The divide between the headbangers at a metal show and the ravers at a festival is often smaller than it appears. Both cultures thrive on high-energy release, aggression, and the physical impact of sound—whether it’s a breakdown or a bass drop.
It turns out that the sonic intensity of modern bass music is often engineered by musicians who cut their teeth in garage bands, screaming into microphones or blasting on drum kits. Some of the world’s most successful electronic producers are, at heart, metalheads.
Here are 10 major EDM artists who secretly (and sometimes not-so-secretly) worship the heavy metal underground.
1. Skrillex
- Metal Role: Vocalist
- The Band: From First to Last
It is the definitive crossover story of the century. Before Sonny Moore transformed into the dubstep icon Skrillex, he was the frontman for the beloved post-hardcore outfit From First to Last.
His years spent screaming on the Vans Warped Tour didn’t just give him stage presence; they fundamentally shaped his sound design. Skrillex’s signature “growl” basses are often processed using formant filters that mimic the human throat, effectively replacing a metal scream with a synthesizer.
2. Steve Aoki
- Metal Role: Vocalist / Guitarist
- The Band: This Machine Kills
Long before he was throwing cakes and flying in private jets, Steve Aoki was a key figure in the California DIY hardcore punk scene. He ran his own indie label out of his apartment and played in a raw, political screamo band called This Machine Kills.
This background explains his chaotic performance style: for Aoki, technical DJing has always come second to the raw, visceral energy of a punk show, complete with stage dives and crowd surfing.
3. Sullivan King
- Metal Role: Guitarist / Vocalist
- The Style: Metal-Step
Keaton Prescott, known as Sullivan King, didn’t leave metal behind; he dragged it onto the main stage. He is unique in the scene for recording his own shredding guitar solos and death metal screams, layering them directly over dubstep drops.
His work highlights the rhythmic math that binds the genres: the half-time tempo of Dubstep (140 BPM) is identical to a metalcore breakdown, allowing him to switch between guitar chugs and synth wobbles seamlessly.
4. Pendulum (Rob Swire & Gareth McGrillen)
- Metal Role: Bassist / Vocalist
- The Band: Xygen
Before they conquered the world as Pendulum (and later Knife Party), founders Rob Swire and Gareth McGrillen were staples of the Perth, Australia metal scene. They played together in a band called Xygen and only pivoted to electronic music after realizing that Drum & Bass could deliver the same aggression as metal. You can hear this DNA clearly in their discography – tracks like “Self vs. Self“ (feat. In Flames) are pure metal fusion.
5. Big Chocolate
- Metal Role: Vocalist / One-Man Slam Machine
- The Band: Disfiguring the Goddess
Cameron Argon, known electronically as Big Chocolate, is perhaps the most “extreme” entry on this list. While he produces heavy dubstep, he is a legend in the brutal death metal scene for his project Disfiguring the Goddess.
He is a pioneer of the “Slam” metal subgenre and even served as the vocalist for the Russian band Abominable Putridity. He doesn’t just sample metal; he actively produces some of the heaviest guttural vocals in the scene.
6. Borgore
- Metal Role: Drummer
- The Band: Shabira
Asaf Borger coined the term “Gorestep” to describe his filthy, heavy style. But before he was rapping and producing dirty basslines, he was the drummer for the Israeli deathcore band Shabira.
If you analyze his production, you’ll notice his drum programming often ignores standard dance beats in favor of patterns that resemble double-kick drumming and blast beats, betraying his background behind the kit and metal production influences.
7. Zedd
- Metal Role: Drummer
- The Band: Dioramic
Best known for radio-pop smashes like “The Middle“, Zedd’s musical upbringing was shockingly technical. He was the drummer for the German progressive metalcore band Dioramic, where he played intricate, polyrhythmic patterns similar to Meshuggah.
This technical proficiency is why his mixes are so surgically clean. He even produced an official remix for the Djent pioneers Periphery (Icarus Lives), proving he still keeps a foot in the prog-metal world.
8. Bassnectar
- Metal Role: Guitarist
- The Band: Pale Existence
Long before he was the “Bass God” filling arenas, Lorin Ashton was a death metal guitarist in the Bay Area underground. In the 90s, he played in a band called Pale Existence. They were legitimate enough to release a split 7″ vinyl with the legendary goregrind band Exhumed on 625 Productions. The wall-of-sound distortion and grinding textures in his electronic tracks are direct descendants of his death metal days.
9. Noisia
- Metal Role: The “Neuro” Architects
- The Connection: Korn & DmC
The Dutch trio Noisia are widely considered the best sound designers in the game. While not touring band members, their production style in the “Neurofunk” genre is heavily indebted to industrial metal.
They were hand-picked to produce the soundtrack for the “Devil May Cry“ reboot due to their aggressive sound, and they were the primary engineers behind Korn’s dubstep album The Path of Totality.
10. Seven Lions
- Metal Role: The Progressive Snob
- The Obsession: Opeth
Jeff Montalvo (Seven Lions) brings the “epic” atmosphere of metal to EDM. A die-hard fan of Swedish progressive metal band Opeth, Montalvo structures his dubstep tracks like metal opuses—featuring acoustic interludes, fantasy lyrics, and shifting time signatures.
His music captures the “Beauty and the Beast” dynamic often found in gothic metal, alternating between ethereal vocals and crushing, distorted drops.
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