Which European Country Has The Most Metals Bands Per Person?

Map created by Europe MagazineThe map above shows how many metal bands there are in each European country per 1 million people.

The data comes from the Encyclopaedia Metallum for 2023.

The clear outlier is Finland which as of early 2025 had 5,558 entries for a population 5.584 million people or 995 per million, even more than than listed on the map.

Country	Metal Bands / 1M
Albania	5
Andorra	75
Austria	167
Belarus	56
Belgium	136
Bosnia & Herzegovina	52
Bulgaria	78
Croatia	147
Cyprus	70
Czech Republic	169
Denmark	212
Estonia	195
Finland	905
France	95
Germany	156
Greece	238
Hungary	141
Iceland	529
Ireland	107
Italy	132
Kosovo	Not Listed
Latvia	81
Liechtenstein	432
Lithuania	77
Luxembourg	152
Malta	195
Moldova	20
Monaco	137
Montenegro	26
Netherlands	165
North Macedonia	61
Norway	406
Poland	112
Portugal	153
Romania	28
Russia	39
San Marino	119
Serbia	80
Slovakia	131
Slovenia	156
Spain	104
Sweden	536
Switzerland	149
Turkey	8
Ukraine	37
United Kingdom	105
Vatican City	None Listed

How are metal bands defined?

Here’s the full version of how it’s defined on the site:

As simple as the “must be a metal band” rule may seem, it involves a huge debate. None of us here think we’re a supreme authority on all things heavy metal.

However, as an encyclopaedia of heavy metal, this site must draw a line somewhere. If we accepted just about anything, it wouldn’t make sense; we would no longer be a “metal” archive.

Because of this reality, the moderating staff decide, based on these guidelines set by the owners, on whether or not your submission is validly metal. This is perhaps the most important point (other than the point about truthful information), because knowing our rules on what is acceptable could save some people a lot of time that they would spend submitting a band that would simply get rejected. For a band to be considered metal by the site, it must adhere to the following:

First and foremost, for a band to be metal, it must have metal riffs. This point should be fairly straight-forward and obvious. Nevertheless, when it comes to some genres or styles, it’s not always implied that the music is rooted in metal or is substantively comprised of metal riffs.

For example, grindcore can either be rooted in punk (ex. Anal Cunt) or in death metal (ex. Nasum, Pig Destroyer, Agathocles); metalcore rooted in hardcore/-core (ex. Atreyu) or in metal (ex. Bleeding Through); and so on. Such music can be borderline, but still be acceptable. Some bands have mostly chugging, fuzz, or noodling, with minor metal influences; this does not make these bands metal. The metal elements must outweigh the non-metal ones.

Second, for the lesser-known bands, we need compelling evidence that the band is metal. We won’t just take your word for it, sorry. The best evidence is, of course, in the form of audio samples. Most bands have a Bandcamp page or some other online streaming platform (ex. Spotify, Deezer, Tidal) with such samples nowadays.

But for older, obscure bands (the kind of thrash band that released one demo in 1986 and disbanded, for example), if no sound samples are available, a scan from a metalzine review describing the band’s sound as unambiguously metal can be acceptable, but those cases are exceptional and the moderation can exercise full discretion.

Third, for a band to be acceptable, it must have at least one fully, unambiguously metal album. This means that Def Leppard can be accepted because of their NWOBHM debut, even if they turned to pop rock later.

This also means that Ektomorf and Soulfly, which started as nu-metal, were (reluctantly) deemed acceptable after finally releasing some metal albums.

This does not mean that we’ll accept Sum 41 because of their one heavy song “The Bitter End”. Bands with a long discography of non-metal music and one short metal demo/split/single will not be accepted. Additionally, bands with a few metal songs scattered across an otherwise generally non-metal discography are not acceptable either.

We have previously accepted some non-metal bands as selected exceptions. Those were mostly side-projects of notable metal band members (ex. Mortiis, Wongraven, Die Verbannten Kinder Evas) and some non-metal bands (ex. Rush, Arditi, Stille Volk) included arbitrarily as they have been seen by the staff to be historically relevant to the metal scene. We are no longer including any more non-metal exceptions. Do not ask.

Please keep in mind that bands which have released an unambiguously metal album will obviously be included in the encyclopaedia, even if they no longer play metal or are better known for their non-metal material (ex: Ulver, Anathema, Def Leppard, Ghost). So long as a band has a valid metal album it is acceptable.

We do NOT accept the following (this is our decision, please don’t argue this):

Nu-metal (ex: Korn, Slipknot, Limp Bizkit, Jinjer, In This Moment)

Metalcore and Deathcore, unless it’s clearly more metal than core (ex: As I Lay Dying, Unearth, All Shall Perish are OK; Atreyu, Architects, Bullet for My Valentine, Parkway Drive, Chelsea Grin, Slaughter to Prevail, Suicide Silence are NOT)

Glam rock (ex: Poison, Ratt, Whitesnake, Steel Panther)

Hard rock (ex: Led Zeppelin, Uriah Heep, Blue Öyster Cult, Alice Cooper, Kiss)

Progressive rock (ex: King Crimson, Porcupine Tree, Spock’s Beard, Tool, Scale the Summit)

Psychedelic/occult rock (ex: Graveyard, The Devil’s Blood, Kadavar, Year of the Goat, Coven)

Medieval/folk rock (ex: In Extremo, Subway to Sally, Saltatio Mortis)

Stoner rock (ex: Fu Manchu, Clutch, Monster Magnet, Villagers of Ioannina City)

Hardcore (ex: Hatebreed, Earth Crisis, Agnostic Front)

Grindcore (and all its variants; noise, powerviolence, gore, etc.) with little to zero metal riffs or influence (ex: Anal Cunt, Libido Airbag, Last Days of Humanity, Sete Star Sept, Spazz, Man Is the Bastard)

Crust punk (ex: Anti Cimex, Disfear, Doom, Wolfbrigade)

Screamo (ex: From Autumn to Ashes, Pg. 99, Envy)

Punk (ex: Misfits, Black Flag, GBH, Dead Kennedys, Minor Threat)

Noise rock (ex: Lightning Bolt, Swans, Wrong)

Gothic rock (ex: The Sisters of Mercy, Christian Death, HIM, The 69 Eyes)

Industrial rock (ex: Nine Inch Nails, Rammstein, KMFDM, Turmion Kätilöt)

Alternative/modern hard rock (ex: Avenged Sevenfold, Evanescence, Audioslave, Godsmack, Five Finger Death Punch)

Symphonic hard rock (ex: Edge of Paradise, Illumishade, Blackbriar)

J-Rock/Visual Kei rock (ex: Nogod, Dir En Grey, Kiryu)

Pop with metal elements (ex: Amaranthe, Babymetal, Necronomidol)

Djent (ex: Animals as Leaders, Periphery, Tesseract, Monuments)

Ambient, Drone, Noise (ex: Lustmord, Æthenor, Merzbow)

Folk, Medieval folk, Neofolk (ex: Heilung, Faun, Death in June)

Post-rock (ex: God Is an Astronaut, Coastlands, Long Distance Calling)

Post-punk (ex: Killing Joke, The Birthday Party, Grave Pleasures, Rope Sect)

Post-hardcore (ex: Rosetta, LLNN, The Fall of Troy)

Cover/tribute/gimmick bands (ex: The Iron Maidens, Catch the Rainbow) of contemporary artists (metal versions of traditional folk songs can be OK), unless they start as such and eventually write their own music. Touhou/doujin cover bands (ex: Thousand Leaves), in other words, the bands who cover many different songs from different artists and then mesh them into one seemingly original song are also unacceptable.

Bands that only have re-issues: if a band changes name and re-issues their older releases under the new name, that’s not enough to be listed. It needs original material, though a complete re-recording of past songs could be acceptable.

Don’t worry, we’re not as harsh as you might think after reading this. We are very reasonable; we just don’t want any garbage on the site, and we just want to make sure no one spends a lot of time to send us stuff, and then whine that they wasted their time because their stuff wasn’t accepted.

Why do Finland and the other Nordic countries have so many metal bands per capita?

There is no single definitive reason why Finland and other Nordic countries consistently top the charts in metal bands per capita.

However, several interrelated factors are commonly cited by fans, sociologists, and musicologists:

Cultural Acceptance & Mainstream Appeal:
Metal in Finland, for example, is not considered an underground niche as it might be elsewhere. It receives mainstream radio play, is taught in music schools, and is featured in national events. This acceptance encourages more people to form and support metal bands.
Strong Music Education Systems:
Nordic countries typically have well-funded, high-quality music education. Many children learn instruments early on, and there is government support for youth music programs, creating a large pool of skilled musicians who can explore diverse genres, including metal.
Government/Community Support for the Arts:
Grants, rehearsal spaces, and other resources are often available to aspiring musicians in Nordic countries. This financial and logistical support reduces barriers to entry for metal bands.
Established Metal Community & Scene:
The region has a robust metal scene with numerous festivals (e.g., Tuska in Finland, Sweden Rock), local gigs, and a dedicated fan base. The popularity of metal makes it easier for new bands to find audiences and gain traction.
Geography & Climate:
The long, dark winters—though sometimes seen as a cliché—are often cited by Nordic metal musicians as an influence on their heavier, darker themes and sound.
Historical/Stylistic Roots:
Iconic bands from Norway and Sweden (e.g., Bathory, Mayhem, Darkthrone, In Flames) played a crucial role in shaping subgenres like black metal, death metal, and melodic death metal. Their legacy continues to inspire new generations of metal musicians.