Voyager Shares 10 Metal Bands That Rocked Eurovision

Starting next week, the annual Eurovision contest will take over the international conversation. Well, everywhere but here in the states… but still. It’s one hell of a contest and Australian progressive pop metal band Voyager are competing this year for their homeland, Australia.

You don’t know what Eurovision is? Oh y’know, it’s only one part American Idol, one part Hunger Games pageantry without the killing, and one part Olympics. It’s regularly watched by 180 million people worldwide on one of the sickest stages in the universe and has been going for almost 70 years with around 40 countries participating. It’s fierce but united by music, it’s crazy and over the top and glitzy and it’s a show of some of the best songwriters in the world, from all different genres.

To get you people up to speed, we asked the band to share the most metal moments that Eurovision’s had to offer over the years. Some of these acts may be familiar to you, while others may be a bit more obscure, but they’re all at least worth checking out.

Every year he’s watched it, Voyager frontman Danny Estrin says there’s always some metal, rock and dark music vibes. So in the interest of their upcoming performance and to highlight some of the past metal acts to grace the Eurovision stage, here are some of Estrin’s favorites over the last two decades or so.

Lordi (Finland 2006)

This is the quintessential “oh my god there’s metal on Eurovision” icebreaker. Me and Simone went to see Lordi live in Berlin shortly after their Eurovision win and it was so damn cool to see the two worlds unite!

The Rasmus (Finland 2022)

Yup, the Rasmus were on Eurovision with the earworm “Jezebel.” It’s always so awesome to see them return to the stage.

Keep of Kalessin (Norway 2010)

Technically they only made it to the national semis, but it’s noteworthy nevertheless. Norwegian black metal outfit Keep of Kalessin slayed the stage with the dastardliest sound the Eurovisionation have ever seen, that’s for sure!

Blind Channel (Finland 2021)

Finnish modern nu-metal by Blind Channel absolutely killed it back in 2021, thanks to their high energy performance. They ultimately did super well and showed the rest of the world that metal was alive and kicking.

Rasmussen (Denmark 2018)

Not to be confused with The Rasmus, these Danish Vikings absolutely brought the metal vibe with their epic “Higher Ground”

Lord of the Lost (Germany 2023)

These German Glittergoth metallers are also in it this year, which is super cool — two metal acts of completely different subgenres in one year – how good is that! Fun fact – Chris from Lord of the Lost’s previous band “The Pleasures” were Voyager labelmates on Hamburg’s Dockyard 2 Records.

Elnur & Samir (Azerbaijan 2008)

Definitely don’t sleep on Elnur & Samir’s song “Day after Day” from the 2008 edition of Eurovision. If this isn’t the some of the most epic and crazy goth rock/metal, I don’t know what is.

Kaliopi (Macedonia 2012)

Balkan metal vibes kick in half way through to deliver a cracking rock number. Come to this song for the initial slow burn. but stick around for the ending.

Hatari (Iceland 2019)

Do you like a bit of Metal X Combichrist on Eurovision? Well here you go – I saw “Hatrið mun Sigra” live at Eurovision in 2019 and it was epic — crazy industrial vibes that was totally on point.

Go_A (Ukraine 2021)

Best known for their killer industrial folk dance number “Shum” at 2021 Eurovision, their latest track “Русалочки” is actual totally metal – check it out!