Hard, Grinding and Unmistakably German – The Best German Metal Bands of All Time

There are few musical genres in the world that display as much musical intensity and youthful aggression as heavy metal. The long hair, the leather, the swagger and the tattoos combine with harsh yells, the racing fast guitar riffs and the pounding drums. It is at the same time the angriest and one of the most sensitive and emotional genres of music. And one of the best sources for this style of music is Germany.

This place is almost as well known for its amazing heavy metal as it is for its beer and its top of the line luxury cars. And here are a few of the bands that have contributed to the charge of the hordes of metal in no particular order of importance:

* Blind Guardian: Equally as influenced by Queen, Black Sabbath, Tolkien and Broadway, Blind Guardian is known as one of the best speed/power metal bands in the world. Led by the charimatic Hansi Kursch, Blind Guardian have lorded it over for almost two decades with their epic music and technical mastery of their instruments. Album to check out: “Nightfall In Middle Earth”

* Gamma Ray: With their once-guitarist Kai Hansen handling vocal duties, Gamma Ray have pushed themselves to the top of the metal heap. With their powerful vocals and intricate musicianship, Gamma Ray are one of the few bands who have made better albums with time. Album to check out: “Land of the Free”

* Helloween: In the 80s, there were few German bands who could compete with Helloween for influence. Many bands all over Europe adopted some of the basic Helloween style for their purposes and heavy metal was never the same since. Album to check out: “Keeper of the Seven Keys”

* Kreator: One of the biggest names in thrash metal, that has consistently churned out albums of quality would definitely be Kreator. Taking their heavy music to new heights, they together with their compatriots Sodom and Destruction would pioneer the death metal genre, by containing a lot of the elements present in modern day death metal. Album to check out: “Terrible Certainty”