I can't even read that article. The white on black is hurting my eyes like a motherfucker.

Nesquik, that's basically a list of every band that has released a mayor album in their respective genre, none of those are acclaimed in the mainstream which is what the issue was about. I think no one here agrees Metal was dead in the 1990's, just that it didn't really have a mainstream force to back it up. The only ones that could qualify for that are indeed Pantera, Metallica, Faith No More and maybe Tool. Even AiC and Soundgarden are still partly grunge so that doesn't really make them Metal flagbearers. Hell FnM, and Tool are also still technically part of the Alternative scene too.

If you for one minute think that either metal died or that one or two bands kept metal alive at a certain point you really don't know what you are talking about when it comes to the genre.

My knowledge of grunge isn't great, but consider the height of grunge from 1989 - 1997.

Here are some bands that were releasing popular, influential or acclaimed albums from that time

Acid Bath, Amorphis, Anacrusis, Angra, Annihilator, Arcturus, Artillery, Asphyx, At the Gates, Atheist, Autopsy, Bathory, Blind Guardian, Bolt Thrower, Blut aus Nord, Brutal Truth, Burzum, Candlemass, Carcass, Carnage, Cathedral, Coroner, Cryptopsy, Cynic, Danzig, Dark Tranquillity, Darkthrone, Death, Deicide, Demigod, Demilich, Demolition Hammer, Destroyer 666, Bruce Dickinson, Dimmu Borgir, diSEMBOWELMENT, Dismember, Dissection, Down, Dream Theater, Edge of Sanity, Electric Wizard, Emperor, Enslaved, Entombed, Esoteric, Exodus, Eyehategod, Fates Warning, Fear Factory, Forbidden, Gamma Ray, The Gathering, Godflesh, Gorguts, Heathen, Hypocrisy, Iced Earth, Immolation, Immortal, In Flames, In the Woods..., Incantation, Judas Priest, Katatonia, King Diamond, Kreator, Kyuss, Machine Head, Massacre, Mayhem, Megadeth, Mercyful Fate, Meshuggah, Metal Church, Ministry, Moonspell, Morbid Angel, Motorhead, My Dying Bride, Napalm Death, Neurosis, Nokturnal Mortum, Obituary, Opeth, Overkill, Ozzy Osbourne, Pantera, Paradise Lost, Pentagram, Pestilence, Psychotic Waltz, Repulsion, Rotting Christ, Running Wild, Sabbat, Sacramentum, Samael, Satyricon, Savatage, Sepultura, Skepticism, Skid Row, Slayer, Sleep, Sodom, Solitude Aeturnus, Strapping Young Lad, Stratovarius, Suffocation, Suicidal Tendencies, Summoning, Symphony X, Terrorizer, Thergothon, Therion, Tiamat, Devin Townsend, Trouble, Type O Negative, Ulver, Vader, Ved Buens Ende, Virgin Steele, Voivod, WASP

Also:

Alice in Chains
Faith No More
Melvins
Metallica
Soundgarden
Tool

Who is keeping metal "alive" in the mainstream right now?

For those who say chart positions don't matter, Black Sabbath's first album got in the top 20 on both sides of the Atlantic without any airplay. If it didn't their record company would have dropped them right then and there.

Also, all the bands I underlined ran as fast as they could away from the heavy metal tag because they saw metal was dying in the mainstream and it would hurt their marketability. No they were "alternative" rock bands. Now 10/15 years later Alice In Chains saw metal was becoming "cool" again so they are like "yea we were metal the whole time!" Nuh-uh. Fuck you. You don't get to be in the club.

Also LOL at WASP, Skid Row, Ozzy and Mercyful Fate being offered as bands keeping the scene alive. They all released their worst albums after 1994.

VH1 Classic. Barely.

Metal is being kept alive by the people who love it. Period.

Also LOL at WASP, Skid Row, Ozzy and Mercyful Fate being offered as bands keeping the scene alive. They all released their worst albums after 1994.