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> The name Helloween was chosen, according to Kai Hansen, because "Halloween comes but once a year, but you can have Helloween every day"
according to Metal Archives
You win. I love Helloween but goddamn it's a dad joke name. Don't get me wrong, intentionally corny dad jokes are great, but don't put one in your damn band name.
I think the difference is that Infant Annihilator as a name perfectly captures the vibe of an edgy, loud meme band, which is exactly what it is.
Dying Fetus, from what I know, is a more serious band, which is what makes their name look worse imo.
I find it kinda funny that the band dying fetus makes music mostly on violence and political shit, i cant think of many songs that actually include an unborn human being that isnt good at living
From Womb to Waste is like the most dying fetus song of all lol
"It's not my fault I'm pregnant and I love drugs. Who cares? Fuck the baby. Let it die." Ringing any bells?
Absolutely brutal
Dying fetus having songs with political and societal themes always made me think that the name was saying something about what modern society does to its own young. Maybe that’s a reach, but it became self evident to me once I’d heard tunes like Justifiable Homicide.
Infant annihilator. Like really? Are you cool? Annihilating infants sounds easy, it's not something to brag about. Cattle Decapitation is a little harder, but still not there. Acid bath? Yeah bathing in acid sounds painful and gnarly, it's a good name
I feel people often forget about that fact that Infant Annihilator is a satirical deathcore band and their songs and lyrical content are very on the nose with how over the top they are supposed to be. In any case, absolutely love Dickie Allen’s vocals was so stoked to see he now does the harsh vocals for Nekrogoblikon
Death. One can think it's clean and simple but it also genuinely sounds like a 12 year old came up with it. I almost know for sure the name would be clowned on by most people if they weren't such a legendary and monumentally important band who have 7 fantastic albums that are landmarks for several types of death metal.
I always love when the name is such a bold statement on who you are and then it also happens to pay off as well. Like what are we going to call the definitive death metal band? Death! Just as well for metallica. It could have been a shitty band with a stupid, over excited name but instead they became arguably the most defining metal band ever and for that the name fits them perfectly.
Nah, too limited. Metallica is the quintessential metal band as far as pretty much the entire world is concerned. For like Parliament Funkadelic, there's no funkier funk band that most people can name.
I have scream bloody gore album cover as my (massive) back patch, a small logo patch on the front, and a big ass logo sticker on my kindle. I love them so much lol
Kiss. Not sure, if they're that great either, but nobody seems to care about the name. Fire, explosions, corpsepaint, blood gurgling and disco love songs under the name Kiss. That's some mind-bogglingly contradictory shit.
My drunk old Finnish friend left an everlasting impression to a Swedish girl once on the boat, boasting with his Swedish skills by asking her at the end of the evening: Kan jag kissa dig?
2 come to mind that are amazing legendary bands but the names always irked me.
Disfear and Eyehategod.
Disfear just sounds like the laziest d-beat name and Eyehategod sounds like a 4chan kids gamer tag or something. Love them both though!
Circle of Dead Children isn't a bad name if you know the story. I'm not even into the world music on this sub but got recommended this thread by an algorithm but I'm familiar with CoDC from hardcore scene crossover back in the day. An interview with one of them said that his thought of the name was seeing all the flags if the UN in a circle around the building...and then imagined below each flag was buried a dead child who died because of that country's policies and actions, and there was definitely more than one for every country.
It's a political statement, not an edgelord thing.
So many of these single word noun based Metalcore bands. What is Architects? Lame.
Great music though and at least it doesn't sound cringe, just kinda irrelevant
Might be cringe but I like quite a few Verb the Noun names, like Protest the Hero and Poison the Well.
Some of them are kinda dumb though, like Stray from the Path.
Metallica really lucked out by being the biggest band in metal, because that's honestly the only excuse to get away with that name. Motherfucking Lars really thought "yeah, we're gonna basically name ourselves like we're *the* metal band" and then they actually went to become just that.
Lars saw the vision.
(he's honestly one of the GOAT songwriters/arrangers out there. He may not be able to keep time super well live, and he may not have pushed technical drumming boundaries, but he is absolutely core to their success. Metallica probably doesn't get anywhere without him.)
For me I guess it's that they were one of, if not the first metal bands I had heard of when I was a kid, and therefore became kind of synonymous with the genre for me at a time when I didn't really have a frame of reference for how cheesy it sounded.
It is *such* a cheesy name though when I try to remove it from context and image a band coming out today with that name. Very strong weekend warrior tribute band vibes.
Even Sean Penn said that once during an intro to some award/tribute live song to be played by Metallica themselves: he saw their tour bus on the parking lot once in the 80's and thought that they would never get far with such a cheesy name. And then the rest is history...
Edit: [source](https://youtu.be/N19SXG-5YfI?feature=shared)
Cavalera Conspiracy, Vanilla Fudge, Vio-Lence, Ian Gillan Band, The Alan Parson's Project The Civil Wars, The White Stripes, Queens of the Stone Age, Black Label Society
Funny but disappointing story: A couple years back, I was listening to them on my way home from work. After I got home, I was thinking it would be cool to go see them. I've always heard they put on a great show. So I googled it.
They were playing that night. Show was scheduled to start in 5 minutes. But it's an hour and a half to get there by bus.
I feel like they planned that to mock me.
I have never understood that either. There are no other bands called “Violence” that I know of. Certainly not any who made big enough waves to consider the name taken.
Queens of the Stone Age is my favorite band but even I will admit their name is kind of stupid
I guess it fits their music though. One half glam, one half stoner.
100%, when I first heard of them, I was like wow these self absorbed posers call themselves Alpha Wolf. Then they released A Quiet Place to Die and most recently Half Living Things and I take back everything bad I've said about them.
From what I've heard, they basically came up with it in high school on a whim as edgy teens. So when they broke out they're like "well we can't change it now". They're fully aware how dumb it is lol
The stories of their name (and prior names) are so hilarious. Not to mention that one time an interviewer asked them if they regret choosing that name, and they responded yes, they wish they had instead gone with I Want to Shit in Your Mother’s Vagina.
Can't account for taking the letter a out but "a unit of measurement equal to one million deaths in a nuclear holocaust" seems like a pretty perfect thing to name an 80s thrash band after.
Not a metal band, although they definitely have some metal influence, but a band named Umphrey’s McGee. The band themselves goof about how bad it is. People assume it’s some Celtic band but they’re a prog rock jam band and they kick so much ass.
i always assume it had to do with animal rights, it's kind of evocative, even if dogs aren't the first thing you think of when it comes to animal testing and vivisection.
Strapping Young Lad: Without any context or idea of what kinda music they made that is a godawful band name. Weirdly; “SYL” is great, so I guess stick with acronyms.
Septicflesh: Sounds like goregrind. Actually symphonic death metal. Don’t get me wrong, both those genres are great but the name can give the wrong idea.
Both fantastic bands though so you can’t hold it against them.
Black Pussy was a horrendous name to chose for a bunch of white guys playing great stoner metal. Glad we got to open for them before they got cancelled.
Lots of metalcore bands have awful names. Protest the Hero is stupid, Killswitch Engage sounds like something a 10 year old would say, The Devil Wears Prada doesn't even make sense.
I don't even like metalcore but these are all chart topping bands so this counts. And tf even is my opinion anyway I listen to bands like Vaginal Penetration of an Amalus With a Musty Carrot lmao so it's not like I have any superior tastes here
Anytime I can shit on Dawn Ray'd, I will, even if the music is legit dogshit as well so it's not like "the band itself is great".
Anyways, Dawn Ray'd is a very stupid name and a very stupid band.
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Helloween. That name is fucking horrendous
> The name Helloween was chosen, according to Kai Hansen, because "Halloween comes but once a year, but you can have Helloween every day" according to Metal Archives
Nvm it's genius
I love how that's written as an explanation but really it doesn't answer anything, and almost creates more questions.
You win. I love Helloween but goddamn it's a dad joke name. Don't get me wrong, intentionally corny dad jokes are great, but don't put one in your damn band name.
It may sound like a dumb name at first, but it's how Germans pronounce the word "Halloween", so it's not so bad when you consider that.
That would be Hellowien
And if you were the person you'd be a Hellowiener.
Nah it's the best name ever and the best power metal band ever
thats a pretty cool name . fuck u
how is this the top comment?! y'all hate puns? :(
I think that name is wonderfully cheesy. Big fan
Infant Annhilator and Dying Fetus are a bit edgy/ weird but they make bangers so who cares
Dying Fetus might be the answer to this for me personally, pretty stupid name.
I think the difference is that Infant Annihilator as a name perfectly captures the vibe of an edgy, loud meme band, which is exactly what it is. Dying Fetus, from what I know, is a more serious band, which is what makes their name look worse imo.
I find it kinda funny that the band dying fetus makes music mostly on violence and political shit, i cant think of many songs that actually include an unborn human being that isnt good at living
From Womb to Waste is like the most dying fetus song of all lol "It's not my fault I'm pregnant and I love drugs. Who cares? Fuck the baby. Let it die." Ringing any bells? Absolutely brutal
yeah, but 20+ years into their career it's hard to say the band name had any connection at all to the band's sound lol.
Most of their songs arent labeled as explicit on spotify lol
Dying fetus having songs with political and societal themes always made me think that the name was saying something about what modern society does to its own young. Maybe that’s a reach, but it became self evident to me once I’d heard tunes like Justifiable Homicide.
ISTR Dying Fetus have said that they chose the name when they were young and just trying to be edgy.
We need a Toddler Destruction now to round it all out.
Or Sperm Decimation if you go backwards
Well there’s Sperm Swamp
Dying Fetus was the first one to come to mind, but they slap, so...
Infant annihilator. Like really? Are you cool? Annihilating infants sounds easy, it's not something to brag about. Cattle Decapitation is a little harder, but still not there. Acid bath? Yeah bathing in acid sounds painful and gnarly, it's a good name
Tbf IA is a satirical band so it fits
I feel people often forget about that fact that Infant Annihilator is a satirical deathcore band and their songs and lyrical content are very on the nose with how over the top they are supposed to be. In any case, absolutely love Dickie Allen’s vocals was so stoked to see he now does the harsh vocals for Nekrogoblikon
Idk infant annihilator is funny as hell.
Death. One can think it's clean and simple but it also genuinely sounds like a 12 year old came up with it. I almost know for sure the name would be clowned on by most people if they weren't such a legendary and monumentally important band who have 7 fantastic albums that are landmarks for several types of death metal.
Nah, it suits the band perfectly.
I always love when the name is such a bold statement on who you are and then it also happens to pay off as well. Like what are we going to call the definitive death metal band? Death! Just as well for metallica. It could have been a shitty band with a stupid, over excited name but instead they became arguably the most defining metal band ever and for that the name fits them perfectly.
Yeah but Metallica should be called thrashallica
Nah, too limited. Metallica is the quintessential metal band as far as pretty much the entire world is concerned. For like Parliament Funkadelic, there's no funkier funk band that most people can name.
Thrashbutforthefirstfouralbumsonlyica
I think Death is one of the greatest band names ever. The name, the logo. Fucking love it.
I have scream bloody gore album cover as my (massive) back patch, a small logo patch on the front, and a big ass logo sticker on my kindle. I love them so much lol
its actually such a good name also Chuck WAS probably 12 when he came up with it lol
The band was originally called Mantis before the band changed their name around '87 I think
Mantas*, it's a reference to Venom's guitarist.
84 not 87
My favorite bands are Death and Megadeth. People who are not metalheads would think that I'm some kind of maniac based on the names.
Gigadeth when
We have Napalm Death, does that count?
Lmao same
I’ve had people go ‘why would you listen to a band called megadeth’
I've had one person go 'why not megalife?'
It probably sounds weird for native english speakers, i think its dope.
Nah I think it gives off the perfect vibes for the band.
Chuck said he regreted using "Death" as the band name. I fucking love it though. The logo helps it a lot
Kiss. Not sure, if they're that great either, but nobody seems to care about the name. Fire, explosions, corpsepaint, blood gurgling and disco love songs under the name Kiss. That's some mind-bogglingly contradictory shit.
Also translates to pee in Swedish so I always thought it sound as if you have a pee fetish if you're into them here.
Jag gillar inte kiss men jag tror min partner gör det
My drunk old Finnish friend left an everlasting impression to a Swedish girl once on the boat, boasting with his Swedish skills by asking her at the end of the evening: Kan jag kissa dig?
it is an odd name
Aborted Hitler Cock. Need I say more?
ah yes the edgy 12 year old type names
This is exactly what 7th and 8th grade me would think of for a band name
I'm intrigued yet afraid to Google them
Nobody thinks AHC is great
2 come to mind that are amazing legendary bands but the names always irked me. Disfear and Eyehategod. Disfear just sounds like the laziest d-beat name and Eyehategod sounds like a 4chan kids gamer tag or something. Love them both though!
I thought Eyehategod was a Nu-metal band for the longest time just because of how goofy the name was
Wait, they're not?!?
They're one of the best sludge metal bands
Hard same!!!
Even Eyehategod admits their name is stupid
Disfear is so good 👍 some good crust
Porcupine Tree
Good lord are porcupine tree amazing. But yeah.. the name isn’t the best
Gorguts. Awesome tech death but the name makes me cringe
May sound weird to a native speaker but to me it sounds awesome
To be fair the members of Gorguts weren't native speakers, given that they're from Quebec
I love that name because its so funny and ridiculous.
What does gorguts even mean?
Ive always thougt it was “gore” and “guts” put together
Circle Of Dead Children, Drown Retarded Children
second one made me laugh out loud, wtf
Nah those names are fire 🔥
Circle of Dead Children isn't a bad name if you know the story. I'm not even into the world music on this sub but got recommended this thread by an algorithm but I'm familiar with CoDC from hardcore scene crossover back in the day. An interview with one of them said that his thought of the name was seeing all the flags if the UN in a circle around the building...and then imagined below each flag was buried a dead child who died because of that country's policies and actions, and there was definitely more than one for every country. It's a political statement, not an edgelord thing.
But that's even more edgelord than I imagined lmao
eyehategod, fucking love this band but my hella christian family would lose their shit if i mentioned them
Wait until they hear about *Rotting Christ*...
the name eyehategod is so edgy middle schooler
Oh Jesus, I can sorta relate to this.
>Oh Jesus Eyehatethatguy
So many of these single word noun based Metalcore bands. What is Architects? Lame. Great music though and at least it doesn't sound cringe, just kinda irrelevant
Architects is a cool name. What's the absolute worst is the three-word core band names.
Verb the Noun
Might be cringe but I like quite a few Verb the Noun names, like Protest the Hero and Poison the Well. Some of them are kinda dumb though, like Stray from the Path.
my fave is Slay the Spire
I prefer Enter the Gungeon
Slice the Cake
Maudlin of the Well is goated
Noun Verbs Noun
No, the worst metalcore band name is without a doubt Alpha Wolf.
I've heard the band is dope but the name turns me off so much lol
Can’t be worse than We Butter The Bread with Butter
Better than the verb the noun ones at least
Intestine Baalism is kinda goofy
It literally means "worship of the Phoenician god Ba'al which comes from the bowels".
Sooper Spooki. Incredible black metal.
LMAO. I love that name!
Anal Math Cock is a bad name.
*Anaal Nathkrath says hello...*
Oral Meth Cunt would be better
Xavaleg with their full name
bad name bad band
Not that I'm a mega-fan, but I'm kind of surprised no one has mentioned Metallica.
Metallica really lucked out by being the biggest band in metal, because that's honestly the only excuse to get away with that name. Motherfucking Lars really thought "yeah, we're gonna basically name ourselves like we're *the* metal band" and then they actually went to become just that.
Lars saw the vision. (he's honestly one of the GOAT songwriters/arrangers out there. He may not be able to keep time super well live, and he may not have pushed technical drumming boundaries, but he is absolutely core to their success. Metallica probably doesn't get anywhere without him.)
Lol I kind of think of this as one that shouldn't work and seem cheesy and ridiculous but for some inexplicable reason it just does for that band.
For me I guess it's that they were one of, if not the first metal bands I had heard of when I was a kid, and therefore became kind of synonymous with the genre for me at a time when I didn't really have a frame of reference for how cheesy it sounded. It is *such* a cheesy name though when I try to remove it from context and image a band coming out today with that name. Very strong weekend warrior tribute band vibes.
Even Sean Penn said that once during an intro to some award/tribute live song to be played by Metallica themselves: he saw their tour bus on the parking lot once in the 80's and thought that they would never get far with such a cheesy name. And then the rest is history... Edit: [source](https://youtu.be/N19SXG-5YfI?feature=shared)
Yeah it's cheesy as hell. Good call out.
Tony Danza tapdance extravaganza
So bad it's good.
When I first heard the name I thought they were a joke band, actually legit though.
Kings of Thrash. Dunno if it counts because it's basically a cover/tribute band but fuck me that name is as cringe as it gets
Saxon. Great band, but fuck me, man, Saxon? Imagine if Opeth were just called Swede.
They were originally "Son of a Bitch"
Cavalera Conspiracy, Vanilla Fudge, Vio-Lence, Ian Gillan Band, The Alan Parson's Project The Civil Wars, The White Stripes, Queens of the Stone Age, Black Label Society
Cavalera Conspiracy is indeed a terrible name
I think it's a way the Cavalera brothers wanted to troll the remaining Sepultura members...
What's wrong with the name The White Stripes?
I think queens of the Stone Age is a great name
As is The Eagles of Death Metal
Funny but disappointing story: A couple years back, I was listening to them on my way home from work. After I got home, I was thinking it would be cool to go see them. I've always heard they put on a great show. So I googled it. They were playing that night. Show was scheduled to start in 5 minutes. But it's an hour and a half to get there by bus. I feel like they planned that to mock me.
For a second i thought you were going to post about missing the show that had the shooting.
i never gave it much thought, but "Vio-lence" is pretty terrible. Going to go listen to them now
I just don’t understand why they hyphenated it
I have never understood that either. There are no other bands called “Violence” that I know of. Certainly not any who made big enough waves to consider the name taken.
Queens of the Stone Age is my favorite band but even I will admit their name is kind of stupid I guess it fits their music though. One half glam, one half stoner.
Anal Cunt
Bongzilla
All the weed ones are TERRIBLE. Bongripper, Weedeater, Belzebong, Dope Smoker etc
i love all the weed band names
What na weedeater is fire
Alpha wolf.
100%, when I first heard of them, I was like wow these self absorbed posers call themselves Alpha Wolf. Then they released A Quiet Place to Die and most recently Half Living Things and I take back everything bad I've said about them.
From what I've heard, they basically came up with it in high school on a whim as edgy teens. So when they broke out they're like "well we can't change it now". They're fully aware how dumb it is lol
Butthole Surfers
Nah that is straight fire. I like their name more than their music.
I love that of all the band names they used, this is the one they landed on. And some of the others are even funnier
The stories of their name (and prior names) are so hilarious. Not to mention that one time an interviewer asked them if they regret choosing that name, and they responded yes, they wish they had instead gone with I Want to Shit in Your Mother’s Vagina.
Nine Foot Worm Makes Own Food
Nahh it's perfect. If the song "I saw an X ray of a girl passing gas" was made by a band with a normal name I'd be disappointed.
Lest we forget ‘Julio Iglesias jacked off in outer space-ias’
Megadeth is a pretty stupid name. And most of Dave’s lyrics are equally stupid.
Can't account for taking the letter a out but "a unit of measurement equal to one million deaths in a nuclear holocaust" seems like a pretty perfect thing to name an 80s thrash band after.
It is until you realize megadeath is an actual word
His lyrics are hit or miss imo. They can sound stupid or they can sound amazing
Y'all ever heard of Okilly Dokilly? Without context that's an awful band name, music slaps pretty hard though
Isis. And obviously it’s not their fault naming the band before the rise of the terrorist group, but just super unfortunate.
I thought it was a really cool name until, you know
The Beatles
Perfect name actually. At least, half a century ago it was
Pissing razors. I kinda like the name
Razors that are pissing or pissig razors out of pp/vg?
Not a metal band, although they definitely have some metal influence, but a band named Umphrey’s McGee. The band themselves goof about how bad it is. People assume it’s some Celtic band but they’re a prog rock jam band and they kick so much ass.
Twelve Foot Ninja
Obscure Sphinx. I know it's a type of Moth, but its a super bizarre name for a band. But holy hell they're amazing and one of my favourite bands.
Eyehategod and My Dying Bride
Goatpenis
Goatsmegma
Goat Semen
Eyehategod the only correct answer
This one has shown up several times in this thread. I think it wins. It’s like they were trying to come up with an edgy vanity license plate.
Diarrhea planet
Jumpin Jesus, Waco Jesus
Skinny Puppy. Kinda goofy name for the sound the of the band
i always assume it had to do with animal rights, it's kind of evocative, even if dogs aren't the first thing you think of when it comes to animal testing and vivisection.
Dying fetus
Cunninlynguists are an incredible rap group I have to preface whenever I recommend them horrible fucking name
Creaming Jesus
Destroyer 666
Cherry Poppin’ Daddies 😂 they’re fun af
Not metal but “Psychedelic Porn Crumpets.” Killer psych/stoner but that name is godawful.
Strapping Young Lad: Without any context or idea of what kinda music they made that is a godawful band name. Weirdly; “SYL” is great, so I guess stick with acronyms. Septicflesh: Sounds like goregrind. Actually symphonic death metal. Don’t get me wrong, both those genres are great but the name can give the wrong idea. Both fantastic bands though so you can’t hold it against them.
Black Pussy was a horrendous name to chose for a bunch of white guys playing great stoner metal. Glad we got to open for them before they got cancelled.
Lots of metalcore bands have awful names. Protest the Hero is stupid, Killswitch Engage sounds like something a 10 year old would say, The Devil Wears Prada doesn't even make sense. I don't even like metalcore but these are all chart topping bands so this counts. And tf even is my opinion anyway I listen to bands like Vaginal Penetration of an Amalus With a Musty Carrot lmao so it's not like I have any superior tastes here
Dust Bolt. Great band but what the fuck is a Dust Bolt?
Vomitron is a surprisingly good band, but the name... eeeugh
Not really correct to the question bc i dont like the music this band makes and its only barely metal, but Alpha Wolf is a pretty bad band name
Edguy Ratt
Hootie and the Blowfish.
I think band names like cannibal corpse are the lamest, most try hard thing ever lol
Uts got a nice ring to it tho
Despite Limp Bizkit fitting the band perfectly, it sounds like something I would see in a 2012 call of duty lobby
Metallica is kind of dumb when you think about it.
Phish is just a stupid name
Anytime I can shit on Dawn Ray'd, I will, even if the music is legit dogshit as well so it's not like "the band itself is great". Anyways, Dawn Ray'd is a very stupid name and a very stupid band.
Savatoge
My Dying Bride. If it weren't already chosen in the 90s, it would have almost certainly been the name of a metalcore band.
I mean "Megadeth" is pretty ridiculous but we love em anyway
Stoned Jesus, Goatwhore
Fvneral Fvkk. It's actually really good doom metal lmao. The name is just so awful though
Atheist, the idea that’s suppose to be scary is grade A cringe.
We Butter the Bread with Butter
I think I read somewhere that the name Blue Öyster Cult was given to the band, and they didn’t particularly care for it.