Fan Poll: Top 5 Artists That Should Be on a Revolver Cover in 2019 | Revolver

Fan Poll: Top 5 Artists That Should Be on a Revolver Cover in 2019

Find out who you picked over Tool, Babymetal and more
babymetal 2018
Babymetal, 2018

2019 is going to be an absolutely massive year in heavy music, with Tool, Slipknot, Rammstein, Deftones, Killswitch Engage, Baroness, Chelsea Wolfe, Youth Code and many more set to release highly anticipated new albums. Considering the slew of big releases from important artists that lies ahead of us, we asked you who you'd most like to see on the cover of an issue of Revolver this year. You hit social media with your responses, which included some obvious picks along with a few major surprises. Below, see the top 5 vote-getters.

5. Alien Weaponry

Fresh off their first North American tour opening for Ministry alongside French synthwave outfit Carpenter Brut, Māori metal group Alien Weaponry are poised to hit the big time in the States and beyond with their fresh, politically aware brand of thrash from New Zealand. These guys are young, hungry and ready for the spotlight, and spotlight they will continue to get as they win over more and more fans along their ascent to headbanging fame.

Tool Press Photo

4. Tool

Tool are an unrivaled contender in damn near everything they do, so it comes as no shock that the group came in high among the bands that you want to see on our cover over the coming year. Maynard already graced the front of our April/May 2018 issue with those other hard-rock titans A Perfect Circle, but will the Tool album no one can shut up about finally drop in 2019 as has been promised? Only the next 12 months will tell.

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3. Battlecross

Battlecross have been churning out their self-described "blue collar thrash metal" for a little over 15 years now, but the level of grass-roots support that came out for these guys in this poll was definitely something of a surprise. While a lot of other bands make their money with an Eighties throwback approach to Battlecross' chosen genre, this Michigan crew pulls elements of progressive metal and melodeath into their more forward-thinking thrash attack. Could 2019 be their breakthrough year? We'll be watching. 

2. Babymetal

It's been a rough couple years for kawaii-metal stalwarts Babymetal, with the death of their lead guitarist Mikio Fujioka in December 2017 and the departure of Yuimetal in 2018. Despite the troubles that plagued them, the band put out a pair of huge singles with "Starlight" and "Distortion." Both songs show the group legitimately growing in terms of sound, even working in elements of ultra low-tuned distortion that have them evoking the might of Pantera on "Starlight." There's a new album on the way in 2019, plus ever-expanding lore, and a whole lot of eyes on what the band is doing next. 

1. Cane Hill

For those that have been living under a rock, NOLA's Cane Hill had a pretty massive 2018. The year for them began with the January release of their sophomore LP Too Far Gone, which broke down existing notions of the band's sound, incorporating the swampy groove-metal aesthetic associated with their hometown as well as elements of industrial ambience and psychedelic weirdness. Almost a year later on the dot, they're set to release Kill the Sun, a semi-acoustic record that takes their music in a more subdued and introspective direction. Cane Hill have undertaken a real metamorphosis since their 2015 self-titled metalcore EP, and come to embody an iconoclastic spirit that we — and clearly, fans — truly appreciate.