Zebu is a southern metal band from Athens, Greece, formed in 2015. They deliver heavy, groove-laden metal infused with southern rock attitude, carving out a distinctive niche in the Greek heavy music scene.

Zeddicus Zu'l Zorander is a crossover/thrash metal band from Moscow, Russia, formed in 2016. Named after the character from Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth fantasy series, they deliver fast, riff-driven crossover thrash.

Zeit der Dunkelheit is an atmospheric black metal band from London, formed in 2024, that combines black metal with medieval folk instrumentation including bagpipes, hurdy-gurdy, and recorders. Their releases "Die Letzten Tage" and "Das Ende Der Zeit" feature German-language lyrics exploring dark medieval themes.

Zeit Geist is a grindcore band from Turin, Italy, formed in 2021. They deliver rapid-fire blasts of grinding intensity from the heart of northern Italy's extreme music scene.

Zel Agganor is a one-man symphonic black metal project from York, England, established in 2016. The debut EP "Rise of the Black Star" (2017) features narrated vocals alongside growls telling a fantasy narrative about a religious cult, drawing frequent comparisons to Bal-Sagoth.

Zelerath is a raw black metal band from Scotland, formed in 2017. They craft lo-fi, unrelenting black metal that channels the bleakness of the Scottish landscape through harsh, stripped-down compositions.

Zematary is a heavy metal band from Stockholm, Sweden, formed in 2019. They deliver straight-ahead traditional heavy metal from one of the genre's most important cities.

Zemial is a legendary one-man black metal project from Athens, Greece, helmed by multi-instrumentalist Vorskaath since the early 1990s. Their extensive catalog, from "In Monumentum" (2006) through "The Repairer of Reputations" (2025), spans raw black-thrash, epic heavy metal, progressive rock, and avant-garde art music.

Zen is a progressive metal band from Rome, Italy, founded in 1995, making them one of the longer-running progressive metal acts in the Italian scene. Their sophisticated compositions draw on decades of development in progressive and technical metal.