These 10 metal tribute bands will make you fist pump and facepalm

You know why heavy metal is awesome? Because it’s a genre that fortifies the idea of power, rebellion and freedom. These are important constructs to modern life. But then again, so is the ability to not take yourself so damned seriously.  It’s a genre that’s made by people extremely dedicated to what they do. And it’s also populated by world-class ball-busters. You know, the kind of dudes who forget their wallets on a bar crawl, but always manage to have some Sharpies in their battle jackets. And that is where our appreciation for these metal tribute bands begins.

For this exercise, we’re not talking about your typical metal tribute bands. None of these bands feature 18-year-old dudes with faint mustaches who named themselves after a Metallica b-side. Our video of metal tribute bands sports a cadre of dudes than can play their asses off. They just add a ridiculous amount of lowbrow, high concept polarity to the mix. Like those legendary scumdogs from Antarctica. Or those European pirate-thrashing maniacs.

Read more: Hear a former Attack Attack! member play a metal version of Fall Out Boy

In some cases, you can blame mash-up culture. Nothing quite pisses off a purist when the object of their affection is somehow “demeaned” by a purportedly lesser genre. But that’s only half the story in our metal tribute band video. Our list features units put together by musicians soldering metal to entire concepts. Modern metal bands unhealthily embracing disco? Science fiction movie nerds with big amps? Guys with big talents and big waistlines? Triple-check!

We’re convinced this collection of ridiculous metal tribute bands will spark laughter, facepalming and your entry into a massive YouTube timehole. The other thing these metal tribute bands have in common? We all wished we were in the same room when the members came up with the amazing ideas.