Here’s every metal album that’s ever gone to number one in the UK

Metal isn’t a genre that was built for the mainstream. Or at least, that’s the conceit the metal scene has often taken to heart, eyeing successful bands with cynicism and accusations of “sell-out!” the second they breach any mainstream barriers, be it Cannibal Corpse appearing in Ace Ventura or Metallica pioneering stadium metal.

Still, over the decades, a surprising number of metal bands have broken through nonetheless, some even landing that unlikeliest of holy grails: a number one album. Here in the UK, we’ve had our fair share of them, from OG metal masters to nu metal juggernauts to millennial metalcore heroes, all beating out pop stars, heavyweight rappers and arena-filling DJs to sit smugly atop the album chart.

That in mind, we’ve dug through the UK music chart history to find out exactly how many bands have managed to tick off that impressive achievement. To be clear: we’ve discounted bands who largely fall outside of the metal barrier, even if they might’ve had some crossover to our world – no Led Zeppelins, Bon Jovis or Def Leppards here – and only looked at the albums that have specifically topped the mainstream UK albums chart. So, without further ado, here’s every UK metal number one album to date.