1. Black Sabbath
2. Iron Maiden
3. Metallica
4. Judas Priest
5. Slayer
6. Motörhead
7. Megadeth
8. Venom
9. Pantera
10. Death
11. Ozzy Osbourne
12. Queensryche
13. Dream Theater
14. Celtic Frost
15. Manowar
16. Dio
17. Mercyful Fate
18. Helloween
19. Anthrax
20. Bathory
21. Carcass
22. Napalm Death
23. Alice in Chains
24. Sepultura
25. Mötley Crüe
26. Scorpions
27. Morbid Angel
28. Tool
29. Mayhem
30. Korn
31. Opeth
32. Emperor
33. Rainbow
34. Soundgarden
35. Exodus
36. Possessed
37. Blind Guardian
38. Cannibal Corpse
39. Testament
40. Faith No More
41. King Diamond
42. Suicidal Tendencies
43. Accept
44. Fates Warning
45. Overkill
46. Symphony X
47. Yngwie J. Malmsteen
48. Kreator
49. Deicide
50. Burzum
51. At the Gates
52. System of a Down
53. Candlemass
54. Saxon
55. Slipknot
56. In Flames
57. Rage Against the Machine
58. Children of Bodom
59. Voivod
60. Machine Head
61. Dimmu Borgir
62. Diamond Head
63. Neurosis
64. Metal Church
65. Savatage
66. Type O Negative
67. Darkthrone
68. DRI
69. My Dying Bride
70. Sodom
71. W.A.S.P.
72. Immortal
73. Iced Earth
74. Twisted Sister
75. Cradle of Filth
76. Ministry
77. Terrorizer
78. Annihilator
79. Danzig
80. Dokken
81. White Zombie
82. HammerFall
83. Gamma Ray
84. Edge of Sanity
85. St. Vitus
86. Nevermore
87. Pentagram
88. Budgie
89. Fear Factory
90. Mastodon
91. Meshuggah
92. Entombed
93. Lamb of God
94. Suffocation
95. Skid Row
96. Raven
97. Therion
98. Trouble
99. Stratovarius
100. Atheist

List needs a bit of work after the top 20.

For now I think an obviously needed change is Carcass > Napalm Death. Don't think that needs much explanation.

What about bumping Meshuggah up some? They're a greater metal band than Symphony X, who are lightyears above, perhaps too high, but I'm not gonna argue for their lowering.

I don't think Meshuggah are very influential. I don't know. They probably win out in popularity, but that's about it.

They're pretty influential to the whole "djent" thing, but I don't really know how important those bands are considered, since as most people here know by now, I don't really pay much attention to modern styles of metal. I'd actually never even heard of that stuff until someone mentioned it on my RYM list.

I personally haven't heard any music that sounds like Meshuggah other than Meshuggah. So influence is probably limited.

http://got-djent.com/bands

If you're interested. I know I'm not.

I guess Gojira does give off a Meshuggah vibe.

I've heard a couple of much smaller bands that have a Meshuggah-like sound, but I think it's just being influenced by all the weirdness and technicality- in the same way that a large number of more experimental or avant-garde bands are influenced by Faith No More/Mr Bungle without sounding anything like them.

I kinda agree with Maddolis here. There are very few bands that have a similar sound to Meshuggah, but I think they are by far the most important band in the development of rythm oriented technical metal (as opposed to the shredding kind that Dream Theater and the likes play). The way I see it, they opened the door for bands to go a bit nuts without having to be afraid. Of course, Mr. Bungle and the likes are important there aswell, but in a different way..

I don't know. Might need a new round trying to make a logical argument here, if this doesn't get bought!

As for Gojira, I can see them giving off a Meshuggah vibe at times, but they're pretty different, I'd say. Perhaps the feature they share the most is that they're both very rythm oriented. Apart from clean vocals, I'd say Textures are a lot more similar to Meshuggah, though.

Slayer should be switched with Motorhead.

That site was pretty interesting, to me. Periphery and that Bulb guy had some neat ideas going. I also think I get what djent is now.

Really, Slayer > Motorhead.

Slayer vs. Motorhead

Popularity: Slayer
Slayer has more albums on the Billboard charts (10 vs. 6), and all except for 1 have all charted higher than Motorhead's.

Impact: Slayer
Cultural: Slayer
Musical: Tie

Both Motorhead and Slayer have significant impact to the point it could go either way, but its not like Motorhead has an international day, or have a million devotees on the internet carving their arms with the bands name.

Influence: Motorhead
Slayer can account for a lot of thrash metal, but that attribute is also shared with Metallica (and applies moreso to Metallica). Motorhead are the godfathers of extreme metal, started and defined speed metal, at least influencing NWOBHM, and are more influential to metal itself as a whole

Slayer 2 - Motorhead 1

Slayer is the godfather of extreme metal, not Motorhead.

And they tie in popularity, because initially Motorhead > Slayer. Nowadays S > M. That's 1:1.