Interesting. I’ve never thought of Alice in Chains as metal, but honestly the lines between subgenres of rock are so razor thin you could use them to split hairs.
My favorite hands down is Gojira. Every album has wonderful songs with unique rhythms. Plus nothing channels my anger quite like environmentalism and anti-capitalism.
I don’t listen to much other “metal” in the strictest sense of the term, but Alter Bridge has been my favorite band for a long time, like ever since I first heard a song by them. They’re probably closer to hard rock, but they’ve got some really heavy songs in their discography like The Other Side, Bleed it Dry, Sin After Sin, and Waters Rising.
Same goes for Mark Tremonti’s side project, “Tremonti.” Brains, Make it Hurt, and Bleak are such killer songs.