The 10 Best Canadian Metal Bands, According to Montreal Thrashers Ombra (Exclusive)
THE BAD PENNY STANDS WITH CANADA
IN TRUMP’S DUMBASS TRADE WAR.
Ombra – a thrash unit from Montreal consisting of Giuseppe “G” Criniti on vocals and lead guitar, Marco Sisti on rhythm guitar and his cousin Nico‑Angelo Sisti on drums – just released their first EP, Night Terror, on Monday. But we’ll be damned if these hosers (we’re kidding; these are three bright dudes) don’t know their metal history, especially when it comes to their Canada homeland.
Ombra – not to be mixed up with the Indonesian hardcore-punk band of the same name – live by a simple credo: “We encourage listeners to think freely, explore their minds, and express themselves without compromise,” the band states on its website. Their mesmerizing, pulverizing music is far more complex, however; it’s a stew of old‑school thrash, sludge, groove metal and psychedelic rock that will appeal to fans of Mastodon, Power Trip, High on Fire and Motörhead. It’s almost impossible to believe that only three guys are making Ombra’s music.
Before delving into Ombra’s picks for the best Canadian heavy bands, check out their cosmic, seizure-inducing new video for the psych-metal voyage “Blue Dream,” one of the songs featured on Night Terror.
And now, Ombra’s picks for the best heavy metal bands to come out of Canada.
1. Rush
Rush tops the list because of their impact, influence and pioneering of the heavy-rock scene. Canada’s first arena-scale heavy act: the Zeppelin-weight riffs of “Working Man and the sci-fi crush of 2112 proved a Toronto trio could hang with Sabbath and still invent something no one else was doing. They never stayed in one gear, but when they wanted weight – with Stick It Out, Far Cry and stretches of Clockwork Angels – they delivered drop-tuned, dissonant heaviness without abandoning the virtuosity that made every later Canadian metal band possible. Influence plus longevity plus those genuinely heavy moments is why they sit at number one to us. -G
2. Spiritbox
Spiritbox lands at number two because no Canadian heavy band this decade has moved the needle like they have. Holy Roller and Eternal Blue turned a Victoria act into a global force. Courtney LaPlante’s shift from glass-clear melody to gut-level lows – stacked on Mike Stringer’s precision-groove riffs – gives them both the hooks and the impact that most modern metal chases and misses. They’re the proof that Canadian heaviness didn’t freeze in the thrash and death-metal eras; it just got sharper, louder, and harder to ignore. -G
Devin Townsend is one of my favorite musicians. He’s had such a crazy career, and he has the catalogue to prove it! Take Strapping Young Lad bringing in a ferociously heavy sound; the album Alien in particular has really shaped the way metal music plays. Then his solo stuff: He comes out of nowhere with this operatic, almost angelic vocal style, and on top of that, there’s his amazing guitar playing. He really took prog to a whole other level. -Marco
4. Annihilator
See, these guys bring me back to CEPEG [colloquial Canadian language for colleges in Quebec]. I was really getting into thrash and not just the Big Four [Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax], but all the other thrash bands that really paved the genre. Alison Hell came on a shuffle once, and I was like, “Who the F are these guys?!” I downloaded their album and listened to it nonstop. Then I realized they’re Canadian, and it made the experience that much sweeter! -Marco
5. Archspire
Now, these cats can swing! They got solid riffs; I had never heard vocals like that in my life. That’s not to mention their speed! You would think that a band of this chaotic magnitude would be just noise, but they got some solid melodies that take you places. They also put on a great live show. The band is animated too. No one does what this band does. -Marco
6. Kataklysm
The most reliable engine in Canadian death metal. Three decades of Northern Hyperblast, no reunion gimmick, just album after album of tight, mid-tempo crush from Montreal. They never needed to be the weirdest or the fastest band; Voivod and Cryptopsy already owned those lanes, respectively. But Kataklysm made heaviness that tours, lasts and still hits live. That consistency is why they belong on any serious Canadian heavy list, even when flashier names grab the headlines. -G
The funding fathers of deathcore. Brutal riffs, sick screams, heavy breakdowns and vocals that make you wanna deadlift a truck. Technical death metal at its finest -Marco
8. Voivod
Another legendary thrash-metal band, but they aren’t like your average thrash band: They had this experimental technicality to their music, had lots of prog going on, and it made them stand out from all the others during their time. -Marco
9. Exciter
Just like Annihilator, I discovered these guys during my thrash-metal phase, and I fell in love with them. Heavy Metal Maniac and Violence & Force are some of my favourite [metal albums]. Just nonstop head-banging riffs! -Marco
10. Anvil
Anvil is one of those bands that, at first glance, you’d almost think has to be a joke and can’t possibly be serious. But then you actually give them a listen and realize they’ve got so many tracks that just fucking rip! Metal on Metal was a huge gateway into thrash metal for me and had a massive influence on my musical taste early on. There’s just something about those riffs, that raw energy, and the unapologetically over-the-top attitude that fucking rules. -Marco
For more authoritative lists of the best bands from non-U.S. countries, as picked by bands that hail from those places, check out:
• The 10 Best German Heavy Bands, According to Native Black-Metal Sons Der Weg einer Freiheit (Exclusive)
• The 10 Best Bay Area Bands, According to Death-Thrash Hometown Heroes Absolute Darkness (Exclusive)
• The 10 Best Swiss Bands, According to Native Dark-Jazz-Grind-Doom Experimentalists Convulsif (Exclusive)
• The 10 Best Irish Bands, According to Alt-Pop-Addicted Electronic Producer Phenom Vaticanjail (Exclusive)
• The 10 Best Chilean Bands, According to Guitarist for Santiago-Based Noisy Punk-Rock Squad Niño Nuclear (Exclusive)
• The 10 Best Venezuelan Heavy Bands, According to the Country’s Most Badass Garage-Rock Guitarist, Diego Ramirez
• The 10 Best Italian Metal Bands, According to the Country’s New Post-Metal Phenoms Orbita (Exclusive)
• The 10 Best Belgian Metal Bands of All Time, According to Gnarly Native Sons 30,000 Monkies (Exclusive)
• Edge of Sanity Frontman Dan Swanö Reveals 10 Swedish Bands That Made Their Way Into His Musical DNA
• The 10 Best Swedish Heavy Bands Ever, According to Native Sons Prime Creation
• The 10 Best Portuguese Heavy Bands Ever, According to Portugal’s Own Fernando Ribeiro of Moonspell
• Germany’s Top 10 Best Metal Bands Ever, Per the Country’s Native Death-Metal Sons Fleshcrawl
• The 10 Best Finnish Bands Ever, According to Natives the Feral Kids
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