🎸 Loud, overlooked & criminally underplayed – let’s fix that!
Metal’s a big ol’ beast, innit? With titans like Metallica, Slipknot and Maiden hogging the limelight (and the festival lineups), it’s easy to miss the bands tearing it up just outside the mainstream. Some of these lads and lasses are slogging it out in sweaty clubs, others are dropping albums that rival the greats but barely get a sniff of airplay. Time to put some proper respect on their names, butt!
Here are 15 underrated metal bands that’ll blow your boots off if you give ‘em half a chance. 🎧
1. Sylosis 🇬🇧
📍 UK | Genre: Thrash/Death Metal
Like Machine Head and Trivium had a feral Welsh child. Josh Middleton’s riffs are ungodly. Criminally underrated – especially for a Reading band. 🤘
🔥 Try: “Conclusion of an Age”
⚠️ For fans of: Lamb of God, Testament, Parkway Drive
2. Orbit Culture 🇸🇪
📍 Sweden | Genre: Groove/Melodic Death Metal
Imagine Metallica and Gojira going on a Viking raid. Brutal vocals, seismic groove, and haunting melodies. How are these guys not huge yet?
🔥 Try: “The Shadowing”
⚠️ For fans of: Gojira, Metallica, In Flames
3. Alien Weaponry 🇳🇿
📍 New Zealand | Genre: Thrash/Groove Metal with Māori lyrics
Young, fierce, and politically charged. They rap, growl and chant in Te Reo Māori, and it slaps harder than a haka before kickoff.
🔥 Try: “Kai Tangata”
⚠️ For fans of: Sepultura, Soulfly, Lamb of God
4. Jinjer 🇺🇦
📍 Ukraine | Genre: Progressive Metalcore
Yes, they’re gaining traction now – but they’re still not getting their due! Tatiana Shmayluk’s growl-to-clean switch is witchcraft.
🔥 Try: “Pisces (Live Session)”
⚠️ For fans of: Spiritbox, Gojira, Periphery
5. Venom Prison 🇬🇧
📍 Wales | Genre: Death Metal
Straight outta South Wales with lyrics that cut deep and riffs that cut deeper. Feminist death metal with brains AND brutality.
🔥 Try: “Uterine Industrialisation”
⚠️ For fans of: Napalm Death, Cattle Decapitation, Arch Enemy
6. Loathe 🇬🇧
📍 Liverpool | Genre: Experimental Metalcore/Post-Metal
Genre-melting Scousers who somehow blend Deftones and Meshuggah. Dreamy, heavy, weird – in the best way.
🔥 Try: “Two-Way Mirror”
⚠️ For fans of: Deftones, Northlane, Code Orange
7. VOLA 🇩🇰
📍 Denmark | Genre: Progressive Metal/Rock
Synths, grooves, and djent riffs – like if TesseracT joined Pink Floyd in a Scandinavian bunker. Pure vibes.
🔥 Try: “Stray the Skies”
⚠️ For fans of: Karnivool, Leprous, Porcupine Tree
8. While She Sleeps 🇬🇧
📍 Sheffield | Genre: Metalcore
Why these lads aren’t headlining arenas already is beyond us. DIY ethics, melodic firepower, and anthems that make you wanna burn down the system.
🔥 Try: “Anti-Social”
⚠️ For fans of: Architects, Bring Me The Horizon, Parkway Drive
9. Pallbearer 🇺🇸
📍 Arkansas | Genre: Doom Metal
Slow, sad and heavier than your Nan’s Sunday roast. Doom metal with gorgeous vocals and funeral march vibes.
🔥 Try: “The Ghost I Used to Be”
⚠️ For fans of: Candlemass, YOB, Mastodon
10. Ithaca 🇬🇧
📍 London | Genre: Hardcore/Metalcore
Rage. Riffs. Raw power. With lyrics about trauma, identity, and healing – delivered with throat-shredding fury. Cathartic as hell.
🔥 Try: “They Fear Us”
⚠️ For fans of: Converge, Employed to Serve, Rolo Tomassi
11. ERRA 🇺🇸
📍 Alabama | Genre: Progressive Metalcore
Yes, they’ve been around forever, but they’re STILL not getting their flowers. Every track is a math-metal odyssey.
🔥 Try: “Snowblood”
⚠️ For fans of: Periphery, Northlane, Veil of Maya
12. Svalbard 🇬🇧
📍 Bristol | Genre: Post-Metal/Blackened Hardcore
Bleak, brilliant, and brutally honest. Songs about mental health, feminism, and fighting back – with a wall of sound you can drown in.
🔥 Try: “Open Wound”
⚠️ For fans of: Deafheaven, Oathbreaker, Envy
13. Employed to Serve 🇬🇧
📍 Woking | Genre: Hardcore/Metalcore
Absolute chaos merchants. Their riffs should be illegal. Their energy? Unmatched. They bring the pit to your living room.
🔥 Try: “Sun Up to Sun Down”
⚠️ For fans of: Knocked Loose, Code Orange, Power Trip
14. Vintersea 🇺🇸
📍 Portland | Genre: Progressive/Melodic Death Metal
Operatic vocals and melodeath riffs wrapped in stormy black metal vibes. Symphonic AND savage. Lush stuff.
🔥 Try: “Fiery Tongue”
⚠️ For fans of: Epica, Ne Obliviscaris, Insomnium
15. Orbituary 🇺🇸
📍 Florida | Genre: Death Metal Legends Still Killing It
Yeah, yeah, they’re old school. But even after all these years, they’re still somehow underrated. Filthy riffs, swampy groove, zero nonsense.
🔥 Try: “Sentence Day”
⚠️ For fans of: Cannibal Corpse, Death, Morbid Angel
🎤 Honourable Mentions (Because 15 ain’t enough):
- Harbinger (UK tech-deathcore)
- Zeal & Ardor (Black metal meets gospel? YES MUN)
- Alpha Wolf (Aussie metalcore tantrum)
- Infected Rain (Moldovan fury fronted by Lena Scissorhands)
- Bloodywood (Indian folk metal with a nu-metal twist)
Final Thoughts:
Rock radio might still be stuck in 2003, but you don’t have to be. Give these underrated metal masters a spin, share ’em with your mates, and support your local riff dealers. 🤟
Which bands did we miss? Drop your faves in the comments or shout at us on social:
👉 @theriffreportuk
👉 staging.theriffreport.co.uk/
Michael is the founder, editor, and chief riff wrangler behind The Riff Report, an independent Welsh rock and metal publication built by fans, for fans. With a lifelong passion for loud guitars, unforgettable live shows, and the incredible community that surrounds rock and metal, he created The Riff Report to celebrate everything that makes the scene special—from legendary headline acts and grassroots venues to rising bands that deserve to be heard.
A familiar face at festivals across the UK, Michael spends much of the year covering events including Download Festival, Bloodstock Open Air, Steelhouse Festival, Firevolt, Plumpton Revival, and many more. Whether he’s battling the Welsh weather on a mountainside, surviving a weekend in a muddy campsite, or squeezed against the front barrier with thousands of fellow fans, he’s always searching for the next great story to share.
As editor of The Riff Report, Michael writes festival guides, breaking news, album reviews, gig reviews, interviews, opinion pieces, nostalgia features, and behind-the-scenes stories from across the rock and metal world. His writing combines honest opinions, humour, and a genuine love for live music, bringing readers closer to the bands, festivals, venues, and people that keep the scene alive.
Michael is particularly passionate about supporting independent artists, local venues, charities, and the wider UK rock and metal community. He believes every band deserves a chance to be discovered and every festival has a story worth telling. Through The Riff Report, he aims to shine a spotlight on both the biggest names in rock and the future stars waiting to break through.
When he’s not writing or interviewing artists, you’ll probably find him exploring festival campsites, photographing live shows, chatting with fellow fans over a pint, or planning the next road trip in search of more riffs, bigger crowds, and unforgettable moments.
Above all, Michael believes rock and metal are about more than music—they’re about community, friendship, and creating memories that last a lifetime. That’s exactly what The Riff Report exists to celebrate.
Proudly Welsh. Proudly Loud. Always chasing the next great riff. 🤘
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