Heavy Metal is, without a doubt, a global genre. Its origins are debated to this day — and, to be honest, the discussion even extends to the point where it is not exactly clear what is Metal and what is Rock, without even going into the merits of the subgenres within these categories.
In any case, it is undeniable that the heavy genre has reached countless listeners around the planet with great strength, and it is clear that local bands play a very fundamental role in this.
Most of the world will indeed consume English-language music, and this naturally gives groups formed in the United States and the United Kingdom a huge advantage. Even so, bands from several other countries, like ours, Gravemanaged to achieve international success through different contributions to the genre.
In fact, it is not an exaggeration to say that Metal is one of the most democratic styles of all time: it is very likely that a fan of heavy music will be able to name one or more bands from different countries, something that would hardly be the case for other more distant genres. of this scene.
The biggest metal bands from each country in the world
Curious about this expansion of Metal around the world, a Reddit user (Axxelschweiss) decided to create a map with the most listened to bands of the genre from each country on Spotify; the ranking, of course, is related to the origin of the band and not which is the most listened to band in that country, a criterion that would probably result in a huge map with Metallica printed.
The results are very curious and you can check the maps below. Soon after, also see a selection from TMDQA! with more details about 20 countries and their most listened to bands.
The biggest Metal bands from 20 countries in the world
Continues after map
Brazil: Grave
No surprise here: Sepultura is actually the most famous Metal band to come out of the country. There are 1.7 million monthly listeners on Spotify, and the Brazilian group’s biggest hit is “Roots Bloody Roots”, which has already accumulated more than 85 million reproductions.
Argentina: Rata Blanca
In the neighboring country, the biggest band is one of the few to arrive with strength here in Brazil too. O White Rat has a lot of strength in the Latin scene, even reaching better numbers than our Sepultura: there are 3.1 million listeners and the biggest hit, the ballad “Mujer Amante”, has 137 million reproductions.
Venezuela: Culture Three
Leaving the classics, the Culture Three is one of the revelations of the South American scene in recent years and has already become the most listened to Metal band to come out of Venezuela. The group, even so, only has just over 8 thousand monthly listeners, but “The World and Its Lies” already has more than 150 thousand reproductions.
It is worth remembering that the band has a bassist Paulo Xisto Jr., by Sepultura, and will be at Summer Breeze Brasil 2024 with a special show. We told you more about the origins of this sensational project in this article.
United States: Metallica
Once again confirming the obvious, statistics tell us that the most popular band to come out of the USA is actually Metallica. The group of James Hetfield and company is the most listened to on the list, with 25.6 million monthly listeners – and the hit “Enter Sandman” also leads the way in terms of songs, with 1.3 billion plays on Spotify.
Canada: Spiritbox
Look at the new generation again! O Spiritbox has already surpassed countless classic Canadian names, such as Anvil, and became the most listened to Metal band in the country with around 2.2 million monthly listeners. The group led by Courtney LaPlante Its main hit is “Circle With Me”, which recently reached 46 million plays.
The map’s author highlights, however, that the Rush would be the biggest Canadian Metal band for those who consider the Progressive group as part of the genre. There are just over 4 million monthly listeners for Geddy Lee and company.
UK: Black Sabbath
Considered by most as the “fathers of Metal”, the black Sabbath obviously it was a guaranteed presence on the list. Not even the time without releasing news weighed against the band, which has 15 million monthly listeners and has already surpassed 1 billion plays on “Paranoid”, their biggest hit.
Norway: Dimmu Borgir
In the next positions, we will dive into the list of Nordic countries, highly recognized for their contributions to Metal. In the case of Norway, the leadership belongs to one of the bands that managed to combine weight and a little more melody: Dimmu Borgirwhich has 480 thousand monthly listeners and 16 million plays on its biggest hit, “Gateways”.
Finland: Nightwish
Showing once again how much a difference a more Pop-related approach makes, Finland’s leading band, Nightwish, gives a beating to the Norwegians’ numbers. The symphonic metal group has around 2.7 million streams and the hit “Amaranth” already has more than 94 million reproductions, closely followed by “Nemo” with 87 million.
Denmark: Volbeat
Denmark is another special case. O Volbeat is the unquestionable leader of statistics in the country, with 5 million monthly listeners and a hit with 327 million reproductions in “Still Counting”.
However, there is a long discussion about whether or not the group is considered Metal and, for those who don’t consider it, the most famous group would then become the legendary Mercyful Fatebut with much less impressive numbers: 163 thousand monthly listeners and a single hit with more than 10 million plays in “Evil”, which recently reached 15 million.
Sweden: Sabaton
O Sabaton is a true Metal classic and leads the statistics among bands that are unquestionably part of the genre in Sweden. In addition to 166 million streams of the anthem “To Hell and Back”, the group has almost 3.2 million monthly listeners and leads the Nordic statistics.
However, for those who consider the band as part of the Metal scene, the Ghost he would easily be the Swedish champion. There are almost 8 million monthly listeners, and the biggest hit, “Mary on a Cross”, has almost 549 million reproductions thanks to it going viral on TikTok.
Italy: Wind Rose
Although the map initially released included the Coil Gap representing Italy, the author later made a correction indicating that, in fact, the Italian Metal band with the most listeners is Wind Rose.
The Power Metal group had a great success with “Diggy Diggy Hole”, which has already accumulated more than 54 million reproductions, and boosted its number of monthly listeners to almost 953 thousand. Lacuna Coil has “only” 686 thousand listeners, and its biggest success is a version of “Enjoy the Silence” with 34 million plays.
Germany: Rammstein
Another choice that shouldn’t surprise anyone is the Rammstein, who enters as a representative of Germany. In addition to being famous, the group is considered revolutionary and broke several barriers, becoming one of the biggest European bands of all time.
Currently, there are almost 12 million monthly listeners and the biggest hit, “Du hast”, is about to reach 543 million reproductions.
France: Gojira
France is not exactly a country with a great tradition in Metal, and that’s why the Gojira It didn’t take long to become the most famous band of the genre to come out of there. The group already has close to 1.9 million monthly listeners, and the hit “Stranded” has already surpassed 100 million reproductions.
Ukraine: Jinjer
Moving on to Eastern Europe, we have another band led by a woman. We’re talking about the sensational Tatiana Shmaylukwhich commands the Jinjer and won over a lot of people with his vocals on “Pisces”, the group’s biggest hit with almost 40 million plays. In total, there are almost 761 thousand monthly listeners for the band.
Russia: Slaughter to Prevail
In Russia, the controversial and masked Slaughter to Prevail leads calmly. The band has close to 1.2 million monthly listeners, driven by the hit “DEMOLISHER”, which already has more than 48 million reproductions.
But, before really enjoying the guys’ sound, it’s worth reading this article to understand some issues involving the vocalist Alex Terrible.
Tunisia: Myrath
Despite having some parts of its continent without representatives, Africa does have some good Metal names. One of the highlights comes from Tunisia: the Myrath. The band has already performed here on other occasions, always surrounded by good recommendations for their very unique sound.
Even though it is the most popular name in the country, the group is among the least famous on the list as a whole. There are 121 thousand monthly listeners, but the biggest hit, “Believer”, has already surpassed 5 million plays on Spotify.
South Africa:
Yes, you read that right. With its curious name, to say the least, the South African band XavlegbmaofffassssitimiwoamndutroabcwapwaeiippohfffX, affectionately nicknamed Xavleg for obvious reasons, is the most successful in her country with almost 133 thousand monthly listeners. His biggest hit is “Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis”, with almost 3.7 million plays. Phew, I got tired of reading all that!
Without knowing whether this makes the situation worse or better, it is worth highlighting that the band’s name is, in fact, the one between the two capital Xs and is an acronym for Acidic Vaginal Liquid Explosion Generated By Mass Amounts Of Filthy Fecal Fisting And Sadistic Septic Syphilic Sodomy Inside The Infected Maggot Infested Womb Of A Molested Nun Dying Under The Roof Of A Burning Church While A Priest Watches And Ejaculates In Immense Perverse Pleasure Over His First Fresh Fetus.
Believe me: it’s better not to translate if you don’t understand English. In time, another much more famous band of South African origin is Seetherwith around 6.9 million listeners and several hits, but the group is not usually considered Metal and was left out of the list.
Mongolia: The HU
Arriving in Asia, we highlight a band that has attracted a lot of attention in recent years for making Metal using traditional instruments from their country, Mongolia. O The HU has become a truly unique attraction in this scene and, as a result, has now reached 1.4 million monthly listeners. His biggest hit, “Wolf Totem”, has almost 55 million plays!
Japan: BABYMETAL
Another Asian country that has produced a lot of good things in this scene is Japan, as we even told you in this special here. However, what has caught the most attention in the world so far is Kawaii Metal from BABYMETALwhich already surpasses the mark of 2.1 million monthly listeners and has a hit with 85 million reproductions in the curious “Gimme chocolate!!”.
Australia: Parkway Drive
To close our selection, the Parkway Drive enters as a representative of Australia and, thanks to some changes in sound over the years, the group has managed to reach different audiences. The result of this is almost 1.7 million listeners, with hits such as “Prey” (77 million plays) and “Vice Grip” (almost 75 million plays).
