11 Greatest Metal Bands of the 90s | Spirit Adrift Singer Nate Garrett's Picks
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- Опубліковано 7 лют 2025
- The Nineties were the decade that codified metal as more than a trendy sub-genre of rock, but a vast world of music unto its own. From the genre's commercial domination on MTV to the creation of a sprawling network of micro-styles - black-metal, death metal, nu-metal, sludge, stoner and metalcore, to name a few - the decade was a transformative time for heavy music that spawned many of best to ever do it. We had Nate Garrett, frontman of Spirit Adrift and a Nineties metal scholar, pick the 11 greatest groups that defined that 10-year period - from extreme-metal innovators to stadium-crushing giants.
Watch Nate's picks above and let us know some your nineties favorites in the commentes below!
Backing Music: "Armageddon" by Alexander Nakarada (www.serpentsoundstudios.com)
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#spiritadrift #nineties #metal #nategarrett #list #blackmetal #deathmetal #numetal #sludge #stoner #metalcore #acidbath #aliceinchains #typeonegative #death #danzig #metallica #pantera #thecranberries #solitudeaeturnus #dissection #trouble
Never get tired of hearing Acid Bath mentioned. Awesome seeing members still active in music but I always wonder where’d they’d be now if they were still around. Incredibly dynamic, unique, and talented.
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Hey you gotta be an old ass like me. Acid bath was underground and heavy. You ever listen to downset
O
Acid Bath was mother's milk in South Louisiana metal scene. Also love hearing Agents get the nod.
From Acid Bath to Cranberries, that's a pretty well-rounded list!
Real satisfying way to start and end.
AGREED 🤘🤘🤘
Sepultura is missing.
Acid Bath is so underrated and, with a Clive Barker shoutout, I’m tickled pink! Thank you!!!
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Pure joy to see acid bath on this list. One of my all time favorite bands. Painfully underrated
Feels so good to see Acid Bath on this list. They are from my hometown and a lot of my friends went to school with them. The bassist of the band unfortunately died on a road that I use very often.
Acid bath is the ultimate. Never get tired of listening to them
great list! Our top5:
My Dying Bride
Dream Theater
Opeth
Paradise Lost
Neurosis
I miss the classic growly Opeth so much.
Hard to argue against Opeth or DT especially
Paradise Lost 🤘
AIC was always a metal band to my ears. They had more in common with Metallica than Nirvana.
I always considered them the metal band of the grunge movement.
No.
@@aslin81 Yes. Dirt is one of the greatest metal albums ever recorded.
Anything Alice In Chains did is better than anything Metallica did after "...And Justice For All".
@@latherrinserepeat999 I wasn't necessarily trying to compare them to Metallica. Metallica just happened to be the first metal band that came to my mind.
Great to see Solitude Aeturnus represented!!! LEGENDS!
Acid bath rules man thank you for that name drop
Acid Bath is on everyone's list of the greatest metal bands of the 90's.... everyone that's heard them anyway
For a second I was like wha...then I got to the end of your comment. Lol
@@kenjiwenji ha yeah, cool to see them getting spoken about recently most notably by Corey Taylor who basically idolizes them as did a lot of the Slipknot guys.
Very nice! Kite String Pops is great, but Pagan Terrorism Tactics was spectacular and, of course, my favorite. I remember watching them play on the west bank (greater New Orleans area) with Soilent Green.
I heard them but they’re mediocre in my opinion, Mr Bungle is infinitely better
@@wyattcole5452 haha Mike Patton is the only guy I would trust singing in a Acid Bath tribute....
I'm from Louisiana thank you for Acid Bath on the list. They were so good
Yes yes yes🤘🤘🤘🤘
What an awesome watch! Hadn't heard of Solitude Aeternus before watching this. Fell in love with the first listen! watched a live video where the vocalist is performing with 3 broken ribs! And what an awesome underground musical world we live in. I get to see Spirit Adrift open for one of my favorite bands on 11/18. Corrosion Of Conformity. Can't fucking wait! Would be really cool if I got to meet Nate. Seems like a genuinely real dude!
Started with Acid Bath and I knew he was legit, they're the best! Now gotta go check out Spirit Adrift for sure...
PRONG - Beg To Differ, Prove You Wrong, Cleansing, Rude Awakening!!! That's the 90's band for me. And they are still going strong! 🔱
Prong is underrated Cleansing, Rude Awakening are my favs heck I even liked Scorpio Rising.
They're awesome
PRONG is fantastic. Not sure if we were correct, but me and my posse always labeled Prong as Industrial Metal, they just sounded like a well oiled machine, track, after track, after track. Those 4 albums you listed I consider them as masterpieces. How did those guys get so much power and sound from a trio?
Love Prong!!! Their later albums are fantastic too
Great line up!
Thank you for sharing less known bands! 😎🤘🔥🖤🔥👊🔥
Spirit adrift is quickly becoming one of my favorite bands
Saw Trouble a lot growing up in Chicago. What could have been. So underrated.
Love to see the acid bath love. Every metalhead should listen to them.
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What an awesome list. With so many diverse and killer 90’s bands represented it’s no wonder Spirit Adrift’s music speaks to us!
Nate, you have great taste! Serious kudos for the Cranberries shoutout! 🤘
For me it's definitely rust in peace by Megadeth. Not only from the 90's.
In my opinion it's one of the best albums ever made in metal.
100 percent accurate…the whole band was on another level for this album.
It’s up there for sure. I still think that Death albums rival it in pretty close fight. Especially ’The Sound of Perseverance’
@@hectorescobar9450 agree with that!
Death is amazing.
Maybe the best list I’ve ever seen
Much respect for mentioning ACID BATH. This guy is real cool!
Dude what a pick!!!Acid Bath’s WTKSP is so awesome and super underrated!!!!
ACID BATH & SOLITUDE AETURNUS!!!? Both define my love of music as a whole. Amazing list, top to bottom.
Dude so cool to hear acid bath gets some love ! R.i.p audie!
Solid list. Was thinking he was gonna say EYEHATEGOD, cause seen his tattoo. But he mentioned Acid Bath, so he seems like he went different state and styles.
Good to see you had Dissection on the list.... both those first two albums are literally flawless.
When bro pops this off with Acid Bath you know it's gonna be a great fuckin' list! So many people I talk to have no idea about Acid Bath. Incredibly underrated band! 🤘
Bro forgot to mention ENTOMBED and or DISMEMBER. They started a whole new style of death metal that’s blended and influenced by punk/hardcore, and their guitar tones are still heavily emulated to this day. Long live Swedish death
Nothing wrong with any of these picks, including The Cranberries. I was in my late teens to the tail end of my mid 20s during that decade and there was a lot of good heavy music during those years. Even the resurgence of Queen in the US and Canada had happened.
Incredible list, I appreciate that you added the Cranberries. Here are my favorite 11 bands of the 90s.
1. Korn
2. Tool
3. Pantera
4. Soundgarden
5. Cranberries
6. Slipknot
7. Pearl Jam
8. Alice In Chains
9. Deftones
10. Sevendust
11. Snot
What a great list man, thanks for caring and sharing
Way better list than I was expecting. I'd have to find spots for Neurosis and Fear Factory. Definitely gonna give his band a listen soon.
his Band is Great.
Nice Shirt … South of heaven is my alltime favorite metal record 🤘🔥🤘
As soon as I seen AIC, i knew this was going to be a awesome list! And then he finished it with The Cranberries 👌 what a dude and what music taste he has! Not guna lie, hadn’t heard of 2 of the bands, but that’s what I love about lists/videos like this, finding new music and influences 😁👍🤘
Will give them Both a listen this week 🤘
I totally dig this list. Very thoughtful indeed. Will definitely check out Acid Bath.
Won't find much on UA-cam from them. Spotify has both their albums tho
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Acid Bath will not disappoint. One of the most underrated bands of all time imho.
I can find them sometimes. Look up When The Kite String Pops
@@davegordon6943 you'll find both their albums on Spotify.
Glad to see the love for Solitude Aeturnus!
Love all the Acid Bath love lately!
Exactly correct about 'Dirt', perfect album
You are the fucking man....just naming all these bands and actually giving insight....its just felt good brother....LOVE!!!!
Great Bands ! Solitude sounds great ❤️
Love nate and spirit adrift!
I haven't listened to Spjrit Adrift but have em queued to play next. Great list. Dude seems cool too. In addition to Spirit Adrit, I guess I'm gonna be checking out more from Trouble, Solitude Aeternus, and the Cranberries for the next few days.
Got a few new bands to check out now...thanks
Great and yet unique list with the Cranberries choice....
I like a couple of these bands but my main bands in the 90s were Slayer, Sepultura, Obituary, Machinehead, Cathedral, Motorhead, Entombed, Fear Factory, Sick of it All, Biohazard, and Danzig. Danzig 4 is really good and should be counted as the last classic Danzig album. Honorable mentions would be Carcass, Rollins Band, Madball, Sacred Reich, Corrosion of Conformity, and White Zombie. I loved that first Life of Agony album and Nailbomb album too.
4p IS considered the last classic album.
Check our Circle of Snakes and I Luciferri. I think they are up there with the earlier stuff.
@@213davidhunter I have them. I prefer Danzig 6, which is a damn fine album.
C.O.C.!!!
I'm going to talk about every band except the one on my shirt quite possibly the best thrash band ever SLAYER!!!!!!!!
Glad to see Type O getting some love!
Acid Bath. Yes and Agents of Oblivion gets the nod too. Nice
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agree man....amazing list....there's so many more to put on....but this list is pretty solid 🤘🏻
Great list! The curve ball was great too! Love it when metal heads expose bands they like that has nothing to do with metal. The 90’s was a good time for metal, just had to dig deep for it cuz grunge and alternative was dominating the scene. Other then the bands you mentioned, here’s some of my favs of that era: Neurosis, Sepultura, Fear Factory, Deftones, Tool, Cannibal Corpse, Carcass and Emperor.
Sepultura and Fear Factory 🤘 Not on the list but should be 🤘 Much love to The Cranberries shout out 🤘
Nice list! I would definetely place Sepultura, Machine Head and Korn in my list...
Right on. Big Sepultura fan, mainly only a fan of the first Korn record & I’m a die hard, HUGE, Machine Head fan
Solid List
Hell yeah, acid bath jammed.
Glade to see Acid Bath and the underrated Solitude Aeturnus on this list. I would also pick Rammstein, Crowbar, Prong, Theatre Of Tragedy, Godflesh as good 90's picks
Dissection, what a great fucking choice! So underrated.
My personal 11 would be Pantera, KoRn, Fear Factory, Type O Negative, Alice In Chains, Rage Against the Machine, Nine Inch Nails, Cannibal Corpse, Deicide, Death & Crowbar. Bands that all have at least 3 classic albums from that decade(sorry Machine Head & Acid Bath 😢 2 isn’t enough 😭).
Honorable mentions include Soundgarden, Helmet, Corrosion of Conformity, Dream Theater, Megadeth & Kyuss
Great list my man
This man has good taste in music. So many great bands putting out epic music during those years
Awesome run down.
Acid bath is awesome. Too bad no one seen em in the 90s
My top ten 90s Metal bands in no order: 1.Metallica 2. Fear Factory 3. Sepultura 4. KoRn 5. Pantera 6. MegaDeth 7. Slayer 8. Tool 9.Faith No More 10. Mushroomhead. (Mushroomhead was legendary in the 90s in my hometown growing up. Saw them dozens of times back then. It’s a personal pick)
Nice list, like it! so let's play. Death, Alice in Chains, Pantera, Sepultura, Metallica, Paradise Lost, Megadeth, Grip Inc., The Gathering, Fear Factory, Rage Against the Machine. But I'd like to add for sure Faith No More, Morbid Angel, Slayer, Gamma Ray, Kyuss, Biohazard, Type O-, Napalm Death, Tool, Spiritual Beggars, Judas Priest...
Nice list! I'd throw in Corrosion Of Conformity.
Blind, Deliverance and Wiseblood.. what a trifecta!
So glad he included Acid Bath
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Blind Guardian
Black Sabbath
Iron Maiden
Alice In Chains
Soundgarden
Skid Row
Danzig
Megadeth
Ozzy Osbourne
Pantera
Bruce Dickinson
This is in retrospect. Back then it would have looked different.
great picks nate
Great list. Solitude Aeturnus 🤘
Hey pretty good list except that you FORGOT ONE! Lol Corrosion Of Conformity Man how could anyone forget them! Undoubtedly one of the BEST Heavy Metal Band of 90s! 😎🤘
Here are mine (no order)
- Korn
- Slipknot
- Pantera
- Sepultura
- Mayhem
- Dissection
- Emperor
- Nine Inch Nails
- Opeth
- Rammstein
Such a great diverse list ! Very surprised to see him mention dissection that was the really nice surprise for me.
Well i have also found a new band to check out (Solitude Aeterus)
Sepultura, Nightwish, Dream Theater. Loved the Type O reference.
Impressive! Someone FINALLY mentions Solitude Aturnaus!!! 🤣🤘
I love Nate talking music. It's always very interesting. In a personal list there would be Neurosis, Body Count, Corrosion of Conformity, Nine Inch Nails - not everyone's definition of metal either but among the greatest too.
I think his list is pretty solid. To me, the glaring omissions are definitely Fear Factory and Sepultura- I absolutely love both. Actually, you could pick virtually anyone in the majority of Roadrunner’s roster in the 90s, and there’s your list.
Type O Negative has been my favorite band for 30 years, its great they are FINALLY getting the recognition they deserve as I see them included more and more in lists lately. I feel very fortunate to have seen them nearly 60 times, and to have gotten to hang with them on several occasions. I was devastated when Peter passed, and still am.
I’m defending his choice for Metallica- I mean, they DID release the biggest selling metal album of all time in the 90s! Yeah, I agree their true heyday is in the 80s, but it’s not out of place to list them here for that reason alone. One could argue that Megadeth, Ozzy, and Slayer should be on the list for the same reason.
All of that being said, a best of metal list in the 90s would be null and void without Pantera, IMO the most important metal band of the 90s.
Great list. Started worrying when he threw Alice in Chains in there, but he got Danzig, Trouble, and Type O Negative in there. The only bands I think are totally missing are Paradise Lost and Fear Factory. And kudos on the Cranberries as an honorable mention! Not one of their songs is metal (not even Zombie), but damn good band.
Alice in Chains and Dirt in particulat are better than Paradise Lost or Fear Factory.
Sepultura... death metal was pretty important too, some go for Morbid Angel, Deicide etc, I was more drawn to the swedish chainsaw sound. But yes, guess he did mention Death.
@@jpgduff Listen to Shades of God (Paradise Lost) and Demanufacture (Fear Factory). Both fantastic metal albums that rank right up there with AiC's first three albums (all of which are also totally killer). But the point is while I would consider AiC to be a borderline metal band that pioneered grunge (a non-metal genre), Paradise Lost and Fear Factory were pioneers of metal genres, and therefore I think there place is warranted on this list above AiC. But we're just talking opinions here. You got yours, and I got mine.
@@fredriksvard2603 I was actually surprised to see Death up there, and for the same reason I suspect Sepultura isn't up there. Both released their seminal albums in the late 80's. Metallica could be thrown in this category too, though I suspect the Black Album is what the saved them (though I, and many other metal heads I know, do not believe that is one of their seminal albums). As far as Morbid Angel and Deicide, both were well known death metal bands, but I wouldn't consider them top of the pack unless you really like outright Satanic lyrics. And with Morbid Angel it was all about their first album which was, again, released in 1989. As for the Swedish sound, he did throw Dissection in there, though they were a far cry from the melodic death metal Sweden became known for. But maybe Entombed would have been a good addition to this list.
@@jpgduff Absolutely not. Shades of God is one of the best metal albums ever made. Dirt was grunge, and used metal to popularize a genre that wasn't metal. Don't get me wrong-the first three AiC albums were all brilliant, but you need to go back and listen to some old school Paradise Lost if you think AiC was a better "metal" band. Maybe a better band altogether, but not at heavy metal in particular. And if you want to get really technical, Facelift was the only heavy metal album AiC ever released. By Dirt there was too much alternative rock influence in the music. Just because Jerry used the same heavy metal sound in his amplification doesn't make the music heavy metal.
Solid list. Danzig and Type O still my top two metal bands to this day.
"Dirt is a perfect record"... perfect quote.
My personal list. [Don't get offended if you don't see your favorite band.] I'm going to keep it "90's" as much as possible. Few exceptions.
-Pantera
-Type O Negative
-Sepultura (80s band, had most success in 90s)
-White Zombie
-Crowbar
-Bolt Thrower
-Morbid Angel
-Sleep
-Helmet
-Corrosion of Conformity
-Fear Factory
I probably need a separate list for death metal. Way too many to fit in.
Bolt Thrower are just so good...
Ooofff how does Megadeth not make this list? Just Rust In Peace alone blows everything out of the water in the 90s with only Death coming close for me with a few of their albums
Came here to say the same, although major props for Alice In Chains, you have to include Megadeth for rust in peace and countdown
Redundant after mentioning Metallica, more important to make room for Death, Type O etc
@@fredriksvard2603 Actually, Megadeth should have been on here ahead of 10 other bands including Metallica. Metallica in the 90s is where it all fell apart musically. Megadeth brought out 3 bangers in 90, 92 and 94
@@nicholasbsoumai No
@@fredriksvard2603 LOL okay mate
pretty good list :)
dude has good taste.
Acid Bath and AIC are the best bands of the 90s if you ask me.
Glad to see Acid Bath getting recognition.
I agree with Alice in Chains and The Cranberries, both Layne Staley and Dolores O' Riordan were masters of their art, period, what remarkable voices! Much missed both. Love the AIC album Dirty, specially "Would?" what a masterpiece! Also, Metallica album Black was and is a game changer for metal.Would just add Sepultura and Korn to my list, they are my biggest influences from teenager years.
Never hesrd his band Spirit Adrift but his list here is definitely Maki g me check them out. Just a very good well rounded group of bands that span one side of rock all the way through to some of the heaviest bands of the time if not ever.
Me either, but I plan to check them out 🤘
Not metal in the slightest, but I'll go to the mat for the Cranberries every day of the week. Respect.
Awesome list.. have to add Carcass , Heartwork album
As soon as he said acid bath I knew his list was going to be perfect
What the hell? I did not say that. The Cranberries ALL THE WAY!!!!
I am very much more Europe oriented with my meltal, and I understand this stuff won't be as popular perhaps so not a gripe for this band being left off, but Blind Guardian put out 4 absolute masterpieces in the 90s. For power metal, it does not get any better than the Bards from Germany
You're completely right, Blind Guardian killed it back then. But most Americans dont even know that band exists lol. Trust me almost everyone i know has never heard of them
I love The Cranberries. Surprised not to see COC and Cathedral on the list. Also Anathema, Paradise Lost and Katatonia. Then there’s The Gathering, Anacrusis, Prong, Voivod, and Testament. And that Agents of Oblivion is an under appreciated gem. Shoulda did a top 25 lol
Also the Spirit Adrift Type O negative cover of Everything Dies is Solid!
Not sure why he called Alice in Chains a Metal band but yeah they were great. Sad KoRn wasn't on the list tho 😔
This guy knows his stuff, great list! I might have put Crowbar and Paradise Lost on there.
Definitely!
Not only was he dead on about Danzig, but using the glorious chorus from Tired of Being Alive was genius.
I would have gone with the main riff in Long Way Back From Hell, but yeah good choice anyway! Imma have to check out this dude's band, i knew from the first 2 bands this guy was cut from similar musical cloth
I've noticed it's gotten trendy/common for people to fixate on the first two albums as if III wasn't just as good. Makes me wonder what the supposed qualms with III are.
@@shadowrunner138 fair point, I love 3 as well. especially that skin peeling guitar tone. I think 2 is just way more of a complete package, even if 3 tried harder. 2 sets the mood from the first note, from the cover, from reading the first lyrics, and brings the darkness. 4 I still like, then I lost em!
Need that shirt. Can't find it online. Did you get it at a show?
I like all of those!!
Wait for number 11. Nate is a legend.