Los Angeles has been waiting 125 years for this. For the first time ever, LA Opera will present the complete cycle of Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen. If you haven't seen or heard it before, The Ring is essentially the most metal opera ever. Epic love and an apocalyptic battle of the gods for the fate of the universe? Super metal. Götterdämmerung makes Lord of the Rings look like Air Bud.

The epic opera has raised a lot of controversy about Wagner's anti-Semitism and that age old question of whether the merit of a work of art can be separated from the life of its creator (our 21st century Wagner, R. Kelly isn't a saint either).

But there is no question when in comes to heavy metal. It totally rules. So we here at West Coast Sound headquarters suggest putting a contemporary, very-L.A. twist on the masterpiece (they've already included what appear to be laser swords) by enlisting some of the finest purveyors of epic heavy metal to perform an updated (and 87% more brutal) version of Wagner's proto-metal awesomefest.

For your consideration, here are five heavy metal acts that could make The Ring rock.

SO METAL!

Amon Amarth

Manowar

Isis

Christopher Lee, the most metal octogenarian of our time (unconfirmed).

Mastodon

Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.