they are prominent within metal culture at least. lots of the festival headliners (helloween, blind guardian, electric callboy, avantasia, kreator, rammstein, etc.) are german. wacken is the biggest and most influential festival. should be unsurprising tho given europe is now the center of metal
That's true, but I think the combined nordics have more influence within the metal scene despite, even as a group, being much smaller than Germany. And that's kind of the thing. It's not the Germany doesn't have influence, but it hits below its weight culturally.
for sure. like at least half of my library is made up of nordic bands. germany also isn't *the best* at anything. americans do thrash and tech death. aussies do metalcore. swedes do melodeath, the dutch do symphonic metal, finns do doom and folk. germans have... the best crowds ig