The Teutonic Terror tour is coming to Toronto next Wednesday, featuring Kreator and Accept.  Which got me thinking, who are the top Teutonic Terrors–the 10 best German metal bands?  Unlike, say, picking the top Japanese heavy rock bands or the best female-fronted doom troupes, there are a whole lotta options here.  I’ve even come across a couple Top 10 lists where I haven’t heard of 80 per cent of the entries…  Obviously, Germany is known for producing thrash bands in the 80′s and pumping out power metal today, but are there any German doom bands worthy of inclusion, for instance?  Well, I’ll be revealing my list over the next 10 days.  I’ve tried to keep it balanced while still highlighting the country’s strengths, but in the end, it really all comes down to personal preference.

10. Atlantean Kodex

9. Obscura

8. Tankard

7. Running Wild

6. Blind Guardian

I know what you’re thinking.  “Whenceforth beith a power-metal band upon thus list,” thou dost exclaimith, brandishing thine broadswords on high.  Truth be told, I’m not a big fan of hobbits, dragons and the glory of steel *cough*Sacred Steel*cough*, but I do enjoy some Blind Guardian in moderate doses.  Starting off as a speed metal band in the late 80′s, albeit one that dabbled heavily in fantasy novels, their crowning glory came with 1998′s Nightfall on Middle Earth, a 22-track concept album based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s work.  Back in the day before iPods, when mix CDs were still in vogue, I went to this now-defunct metal bar in Calgary that had just one mix CD on repeat that night.  One particular song, played a few times throughout the evening, inspired its share of drunken singalongs–and no, it wasn’t anything by Tankard.  Twas my first introduction to Blind Guardian via “The Curse of Fëanor”–which is still my favourite BG tune today.  Raise a horn of mead and give ‘r a listen: