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A decade from now, when the world takes a look at the 10 greatest metal bands of all time, several of these now-young outfits could very well be on the list.
Black Dahlia Murder
They may have come from the streets of Detroit, but you'd never know it: This quintet combines everything that's good about Scandinavian death and black metal into ferocious songs.
Dillinger Escape Plan
Jarring and unconventional, Dillinger are as surprising as a sucker-punch and as perplexing as trigonometry, combining extreme metal, hardcore and avant-jazz into crushing compositions. They're also incredible musicians, playing seemingly impossible time signatures with ease and navigating their instruments with the precision of a champion videogamer methodically obliterating everything onscreen.
Every Time I Die
More hardcore than metal, this maniacal band from Buffalo, New York, still has enough guitar firepower to fry the synapses of the most discriminating headbanger. And with surreal poetic lyrics penned by a former English professor, you just might get educated while you're getting pummeled.
Killswitch Engage
They've been called one of the founders of metalcore, but Killswitch Engage are more consistently brutal than most bands in the genre, using melody as a tool for diversity, not a vehicle for commercial airplay. The band has grown stronger with each of its three releases and is taking the summer off to make sure its fourth album continues its upward trajectory.
Lamb of God
One of the leaders of the new American heavy metal movement, Lamb of God combine elements of technical thrash, death metal and hardcore into a lethal cocktail of venomous rage. And while the deft guitar playing and abrupt changes are sonically intense, the band's fierce, political lyrics and acidic vocals give the songs a new level of ferocity.
Mastodon
Progressive, turbulent and loud as thunder, this Atlanta quartet has been considered by many to be the future of metal. Their riffs are barbed, but they still grip like a harpoon; their lyrics are clever and thematic, making their albums hold together as conceptual and mind-blowing pieces of art.
Nile
Mixing hammering heaviness with sonic innovation, this South Carolina outfit plays acrobatic death metal at mind-numbing tempos. But it's the band's wild lyrics that are truly unparalleled, based completely around Egyptian mythology. Take that, Powerslave!
Opeth
They may have started out as a death-metal band, but over the years, Sweden's Opeth have evolved into a skilled and innovative outfit capable of playing prog-rock, folk, goth and extreme metal with equal passion. And while many of the songs clock in at over ten minutes, they never seem pretentious or self-indulgent, unraveling like wondrous segments of a spellbinding journey.
Shadows Fall
Like Killswitch Engage, Shadows Fall emerged in the infant days of Western Massachusetts metalcore, but these days they're more focused on classic thrash. Over time they've proven themselves equally capable of writing face-shredding stormers and tuneful singalongs, both of which should figure prominently on their next album, their first for a major label.
Strapping Young Lad
Frontman by ex-Steve Vai singer Devin Townsend and featuring ex-Death drummer Gene Hoglan, Strapping Young Lad combine the ferocity of Slayer, the insanity of Meshuggah and the quirkiness of Frank Zappa. Confused? Well, listen again then check out Townsend's seven equally bizarre and eclectic solo albums and pray for absolution.
Are DragonForce the future of metal? Make your predictions and check out other reader comments in You Tell Us.
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Photo: MTV News
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