It has been almost a year since I wrote Part I of this series of articles, and I’m still discovering impressive yet underrated Metal bands from all over the world. Keep in mind that even though some of these bands have a loyal following, they are still way underrated when compared to the more “famous bands” in the international Rock / Metal community.

Here are 5 underrated Metal bands out there today (statistics taken from last.fm):

  • Mercenary

Some would argue that Mercenary is already a successful and widely recognized Metal band, but compared to Dream Theater’s 827 594 listeners and Foo Fighters’s 3,276,934 listeners, they are definitely underrated! They have a decent 73,032 listeners and an average of 42 listens / person, and that alone proves they’re one of the best Danish Metal bands today. If you’re not familiar with them, check out their 2004 album “11 Dreams“, one of my favorite albums from that decade!

Last.fm stats: 3, 096,884 plays (73 032 listeners)

  • Darth Vegas

Darth Vegas is such an unbelievably creative band from Australia who recently released its 2nd full length entitled “Brainwashing For Dirty Minds”. In case you can understand the difficulty of playing an avant-garde combo of Metal, Cartoon music and Jazz, you will understand why this band is still very underrated with less than 1000 listeners! Here’s Darth Vegas’ “Gritos Dulces”:

Last.fm stats: 19,642 plays (776 listeners)

  • Karfagen

For a band whose latest album “Lost Symphony” earned a 4.10 rating on ProgArchives, Karfagen definitely lacks the international exposure they deserve. They are one of my favorite instrumental bands, simply because their Prog Rock-based music is sophisticated and well composed. Their albums are always a journey for the listener, especially their lengthy 15+ minute songs! If you’re looking for quality Prog, you can expect a high level of musicianship and a strong sense of melody from these guys.

Last.fm stats: 11 461 plays (547 listeners)

  • Madder Mortem

I just had to review this band a while back because I was so impressed with their latest EP “Where Dream And Day Collide“. For all of you who’re not yet familiar with Madder Mortem, they are a female fronted Metal band who don’t play Symphonic Metal at all. In fact they sound more like Diablo Swing Orchestra than say Epica. However you see it, the band’s 27 100 listeners doesn’t give them justice when compared to DSO’ 136,276 listeners or Epica’s 405,452 listeners. Check out “The Purest Strain” from their latest EP:

Last.fm stats: 641, 865 plays (27,100 listeners)

  • Bader Nana

This Lebanese musician recently released his debut album entitled “Wormwood” as a free download, and let me tell you this guy knows his Prog. With great melodic hooks and well written song structures, Bader Nana surprised us all and released one heck of a Prog release. With a mere 159 listeners on last.fm, he deserves more exposure from both the Middle Eastern and International Metal community! Bader is preparing his 2nd full length album set for a 2012 release. Here’s a nice little making-of riff from the new album:

Last.fm stats: 2,315 plays (159 listeners)

P.S: The extensive use of last.fm references is one of many steps LebMetal’s taking to encourage you (Lebanese readers in particular) to be more active on last.fm, one of the world’s most successful online music communities. Get started with last.fm HERE.