re bigger than just heavy metal -- they&#39;re among the <a href="http://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/the-best-rock-bands-of-all-time" target="_blank">best rock bands/artists of all time.</a> Which one is the best? That&#39;s up to you to decide with your votes. Vote up the good heavy <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-metal-band-fans/charley-ruddell" target="_blank">metal bands you&#39;re a huge fan of</a>, and vote down any that you just don&#39;t like. If you&#39;re looking for something harder than hard rock, these heavy metal bands have got the music for you.&nbsp;

Not surprisingly, some incredibly well-known classic&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/metal-band-zodiac-signs/jacob-shelton/" target="_blank">heavy metal bands</a> top this list, including American bands Metallica and&nbsp;Pantera as well as &#39;70s English band Iron Maiden and &#39;80s metal band Megadeth. Some <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-new-heavy-metal-bands-2019/ranker-music" target="_blank">newer bands are also included</a>. Tool and Korn, for example, formed in the 1990s. Sadly, some of these bands don&#39;t include all of the original members or singers (Alice in Chains, for example), but that doesn&#39;t mean they&#39;re forgotten, not popular, or not worth including. From old school and the 2000s to the new and current,&nbsp;we&#39;re ranking the all-time best heavy metal groups.&nbsp;

Which heavy metal band is the best? Be sure to vote and don&#39;t forget to rerank this list your way, too.