The 13 Best Swedish Rock and Metal Bands

The best Swedish rock and metal bands of all time are usually some of the most consistent in the genre. Sweden has become one of the most important countries in the world when it comes to rock and metal. One only needs to look at the success and cultural impact of some of their most popular bands.

Be that as it may, the most interesting part about the best Swedish rock and metal bands is the musical diversity. Sweden is a country with a lot of great bands in different subgenres of rock and metal. This also allows for a much more interesting discussion because of the different types of bands they have.

So, here is a list of the top 13 best Swedish rock and metal bands. It is a celebration of a country that has given rock and metal so much over the years. And these bands deserve all the recognition they have gotten.

Which are the top 13 best Swedish rock and metal bands of all time?

• Europe
• Opeth
• Sabaton
• Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force
• HammerFall
• Candlemass
• Dark Funeral
• Bathory
• In Flames
• Meshuggah
• Amon Amarth
• Entombed
• Ghost

The best Swedish rock and metal bands of all time

It is also worth pointing out that this list is entirely subjective. While some bands have achieved some objectively amazing things, everybody has different opinions. If someone feels that we’ve overlooked a band that should be on this list, feel free to mention it in the comments. This list is also in no particular order.

Europe

There is no denying that Europe is one of the most commercially successful Swedish bands, if not the most successful. The fact this is the band that wrote “The Final Countdown” should be enough reason for that. Logically, this group is among the best Swedish rock and metal bands of all time.

The band started in 1979 under the name Force and later switched their name to Europe. Their earlier albums in the 80s were more classic heavy metal than what they would become known for.

It was with the release of their third album, “The Final Countdown“, they gained worldwide recognition and fame. The album included two hits “Rock the Night” or the title track, becoming a worldwide success overnight.

Despite that, the band has a discography full of great songs that go through many styles. They have played pop rock, power metal, glam metal, hard rock, and a lot more. In 1992, the band took a hiatus that would last more than a decade as they reunited in 2003 to continue their successful career to date.

Opeth

The band started in 1990 as a heavy and ambitious death metal outfit. However, over the years (and lineup changes), the sound has evolved into something more progressive with elements of classic rock.

It took them five years to release their first album although they then remained very active releasing albums almost every year for around a decade. Despite joining in 1990, Mikael Akerfeldt, the band’s longest-serving member, is not a founding member. In fact, he is no longer a founding member and that has led to an evolution of Opeth‘s music.

Opeth is one of the most ambitious metal bands in general. This is a band that is capable of mixing a lot of different influences for a very unique sound. It’s also quite amazing how they can play amazing, heavy music and then switch to dark, melancholic songs at the same time.

This is one of the best Swedish rock and metal bands of all time, for sure.

Sabaton

The band’s popularity at this point is not in question. Sabaton is one of the most popular power metal bands at the moment and its live shows prove it. And, without a doubt, it is one of the best Swedish rock and metal bands of all time.

The band was founded in 1999, although their first album would be released in 2005 after many problems with labels, even recording an album that never came out. Sabaton has a discography that, for the most part, deals with historical events, battles, and wars.

The energetic sound and more focused on classic power metal takes its characteristic tone with the strong and aggressive voice of Joakim Broden, which fits quite well with the topics of war and battle they mention in their lyrics.

Also check: about Sabaton not wanting to change its style

Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force

Quite likely the greatest rock and metal musician to ever come out of Sweden.

At the beginning of the 80s, thanks to a demo that Yngwie recorded in 1978, it arrived in the United States. This is how he started to make a name for himself in America. He spent a couple of stints with Steeler and Alcatrazz as a teenager, making great albums and delivering great performances. However, Yngwie was the kind of guitarist who wanted to be the main man and decided to follow his own path in the early 80s.

This is how Yngwie Malmsteen’s Rising Force was born in 1984. The project has been very constant over the years, always leaving examples of the quality of the Swedish guitarist and the great artists that he has included in the band over the years. Except for Malmsteen, the rest of the band changes constantly, which has allowed him to have top musicians from the world of heavy metal.

Also read about 14 guitarists that impressed the world

HammerFall

Guitarist Oscar Dronjak is the founder and constant member of the band, who started the project when he left Ceremonial Oath in 1993. This is how HammerFall came to be. In the beginning, the band was a secondary project for each member of the band since they all had other projects.

They met occasionally to play songs by Alice Cooper or Judas Priest as well as some of their own songs. Funny enough, the band released their first album, “Glory to the Brave“, in the Netherlands since it was in that country where they got a record deal.

Something worth pointing out about HammerFall was the timing of its arrival. Heavy metal wasn’t in a good place in the 90s when they first came out. However, the debut, “Glory to the Brave“, was a commercial success. This helped revitalize metal in Europe at the time. One of the best Swedish rock and metal bands of all time, for sure.

Candlemass

Both legendary and underrated. Considering their influence and impact, Candlemass should be a way bigger band. The combination of doom, gothic, and classic heavy metal in its sound was groundbreaking. And they always managed to deliver high-quality records since the 80s.

Candlemass is one of the most important bands in the European doom-metal scene. The band started in 1984 although, despite being active today, Candlemass had two important hiatus. The first between 1994 and 1997 and then between 2002 and 2004. Despite this, the band has had progressive growth within European heavy metal.

Dark Funeral

The band was formed in 1993 and since then they have become a reference in black metal. Therefore, Dark Funeral deserves to be among the best Swedish rock and metal bands of all time.

Dark Funeral has been characterized by a strong and bizarre sound and lyrics related to Satanism. Although it is not a constant in all their work, it is something that has become the band’s hallmark among the public.

As a fun fact, the members of the band call themselves by nicknames such as Lord Ahriman, Blackmoon, or Emperor Magus Caligula, to name a few.

Bathory

It was one of the most influential bands in black metal and in many Scandinavian metal bands that came after. So the band of Quorthon, the legendary Swedish musician, could not be missing among the best Swedish rock and metal bands of all time.

Thomas Forsberg, better known as Quorthon, was the founder and writer of both the music and lyrics of Bathory. Since the band started in 1983 until 1997, Quorthon had a drummer and bassist. However, from that year on, he was in charge of all the instruments until he died in 2004. The band only had one music video and very few live performances, but Bathory left an impact on subgenres such as black and Viking metal.

Indeed, Bathory started as a very extreme metal band, setting the stage for black metal in Scandinavia. However, Quorthon eventually moved to a much more melodic and epic sound, which some people have called Viking metal.

In Flames

One of the most popular Swedish metal bands of all time. In 1990, in the beginning, In Flames mixed guitar melodies characteristic of other metal subgenres with aggressive and strong vocals typical of death metal.

At the beginning of the 2000s, the band’s sound was oriented towards something closer to hard rock. That brought some criticism from the most radical fans of the band’s original style but at the same time led them to have commercial success.

It can be argued that In Flames in the 90s and In Flames in the 21st century are two different bands. However, that doesn’t stop them from being one of the most successful Swedish rock and metal bands of all time.

Meshuggah

Like several of the names on the list of best Swedish rock and metal bands of all time, Meshuggah changed their style over the years and influenced many other bands with their sound.

The band started in 1987 with a focus more on trash and death metal, although they evolved into groove metal, progressive metal, and even alternative rock. Meshuggah have been a very experimental band with their music and that has allowed them to inspire many other bands from different subgenres of heavy metal.

Meshuggah deserves to be on this list because of the sheer experimentation of its sound. This is a band that has never been afraid of taking risks, which has often worked for them.

Related: read about the top 18 German heavy metal bands you should listen

Amon Amarth

Since their inception in 1992, Amon Amarth has been an important pillar in melodic death metal. The group’s lyrics focus mostly on Norse mythology and Scandinavian history.

Funny enough, Amon Amarth is one of the few bands on the list of best Swedish rock and metal bands of all time, which can boast of having three founding members still active with the band. Furthermore, they have remained active since their beginning, releasing albums constantly and without any considerable hiatus.

Amon Amarth is one of the most consistent bands Sweden has ever produced. Their place on this list is more than warranted.

Entombed

While the founding members reunited in 1987 and formed the band under the name Nihilist, this would not last long. In 1989, they would reunite again, this time under the name Entombed.

In 1990 they would release their first album although it would be with the second (“Clandestine“) and the third (“Wolverine Blues“) when they would gain national and international fame. Entombed is one of the main representatives of Scandinavian death metal, a style they have maintained throughout their career.

The debut, despite not being a huge hit, has become one of the definitive death metal albums. 1990’s “Left Hand Path” is arguably the greatest Swedish death metal album as well. The combination of riffs, drum patterns, and sheer aggressive nature of the record is breathtaking. Additionally, the band started experimenting with their sound, giving its discography a lot more variety.

Ghost

It is possibly one of the most unique bands on the current rock scene and in recent years. Ghost was formed in 2006 although their first album came out in 2010. They have released five studio albums, all with great commercial success. Perhaps one of the few examples of a new rock or metal band in recent years having a lot of success from a commercial perspective.

The band uses elaborate costumes and sets in their concerts. In fact, until 2017, the identity of the members of Ghost was not known because they use nicknames such as Papa Emeritus (singer and leader) or the Nameless Ghouls (the rest of the musicians).