As a little kid, my Dad influenced me with Dire Straits, Santana, Led Zep, Sabbath, Hendrix, and The Police.... then I discovered the Misfits.
My top ten (in no particular order) would be:
Corrosion of Conformity - The music speaks for itself. Go listen to "Stone Breakers," "Clean My Wounds," "13 Angels," and "Senior Limpio."
Down - The New Orleans Supergroup... Phil Anselmo (Pantera), Pepper Keenan (COC), Kirk Windstein (Crowbar), Rex Brown (Pantera), and Jimmy "The Dweller" Bower (Eyehategod). If you don't own a copy of NOLA then you haven't heard real metal :guitar:
Lamb of God - My boys from Richmond, VA. Very cool bunch of dudes. I've had the pleasure of hanging with them on several occasions. They continue to crank out killer music while staying humbly connected to the fans.
Byzantine - West Virginia metal gods. Three words: "Red Neck War".
Eyehategod - New Orleans' finest sludge metal masters. It's Black Flag meets Black Sabbath.
Pantera - No introduction needed.
Fear Factory - Demanufacture was an absolute masterpiece.
White Zombie - Got my first taste of metal from these guys, thanks to Riki Rachtman and the original Headbangers Ball.
Anthrax - From Fistful of Metal to Stomp 442 and beyond.
Danzig - The Misfits, Samhain, and Danzig... the unholy trinity of heavy music.