I'm very passionate about music, so it seems like an impossible task to come up with a list of only five bands (artists), but
I'll give it a try, I will mention bands across my favorite music genres.
-Black Sabbath: I'm a huge metalhead and I can honestly say there is no greater metal band then BS, they practically created the modern archetype for the genre and most of its sub-genres can be traced back to Sabbath.
-Joy Division: I'm a metalhead with a goth heart, and Joy Division is my absolute favorite when it comes to deep voiced, somber and depressive sound.
-Nine Inch Nails: A perfect mash-up of the former two with loads of techno-punk for good measure. Trent Reznor is my favorite musician of all time.
-Therion: Love classical music and love heavy metal, enough said, plus, their whole concept of occultism, mythology and phylosophy resonates with me strongly.
-Alexander Borodin: Saw Prince Igor at the Met a while ago and it made me forget about Wagner, Bisset and Tchaikovsky, the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, besides, he was a chemist, so as a scientist myself, I find inspiration in the fact that he could do both things.
Honourable mentions: Tool, Judas Priest, Sopor Aeternus & The Ensemble of Shadows, Killing Joke, Mayhem.