8 Best Crash Cymbals for Metal

Meinl 18" Byzance Medium Thin Crash Review

The Meinl Byzance Medium Thin Crash is a standout cymbal for me. It’s made from B20 bronze and features a brilliant finish with Meinl’s signature hand-hammering. It’s a medium-thin crash, so despite having plenty of power, it still opens up really easily and feels very responsive to play.

This was one of my favourite cymbals from the entire comparison. I think it just has a really good balance of everything I’d want from a crash for metal.

There’s a nice metallic character to the attack that helps it cut through the guitars really well, but it never sounds overly harsh or shrill. That’s something I noticed straight away when I played it over the track. It has plenty of presence, but it still sits really nicely within the rest of the mix.

I also really like the amount of definition it has. There’s a clear tone behind each crash rather than everything disappearing into a big wash, and it has a really smooth quality to the sound despite still being bright and cutting.

The medium-thin weight makes it really dynamic too. It opens up beautifully without needing to hit it ridiculously hard, but when I did really lay into it there was still loads of volume and projection available.

I really loved this cymbal. It’s smooth, cutting and really well defined, and for me it had one of the best overall sounds of anything I tested.

Zildjian 18" A Custom Crash Review

The Zildjian A Custom Crash is probably one of the most recognisable modern rock and metal crash sounds around. It’s a thin B20 cymbal with a brilliant finish and Zildjian’s distinctive symmetrical hammering and tonal grooves.

And it really does have an unmistakable sound. It’s incredibly bright, glassy and cutting, with loads of volume and bite when you really crash into it. As soon as I played it over the track, it immediately sounded familiar.

There’s a lot of high-end presence, but I don’t find it overly high-pitched or grating. There’s enough body behind the attack to keep the cymbal sounding full, which I think is a big part of why A Customs work so well for heavier music.

It’s also just an incredibly polished sound. If you’re recording modern metal or metalcore and want your crashes to immediately jump out around the guitars, there’s very little work required here.

A Customs have become incredibly popular with metal drummers over the years, and Matt Greiner of August Burns Red is a great example. He’s always used A Custom Crashes and this specific model is his favourite cymbal.

For me, this is pretty much the archetypal modern metal crash sound. It’s bright, glassy, powerful and instantly recognisable, with all the cut you could possibly need.

Istanbul Agop 18" Xist Brilliant Crash Review

The Istanbul Agop Xist Brilliant Crash is a B20 bronze cymbal with a brilliant finish and a relatively thin, responsive feel. It’s also one of the more affordable cymbals I tested, which makes its performance even more impressive.

This is a really bright and energetic sounding crash. There’s quite a pronounced glassy bite to the initial attack, with more high-end presence than something like the Byzance. I wouldn’t necessarily call that harsh, though. For metal, that extra bit of top-end actually works really well because the cymbal cuts through incredibly easily.

I really like the way this cymbal opens up too. It feels relatively thin and responsive under the stick, and when you crash into it the sound really expands outwards. It’s bright, wide and quite explosive.

There’s not quite the same smoothness or complexity that I heard from some of the more expensive cymbals in this comparison, but it’s still a really great sounding crash in its own right.

And then there’s the price. For the money, I think this cymbal is absolutely amazing. You’re getting a proper B20 crash with loads of projection and a really exciting sound, and it held its own incredibly well against cymbals costing considerably more.

Sabian 18" HHX X-Plosion Crash Review

The Sabian HHX X-Plosion Crash is a medium-thin B20 cymbal with a brilliant finish. The HHX range generally has a darker underlying character, but the X-Plosion still has plenty of brightness and attack on top.

This cymbal sounds beautiful. The first thing that stood out to me was just how glassy and shimmery it is. There’s loads of brightness in the initial attack, but interestingly, the actual pitch of the cymbal isn’t particularly high.

Instead, there’s this lower, darker tone underneath all of that shimmer, and I think that’s what makes it work so well. You get the brightness and definition needed to cut through, but it doesn’t become thin or piercing.

It opens up really nicely too. I found it very dynamic when playing at different volumes, and when I hit it harder there’s this big, expansive crash that feels incredibly satisfying to play.

I was also surprised by how versatile it sounded. There’s obviously more than enough power here for metal, but I could easily imagine using this for loads of other styles too.

I really loved the balance of this cymbal. It’s glassy and shimmery on top, but there’s enough darkness and body underneath to keep the overall sound rich and musical.

Zildjian 18" K Sweet Crash Review

The Zildjian K Sweet Crash is quite different from what you might normally think of as a metal crash. It’s an extra-thin B20 cymbal with traditional K-style hammering and a distinctive raw bell, giving it a darker and more complex sound than something like an A Custom.

I really like this cymbal, particularly because it brought something slightly different to the comparison.

It’s a little more subdued and mellow than some of the other crashes I tested, but I was surprised by how well it still cut through when I played it over the track. There’s enough brightness in the attack to give each hit plenty of definition, but underneath that is this lovely darker character.

It’s also incredibly responsive. Being extra thin, you barely need to hit it before it opens up, and I could get loads of expression out of it when playing at different dynamics.

I really like the combination of the heavily hammered surface and raw bell too. It looks beautiful, but that construction also gives the cymbal a much more complex character than some of the cleaner and brighter options here.

For metal, I think this is a great choice if you want something a little darker and more interesting without losing the cut you need. It’s used by many touring and live metal drummers today, so it’s definitely a model that can do it all.

Meinl 18" Pure Alloy Medium Crash Review

The Meinl Pure Alloy Medium Crash is a medium-weight cymbal made from Meinl’s Pure Alloy B12 bronze, with a traditional finish and a fairly substantial feel under the stick.

I’d actually never played a Meinl Pure Alloy cymbal before doing this shoot, and this was probably one of the biggest surprises of the entire comparison.

Overall I was really impressed with it! There’s loads of body behind each crash, with really good definition and a nice amount of cut. It sounded big and full when I played it over the track, but there was still enough clarity for every hit to come through properly.

I also really like the sustain. The sound hangs around for long enough to feel big and lush without completely taking over, and there’s a lovely shimmer as the cymbal opens up.

More than anything, though, I think this just has a really classic crash sound. It’s not overly dark, overly bright or trying to do anything particularly unusual. It’s just full, powerful and beautifully balanced.

That makes it a great choice for metal, but also a really versatile crash in general.

This was a genuine standout for me. I’d never played the Pure Alloy series before, and I came away really, really impressed with just how good this cymbal sounded.

Sabian 18" AAX X-Plosion Crash Review

The Sabian AAX X-Plosion Crash is a medium-thin B20 cymbal with a brilliant finish, designed to produce a bright and explosive attack with plenty of projection.

This was another cymbal I really enjoyed. It’s fairly similar in overall character to the Zildjian A Custom, but I found the AAX X-Plosion to be slightly lower pitched. There’s still loads of brightness and cut, but it has a really nice balance of tones that stops the sound becoming too sharp.

It also has plenty of body. When I played it over the track, there was a really strong initial attack followed by this full crash sound underneath, and I never struggled to hear it around the guitars.

Compared with the HHX X-Plosion, there’s definitely some similarity in the way the cymbals respond, but the tonal flavour is slightly different. The HHX has more of that darker character underneath, whereas the AAX sounds a little brighter and more direct to me.

It’s another really versatile cymbal too. I wouldn’t hesitate to use it for metal, but it doesn’t sound like something that’s been designed exclusively for heavy music.

Overall, I’m just a big fan of this crash. It sounds powerful, balanced and really musical, and I think it would work brilliantly for almost any drummer who wants a modern, cutting crash sound.

Paiste 2002 18" Power Crash Review

The Paiste 2002 Power Crash is quite different from every other cymbal in this comparison. It’s a heavy crash made from Paiste’s CuSn8 2002 Bronze rather than B20, and it’s designed to deliver loads of volume, projection and sustain.

I’ll be honest, this wasn’t one of my personal favourites from the test.

It’s incredibly shimmery and glassy, and there’s a lot of ring to the sound. The sustain is really long too, so after each crash there’s a lot of cymbal continuing to fill the space afterwards.

Personally, I found that slightly too much. I tend to prefer a smoother and slightly more controlled crash sound, whereas the 2002 Power Crash has this really pronounced bright, glassy character.

But I can also completely understand why some drummers love it.

It’s loud, and it has absolutely no problem cutting through a heavy mix. There’s loads of volume and bite, and that different CuSn8 bronze formulation gives it a noticeably different character from all of the B20 cymbals I tested.

For me, there’s more of a classic rock character to this cymbal, but the sheer power and projection means it can definitely work for metal too.

This one really comes down to taste. It wasn’t quite the sound I personally gravitated towards, but if you love that bright, glassy Paiste sound with loads of sustain, the 2002 Power Crash offers exactly that.