THE BEAST

By Shawn Leonhardt for Guitar Tricks and 30 Day Singer

Whether it’s power, thrash, doom, deathcore, mathcore, or black all heavy metal has come a long way since its beginnings. Despite the names and the sub genres they all carry the similarities of a massively heavy tone, distorted power chords , and perfectly shredded notes. While the older bands are still very relevant and churning out albums, the 2010’s saw the emergence of many great artists who took the torch of hard rock into new territory. Here are some of the best metal bands of the 2010’s.

While there are so many to choose from we decided to pick the bands that were all formed during this decade, or at least a few that found their audience in that era. We also tried to provide a list of the various styles mentioned above as there is quite the variety! Some have more intense vocals, guitar riffs, and drum blasts while others are more symphonic or ambient. Take note those of your taking beginner guitar lessons ! The best metal bands in 2010 are certainly all over the place stylistically! 

Deafhaven

In 2010 Deafhaven was formed in San Francisco and they were described as a post metal black shoegaze style. Their second album Sunbather released a few years later was more popular than their first release. It had a mixture of a 90s alternative music vibe, but with much more powerful screaming, or singing! It’s great metal for those who like the rhythm to be a little more on the pop side, “blackgaze” is an appropriate name for the band!

Infant Annihilator

This band formed in 2012 in the UK, and by the name you can guess they probably played folk music at kid’s birthday parties! Sure! This deathcore is obviously filled with shocking themes and humor as one could expect. Their style of technical death metal is filled with blast beats, heavy rhythms, shredding solos, and of course growling and dark vocals. It’s hard at times to understand them, which may be for the best for some with sensitive ears! For those who love the hardcore material, this band may do the trick!

Ghost

This Swedish doom and progressive metal band was formed in 2006, but their 2013 debut album Infestissumam is what really boosted their popularity. Later in 2016 they even won a Grammy Award so this band made quite the impression on that decade! Their metal is a lot bigger and more symphonic, often along with a pretty rocking backbeat. Ghost has a great mix of the older 80’s style heavy metal with the addition of modern hard rock elements.

Beyond the Black

This is another symphonic metal band that came on the scene in 2014, but in this case they are from Germany and fronted by a woman. Their music has a strong drive with other orchestral elements, imagine if an epic movie had a metal soundtrack. The lead singers’ vocals are also not as intense as many recent bands, if you prefer the more lyrically understandable metal of the past, this will be a great choice for a group of the modern era.

Batushka

This Polish black metal band uses 8 string guitars in their music and plenty of religious attire for their shows! They were founded in 2015 and mix traditional hymns with heavy metal, it makes for quite the unique sound. Batushka will often play more traditional hard rock and even pop like vibes before bursting into darker and blacker tones, there are a range of emotions brought out in just one of their songs.

Baroness

Baroness formed in Georgia in the early 2000’s but really started getting popular years later and won a Grammy in 2015 from their Purple album. Known for progressive and sludge metal their music also uses synthesizers and other elements beyond shredded guitar and heavy vocals. They span many decades in influence and sound like a mix of old and new metal. 

Blood Incantation

This death metal band from Colorado was formed in 2011 but didn’t release their big debut until 2016. One of the best ways to describe their metal sub-genre is death in space! Imagine an ambient floating sound, echoes of synth pads and effects, and finally add in some hardcore elements. They can switch nicely between a smooth progressive vibe and the more common guttural and noisy approach.

Dead Congregation

This is another metal band that was formed a little before 2010, but found their audience later, by 2016 they had become a favorite for many listeners. One of their main goals is to focus more on atmosphere as opposed to technical skill or speed. Which is why some fans enjoy this style of death metal, as it is a more immersive sound experience, the tones and effects they use can be hypnotic.

Rolo Tomassi

Formed a few years before the 2010’s Rolo Tomassi has a chaotic mathcore metal and punk sound, they are all over the place when it comes to metal subgenres! Their rhythms are driving, but erratic, and the rest of the music is very calculated, even though it doesn’t feel that way. And of course their vocals are incredibly aggressive, it’s hard to imagine how one can sing or talk that way but they pull it off!

Power Trip

This thrash metal-punk band formed in Texas in 2008 but really made their mark in the 2010’s with the album Nightmare Logic . Imagine if Metallica had decided to be a bit more punk in the 80’s and that will give you a sound close to Power Trip. Their mix of punk driven riffs with added heavy metal power chords shows why they are so popular with many metal fans, the name they chose is very fitting!

Those are just some of the best metal bands of the 2010’s, and there are plenty more great musicians of the era. Thanks to the streaming services that initially popped up, metalheads were able to hear more varieties than ever. Some of these bands are still going strong and like the old guard will continue to make new albums. In the meantime we can’t wait to see what new metal bands await us for the rest of the 2020’s!