Flammie’s metal travel guide

Metal travel guide used to be a website cataloguing all the worthwhile metal bars and music shops around the world. Then came social medias and Internet web sites weren’t used anymore. Here’s a list of metal bars I have visited and can recommend or warn about.

You know what, I’m going to use a michelin star scale of review shorthands here:

• 🤘 worth to visit if you are nearby
• 🤘🤘 worth to visit if you are in town
• 🤘🤘🤘 worth to make a longer trip for
• 🤨 there might be reasons to avoid

United Kingdom

London

Probably the metallest area is Camden, though very gentrified these days.

1. Black Heart
   • 🤘🤘
2. Dev (ex Hobgoblin, ex Devonshire Arms)
   • 🤘🤘

Glasgow

1. Rufus T Firefly
   • 🤘🤘

Germany

Germany is quite metally country but finding a metal bar can be a bit of an effort these days. Most cities will have some but not necessarily central. Germany is still mostly a cash-only country, expect to see no card payments anywhere.

Berlin

The metallest area still is Friedrichshain.

1. Paule’s Metal Eck
   • 🤘
   • avoid when football or sports
2. Halford
   • 🤘🤘

Hamburg

I lived in Hamburg 2014–2020, great metal scene, usually always concerts and bars. The centre of nightlife, including metal, is at Reeperbahn.

1. Night Light
   • 🤘🤘🤘
   • only opens on weekends (whole week for Wacken)
2. Lunacy
   • 🤘
   • can be punk, recently visited and had hip hop most of the night(?)
3. Bambi Galore
   • 🤘🤘🤘
   • venue only
4. Hörnerfest
   • 🤘🤘🤘
   • festival
   • local train trip and 30 minute walk
5. Indra Club
   • venue
6. Markthalle
   • venue
7. Knust, venue, sometimes metal
   • venue
8. Headcrash
   • 🤨
   • venue
   • rarely metal
   • might play disco hits on metal concert night, before, between and after the gig *
9. Grotte
   • 🤘🤘🤘
   • didn’t survive corona time :-(

München (Munich)

1. HopDog
   • 🤘🤘
   • good foods and good beers
2. Abseits
   • 🤘

Turkey

Istanbul

Both Taksim area in the European side and Kadiköy on the Asian side have some night life. My last visit, the Asian side was nicer.

1. Wizard
   • 🤘🤘🤘
2. Dorock
   • 🤘
   • has became more of a venue with always entrance fees in recent years(?)

Norway

You’d think Norway as a metal country but it really doesn’t have much metal bar culture going around. Biggest cities will usually have a metal bar.

Bergen

1. Kraken
   • 🤘🤘

Tromsø

I live in Tromsø 2020–, not much of a metal scene, we take every concert we can and support the bars that play any metal.

1. Bastard
   • 🤘🤘
   • metal on wednesdays (2025-)
2. Blå Rock
   • 🤨
   • not metal at all
   • often not nice people there
   • good foods

Sweden

Most cities in Sweden will have some metal bars.

Stockholm

Stockholm is generally very strict on kicking “drunk” people out of the bars. The bouncers are more likely to target foreigners.

1. Anchor
   • 🤨
   • very keen to kick people out, overall unpleasant
   • some gigs

Gothenburg

1. Rockbaren
   • 🤘

Hungary

Budapest

1. Paranoir
   • 🤘
   • closes early
   • can have anti-foreigner crowds
2. Barba Negra (track, …)
   • 🤘🤘
   • concert venue(s)
   • several / changing locations, check the web site

Czechia

Czechia is decent for metal usually, super cheap for beers.

Praha

1. ERROR
   • 🤘🤘🤘
   • “speakeasy” (knock the door to get in)
2. Hells Bells tourists
   • 🤘
   • mostly tourists

Ireland

Ireland is surprisingly bad for metal in general.

Dublin

I lived here in 2010s, not that much of a metal scene but regular gigs and few bars.

1. Fibber Magees
   • 🤘
2. Bruxelles
   • 🤘
   • half-part of downstairs is sometimes rock or metal
3. Foggy Dew
   • doesn’t play metal but has the crowds

Canada

Toronto

1. Coalition
   • 🤘🤘

Belgium

Brussels

Not much metal in Brussels.

1. La Porte Noire
   • 🤘
2. La Cercueil
   • 🤘
   • table service, cocktail theme bar, a bit strange concept

Finland

Finland is surprisingly metally so you wouldn’t be surprised to have metal playing in an average sports bar, main stream pub or so. Just the most obvious hits usually but good enough.

Helsinki

1. Base
   • 🤘🤘
2. Praha
   • 🤘🤘

France

Paris

Paris is not particularly metal that I have found, but the neighbourhood with some metal and gay bars is FIXME.

1. Le Black Dog
   • 🤘

Nepal

When I was in Nepal the last time, metal was seemingly popular among the youth. I visited a high school band competition festival which was all metal.

Kathmandu

1. Purple Haze
   • 🤘🤘🤘

Spain

Madrid

1. Sinner
   • 🤘
2. Mission Metal
   • 🤘

Santander

1. La Buhardilla
   • 🤘
   • plays punk and metal