The past few years have been absolutely incredible for new music, not just in the Rock genre, but also for Hard Rock and Metal. We’ve seen an amazing amount of new rock albums hit the shelves from some of the best rock bands in the United Kingdom and the United States. It’s also worthy to note that many prominent rock and metal bands are reaching out to huge audiences from mainland Europe.

Some of the best rock albums to land in 2018 came from Thrice, Alkaline Trio, Dream Child, Slash ft. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators, Hardcore Superstar, The Blinders, Hank Von Hell, and Thomas Silver.

There seems to be some confusion as to what classifies as a rock band, many magazines seem to think that listing bands like Coldplay and The 1975 count as Rock! On what planet?!
We’re going to give you a rundown of the best rock and hard rock bands of 2019 that you should check out. They’ll be some obvious big players in there but also some underground acts in there as well.

We won’t just include bands that have released albums this year, as some artists released incredible albums last year that you may have missed. Just because an album is a few months old, doesn’t mean the artist shouldn’t be carried forward into the best rock music of 2019!

The Best Rock Bands of 2019



Crashdiet

For Swedish hard rockers Crashdiet, it has been the motivational catch phrase since they started out back in the beginning of 2000. As fans who have followed the band know, the band has gone through a bit of turbulence in their career, with deaths, line-up changes, and a history of substance abuse that would make some legendary '80s hard rockers blush.


ENFORCER

Swedish metallers ENFORCER released their fifth studio album Zenith on April 26, 2019 through Nuclear Blast. After playing a string of European clubs shows and festivals, the quartet have just finished a 4-date Mexican tour with US-based thrash metal outfit WARBRINGER.


PHIL CAMPBELL

Legendary long-time MOTÖRHEAD guitarist Phil Campbell will release his first-ever solo record, 'Old Lions Still Roar' on October 25 via Nuclear Blast.


Confess

Another Swedish hard rock band that have already built up a solid following, as well as offering an awesome back catalogue of music to check out. Hopefully more to come from these guys soon!


Rammstein

After a ten year wait since their last album, liebe ist fur alle da back in 2009, Germany's finest export have returned with an incredibly outstanding record.


The Darkness

Frontman Justin Hawkins explains, “It’s about the despair of change. Having to reappraise your life and what you're holding on to. It’s like that feeling when you just want to go for a swim and keep going. Wanting to be enveloped by something that will gradually pull you down. If you really, really want to survive that process, you can. We've all been there - people who say they haven't are lying.”


Airbourne

With Boneshaker, all-action Aussie rockers Airbourne decided to take the bolder path: to align with Nashville's Number One producer — Dave Cobb, whose credits include both Chris Stapleton and the A Star Is Born soundtrack. It was their way of staking out new turf away from comfort zones and safe havens...


The 69 Eyes

Also known as ‘The Helsinki Vampires’ for their common appearance of being dressed in black, The 69 Eyes won’t suck your blood, however, they do deliver some of the most unique sounding rock music in the industry to date. With a new highly anticipated album on the way, The 69 Eyes are for sure a band you new to check out!


Hardcore Superstar

Swedish rockers Hardcore Superstar recently released their biggest album to date, ‘You Can’t Kill My Rock N Roll’. It received critical acclaim from press and fans alike and introduced fans to some of the biggest anthems the band have ever seen.

Taking their roots from artists such as Kiss, G’N’R and hard rock, they produce a truly unique style of rock.


Spiders

Another rock band hailing from the Scandinavian region of Sweden. Spiders focus more of their influence on classic 70s rock.


Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes

If you don’t know anything about Frank Carter then you're seriously in for a treat! He was the lead singer of UK hardcore band Gallows before breaking off into a solo career. After releasing an album under the name ‘Pure Love’ he teamed up with a group of London based musicians to form Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes. His live shows are phenomenal, and his music is monstrous.


Lucifer

Lucifer is a multinational Heavy Rock band from Stockholm. Founded in 2014 in Berlin by The Oath front woman Johanna Sadonis, the group first consisted of Cathedral, Angel Witch and Ladytron members.

Lucifer’s is defined by their very heavy 1970s Hard Rock sound spiced with a good dose of Proto Heavy Metal and Doom Rock. Main influences are groups such as Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Blue Öyster Cult, Lucifer’s Friend, Steppenwolf, 70’s Heart and Fleetwood Mac.


Emigrate

Emigrate is actually a side project of Richard Z Kruspe, guitarist for German metal band Rammstein. If you’re not into heavy metal, don’t worry, the latest Emigrate album is pure Rock and also has some collaborations with the likes of Billy Talent.


Hank Von Hell

Hank Von Hell is a hell of a character. He was the lead singer of Norwegian glam punks, Turbonegro for 20 years. After departing in the late 00s, we thought he’d vanished for good. He rose from the flames last year with an incredible debut solo record, ‘Egomania’ which was co-written by Eric Bachman (aka. Cat Casino - Deathstars/Vain).


Thomas Silver

Ex-guitarist or Hardcore Superstar, Silver is another artist that re-emerged from the darkness to release a stunning solo record in 2018. Mixing classic Stevie Ray Vaughan with Hanoi Rocks glam attitude, Silver is a dying breed of musician, luckily he’s young and fresh so we can expect plenty more amazing material from him.


Dead Idle

Dead Idle are without a doubt one of the most exciting new British rock bands to invade the scene. They take the classic grunge sound, inject it with demonic overtones and fuzz to create one of the freshest sounds out there. If you want to know what the new wave of true British rock sounds like, you need to listen to Dead Idle!


Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown

Tyler Bryant & the Shakedown are an all-out rock & roll band from Nashville, TN, Mixing classic blues with Johnny Thunders and New York Dolls attitude. Another young rising talent set to take on the world.


Greta Van Fleet

Love them or hate them, Greta Van Fleet are here to stay. Although many people dislike the band for their heavily borrowed Led Zeppelin influence, Greta Van Fleet are a young band with tons of potential.


The Virginmarys

The Virginmarys are definitely a fresh sound on the British rock scene at the moment. With the swagger of Oasis and the talent to match, The Virginmarys are part of a new wave of British Rock bands that are dominating the UK scene.



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